BIRON, ERNST JOHANN

(1690–1772), count, duke of Courland, regent of Russia, imperial favorite, alleged kingpin of the dark era of foreign dominance, or Bironovshchina, a term invented long afterwards.

Of Baltic German origins, Ernst Johann Biron (von Bühren or Bieren) rose through court service to Anna Ivanovna in her capacity as the widowed duchess of Courland after 1711 and then as empress of Russia (1730–1740). One of three sons and five daughters, Biron gained status by marriage (c. 1723) to Benigna Gotlib Trott von Treyden (1703–1782) and by court service at Mitau. The couple had two sons, Peter (1724–1800) and Karl (1728–1801), and one daughter, Hedvig (1727–1796). Upon Anna Ivanovna's accession in 1730, Biron became grand chamberlain and count of the Holy Roman Empire, his wife became lady-in-waiting, and his brothers Karl (1684–1746) and Gustav (1700–1746) entered the Russian army. Although elected Duke of Courland in 1737, Biron rarely visited it, instead supervising the court stables and a training school in St. Petersburg. He was reputed to address people like horses, and horses like people. He also patronized visiting theatrical troupes.

Biron allegedly dominated Empress Anna emotionally. She took up horseback riding to spend more time with him, whereas he supposedly tried to marry a son into the ruling family. When the empress collapsed on October 16, 1740, and died twelve days later, Biron reluctantly became regent for infant Ivan VI. As regent he tried to conciliate the Brunswick heirs (Anna Leopoldovna and her family) with an annual allowance of 200,000 rubles and an additional 50,000 to Princess Yelizaveta Petrovna. On the night of October 18/19, 1740, Biron and his wife were roughly arrested by troops under Field Marshal Burkhard von Münnich and imprisoned for interrogation. The accusations against Biron included insulting the Brunswick family, defrauding the treasury, and offending officials. Eventually he admitted insulting the Brunswick family but denied threatening to bring Peter of Holstein, another Romanov heir, to Russia. Sentenced on April 25, 1741, with explicit parallel to the usurper Boris Godunov, Biron avoided death by quartering, and the entire family was exiled to Siberia. They all arrived at Pelym in November, but were partially pardoned in 1742 by Empress Elizabeth, who allowed their transfer to Yaroslavl. Peter III permitted Biron's return to court, and Catherine II restored him in Courland, visiting him at Mitau in 1764. Aged and ill, Biron ceded the duchy to his son Peter in 1769; he died on December 18, 1772. Biron's career exemplifies some vagaries behind the rise and fall of aristocratic families enmeshed in the dynastic politics of early modern Russia. He is now seen as more victim than victimizer.

See also: anna ivanovna

bibliography

Alexander, John T. (1990). "Favourites, Favouritism, and Female Rule in Russia, 1725–1796." In Russia in the Age of the Enlightenment, ed. Roger Bartlett and Janet M. Hartley. London: Macmillan.

Curtiss, Mina. (1974). A Forgotten Empress: Anna Ivanovna and Her Era, 1730–1740. New York: Frederick Ungar.

John T. Alexander