Woronzow
Spelling
"Vorontsov" is the correct Russian spelling, and
the most common spelling for the wider family.
Pronounced "Voron-tsov".
Other spellings seen are
"Voronzov" and
"Vorontzov".
But this branch, who lived in England, was normally spelt "Woronzow" in England.
Count Semyon Vorontsov, Russian Ambassador to England.
Portrait
by
Sir Thomas Lawrence, c.1805-06.
At
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
From
Wikimedia Commons.
Count Semyon Vorontsov,
or Count Simon Woronzow,
born 1744.
He came from
one of the great aristocratic families of Russia,
the
Vorontsov family.
Russian diplomat in England 1784-1796.
Russian Ambassador to England 1796-1806.
His daughter married the
11th Earl of Pembroke (the British Ambassador to Vienna) in 1808.
He continued to live in London.
He
died 1832, age 88 yrs.
He was
bur in the Pembroke family vault in Marylebone, London.
He
had issue:
- Prince Mikhail Vorontsov,
or Prince Michael Woronzow,
born 1782, St. Petersburg.
Fought for Russians in
Napoleon's retreat from Moscow 1812 to 1813.
He recovered Napoleon's despatch case as a trophy.
(This is now in the Earl of Pembroke's house, Wilton House.)
Russia was an ally of Britain against France at this time.
Mikhail was appointed commander of the Russian forces in
Wellington's
allied army in 1815.
Governor-general of Novorossia (New Russia)
and Bessarabia
1823.
He set up his court at
Odessa,
which he helped develop.
He built
Vorontsov's Palace,
Odessa,
1827-30.
He
built
Vorontsov's Palace
(or Alupka Palace),
Alupka, near Yalta,
Crimea, Ukraine,
1828-46.
Governor-general (Viceroy) of the Caucasus 1844.
Elevated to rank of Prince 1845.
Incredibly,
his nephew
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea
was British Secretary of State for War 1845-46
and again 1852-55,
during the
Crimean War
1853-56,
when Britain was allied with France against Russia.
Incredible to have two such important men on either side
so closely related.
He
died 1856, Odessa, age 74 yrs.
He was bur Odessa Cathedral.
There is an 1863 statue
of him in Sobor Square beside Odessa Cathedral.
See map
and 360 view.
- Catherine Woronzow,
or "Ekaterina Semenovna Vorontsova",
born 24 Oct 1783, St. Petersburg.
"The Russian Countess".
Her husband called her "Catishka".
She mar 25 Jan 1808
to George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke and had issue.
They mar at the Greek Chapel, Marylebone, London.
Charles Greville
meets the widowed Lady Pembroke in 1829.
He says about her father (still alive):
"Old Woronzow was Ambassador here many years, has lived here ever since, and never learnt a word of English."
Diary entry of 3 Dec 1829.
From
p.250
of
vol.1
of
A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV,
Charles Greville, 3rd edn, 1875.
Woronzow Road, St. John's Wood, London.
From 1868 map.
This is named after Count Simon Woronzow, Russian Ambassador to England,
who apparently lived here before it was built up.
It is near Regent's Park.
See
modern map.
Prince Mikhail Vorontsov.
Portrait by
George Dawe
1825.
At
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
From wikimedia.org.
- Vorontsov family
- Vorontsov Museum by Mikhail Mikeshin
- In 1919, after centuries of being
prominent in Russian history,
the Vorontsov family was forced to leave Russia
as
Soviet rule
began.
- Odessa Cathedral
- Odessa Cathedral
was looted by the Soviets 1919.
The remains of Prince Vorontsov and his wife were reburied in a suburban cemetery.
- In the 1930s the Soviets under Stalin dynamited the Cathedral.
- Odessa Cathedral was re-built between 1999 and 2003.
The tomb of Prince Vorontsov was restored.
- The statue of Prince Vorontsov managed to survive the Soviet era.
- Vorontsov Palace, Alupka
- Winston Churchill stayed
at Vorontsov Palace, Alupka,
during the Yalta negotiations
(between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin)
in 1945.
- Vorontsov Palace is now a
museum and art gallery.
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