DER ANDREYEVICH, PRINCE , grand chancellor of Russia, was born at Gluchova on March 14, and educated at home and in the clerical academy at Kiev. He accompanied Count Rumyantsev, then the governor general of Little Russia, to the Turkish War in 1768, and was present at the en gagements of Larga and Kaluga, and at the storming of Silistria. The field mar shal recommended him to Catherine II., and she appointed him in her petition-secretary. In 178o he accompanied her on her journey through White Russia. On his return from a delicate mis sion to Copenhagen, he presented to the empress "a memorial on political affairs" which comprised the first plan of a partition of Turkey between Russia and Austria. This document was trans mitted almost word for word to Vienna as the Russian proposals. He followed this up by Epitomised Historical Information con cerning Moldavia. For these two state papers he was rewarded with the posts of "plenipotentiary for all negotiations" in the foreign office and postmaster-general. From this time he was inseparably associated with Catherine in all important diplomatic affairs, though officially he was the subordinate of the vice-chan cellor, Count Alexander Osterman. He wrote all the most im portant despatches to the Russian ministers abroad, concluded and subscribed all treaties, and performed all the functions of a secretary of state. He identified himself entirely with Catherine's political ideas, even with that of re-establishing the Greek empire under her grandson Constantine. For the foreign policy which he carried out see CATHERINE II. The empress, as usual, richly rewarded her comes with pensions and principalities. In 1786 he was promoted to the senate, and it was through him that the empress communicated her will to that august state-decoration. In 1787 he accompanied Catherine on her triumphal progress through South Russia in the capacity of minister of foreign affairs. On his return from concluding the peace of Jassy (1792) he found his confidential post of secretary of petitions by the empress's last favourite, P. A. Zubov. He complained of this "diminution of his dignity" to the empress in a private me morial in the course of 1793. Subsequently Catherine reconciled him with Zubov, and he resumed the conduct of foreign affairs.
On the death of Catherine, the emperor Paul entrusted Bez. borodko with the examination of the late empress's private papers, and shortly afterwards made him a prince of the Russian empire, with a correspondingly splendid apanage. On the retirement of Osterman he received the highest dignity in the Russian empire —that of imperial chancellor. Bezborodko was the only Russian minister who retained the favour of Paul to the last. During the last two years of his life the control of Russia's diplomacy was entirely in his hands. His programme at this period was peace with all the European powers, revolutionary France included. But the emperor's growing aversion from this pacific policy in duced the astute old minister to attempt to "seek safety in moral and physical repose." Paul, however, refused to accept his resig nation. He died at St. Petersburg on April 6, 2799. Bezborodko was a typical Catherinian, corrupt, licentious and self-seeking. But he was generous and affectionate.