Konstantin Benckendorff

Konstantin von Benckendorff (Russian: Константин Христофорович Бенкендорф, Konstantin Khristoforovich Benkendorf, January 31, 1785 – August 6, 1828) was a Russian general and diplomat. His brother Alexander von Benckendorff (1783-1844) was also a general and statesman, and his sister Dorothea von Lieven was a political force famous at London St. Petersburg, and Paris.

Benckendorff was born to a Baltic German family in Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia). Trained as a diplomat, he joined the army to take part in the concluding stages of the Napoleonic wars, specifically in the taking of Kassel, Fulda, Hanau, Rheims, and Soissons. After the war, Benckendorff returned to diplomacy.

Five years later, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Baden and Stuttgart. With the outbreak of the Russo-Persian War he returned to Russia, captured Echmiadzin and routed the Kurds near Erivan. He then crossed the Araks River and defeated the Persian cavalry. Benckendorff died of a fever that swept through the Russian army at the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829.

Honours and awards

• Order of St. Anna (1st class, with diamonds) - 1813
• Order of St. George (3rd Class)
• Order of St. Vladimir (2nd class)
• Order of the Red Eagle (2nd class), (Prussia)
• Order of the Sword (Sweden)
• Military Order of Max Joseph (Bavaria)
• Imperial Order of Leopold (Austria)
• Golden Sword with the inscription "For Bravery", with diamonds