Occupation General, statesman | ||
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Born February 23, 1739 ( 1739-02-23 ) Died 6 October 1814, Vitebsk Governorate | ||
Sergey Lazarevich Lashkarev (23 February 1739 — 6 October 1814) (Russian: Сергей Лазаревич Лашкарёв, derived from Georgian: ლაშკარაშვილი ბიბილური, Lashkarashvili-Bibiluri), was a Russian Imperial Major-General of Georgian origin. A cunning diplomat and polyglot, he was described by his contemporaries as one of the "remarkable phenomena of Catherine the Great's century". Lashkarev was reportedly fluent in ten languages. Besides Russian and Georgian, he spoke French, Italian, Turkish, Persian, Greek, Armenian, Arabic, and Latin. In 1800, Lashkarev was actively involved in diplomatic exchanges with the Ottoman Empire in connection with the impending Russian annexation of various Georgian kingdoms and principalities, and remained in charge of Georgian affairs at the Imperial court under Alexander I of Russia.
Personal life
Lashkarev was the son of a Georgian nobleman Lazare Grigoris dze Lashkarashvili-Bibiluri (later known as Lashkarev-Bibilurov) who moved to Russia from Georgia as part of a royal entourage accompanying the exiled Georgian monarch Vakhtang VI.
Lashkarev had four children: