In January 1820, Emperor Alexander I appointed to govern the capital of the new governor, who had the honor of rebuilding Moscow, burnt by the Great Fire. The viceroy held the post for a quarter of a century, was remembered by Muscovites as a patriot and a brilliant organizer. His name was Dmitry Golitsyn.
short biography
The future governor was born on October 29, 1771 in a family belonging to the Moscow branch of the Golitsyn princes. Father and maternal grandfather are diplomats. The confidant of Peter I and the first governor of the capital, the boyar Tikhon Streshnev, was the boy’s great-grandfather.
Childhood and youth
At the age of three years, Dmitry was recorded in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, where after three years he received the rank of sergeant. Together with his brother at age 11, he entered the oldest educational institution in Europe, University of Strasbourg. He was there for four years. At the age of 14 he entered the Horse Guards Regiment with the rank of Wahmister. A year later, upgraded to a cornet, in two - to a second lieutenant. In 1788, Boris and Dmitry Golitsyn were enrolled in the Paris Military School, in which Napoleon Bonaparte was educated. The brothers spent their holidays traveling around Europe.
Military service
In 1789, the young men returned to their homeland, and Dmitry began to serve in the Horse Regiment. Moving up the career ladder, by the age of 23 he becomes a senior officer.
The character of the young man was manifested in military operations in Poland (1794). The first highest award, the Order of St. George the Victorious, Dmitry Golitsyn received for the capture of the suburbs of Warsaw under the leadership of A.V. Suvorov. Six years later, with the rank of lieutenant general, he becomes the chief of the thirteenth Dragoon regiment of Count Minich and remains with him for nine years. For the courage shown in the wars against Napoleon, Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn is awarded the second Order of St. George the Victorious.
Since the end of 1806, a third of the cavalry troops, and then the entire Russian cavalry, has been under his command. After the defeat in the battle of Friedland, the prince was entrusted with the command of the rearguard (covering forces).
In 1808, Dmitry Golitsyn participated in the Finnish War, after which he commanded the Vasa Corps, which was stationed in Finland. In 1809, the General Staff decided to transfer the Vasky Corps through the Kvarken Strait, which divides the Gulf of Botany. The purpose of the transition is the city of Umeå in northern Sweden. The leadership of the corps was entrusted to M. B. Barclay de Tolly. The offended prince wrote a letter of resignation.
At the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Golitsyn returned to the army. M.I. Kutuzov places him at the head of the Cuirassier Corps, consisting of two divisions. The prince showed himself positively in the Battle of Borodino. When moving away from Moscow, he was entrusted with the leadership of one of the two retreat columns. In the battle of Krasny captured 35 guns and 7 thousand people.
In the campaign of 1813-1814 across Europe, he traveled to Paris at the head of the cavalry reserve corps. At the end of the foreign campaign he was promoted to general.
In peacetime, the prince commanded the First Reserve Cavalry Corps, and later - the Second Infantry Corps.
Governor General
Eight years after the burning of Moscow, D. N. Golitsyn became its Governor General. Twenty-four years of governorship became a significant milestone in the development of the city.
The merits of the prince include:
- arrangement of the boulevard on the embankment of the Moscow River;
- expansion of the Alexander Garden near the western wall of the Kremlin;
- erection of buildings of the Bolshoi and Maly theaters;
- construction of the Moskvoretsky bridge.
In honor of the victory over Napoleon, the cathedral of the Russian Church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, was laid; the Triumphal Arch was erected at the Tverskaya Zastava (Mayakovka).
The cooperation of Golitsyn and Osip Bove allowed to create a new look of the capital. During the period of the governor-general of the prince, the government allocated finances for paving streets with cobblestones, running water pipes, and building roads. The desire to ennoble Moscow led to the creation of a new type of shopping arcade: the passage of the Bolshoi Theater and the Merchant Exchange.
Construction of hospitals and educational institutions
The honor of creating the New Catherine Hospital (city number 24) belongs to D.N. Golitsyn. The prince bought the building of the English Club, which was burnt out in the Great Fire and was long empty, and the architect Osip Bove restored the estate by building buildings and a church. Front chambers were replaced by wards and operating rooms. The hospital served all classes: poor people got the opportunity for free treatment.
The first city hospital (Pirogovka), also built according to the design of Osip Bove, was the first hospital created with city funds. Like Novo-Ekaterininskaya, it provided free help to the poor.
Almshouses (Nabilkovskaya, Maroseyskaya), orphanages (Aleksandrovsky, Nikolaevsky), shelters, the house of industriousness, philistine school are the fruits of the work of Dmitry Vladimirovich.
Awards
Nicholas I appreciated Prince Golitsyn, showed generosity to him. For merits to the Fatherland, Dmitry Vladimirovich received the title of His Grace and the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Member of the Council since 1821, honorary member of the Academy of Sciences since 1822, in 1831 entered the retinue of the emperor.
His Grace Prince D.N. Golitsyn died in 1843 for treatment in France. He held the post of governor-general until his death. He was buried in the family tomb of the princes Golitsyn in the Donskoy Monastery. The list of 25 Russian and foreign awards of Golitsyn includes several higher orders.