Gallitzin [key], Russian princely family. Among many alternate spellings are Galitzin, Galytzin, and Galitsin. Vasily Vasilyevich Gallitzin, d. 1619, helped to enthrone the first false Dmitri but later joined the Shuiski conspiracy against him. Sent to offer the Russian crown to Prince Ladislaus of Poland, he was thrown into prison by King Sigismund III of Poland after refusing to help Sigismund obtain the crown for himself. He died in prison. Vasily Vasilyevich Gallitzin, 1643–1714, was the lover and chief counselor of Sophia Alekseyevna, regent during the joint reign of Ivan V and Peter I. After Sophia's downfall (1689), he was exiled to Siberia by Peter I. Boris Alekseyevich Gallitzin, 1654–1714, was the tutor of Peter I and helped to depose Sophia Alekseyevna. He headed the government in Russia during Peter's first foreign tour. Dmitri Mikhailovich Gallitzin, 1665–1737, held administrative posts, was ambassador to Turkey and Poland, and fought with distinction against Sweden in the Northern War. After the death (1730) of Peter II, he persuaded the supreme privy council to offer the throne to Anna, daughter of Ivan V, on the condition that she sign articles limiting her power. After Anna's ascension, however, she began to rule absolutely, and she had Gallitzin sentenced to death but later commuted his sentence to exile. Mikhail Mikhailovich Gallitzin, 1675–1730, commanded Russian operations in Finland (1714–21) during the Northern War with Sweden and was responsible for the Treaty of Nystad, concluded at the end of the war. As governor of Finland he was popular with the Finns. Aleksandr Mikhailovich Gallitzin, 1718–83, Russian field marshal, distinguished himself in the Seven Years War and in the Russo-Turkish Wars. Dmitri Alekseyevich Gallitzin, 1735–1803, was Russian ambassador at Paris (1765–73) and later at The Hague. He was the father of Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin and a friend of Diderot and Voltaire. Aleksandr Nikolayevich Gallitzin, 1773?–1844, a statesman of liberal tendencies, was an influential counselor of Alexander I. He was procurator of the holy synod and minister of education, but he lost his influence after the accession of Nicholas I. Nikolai Borisovich Gallitzin, 1794–1866, was an amateur cellist and a patron of Beethoven, who dedicated string quartets (Opus 127, Opus 130, and Opus 132) and his overture The Consecration of the House to him. Nikolai Dmitreyevich Gallitzin, 1856–1925, appointed head of Czar Nicholas II's council of ministers in 1916, was the last holder of that office prior to the Russian Revolution.
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