Balashov, Aleksandr Dmitrievich

Born July 13 (24), 1770, in Moscow; died May 8 (20), 1837, in Kronstadt. Russian statesman. Adjutant general (1809).

Between 1804 and 1807, Balashov was chief of police in Moscow and, between 1808 and 1809, in St. Petersburg. From 1809 to 1810 he was military governor of St. Petersburg. He was minister of police between 1810 and 1819 and became a member of the state council in 1810. At the start of the War of 1812, Balashov was instructed by Alexander I to negotiate with Napoleon I about the cessation of hostilities; an account of the negotiations is contained in Balashov’s memoirs which appeared in Istoricheskii vestnik in May 1883. He participated in the foreign military campaigns of 1813–14. From 1819 to 1828, Balashov was governor-general of five central provinces.