Aleksandr Menshikov

Aleksandr Menshikov was born in 1673 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the son of a Huguenot baker who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He moved to Moscow in 1686 and became a pastry seller. He caught the attention of Franz Lefort, a Swiss-born general and favourite of Peter the Great, who took him into his service and introduced him to the tsar. He soon became Peter's close friend and confidant, accompanying him on his travels and reforms. He also proved to be a talented military commander and diplomat, rising to the rank of general admiral and prince of the Russian Empire. He participated in many wars and campaigns, such as the Azov campaigns, the Great Northern War, the Prut campaign, and the Persian campaign. He also helped to reform the Russian navy and army, creating the first naval academy and the first regular infantry regiments. He was a patron of arts and sciences, founding the Academy of Sciences and the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. He amassed a huge fortune and built a lavish palace in St. Petersburg, where he hosted many parties and receptions. He was also notorious for his corruption and nepotism, appointing his relatives and cronies to high positions and acquiring vast estates and serfs. He was one of the most powerful and influential men in the empire, but he also made many enemies among the nobility and the clergy, who resented his arrogance and greed. After the death of Peter the Great in 1725, he supported the succession of Catherine I, Peter's widow, and became the de facto ruler of Russia. He also arranged the marriage of his daughter Maria to Alexei, Peter's grandson and heir. However, his ambition and tyranny provoked a conspiracy against him, led by the Dolgorukov family and the Supreme Privy Council. He was arrested in 1727, shortly after the death of Catherine I, and exiled to Siberia with his family. He died in 1729 in Beryozovo, a remote village on the Ob River. He is remembered as one of the most prominent and controversial figures of the Petrine era.