POZZO DI BORGO, CARLO ANDREA, a celebrated Russian diplomatist, was b. at Aisle in Corsica, March 8, 1768, and was educated at the university of Pisa. Returning to Corsica, he adopted the profession of advocate, in which he soon became distinguished '' for his acuteness, ingenuity, and brilliant eloquence; and about this time an intimacy sprang up between him and the two young Bonapartes, Napoleon (I.) and Joseph. Pozzo's great ability soon gained for him the esteem of Paoli (q.v.), who made him the confidant of his plans, to the intense disgust of the Bonaparte family, who considered themselves slighted. A coolness in consequence sprang up between Pozzo and young Napoleon, which, as their paths in life diverged more and more, passed through the various grades of antagonism, dislike, distrust, and hatred, till, when the latter swayed the scepter of France, and the former became the supreme trusted adviser of Russia and Austria, it culminated in a deadly struggle for victory between the diplomatist and the warrior, to be ended only by the death of one or the destruction of his power. Pozzo represented Corsica in the French national assembly (1791-92); but his party, that which wished to unite liberty and hereditary rule, being overpowered by their "radical " oppo nents, he was compelled to return to Corsica, where he again attached himself to Paoli's party; and on the failure of that chief's plans, retired to London. Here he became the went of the French refugees; and in 1798, having now thoroughly broken with the Bonapartes, lie went to Vienna to promote an alliance of Austria and Russia against France, and accompanied the Russian army in the subsequent campaign of 1799. In 1803 he entered the Russian service as a councilor of state, from this time devoting his whole attention to diplomacy. He was at the bottom of the Russo-Austrian alliance,
which was dissolved by the battle of Austerlitz (1805); but after the treaty of Tilsit, fear ing lest Napoleon might insist upon his surrender, he retired to Austria,. from which country Napoleon, in 1809, demanded his extradition. The emperor Francis refused; but Pozzo, to save trouble, retired to England (1S10), where he stayed for some time. and then returned to Russia. He soon after induced the emperor Alexander to make certain custom-house regulations which offended Napoleon, and were a chief cause of the rupture which resulted in the campaign of 1812;' he also suggested to the emperor, and effected the seduction of Murat, Bernadotte, and Moreau from the Napoleonic cause; and after the victorious allies had driven Napoleon across the Rhine, Pozzo, at the con gress of Frankfort-ott-the-Main, drew up his famous declaration, " that the allies made war not on France, but on Napoleon." From this time his whole energies were devoted to the task of keeping Alexander inflexible with regard to Napoleon's seductive offers of accom modation; but after his old antagonist's downfall, he exerted himself with equal vigor at Paris (where he signed the treaty of 1815 as Russian ambassador) and Aix-la-Chapelle (1818) to ameliorate, as much as possible, the hard conditions imposed upon France. After the accession of the emperor Nicholas, he was, though highly esteemed, less con fided in, and accordingly accepted the post of Russian ambassador in London; but retired from public life in 1839, and settled in Paris, where he died Feb. 15. 1842.