Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin is a well-known associate of the first Russian emperor Peter I. He had the title of count, since 1709 he served as chancellor of the Russian Empire (under him the position was established), from 1731 to 1734 he was the first cabinet minister. He remained in history as a skillful and dexterous courtier who became the founder of the Golovkin family. In 1720, when the colleges were established, he became president of the College of Foreign Affairs.
Origin
Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin was born in 1660. He was a cousin of Anna Leontievna Naryshkina, mother of Natalya Kirillovna, wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The hero of our article was connected with them through the noble family of Raevsky.
After the marriage of the Romanovs and the Naryshkins, many of the latter's relatives were granted boyars. His young son Gavrila, who was the second cousin of the newqueens.
Court career
Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin since 1677 was listed as a steward under Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich. That is, he served the sovereign's meal and accompanied him on trips.
Over time, he became the supreme bed-keeper. It was an old position of a courtier, his duties included monitoring the decoration, cleanliness and safety of the royal bed. As a rule, this place went to the boyars from among those close to the king.
In fact, Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin was the closest servant to the tsarevich. He went to the bathhouse with him, slept in the same room, made sure that the footstool was always in place, accompanied him during solemn exits.
When the Streltsy rebellion began, it was Golovkin who took the future emperor to the Trinity Monastery, after which he earned unconditional trust. This is the uprising of the capital's archers, which took place in 1682. It happened at the very beginning of the reign of Peter I. As a result, he had a co-ruler, elder brother Ivan, while their sister Sofya Alekseevna became the actual ruler for a certain time.
In 1689, the Tsar's workshop passed into the jurisdiction of Golovkin. This is a state body that was responsible for the attire of the king.
Relationship with Peter I
Telling a brief biography of Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin, historians often erroneously indicate that he accompanied Peter I during his first trip abroad, the so-called Great Embassy, which took place in 1697-1698. In reality thismisconception based on the error of the Dutch historian. In fact, Golovkin was not in Saardam, he did not work in the shipyards with the future emperor.
The official did not leave the territory of Moscow, a conclusion about this can be made on the basis of letters from that time. It is believed that the confusion was due to the fact that Golovkin, who was named by name in one of the extant letters in Dutch, was simply confused with Grigory Menshikov.
In 1706, after the death of General-Admiral Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin, the hero of our article began to be in charge of embassy affairs. The department was responsible for relations with foreign states, the exchange and ransom of prisoners, and controlled a number of territories located in the southeast of the country. In this position, he did not show any initiative, strictly following the instructions of the king. But he was distinguished by the fact that for many years he was in conflict with other prominent diplomats - Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, Pyotr Pavlovich Shafirov.
Participation in foreign policy
In 1707, Golovkin tried to get a friendly monarch elected in the Commonwe alth, the next year he oversaw affairs related to Ukrainian territories. For example, he supported the general judge of the Zaporizhzhya Host, who was executed in 1708 on charges of falsely denouncing Hetman Mazepa.
In 1709, the tsar congratulated Golovin after the Battle of Poltava, conferring on him the rank of chancellor. In Russia, this was the highest civil rank, which corresponded to the naval admiral general and field marshal general. As a rule, hewas awarded to Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
An associate of Peter the Great was remembered for being able to convince the tsar of the futility of the Prut campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1711. The sovereign personally led them. The Russian army was pressed to the banks of the Yass River by Turkish troops and the cavalry of the Crimean Tatars. At the initiative of Chancellor Golovkin, negotiations began, which ended with the signing of a peace agreement. In particular, Turkey took possession of the coast of the Sea of Azov and Azov, which it conquered in 1696.
In 1707, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I raised the hero of our article to the count of the Roman Empire, at that time he also served as president of embassy affairs. Two years later, a similar decree was issued in Russia, approving him in the dignity of a count in the Russian kingdom.
Tractate of Amsterdam
Golovkin oversaw foreign policy throughout the reign of Peter the Great, until his death in 1725. At the same time, it should be noted that, in general, it was carried out collegially with Shafirov, and the sovereign himself carried out the general leadership. In correspondence, as a rule, he adhered to a mentoring and instructive tone. In total, during all this time, 55 international treaties were concluded, including the Amsterdam Treaty of 1717, signed by him personally. This is an agreement between Russia, Prussia and France, signed when the outcome of the Northern War was already a foregone conclusion. In particular, following its results, France abandoned the alliance with Sweden, recognizing the terms of the Russian-Swedish peace.
After the signing of the Treaty of Nystad, he asked on behalf of the Senate to accept Peter the title of Father of the Fatherland.
In 1713, it was Count Golovkin who was also entrusted with the fight against embezzlement in the distribution of state orders. The proceedings arranged by him showed that the contracts concluded for the supply of provisions, in most cases, were concluded at inflated prices, drawn up for nominees. Thus, some of Peter's associates managed to enrich themselves illegally. Golovkin himself was among such violators.
After the Emperor's death
The years of the reign of Peter the Great marked the heyday of Golovkin's career. But even after the death of the emperor, he remained in the highest government positions. He was a member of the Supreme Privy Council, skillfully maneuvering in the intricacies of court parties. Unlike many other influential officials under Peter, he managed not only to maintain his former importance, but also to significantly increase his fortune. In addition to large estates, he owned Stone Island in St. Petersburg, a palace in the village of Konkovo near Moscow.
Under Catherine I, he achieved some success in the field of foreign policy. In particular, he managed to break the resistance of several influential "supreme leaders" in order to conclude a Russian-Austrian alliance. This happened in 1726. It became the basis of one of the longest and most productive alliances in modern history, a stable element of international politics in the 18th century, and the basis of Russian foreign policy until the Crimean War of 1853–1856.years.
The Empress herself considered Golovkin one of the most impartial and reliable people, entrusting him with her spiritual testament. He became one of the guardians of Peter II.
During the reign of Anna Ioannovna
When he died in 1730, he burned this act of state, since in the event of a childless death of the young emperor, the throne was guaranteed to the next descendants of Peter I. Golovkin, however, spoke in favor of the candidacy of Anna Ioannovna.
The new empress has not forgotten the role the count played in her accession to the throne. As a result, Golovkin became the head of the Cabinet of Ministers. Summing up the incredibly successful career of the chancellor, the Russian publicist and historian Pyotr Vladimirovich Dolgorukov wrote that, having been born the son of a poor nobleman, who had only five families of serfs in the Tula province, he reached the position of a count in two empires, by the end of his life he owned 25,000 peasants.
Death of the Count
Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin (1660–1734) died in Moscow on July 25. He was 74 years old.
A prominent Russian official was buried in the St. Nicholas Church at the Vysotsky Monastery, located in Serpukhov.
Estimates of contemporaries
It is noteworthy, as James Fitzjames Liria, a relative of the English King James II, described Golovkin. He noted that he was a venerable old man, distinguished by his modesty and caution, common sense and education, combining all the best abilities. He was attached to antiquity, loved hisfatherland, while rejecting the introduction of new customs. The Briton wrote that he was incorruptible, attached to his sovereigns. This, according to the foreign diplomat, allowed him to be in the first positions under all the rulers.
Prussian envoy Friedrich Wilhelm Berchholtz noted that Golovkin's main decoration was a huge wig, which he wore only on holidays.
