Background
He was born in the Sangaste Castle, Livonia (present-day Valga County, Estonia) into a Baltic German noble family.
He was born in the Sangaste Castle, Livonia (present-day Valga County, Estonia) into a Baltic German noble family.
He studied at the University of Dorpat and joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1812.
He was also the last Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland (1863–1874). He was crucial in crushing the Polish January Uprising and carrying out repressions and russification policies afterwards. Polish insurgents carried out an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him on 19 September 1863.
He died in Saint St. Petersburg.