{{Short description|Russian statesman and diplomat (1832–1908)}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = 29 January 1832 | birth_place = [[St Petersburg]], Russia | death_date = {{death date and age|1908|7|3|1832|1|29|df=yes}} | death_place = | occupation = {{hlist|Diplomat|statesman|politician|legislator}} | name = | image = General Nikolay Ignatev.jpg | caption = Ignatyev in Beijing, {{circa}} 1900 | children = 8, including [[Pavel Ignatieff|Pavel]] }}
Count '''Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev'''{{efn|Also historically spelled as ''Nicolai Ignatieff''.}} ({{langx|ru|Никола́й Па́влович Игна́тьев}}; {{OldStyleDate|29 January|1832|17 January}} – {{OldStyleDate|3 July|1908|20 June}}) was a Russian statesman and diplomat who is best known for his policy of aggressive [[expansionism]] as the [[List of ambassadors of Russia to China|Russian ambassador to China]] and [[List of ambassadors of Russia to Turkey|the Ottoman Empire]]. He was also the [[List of Ministers of Interior of Russia|minister of the interior]] from 1881 to 1882, where he promoted ultraconservative and Slavic-nationalist policies.<ref> {{cite book |author= George Ignatieff |title= The Making of a Peacemonger: The Memoirs of George Ignatieff |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qvTlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT25 |year= 1985|publisher= University of Toronto Press|pages= 25–32 |isbn= 9781442638594 }}</ref>
In dealing with [[Qing dynasty|China]], he secured a large slice of Chinese territory by the multi-lateral [[Treaty of Peking]] in 1860.<ref>John L. Evans, ''Russian Expansion on the Amur, 1848-1860: the Push to the Pacific'' (Edwin Mellen Press, 1999).</ref> As the Russian ambassador to the [[Ottoman Empire]] from 1864 to 1877, he worked to stir up [[Pan-Slavism|pan-Slavic]] feeling and nationalism against the Ottomans. He encouraged his government to declare [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|war on Turkey]] in 1877, and after the decisive Russian victory, he negotiated the [[Treaty of San Stefano]] in 1878. It heralded greatly strengthened Russian influence in the [[Balkans]]. However, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and [[Austria-Hungary]] intervened and forced the retraction of the treaty.
==Early life and military career== [[File:N.P.Ignatiev by Kustodiev.jpg|thumb|N. P. Ignatyev, by [[Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev|Boris Kustodiev]] ([[State Tretyakov Gallery]], Moscow)]] Nikolay Ignatyev was born in [[St Petersburg]], to Maria Ivanovna Maltsova and Captain Pavel Nikolayevich Ignatyev. His father had been taken into favour by [[Tsar]] [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]], owing to his fidelity on the occasion of the [[Decembrist revolt]] in 1825, and [[Grand Duke]] Alexander (later Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]]) stood sponsor at the boy's [[baptism]]. After graduating from the [[Corps of Pages]], at the age of seventeen he became an officer of the [[Russian Imperial Guard]], serving with the [[His Majesty's Hussar Life Guards Regiment|Hussar Life Guards Regiment]]. Ignatyev was then appointed to the General Staff and become adjutant to the general commanding in the Estonian military district. He was promoted to major in 1856. During Ignatyev's subsequent career he was at odds with Count [[Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov|Pyotr Shuvalov]]: another Corps of Pages alumnus.
==Diplomatic career== {{Unreferenced section|date=April 2025}} [[File:Count Nikolay Ignatiev.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Count Ignatyev in the 1860s]]{{See also|Amur Annexation|Great Game}} Ignatyev's diplomatic career began at the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Congress of Paris]] in 1856, after the [[Crimean War]], where he participated in the negotiations regarding the demarcation of the Russo-[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] frontier on the lower [[Danube]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He was then appointed as [[military attaché]] at the Russian Embassy in London. This assignment was a short one. According to the memoirs "Fifty Years of Service" written by his nephew Alexei Alexeyevich Count Ignatiev, Nikolay Ignatyev "inadvertently" pocketed a newly developed cartridge while inspecting the ordnance works of the [[British Army]]. In order to avoid diplomatic embarrassment he returned to Russia.
