Paul Demetrius von Kotzebue
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2018) |
Paul Demetrius von Kotzebue | |
|---|---|
 General Paul Demetrius Von Kotzebue. | |
| Born | 10 August 1801 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 19 April 1884 (aged 82) Reval, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire (now Tallinn, Estonia) |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire |
| Service/ | Imperial Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1819–1884 |
| Rank |  General of the Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Caucasian Wars Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829) November Uprising Crimean War |
Paul Demetrius Graf[1] von Kotzebue (Russian: Па́вел Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, Pavel Evstafyevich Kotsebu) (10 August 1801 – 19 April 1884) was a Prussian-born officer, one of 18 children of German dramatist August von Kotzebue, and Governor-general of Warsaw (1874–1880) under Czar Alexander II (the Liberator), who had freed the serfs in 1861 and sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. The oceanic identation just north of Alaska's Seward Peninsula is named Kotzebue Sound, in honor of the Count's brother, explorer Otto von Kotzebue. The Kotzebue family had originated in Kassebau (Saxony-Anhalt).[2]
That a German like Kotzebue should hold the highest position in Russian Poland was not strange: Germans in Russia were noted for traditional German orderliness, discipline, frugality, and calculation. Germans in high government positions were noted for their efficiency and incorruptibility -- both characteristics in sharp contrast with Russian officials.[3]
By March 1879[4] Kotzebue was assisted by a Jewish secretary-general, Louis Feigenblatt, who was especially responsible for matters concerning the enormous[5] Jewish population of Russian Poland. As late as 1764, nearly 2 out of 3 of the world's Jews had lived in the pre-partition Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[6] When the Czar was assassinated in 1881, his successor made the Jews scapegoats, which proved a turning point in their history.[7]
References
- ^ Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919.
- ^ Kotzebue Noble Family
- ^ Migrations and cultures: a world view by Thomas Sowell (Basic Books, 1996).
- ^ Archives israélites, Volume 40, No 10 (6 March 1879). Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ Pale of Settlement#Final demographics
- ^ History of the Jews in Poland#The Cossack uprising and the Deluge
- ^ History of the Jews in Poland#Pogroms within the Russian Empire
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
 | This article about a Russian politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- Use dmy dates from March 2013
- 1801 births
- 1884 deaths
- People from Berlin
- Baltic-German people
- Imperial Russian Army generals
- Russian military personnel of the Crimean War
- Members of the State Council of the Russian Empire
- Namestniks of the Kingdom of Poland
- Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree
- Governors-General of Novorossiya
- Russian politician stubs