born , Jan. 29, 1832, St. Petersburg, Russia
died July 3, 1908, Krupodernitsy estate, Kiev province
Russian politician and diplomat under Tsar Alexander II .
A career diplomat, he concluded a treaty with China in 1860 that allowed Russia to construct the city of Vladivostok and become a major power in the northern Pacific. Appointed head of the foreign ministry's Asian department, he gained jurisdiction over Russia's relations with the Ottoman Empire as well, and in 1864 he became ambassador to Constantinople. An advocate of Pan-Slavism , he encouraged Serbia and Bulgaria in a revolt that proved unsuccessful. In 1878, after Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War , he negotiated the favourable Treaty of San Stefano . The western European powers replaced it with the Treaty of Berlin, far less favourable to Russia, and he was forced to resign.