Palen, Petr Alekseevich Fon Der

Palen, Petr Alekseevich Fon Der

 

Born July 17 (28), 1745; died Feb. 13 (25), 1826, in Jelgava. Russian military figure, general of the cavalry (1798), count (1799).

Palen descended from the Baltic nobility. From 1760 he served in the mounted guards and fought in the Russo-Turkish wars. He was appointed ruler of the Riga Vicegerency in 1792 and governor-general of Courland Province in 1795. Palen fell into disgrace in 1797. He was appointed military governor of St. Petersburg in 1798. He enjoyed the confidence of Paul I, was grand chancellor of the Order of Malta, and served in the ministry of foreign affairs. He was one of the chief organizers of the conspiracy against Paul I and of his assassination in March 1801. In June 1801 he was retired and sent to his Courland estate.