Jean Armand de Lestocq

Count Jean Armand de L'Estocq German: Johann Hermann Lestocq; Russian: Иван Иванович Лесток; 29 April 1692, in Lüneburg – 12 June 1767, in Saint Petersburg) was a French adventurer who wielded immense influence on the foreign policy of Russia during the early reign of Empress Elizabeth.

Upon the Emperor's death, Catherine summoned her favourite physician to the Russian capital, where his light-hearted character made him friends with her daughter Elizaveta Petrovna, whom he reportedly cured of syphilis.

It was he who suggested Sophie Augusta Fredericka of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Catherine the Great), a Prussian protégé, as a bride for the heir apparent.

Three years later Lestocq, who continued to intrigue against Bestuzhev, was accused of plotting to dethrone Elizaveta in favor of the Prussophile heir to the throne.

He and his aide de camp, Alexander Chappuzeau, nephew of his brother Johann Ludwig von L'Estocq,[1] were both arrested.