Alexander Polovtsov

Who was Alexander Polovtsov?

Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov was a Russian statesman, historian and Maecenas, the founder of the Russian Historian Society.

Alexander was born to a medium noble family. His father had his family estate in the Luga uyezd of Saint Petersburg gubernia and served as a government bureaucrat working for the Governing Senate and later for the Ministry for the State Property. Alexander's mother came from a noble family of Tatischevs; historian Sergey Tatischev was Polovtsov's cousin.

Polovtsov has graduated from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence and started his work in the 1st department of the Governing Senate. In 1861 Polovtsov marry Nadezhda Mikhaylovna Yunina, the only foster daughter of the first Chairman of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, Alexander von Stieglitz. According to popular believes Nadezhda was an illegitimate daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia and an unknown lady-in-waiting K. The marriage brought Polovtsov not only one million rubles of dowry and eventually 16-17 millions of rubles as Stieglitz's inheritance but also the help of the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia who was helping his alleged niece.