Boris Ivanovich Kurakin
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Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin (Бори́с Ива́нович Кура́кин) (1676 – 1727) was a Russian diplomat and Peter the Great's brother-in-law.
Boris Kurakin was one of the first apprentices of Peter I. In 1697, he was sent to Italy to learn navigation. His long and honorable diplomatic career began in 1707, when he was sent to Rome to induce the Pope not to recognize Charles XII's candidate, Stanislaus Leszczynski, as king of Poland. From 1708 to 1712, Kurakin represented Russia in London, Hanover, and the Hague successively, and, in 1713, was the principal Russian plenipotentiary at the peace congress of Utrecht (see Treaty of Utrecht). From 1716 to 1722, Kurakin held the post of ambassador in Paris, and when, in 1724, Peter set forth on his Persian campaign, Kurakin was appointed the supervisor of all the Russian ambassadors accredited to the various European courts. The father of Russian diplomacy, as he has justly been called, was remarkable throughout his career for infinite tact and insight, and a wonderfully correct appreciation of men and events. He was most useful to Russia perhaps when the Great Northern War was drawing to a close. Notably, he prevented Great Britain from declaring war against Peter's close ally, Denmark, at the crisis of the struggle. Kurakin was one of the best-educated Russians of his day, and his autobiography, carried down to 1709, is a historical document of the first importance. He intended to write a history of his own times with Peter the Great as the central figure, but got no further than the summary, entitled History of Tsar Peter Aleksievich and the People Nearest to Him.