Jacob Bruce

Who was Jacob Bruce?

Jacob Daniel Bruce was a Russian statesman, military leader and scientist of self-claimed Scottish descent, one of the associates of Peter the Great. According to his own record, his ancestors had lived in Russia since 1649. He was the brother of Robert Bruce, the first military governor of Saint-Petersburg.

He participated in the Crimean and Azov campaigns of Peter the Great against the Ottoman Empire during the Russo–Turkish War. During the Great Northern War Bruce was appointed major-general of artillery. He was involved in the revival of Russian artillery, which had been lost to the Swedish forces along with its commander, Prince Alexander of Imeretia at Narva in 1700. He was commander of artillery in the Battle of Poltava, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. In 1721, he became one of the first Russian counts.

Jacob Bruce was one of the best educated people in Russia at the time, a naturalist and astronomer. In 1702, he founded the first Russian observatory; it was located in Moscow in the upper story of the Sukharev Tower.