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Concept
Burkhard Christoph von Münnich
Summary
Burkhard Christoph Graf von Münnich (Христофо́р Анто́нович Миних, tr. ; – ) was a German-born army officer who became a field marshal and political figure in the Russian Empire. He carried out major reforms in the Russian Army and founded several elite military formations during the reign of Empress Anna of Russia ( 1730 - 1740). As a statesman, he is regarded as the founder of Russian philhellenism. Like his father, Münnich was an engineer and a specialist in hydrotechnology. He had the rank of count of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
Münnich was born at Neuenhuntorf in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in the military family of Anton Günther Mönnich (since 1688 von Münnich, an east-Frisian nobility). Besides the knowledge of the native Low German language he also learned the Latin and French languages. He entered the French service at 17. Thence he transferred successively to the armies of Hesse-Darmstadt and of Saxony where he earned the rank of a colonel and later Major General.
In 1721, he was invited by the Russian ambassador in Warsaw Alexey Grigoryevich Dolgorukov for engineering projects of the newly acquired northern territories. Around that time his father has died. Upon arrival to Russia he presented Peter I plans for the fortification of Kronstadt fortress, which pleasantly surprised the Russian emperor, and the Annenkrone fortification in Vyborg. He was promoted to the Lieutenant General in 1722. Among his first undertakings was the completion of the costly Ladoga Canal, which had been under construction for more than a decade. For his engineering and military-engineering achievements he was promoted to the rank of the General-in-Chief, in 1726 by Catherine I, and awarded the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky. In 1727, Münnich was appointed the Governor of Saint Petersburg city while the Imperial court was temporarily transferred to Moscow by Peter II. From 1728 to 1734, he was a General-Governor of Ingria, Karelia, and Finland as well as was awarded the title of a count.
Official source
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