{{Short description|Russian Field Marshal and General Admiral}} {{Fnh|Grigoryevich|Chernyshyov|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} [[Image:Chernyshov Ivan Grigoryevich.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Tchernyshov by Dmitry Levitzky]] '''Count Ivan Grigoryevich Chernyshyov''' ({{langx|ru|Граф Иван Григорьевич Чернышёв}}; 1726–1797) was an Imperial Russian Field Marshal and General Admiral, prominent during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great.
==Life and career==
He started his career serving under his more illustrious brother Zakhar Chernyshyov at the Russian missions in Copenhagen (1741) and Berlin (1742–45). In 1749 he was commanded to resign from diplomatic service and marry Countess Elizabeth Yefimovskaya, a cousin of Empress Elizabeth.
All three Chernyshov brothers backed Catherine in the coup that placed her on the Russian throne in 1762, after the assassination of her husband, Peter III.<ref>Dashkova, Ekaterina and FitzLyon, Kyril. ''The memoirs of Princess Dashkova,'' page 304. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995,</ref> They were handsomely rewarded for their loyalty.<ref>Dashkova, Ekaterina and FitzLyon, Kyril. ''The memoirs of Princess Dashkova,'' page 304. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995,</ref>
Catherine II first appointed Ivan Chernyshov to serve in the Governing Senate. In 1768, Chernyshov was awarded the role of Chief Plenipotentiary in London.<ref>Solovyev, Sergei and Hill, William H. ''The Rule of Catherine the Great: The Legislative Commission (1767-1768) and Foreign Affairs (1766-1768),'' page 191. Academic International Press, 1986</ref><ref>Hayden, Peter. ''Russian Parks and Gardens,'' page 166. Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2006</ref> On his return to Russia two years later, he was made Vice-President of the Admiralty; a position he retained until 1796.<ref>Longley, David. ''The Longman Companion to Imperial Russia, 1689-1917,'' page 37. Longman, 2000</ref> Being on friendly terms with Nikita Panin, the tutor and closest adviser to the future Emperor Paul, he was promoted to the rank of Navy Field Marshal upon the latter's ascension to the throne.<ref>Wieczynski, Joseph L. ''The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History,'' page 18. Academic International Press, 1976</ref> By that time, Chernyshov's health was giving out and he had been living abroad for five years.
==Family==
Two of the Field Marshal’s grandchildren were tied to the Decembrist plot to overthrow Tsar Nicholas I in 1825.<ref>Sutherland, Christine. ''The Princess of Siberia: The Story of Maria Volkonsky and the Decembrist Exiles'' New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984</ref> His grandson, Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshov, was an active participant in the uprising.<ref>Murrell, Kathleen Berton. ''Discovering the Moscow Countryside,'' page 335. I.B.Tauris, 2001</ref> Zakhar’s sister, Alexandra ("Alexandrine") Chernysheva, was married to the author of the Decembrist constitution, Nikita Muravyov.<ref>Murrell, Kathleen Berton. ''Discovering the Moscow Countryside,'' page 335. I.B.Tauris, 2001</ref><ref>Sutherland, Christine. ''The Princess of Siberia: The Story of Maria Volkonsky and the Decembrist Exiles'' New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984</ref>
Chernyshov's niece, Natalya Petrovna Galitzine, better known at the Russian court as "Princesse Moustache", was romanticized by Pushkin under the name of The Queen of Spades in his eponymous story from 1834.<ref>Binyon, T.J. ''Pushkin: A Biography,'' page 699. New York: Harper Collins, 2002</ref>
== Footnotes == thumb|right|Aleksandrino, Count Chernyshov's estate {{Reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chernyshyov, Ivan}} Category:1726 births Category:1797 deaths Category:Counts of the Russian Empire Category:Field marshals of the Russian Empire Category:Imperial Russian Navy admirals Category:18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire Category:Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Category:Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)