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Birthday anniversary of count Hilarion I. Vorontsov-Dashkov
May 27 (June 8) 1837, in St. Petersburg, in the family of the chief master of ceremonies of the Imperial Court was born Hilarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov, count, Russian statesman and military leader, entrepreneur, General of Cavalry (1890); a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire (1881), Chief state horse breeding, the Minister of the Imperial Court and the Chancellor of the Chapter of Russian Imperial and Royal Orders (1881-1897), viceroy of the Caucasus (1905).
Having received a good education at home, in 1855, Vorontsov-Dashkov entered the Moscow University. However, having studied only a few months, he went to military service, he entered as a volunteer in the Life Guards Horse Regiment and in 1858 was promoted to the rank of cornet. Vorontsov-Dashkov participated in hostilities in the Caucasus: in August 1859 he took part in the assault of Imam Shamil’s headquarters in the village of Gunib in Daghestan. In 1860 the count was made adjutant to the Commander of the Caucasian Army, Prince A. I. Bariatinsky, and two years later became commander of his personal escort.
In 1865, in the rank of colonel, Vorontsov-Dashkov was sent to serve as chief of staff to General D. I. Romanovsky, in Turkestan. In 1866, the count took part in the campaigns of Bukhara, commanded the assault columns in the capture of fortresses of Uratube and Dzhuzak; was promoted to major general and appointed assistant military governor of the Turkestan Region. However, after the appointment of K. P. von Kaufman Turkestan Governor-General, Vorontsov-Dashkov left Central Asia and returned to St. Petersburg.
From 1867 to 1874 he was commander of the Life Guard Hussar Regiment, and then - Chief of Staff of the Guards Corps under the command of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (the future Emperor Alexander III), and at the same time he was a member of the Committee for arrangement and formation of the troops and the Council of the General Directorate of the State Horse Breeding. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78, the count actually commanded the Guards Corps and served as chief of cavalry of the Ruschuksky squad, and beginning October 1878 had led for three years the 2nd Guards Infantry Division.
After accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander III in June 1881, Hilarion was appointed chief of His Majesty's Guards and chief superintendent of the state breeding. This position was granted to the count owing to his previous work as vice-president of the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Racing community and the president of the St. Petersburg Imperial Trotter society. In August 1881 he became Minister of the Imperial Court and the Chancellor of the Chapter of Russian Imperial and Royal Orders. Among other assignments, he also was one of the founders and active members of the "Holy Warriors" - a secret society, designed to protect the Russian Emperor.
In 1893 Vorontsov-Dashkov was appointed chairman of the Committee for considering nominations for the awards. In May 1897 he was dismissed from the posts of chief superintendent and minister and transferred to the State Council of the Russian Empire. On his initiative, the specific capital was turned to the acquisition of landed property. He also participated in the preparation of the "Institution of the royal family" (1896) and the work of the Special Council for the nobility (1897). Instead of the institute of rural chiefs, whose introduction he regarded as detrimental to the financial system of Zemstvo institutions, the count proposed to create an institution of county officers, which would unite in its hands all the functions of government. Vorontsov-Dashkov opposed the restriction of land redistribution, believing it unnecessary to restrict the right of peasants to withdraw from the community, and generally offered to abolish the peasant commune.
In 1905 Vorontsov-Dashkov was made viceroy of the Caucasus, commander of the troops of the Caucasus Military District and the troop ataman of the Caucasian Cossack troops. On his initiative in 1905 was canceled the orders to close the Armenian schools, adopted in 1896, and the sequestration of property of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as held the provincial and regional meetings for the drafting of the introduction of zemstvo in the Caucasus. During the revolutionary movement in the Caucasus in 1905-1906, he took a number of harsh measures to suppress it.
In 1904-1905, Hilarion was the chairman of the Russian Red Cross Society, and participated in other community and charitable organizations, donated significant funds to establish scholarships, grants, for the improvement of the Crimea.
With the outbreak of World War I, Vorontsov-Dashkov was appointed commander of the Caucasian Army, but almost took no part in the development of operations and lead of hostilities, having passed the command of the army to General A. Z. Myshlaevsky, and after his dismissal, to General N. N. Yudenich. The jurisdiction of the Vorontsov- Dashkov was focused on the questions of the rear of the Russian army. In August (September) 1915, he was under the Emperor Nicholas II.
Vorontsov-Dashkov was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th (1867) and 3rd (1915) degrees, of St. Alexander Nevsky (1883), St. Vladimir, 1st degree (1894), St Andrew (1896), French Legion of Honor (1883).
Hilarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov died on 15 (28) January 1916, in Alupka, and was buried in the family estate near the Annunciation Church in the village of Novotomnikovo, Shatsky County (today - Morshansk district, Tambov Region).
Lit.: Волхонский М. А. Первая русская революция и восстановление Наместничества на Кавказе // Кавказский сборник. Т. 3 (35). М., 2006; Волхонский М. А., Муханов В. М. Воронцов-Дашков Илларион Иванович // Большая Российская энциклопедия. Т. 5. М., 2006. С. 726; Воронцов-Дашков И. И. Всеподданнейшая записка по управлению Кавказским краем. [СПб.], 1907; Его же. Всеподданнейший отчёт за пятилетие управления Кавказом. СПб., 1910; Его же. Всеподданнейший отчёт за восемь лет управления Кавказом. СПб., 1913; Исмаил-Заде Д. И. И. И. Воронцов-Дашков. Кавказский наместник. М., 2005; Его же. И. И. Воронцов-Дашков — администратор, реформатор. СПб., 2008; Записка министра двора и уделов графа Воронцова-Дашкова об уничтожении крестьянской общины и возражение на неё министра внутренних дел И. Н. Дурново. Женева, 1900.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Граф И. И. Воронцов-Дашков и генерал-лейтенант Р. А. Фадеев в экипаже: [фотография]. Баку, 1905;