Andrew Vinius

Who was Andrew Vinius?

Andrew Vinius was a Russian statesman and a friend of Peter the Great. He was a member of Peter's close-knit group of friends who organized themselves into the Jolly Company and The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters.

Vinius' father was a Dutchman and son of a merchant. In 1632, during the time of Michael of Russia, he had moved to Russia to found a water-powered ironworks in Tula, Russia. There he married a Russian, Orthodox woman, and the two raised Andrew to speak both Russian and Dutch; Andrew also learned Latin, which he later taught to Peter the Great. In his later years, Vinius wrote a book on geography and learned Roman mythology.

Vinius, who lived in the German Suburb with the most of the other foreigners of Moscow, served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then headed the Post Office, becoming the first Russian Postmaster.

Vinius often corresponded with Peter, on matters ranging from war games and military strategy to their drunken parties as part of the Drunken Synod. Vinius was also the one who, after the Azov campaigns, arranged the parade into Moscow under a pagan arch that bewildered many Muscovites.