# Alexander Balashov

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Russian general and statesman (1770–1837)

For the speedway rider, see [Alexander Balashov (speedway rider)](/source/Alexander_Balashov_(speedway_rider)).

Alexander Balashov Portrait by George Dawe from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, c. 1819–1822 Minister of Police of the Russian 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](/source/Russian_language): Алекса́ндр Дми́триевич Балашо́в; 13 July 1770 – 8 May 1837) was a Russian general and statesman.

## Biography

Balashov came from a noble family. When the boy turned 6 years, his father, a [Privy Counsellor](/source/Table_of_Ranks) and [Senator](/source/Senator), had him enrolled in the [Preobrazhensky Regiment](/source/Preobrazhensky_Regiment) though it was not until November 1781 that he entered the [Page Corps](/source/Page_Corps), matriculating in 1787 with the rank of [Kammer-page](/source/Page_of_Honour). On 9 January 1791 he joined the [Izmaylovsky Regiment](/source/Izmaylovsky_Regiment) as lieutenant. From 1795 he was a [lieutenant colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel) in the [regular army](/source/Regular_army). He was promoted [colonel](/source/Colonel) in April 1798 and [major general](/source/Major_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 in [Tallinn](/source/Tallinn). On 23 September 1804 he resigned for family reasons, but within three months he was appointed the [chief of police](/source/Chief_of_police) in [Moscow](/source/Moscow). In November 1807 he became the *general-krigs-komissar*, on 29 March 1808 he replaced [Fyodor Ertell](/source/Fyodor_Ertell) in the office of chief of police in [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg) and thereupon his career soared.

In February 1809 [Alexander I](/source/Alexander_I_of_Russia) conferred on Balashov the rank of [adjutant general](/source/Adjutant_general) and appointed him the War Governor of Saint Petersburg. In March 1809 he was promoted to [lieutenant-general](/source/Lieutenant-general). From 1 January 1810 he was a member of the newly established [State Council](/source/State_Council_of_Imperial_Russia). In June the same year he became the [Minister of Police](/source/Ministry_of_Police_of_Imperial_Russia).

In 1812, during [Napoleon's Invasion of Russia](/source/Napoleon's_Invasion_of_Russia), Balashov was present in the front-line army stationed in [Vilnius](/source/Vilnius). After [La Grande Armée](/source/La_Grande_Arm%C3%A9e) crossed the frontier on June 12 ([Julian Calendar](/source/Julian_Calendar)), Balashov was dispatched to deliver the Emperor's letter to [Napoleon](/source/Napoleon). He participated in the organization of the People's Militia ([Народное ополчение](/source/Narodnoe_Opolcheniye)) and was a member of the extraordinary committee choosing the commander-in-chief of the Russian army.

After the [Patriotic War of 1812](/source/Patriotic_War_of_1812) Balashov was involved in important diplomatic missions. Between 1819 and 1828, he served as the war governor general of [Orel](/source/Oryol), [Tula](/source/Tula%2C_Russia), [Ryazan](/source/Ryazan), [Tambov](/source/Tambov) and [Voronezh](/source/Voronezh). On 23 September 1834 Balashov resigned his office. He died on 8 May 1837 on his way to [Kronstadt](/source/Kronstadt).

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Sometimes spelled **Aleksandr Dmitrievich Balashyov** or **Balashev**[1] (see also [romanization of Russian](/source/Romanization_of_Russian)).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAkulshin2023_1-0)** [Akulshin 2023](#CITEREFAkulshin2023).

- *This article includes content derived from the [Russian Biographical Dictionary](/source/Russian_Biographical_Dictionary), 1896–1918.*

- Akulshin, P. V. (2023). ["БАЛАШЁВ АЛЕКСАНДР ДМИТРИЕВИЧ"](https://old.bigenc.ru/domestic_history/text/1847198). *[Great Russian Encyclopedia](/source/Great_Russian_Encyclopedia)*. Retrieved 4 October 2025.

- (in Russian) [Dictionary of Russian Generals](http://www.museum.ru/1812/Persons/RUSS/ra_b08.html)

Preceded by Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovskiy War Governor of Saint Petersburg 1809–1810 Succeeded by Sergey Vyazmitinov Preceded by Position established Minister of Police 1810–1812 Succeeded by Sergey Vyazmitinov

v t e Governors of Saint Petersburg Governors General of Saint Petersburg Governorate (1703–1873) Menshikov Apraksin Sapieha von Münnich Golitsyn Bruce Arkharov von Buxhoeveden von der Pahlen M. Golenishchev-Kutuzov Kamensky Tolstoy Vyazmitinov Lobanov-Rostovsky Balashov Miloradovich P. Golenishchev-Kutuzov Essen Kavelin Khrapovitsky Shulgin Ignatyev Suvorov Levashov Gradonachalniks of Saint Petersburg (1873–1914) and Petrograd (1914–1917) F. Trepov Zurov Romeyko-Gurko Loris-Melikov Baranov Gresser von Wahl Kleigels Fullon D. Trepov Dedyulin von der Launitz Drachevsky Balk Heads of Petrograd under Provisional Government (1917) Yurevich Rogovsky Schreider Kishkin Chairs of Petrograd (1917-1924) and Leningrad (1924-1991) Executive Committee Trotsky Zinoviev Kirov Zhdanov Kuznetsov Popkov Andrianov Kozlov Alexeyev Ignatov Zamchevsky Spiridonov Rodionov Popov Aristov Solovyov Dumachyov Gerasimov Gidaspov Shelkanov Governors of Saint Petersburg (since 1991) Sobchak1 Yakovlev Beglov Matviyenko Poltavchenko Beglov Italics indicate acting officeholders 1The office was called Mayor of Saint Petersburg

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Balashov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Balashov) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Balashov?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.