Vladimir Adlerberg

Count Vladimir Fyodorovich Adlerberg I (born Eduard Ferdinand Woldemar von Adlerberg 21 November 1791 – 29 March 1884) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army and a Russian government minister. Early life He was the youngest son of a Swedish Colonel Gustav Friedrich Adlerberg (1738-1794) by his second wife, Baltic-German, Anna Charlotta Juliana von Baggehufwudt (1760-1839). Born into the Adlerberg noble family, which traces its lineage back to the Archbishop of Uppsala, Olov Svebilius whose children were ennobled with the name of Adlerberg. Life Sources are unclear whether he was born in Vyborg or Saint Petersburg, but it is certain that he entered the military in 1811 as an officer in the Lithuanian Guard Infantry Regiment, with which he campaigned in 1812 and 1814. In 1817 he became adjutant and confidant to Grand Duke Nicholas, who he supported during the Decembrist uprising on 14 December 1825 and on whose staff he served as a major general during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. He became a lieutenant general in 1833 and between 1842 and 1852 served as Director General of the Post Office. In 1843 he was promoted to General of the Infantry, then four years later he was made a count, finally becoming a minister and chancellor of the orders in 1852. He fully backed Nicholas' authoritarian policies and acted as a personal servant to the tsar, used for several secret missions and duties. He retained some influence under Alexander II of Russia but did not support his liberal reforms.