Alexander Menshikov (1673-1729) was a Russian statesman and military figure, a duke (1702), a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1705), His Serene Highness the Prince of Izhora (1707).
In his youth days, Alexander Menshikov was taken into service by Franz Lefort. It was in this period that he attracted attention of Peter I who accepted him as a camp boy. He appointed Menshikov to the Preobrazhensky Regiment of the Toy Army, and at the age of 20, he became a bombardier. Gradually he entered the position of the Tsar valet. He accompanied Peter I on the Tsar’s first trip abroad. Along with the sovereign, he practiced all crafts, worked at the Amsterdam shipyard. He also took part in the Azov campaigns (1695-1696) and the Great Embassy (1697-1698).
After the death of Peter I, Menshikov forwarded the enthronement of Catherine I and became the de facto ruler of Russia (1725-1727): the First Senator, the First member of the Supreme Privy Council (1726); under Peter II, he was the Generalissimo of naval and land forces (1727).
On September 8, 1727, he fell from political favor, was deprived of property, ranks and awards. He was under arrest from September 8, 1727, until April 4, 1728, and then was exiled with his family to Siberia.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Alexander Menshikov against the background of the Menshikov Palace (State Hermitage Museum) in St. Petersburg.
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