Boris Kurakin

Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin (; 30 July 1676, Moscow – 28 October 1727, Paris) was the third permanent Russian ambassador abroad, succeeding Andrey Matveyev in The Hague and one of the closest associates of Peter the Great. He was also the tsar's brother-in-law, being married to Xenia, daughter of Feodor Abramovich Lopukhin and sister of Eudoxia Lopukhina. Career Boris was born on 30 July 1676 to the House of Kurakin, one of the greatest Gedyminid families of Muscovy, whose members were promoted straight to the rank of okolnichy, skipping lower ranks like the stolnik. Due to the upheavals during the rule of Tsar Feodor III, he was appointed as part of the retinue of Tsar Peter the Great. The connections he made while in Muscovite court life led him to marry the sister of Eudoxia (Peter's first wife). In 1697, he participated in the Azov campaigns and then sent to Italy to learn navigation. His long and honourable diplomatic career began in 1707, when he was sent to Rome to induce the pope not to recognize Charles XII's candidate, Stanislaus Leszczynski, as king of Poland. In 1709, Boris Kurakin was appointed commander of the Semenovsky Regiment during the Battle of Poltava. From 1708 to 1712, he represented Russia at London, Hanover, and the Hague successively, and, in 1713, was the principal Russian plenipotentiary at the peace congress of Utrecht. From 1716 to 1722, he held the post of ambassador at Paris, and when, in 1722, Peter set forth on his Persian campaign, Kurakin was appointed the supervisor of all the Russian ambassadors accredited to the various European courts. In 1723, he attempted to arrange the marriage of Elizaveta Petrovna to Louis XV. He died on 28 October 1727.