Alexei Razumovsky

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky (Russian: Граф Алексе́й Григо́рьевич Разумо́вский, Ukrainian: Граф Олексій Григорович Розумовський; 1709–1771)¹ was a Ukrainian-born Russian Registered Cossack who rose to become the lover and, supposedly, morganatic spouse of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna of Russia. A member of the House of Razumovsky, he survived Elizabeth. The matter of any children they may have had together is unresolved.

Early life

Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky was born as Alexei (or Oleksiy) Rozum on 17 March 1709 (NS: 28 March) on Lemeshi, a farm in the area of Chernigov Regiment, Tsardom of Russia (now Ukraine), to the family of a registered Ukrainian Cossack, Gregory Rozum. In his youth he was a shepherd and he was taught to read and write by a rural sexton. Having a fine voice, he sang in the choir at the village church. In 1731, Colonel Vyshnevsky, one of empress Anna Ivanovna's courtiers, while passing through the village on his way back to the Russian capital from a mission to Hungary, was impressed with his vocal ability, and took him to Saint Petersburg where he joined the choir of the Russian palace chapel as Alexei Grigoriev.

Razumovsky was handsome, which, along with his vocal talents, captivated Elizabeth Petrovna, who brought him to the imperial court in 1732. With the deportation of Elizabeth's then favourite, Alexis Shubin, Razumovsky became her favorite. After losing his voice, he was accepted in the post of the court bandura player, and then the manager of one of Elizabeth's mansions. He received the rank of the hof-quartermeister; and actually supervised Elizabeth's court. During the period of Anna Leopoldovna's reign he was made a Kamer-Junker.²