Two years later he was sent with a small escort on a dangerous mission to the [[Central Asia]]n [[Sovereign state|states]] of [[Khanate of Khiva|Khiva]] and [[Emirate of Bukhara|Bukhara]]. The [[Khan (title)|khan]] of Khiva laid a plan for detaining him as a hostage, but he eluded the danger and returned safely, after concluding a treaty of friendship with the [[emir]] of Bukhara.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Ignatyev's next diplomatic exploit was in the [[Far East]], as [[plenipotentiary]] to the [[noble court|court]] of [[Beijing|Peking]]. When the [[Qing dynasty|Chinese]] government was terrified by the advance of the [[British Empire|Anglo]]-[[Second French Empire|French]] [[Battle of Taku Forts (1860)|expedition of 1860]] and the burning of the [[Old Summer Palace]] in the [[Second Opium War]], he worked on their fears so dexterously that, in the [[Convention of Peking]], he obtained for Russia [[Outer Manchuria]] — not only the left bank of the [[Amur]] river, the original object of the mission, but also a large extent of territory and seacoast south of that river that would become the Russian "Maritime Province," the region of [[Primorsky Krai]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
==The Balkans== Ignatyev's success was supposed to prove his capacity for dealing with "[[Oriental]]s" and paved his way to the post of ambassador at [[Constantinople]], which he occupied from 1864 to 1877. Here his chief aim was to liberate the Christian nationalities in general and the [[Bulgarians]] in particular from Ottoman domination and bring them under the influence of Russia (''See also [[Bulgarian Exarchate]]'' and ''[[Constantinople Conference]]''). His restless activity in this field, mostly of a semiofficial and secret character, culminated in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878]], at the close of which he negotiated with the Ottoman [[Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiaries]] the [[Treaty of San Stefano]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} The terms of this treaty were aimed at creating an enlarged "Big Bulgaria", foreseen by Austria-Hungary and Britain as being under Russian domination. Ignatyev's "brilliant but reckless" initiatives proved to be a major diplomatic miscalculation for Russia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Henry|last=Kissinger|pages=153–154|title=Diplomacy|year=1994 |isbn=0-671-51099-1}}</ref>
As the war which he had done so much to bring about did not eventually secure for Russia advantages commensurate with the sacrifices involved, he fell into disfavour with [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in part due to efforts of Count [[Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov|Pyotr Shuvalov]], and retired from active service.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Soon thereafter the Treaty of San Stefano was revised through the [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878]], signed on Russia's behalf by Count Pyotr Shuvalov.
Although Count Ignatyev remained widely popular in [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and was even considered by some for the [[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Bulgarian throne]], the throne was eventually granted to Prince [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg]], his personal enemy.
==Later life== In the meantime Count Ignatyev served as [[Nizhny Novgorod Governorate|Governor of Nizhny Novgorod]], where he was credited with the expansion of the [[Makaryev Fair]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} Shortly after the accession of [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] in 1881, he was appointed [[Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire|Minister of the Interior]] on the understanding that he would carry out a [[nationalism|nationalist]], reactionary policy.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In regards to the constitutional movement, he had personally told Alexander III that "the revolutionary movement could easily be crushed."<ref>{{cite web | title=The Constitutional Movement in Russia | url=http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=142 | author=Peter Kropotkin | publisher=The Nineteenth Century | website=revoltlib.com | date=1905-01-01 }}</ref> After a period of intense, violent, destructive [[antisemitic]] rioting, known as [[pogrom]]s, which some accused Ignatyev of fomenting, he issued the infamous "[[May Laws]]" in May 1882. Other sources suggest he in fact followed a government policy (not always enforced by local authorities) of strict suppression of rioters and protection of the Jewish population:
<blockquote> Nikolai Ignatiev, installed as Minister of the Interior in May 1881, decided on a policy of firm repression, although it was made difficult by the unforeseeable character of the outbreaks and his limited forces. Nevertheless, he ordered his men to fire upon rioters. In the towns of Borisov and [[Nizhyn|Nezhin]] this resulted in fatalities. In [[Kyiv|Kiev]], 1400 arrests were made. Many in the government felt this was still inadequate. The police chief of Kiev wrote apologetically to the Tsar that the local military tribunals had been too lenient with the rioters; Alexander III wrote in the margin: "This is inexcusable!"<ref>{{cite journal |first1=F. Roger |last1=Devlin |title=Solzhenitsyn on the Jews and Tsarist Russia; Book Review : Deux siècles ensemble Volume 1: Juifs et Russes avant la révolution Paris: Fayard, 2002 |journal =The Occidental Quarterly |volume= 8 |issue= 3 |date= Fall 2008 |pages= 70–71 |url= https://www.toqonline.com/archives/v8n3/TOQv8n3Devlin.pdf |accessdate= 23 March 2026}}</ref> </blockquote>
He retired from office in June 1882. Explanations include that he was suspected of dishonesty or [[extortion]], or that the Tsar feared he intended to introduce [[constitution]]al government by reviving the [[Zemsky Sobor]] ([[parliament]]). He had been referred to as "Lord Liar", and [[Simon Sebag Montefiore]] has suggested he may have suffered from [[Munchausen Syndrome]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sebag Montefiore |first=Simon |date=2016 |title=The Romanovs |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |page=464 }}</ref> When [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]], as [[Secretary of State for India]], met Ignatyev he recalled that "he [Ignatyev] had the reputation, in a heavily contested field, of being the most accomplished liar in the [[Bosphorus]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Westmacott |first=Peter |title=They Call it Diplomacy |publisher=Head of Zeus |year=2022 |isbn=9781800240971 |location=London |pages=256 |language=en}}</ref> After that time he exercised no important influence in public affairs. He died in 1908.
