Until the 18th century, these two great powers at opposite ends of Europe knew basically nothing about each other. However, this did not stop some Portuguese nationals from making careers at dizzying heights in Russia.
Antonio de Vieira
In 1697, during his Grand Embassy – an extended tour of European countries – Tsar Peter the Great visited the Netherlands, where the local authorities staged a show imitating a naval battle for the distinguished guest. The Tsar enjoyed the spectacle and noted a lively ship’s boy, who deftly climbed over the rigging “like a monkey” and fastened the sails.
The young man was Antonio de Vieira from a poor Jewish family that had emigrated to Amsterdam from Portugal. The Tsar, who usually judged people not by their background or wealth, but by their abilities and strength of character, invited the boy to enter Russian service and the latter readily agreed.
Antonio de Vieira.
Public domain
Peter the Great was not wrong in his choice – in 10 years the Portuguese cabin boy rose from being just a page boy to adjutant general. In 1718, the tsar appointed him the first chief of police in St. Petersburg, responsible for maintaining order in the then capital of the Russian Empire.
Anton Manuilovich Devier, as he came to be known in Russian, went to his new job with zeal. He instituted a police force, set up gatehouses at the entrances to the city, and imposed night watches on the streets. In addition, through his efforts, a fire service was established, swamps were actively drained, and drainage systems were built. Throwing garbage into the Neva River was punished by whipping with the knot (a heavy scourge-like multiple whip, usually made of a series of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle) and merchants were flogged for selling goods of inferior quality or for exorbitant price increases.
Peter the Great was very pleased with his chief of police. “Tough and quick to carry out the Tsar’s orders, he (Devier) instilled such fear in all the inhabitants of the city that they trembled at the mere sound of his name.” wrote Holstein nobleman Friedrich von Bergholz, who spent some time in Russia.
The fall of Anton Manuilovich began soon after the death of the emperor in 1725. His Serene Highness Prince Alexander (Danilovich) Menshikov, another of Peter the Great’s close associates, played no small part in it.
Alexander Menshikov.
Public domain
The two government officials had fallen out from the moment Devier, before holding any high office, proposed to Menshikov’s sister, Anna. He was not only rudely rejected, but was taken and beaten by the servants of Alexander Danilovich. The emperor intervened and used his authority to allow the marriage to go ahead, but the animosity between his two associates, now related, only intensified. Later, neither missed an opportunity to play a dirty trick on the other.
Finally, on May 27, 1727, at the very beginning of Peter II’s then 12-year reign, which was under Menshikov’s full control, Anton Manuilovich was accused of intending to remove the monarch from power. He was stripped of his estates and noble title, subjected to whipping with a knot and banished to Siberia.
In 1741, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (Elizabeth of Russia) withdrew all charges against Devier and returned him to St. Petersburg. Three years later, he was even appointed once again as the capital’s police chief. By this time, however, the 63-year-old Devier’s health had seriously deteriorated and he died after only half a year on the job.
Gomes Freire de Andrade
At first, Gomes Freire de Andrade, son of the Portuguese envoy in Vienna, had no intention of going to distant Russia. He steadily pursued a military career in Portugal, alternating service in the infantry troops with service in the country’s navy.
Gomes Freire de Andrade.
Public domain
Nevertheless, the lack of an opportunity to distinguish himself in a major war weighed heavily on Gomes, and in 1788 he resigned with the permission of the Royal Court to the Russo-Turkish War. In the rank of second major in a chasseur regiment of the Ekaterinoslav army, he took part in the siege of the fortress of Ochakov (today a city in southern Ukraine).
Early one frosty morning on December 17, Russian forces fought their way through a blizzard and began the attack, and Freire de Andrade was one of the first to scale the citadel’s walls. By decree of Empress Catherine II, the talented Portuguese officer was decorated with the Military Order of the Cross of St. George 4th grade.
One war proved not to be enough for Gomes and in 1789 he applied for the Russian command to be sent to the Baltic Sea, where military operations against Sweden were already underway. Returning to his old ways, he easily retrained as a naval officer.
The Siege of the Ochakov Fortress.
January Suchodolski
For his excellent command of a floating battery (a slow-moving ship with powerful artillery guns for besieging coastal fortifications) during the course of the First Battle of Rochensalm (also known as the Battle of Svensksund), which took place on 24 August, was awarded the Golden Sword of Valor and was promoted to colonel. “It is gratifying to hear the praise expressed not only by his superiors, but also by his comrades, for the courage, zeal and dynamism of Commander Gomes Freire de Andrade,” the secretary of the Portuguese mission in St. Petersburg, FX de Noronha. Torres, reported to Lisbon.
In 1791, after the wars against the Turks and the Swedes were over, Freire de Andrade returned home. Gomes found himself in Russia again in 1812, but this time the visit was not a friendly one. As an officer in the Portuguese Legion, he took part in Napoleon’s Grande Armee’s full-scale incursion into the territory of the Russian Empire.
However, he did not participate in battles against his former comrades-in-arms, as his duties involved acting as military governor of the city of Disna (today Dzisna in northern Belarus). In the winter of that year, he left Russia together with the meager remnants of the French troops. This time for good.
Source: sn.dk