Veselovskiis

18th-century Russian diplomats; brothers.

Avraam Pavlovich Veselovskii. Born 1683; died 1780. From 1715 to 1719 he was minister resident in Amsterdam, then in Vienna, where he failed to achieve the return of Tsarevich Aleksei to Russia. Afraid of being drawn into the affair of the tsarevich, Veselovskii did not return to his native land.

Isaak Pavlovich Veselovskii. Year of birth unknown; died 1754. Veselovskii began his service in the Posol’skii prikaz (Foreign Office). In 1727 he was exiled. Under Elizaveta Petrovna he was appointed a member of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. He participated in negotiations with Sweden (1742-43) and Great Britain (1744 and later).

Fedor Pavlovich Veselovskii. Year of birth unknown; died in the 1760’s. From 1707 to 1716, Veselovskii was secretary of the embassies in Rome, London, The Hague, Copenhagen, and other cities. From 1717 he was the Russian minister resident in London. After the break in Anglo-Russian relations (1720) he remained in England. He returned to his native land upon the accession of Elizaveta Petrovna. On the instructions of I. I. Shuvalov he negotiated with Voltaire about writing a history of Peter I the Great. In 1760, Veselovskii was named curator of Moscow University, and in 1762 he retired.