Grigorii Grigorevich Orlov

Born Oct. 6 (17), 1734; died Apr. 13 (24), 1783, in Moscow. Russian military and state figure; count (1762). Brother of A. G. Orlov.

Orlov graduated from the land forces School for the Nobility. He fought in the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63 and served in the artillery in St. Petersburg. From a liaison with Ekaterina Alekseevna (the future empress Catherine II), he had a son, Aleksei (born in April 1762), who became the progenitor of the counts Bobrinskii. Orlov actively participated in the coup d’etat of 1762, which raised Catherine II to the throne. He became a chamberlain at the court after the coup. He served as quartermaster general of the Russian Army from 1763 to 1775 and directed the suppression of the Plague Revolt in Moscow in 1771. In 1772 he headed the Russian delegation in the negotiations with Turkey at Focşani. Orlov initiated the establishment of the Free Economic Society in 1765 and was its first president. In 1772 he lost his former influence at the court and retired in 1775.