==Honours==
* [[Graf Ignatiev Street]], a busy trade street in [[Sofia]], the capital of Bulgaria, is named after Nikolay Ignatiev.
[[File:Sofia, Graf Ignatiev street.jpg|thumb|Graf Ignatiev Street]]
* The elite [[Count Ignatiev Primary School]], one of the oldest in Sofia, carries his name.
[[File:Graf Ignatiev 2009 godina.jpg|thumb|Count Ignatiev Primary School]]
* The Bulgarian villages of [[Graf Ignatievo]] in [[Plovdiv Province]] and [[Ignatievo]] in [[Varna Province]] are named in his honour.
[[File:Ignatiev.jpg|thumb|upright|An Ignatiev monument in [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]]]]
* [[Mount Ignatiev]] on [[Graham Land]] in [[Antarctica]] is also named after him.
==Personal life== Count Nikolay Ignatiev was married to Yekaterina Leonidovna Galitzina (1842–1917), daughter of Prince Leonid Mikhailovich Galitzine and Anna Matveyevna Tolstaïa.
Their eight children included Ignatiev's son, [[Count]] [[Pavel Ignatieff|Pavel Ignatiev]], who served as the last [[Minister of Education]] under Tsar [[Nicholas II]] and later moved to [[Canada]]. His grandson, [[George Ignatieff]], was born in Russia and became a [[Canadians|Canadian]] diplomat, and his great-grandson, [[Michael Ignatieff]], is an academic and was the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] from 2008 to 2011.
Other sons of Count Ignatiev included: - General Nikolai Nikolaevich Ignatiev (1872–1962), commander of the [[Preobrazhensky Regiment]] of the Imperial Guard; - Alexey Nikolaevich Ignatiev (1874–1948), last governor of [[Kiev]] under Tsarist rule.
==In fiction== [[File:Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev Vanity Fair 14 April 1877.jpg|thumb|Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev portrayed by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] in Vanity Fair 14 April 1877]] In the novel ''[[Flashman at the Charge]]'' (1973) by [[George MacDonald Fraser]], Ignatyev appears as a Russian military staff officer, who in 1854 presents a proposal to the Tsar of a Russian invasion of British-held India. He reappears in the 1975 novel ''[[Flashman in the Great Game]]'' as a fomenter of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=George MacDonald |title=Flashman in the great game : from the Flashman Papers 1856-8 |date=1976 |publisher=Pan |isbn=0-330-24801-4 |location=London |oclc=9094080 |quote=Ellenborough cleared his throat and fixed his boozy spaniel eyes on me. 'Count Ignatieff',' says he, 'has made two clandestine visits to India in the past year. Our politicals first had word of him last autumn at Ghuznee; he came over the Khyber disguised as an Afridi horse-coper, to Peshawar. There we lost him — as you might expect, one disguised man among so many natives —'}}</ref> In both novels he is a villain: Fraser portrays him as intelligent and refined, but also ruthless, cruel, savage and dangerous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=George MacDonald |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/752553129 |title=Flashman at the charge ... Edited and arranged by George MacDonald Fraser|date=1974 |isbn=9780214668418|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins|location=London |oclc=752553129 |quote=He looked tough, and immensely self-assured; it was in his glance, in the abrupt way he moved...He was the kind who knew exactly what was what, where everything was, and precisely who was who - especially himself.....But I'd just seen him at work, and knew the kind of soulless, animal cruelty behind the suave mask. I know my villains, and this Captain Count Ignatieff was a bad one; you could feel the savage strength of the man like an electric wave.}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{EB1911|wstitle=Ignatiev, Nicholas Pavlovich, Count|volume=14|page=292}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|author=Ignatieff. George |title=The Making of a Peacemonger: The Memoirs of George Ignatieff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvTlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT25|year=1985|publisher=University of Toronto Press|pages=25–32|isbn=9781442638594}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev}}
{{S-start}} {{Succession box|before=[[Pavel Pavlovich Gagarin]] |title=[[Russian Council of Ministers|Chairman of the Committee of Ministers]] |years=9 March 1872 – 1 January 1880 |after=[[Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuyev]]}} {{Succession box|before=[[Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov]] |title=[[List of Ministers of Interior of Imperial Russia|Minister of Interior]] |years=1881 – June 1882 |after=[[Dmitriy Tolstoy]]}} {{S-end}}
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