Stepan Fedorovich Apraksin
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Stepan Fedorovich, Count Apraksin, (1702 - 1758), a relative of Fyodor M. Apraksin, had a military career in the Russian army.
Apraksin fought under Münnich against the Turks and rose rapidly to the rank of General. At the Russian court he became one of the keenest opponents of both the pro-Prussian party and of Count Lestoq.
In 1757 Apraksin, as Field Marshal, took up the overall command of the army invading Prussia and won the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf on 30 August 1757. But hearing news that Empress Elizabeth had suffered a severe relapse in health, Apraksin returned to Russia in spite of his victory, intending to support the heir to the throne (the future Peter III of Russia, who represented the interests of Frederick II of Prussia) in the event of the Empress's death. But as Elizabeth recovered, Bestuzhev-Ryumin fell from power and suffered banishment, and Apraksin came under the suspicion of having received bribes from the Prussian king. Put on trial, he died in prison in August 1758 before the military tribunal had reached a decision.
Bantysh-Kamenskii wrote a biography of Apraksin in the Biographies of the Russian Field Marshals (4 volumes), Saint Petersburg, 1840-1841.
Original text adapted from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon