Vorontsov-Dashkov, Illarion

Vorontsov-Dashkov, Illarion Ivanovich 

Bora May 27 (June 8), 1837, in St. Petersburg; died Jan. 15 (28), 1916, in Alupka. Count; Russian statesman; lieutenant general.

Vorontsov-Dashkov was a close personal friend of Alexander III. After the assassination of Alexander II in March 1881 he was appointed chief of the tsar’s guard. He was one of the organizers of the Sviashchennaia Druzhina (Holy Host). From August 1881 until 1897 he was minister of the imperial court and of the appanages. In 1897 he became a member of the State Council. Vorontsov-Dashkov was chairman of the Red Cross in the years 1904-05 and viceroy of the Caucasus from 1905 to 1915. Vorontsov-Dashkov’s activity in the Caucasus was aimed at suppressing the revolutionary movement. He flirted with the local bourgeoisie by implementing bourgeois-oriented economic reforms. Upon Vorontsov-Dashkov’s initiative the compulsory redemption of temporarily obligated peasants was carried out in the Caucasus in 1913.