Filipp Filippovich Vigel was a Russian noble of Swedish extraction who served in the foreign ministry, presided over the department of foreign religions and governed the town of Kerch. He was one of the most famous Russian memoirists, a member of the Arzamas society, the author of the well-known "Notes", which provide rich material on the history of Russian life and customs of the first half of the XIX century.
Background
Ethnicity:
On his father's side, Philippe Wegel was a Swedish Estonian; on his mother's side, he came from a Russian noble family of Lebedevs.
Philip Wegel was born on November 23, 1786 in Kalinino village, Penza region, Russian Federation in the family of a general. On his father's side, Philippe Wegel was a Swedish Estonian; on his mother's side, he came from a Russian noble family of Lebedevs.
Education
Phillippe Vigel spent his childhood in Kiev, he was brought up in a French boarding school in Moscow, and then in the family of a relative - Prince S.F. Golitsyn in the Kiev province.
Career
He served in the Archives of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs in Moscow (1800-1802). Official of various departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Internal Affairs and Finance (1802-1823). One of the founders of the literary circle "Arzamas" (1815), where in 1817 he became acquainted with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Vice-governor of Bessarabia (1824-1826), Kerch town governor (1826-1828). Director of the Department of Spiritual Affairs of Foreign Confessions (1829-1840). His collection of engraved portraits and drawings was transferred to the library of Moscow University (1853).
The author of "Notes" written after 1840 (a separate edition - Moscow, 1864-1865), which described the visits to Voronezh, where Vigel’s brother served (1801, 1804). Vigel mentions the performance "Hatred of people and remorse" performed by the "free troupe" (late 1801). A complete edition of the Notes has not been published so far (the last is Moscow, 2003), visits to Voronezh are reflected in the 1892 edition (in 1804) and in 1928 (in 1801).
Vigel’s political views, especially in his later years, can be described as loyal to the emperor.
Membership
One of the founders of the Arzamas Society.
Connections
Vigel was born into the family of a general. His father was a secret adviser, as well as the governor of the Penza province. Mother came from the family of the first Penza governor Ivan Lebedev.