Viktor Kochubey

Count (subsequently Prince) Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey (Russian: Ви́ктор Па́влович Кочубе́й) (1768 – 1834) was a Russian statesman and a close aide of Alexander I of Russia. Of Ukrainian birth, he was a great-grandson of Vasily Kochubey. He took part in the Privy Committee that outlined Government reform of Alexander I. He served in London and Paris embassies as counsel, then Ambassador to Turkey. In 1798 he was appointed to the board of College of Foreign Affairs and was created Count next year, but then Paul I of Russia exiled him. At the start of the reign of Alexander I of Russia, he joined the liberal Privy Committee that outlined Government reform of Alexander I. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1801–1802 and also Minister of the Interior until 1812, then in 1819–1825. Since 1827 he was the President of the State Council and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. In 1834, he was granted the rank of Chancellor of the Russian Empire.

An 1809 portrait by François Gérard