Earl Mordovinov Castle

Count Nikolay Semyonovich Mordvinov was one of the most reputable Russian political thinkers of Alexander I's reign. He is associated with the reforms of Mikhail Speransky, who he advised on the ways to improve the performance of the national economy.

Mordvinov was an admiral's son and started his career in the Navy at an early age. He started his service in 1766 in the rank of midshipman. An Anglophile like his peer Chichagov, he spent three years – from 1774 to 1777 – serving on English ships in British North America. In 1783, he accompanied Chichagov during his expedition into the Mediterranean. However, he felt ill at ease with Potemkin's and De Ribas's management of the Imperial Russian Navy and retired in the late 1780s.