Alexander Balashov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Police of theRussian Empire | |
| In office 1810–1812 | |
| Monarch | Alexander I |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sergey Vyazmitinov |
| Governor General of Saint Petersburg | |
| In office 1809–1810 | |
| Preceded by | Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovskiy |
| Succeeded by | Sergey Vyazmitinov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Dmitriyevich Balashov (1770-07-13)13 July 1770 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | 8 May 1837(1837-05-08) (aged 66) |
| Alma mater | Page Corps |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Russia |
| Branch/service | Imperial Russian Army |
| Rank | General of the Infantry |
| Battles/wars | French Invasion of Russia |
Alexander Dmitriyevich Balashov[a] (Russian:Алекса́ндр Дми́триевич Балашо́в; 13 July 1770 – 8 May 1837) was a Russian general and statesman.
Balashov came from a noble family. When the boy turned 6 years, his father, aPrivy Counsellor andSenator, had him enrolled in thePreobrazhensky Regiment though it was not until November 1781 that he entered thePage Corps, matriculating in 1787 with the rank ofKammer-page. On 9 January 1791 he joined theIzmaylovsky Regiment as lieutenant. From 1795 he was alieutenant colonel in theregular army. He was promotedcolonel in April 1798 andmajor general in 1799.
On 21 January 1800 Balashov was dismissed from the military service, but in November of the same year he was appointed governor general and chief of garrisons regiment inTallinn. On 23 September 1804 he resigned for family reasons, but within three months he was appointed thechief of police inMoscow. In November 1807 he became thegeneral-krigs-komissar, on 29 March 1808 he replacedFyodor Ertell in the office of chief of police inSaint Petersburg and thereupon his career soared.
In February 1809Alexander I conferred on Balashov the rank ofadjutant general and appointed him the War Governor of Saint Petersburg. In March 1809 he was promoted tolieutenant-general. From 1 January 1810 he was a member of the newly establishedState Council. In June the same year he became theMinister of Police.
In 1812, duringNapoleon's Invasion of Russia, Balashov was present in the front-line army stationed inVilnius. AfterLa Grande Armée crossed the frontier on June 12 (Julian Calendar), Balashov was dispatched to deliver the Emperor's letter toNapoleon. He participated in the organization of the People's Militia (Народное ополчение) and was a member of the extraordinary committee choosing the commander-in-chief of the Russian army.
After thePatriotic War of 1812 Balashov was involved in important diplomatic missions. Between 1819 and 1828, he served as the war governor general ofOrel,Tula,Ryazan,Tambov andVoronezh. On 23 September 1834 Balashov resigned his office. He died on 8 May 1837 on his way toKronstadt.
| Preceded by | War Governor of Saint Petersburg 1809–1810 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Position established | Minister of Police 1810–1812 | Succeeded by |
| Governors General of Saint Petersburg Governorate(1703–1873) |      | |
|---|---|---|
| Gradonachalniks ofSaint Petersburg(1873–1914) andPetrograd(1914–1917) | ||
| Heads ofPetrograd underProvisional Government(1917) | ||
| Chairs ofPetrograd(1917-1924) and Leningrad(1924-1991) Executive Committee | ||
| Governors of Saint Petersburg(since 1991) | ||
| ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
