Alexei Razumovsky

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-born Cossack, Gregory Rozum.

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.

[2] Razumovsky played an important role in the palace revolution of 25–26 November 1741 (NS 6–7 December), which brought about Elizabeth Petrovna's accession to the throne.

During Elizabeth Petrovna's reign he kept an exclusive position at court (though in his last years he was rivaled by the younger Ivan Shuvalov); in 1744, the empress visited his native village and met members of his family.

She died in 1810 and was buried in the Romanov family crypt; another (Elizabeth Tarakanova) was arrested in Livorno, Tuscany by Aleksei Grigoryevich Orlov and returned to Russia in February 1775.

The legend of her being drowned during the floods of 1777 served as the plot for a painting by artist Konstantin Flavitsky (1864, Tretyakov Gallery).