Baron (from 1742) Ivan Antonovich Cherkasov (6 February 1692[1] — 30 October 1758[2]) was a Russian statesman, privy councillor, cabinet secretary to Peter the Great, Catherine I and Elizabeth Petrovna.

As an office servant of the monarch, Ivan Cherkasov accompanied Peter on his trips around Russia, fulfilling the duties of quartermaster.

Subsequently, despite the fall of Menshikov, Cherkasov’s position did not improve: by the decision of the Supreme Privy Council he was sent as chief inspector to Arkhangelsk, and soon after that he was involved in the case of Princess Agrafena Volkonskaya and other members of the Bestuzhevsky Circle.

[4] Elizaveta Petrovna, who favored her father's comrades-in-arms, called Cherkasov from exile to St. Petersburg, where on 10 December 1741 Ivan Antonovich was granted as active state councillor and appointed at the court of Her Majesty "for the administration of indoor writing affairs".

Years after the abolition of the Supreme Privy Council, the new autocrat restored the personal imperial office that existed under Peter I — the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, where Cherkasov was entrusted with the business, and he began to play a greater role at the court, occupying a position not only of the secretary’s office, but also a close friend of the empress.

Ivan Antonovich was literally showered with the blessings of the Empress: on 6 May 1742, the occasion of the coronation of Elizaveta Petrovna, he was elevated to baronial dignity, in 1744 he was granted villages in the Dorogobuzh Uyezd of the Smolensk Governorate, and in 1745 Cherkasov was promoted to privy councillors.