Dmitry Golitsyn

Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn (; 29 October 177127 March 1844, Paris) was an Imperial Russian cavalry general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars, statesman and military writer. Biography He was born in the Golitsyn family of Knyaz Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn (1731–1798) and his wife Natalie Chernyshova, nicknamed La Princesse Moustache, or the Queen of Spades, who was portrayed as a central character in Pushkin's story (and Tchaikovsky's opera) of the same name. She was known as a learned woman, a gambler, a good dancer and served Catherine the Great. His siblings were Boris Vladimirovitch Golitsyn, Ekaterina Vladimirovna Apraksina and Sophie Stroganov. In 1774 Golitsyn was enrolled in the Leib Guard Preobrazhensky regiment and received his first rank of sergeant in 1777. He continued his education in Strasbourg in 1782. He travelled in Germany and France with the family. In 1786 the Golitsyns settled in Paris, where Dmitry and his brother Boris studied military science at the École Militaire. On 14 July 1789 Dmitry was somehow involved in the Storming of the Bastille. He wrote his mother about the activities of the National Assembly (France). In 1791 the Golitsyns returned to Imperial Russia and he entered the cavalry. During the Kościuszko Uprising he fought under Aleksandr Suvorov and on 24 October 1794 distinguished himself at the Battle of Praga and earned his first Order of St. George of the 4th degree. During the reign of Emperor Paul I he was quickly promoted, first to colonel (on 2 May 1797), then to Major General (on 5 August 1798), and finally to Lieutenant General (on 21 August 1800). He meanwhile received the Order of St. Anne 4th class, and also became a member of the Knights Hospitaller. He also married Tatiana Vasilyevna Vasilchikova in 1800.