A Swedish-Norwegian Diplomat in the Russia of Nicholas I

Abstract

Nils Palmstierna was the Swedish and Norwegian envoy in St. Petersburg between 1820 and 1845 and is perhaps the Swedish diplomat who made the greatest impact on Russian cultural history. Nils Palmstierna spoke Russian and Polish, and he appears to have become a well-known figure in the social life of the Russian capital at the time. In this article, I aim to identify the impressions Palmstierna made in St. Petersburg and in Sweden, as well as the impressions that the city and Russia made on him. Particularly interesting are his diplomatic dispatches from 1825 and 1826, in which, as an eyewitness, he was able to report on the Decembrist uprising and the funeral of Tsar Alexander I. He participated in the city’s social life and, like the Russian upper class of the time, became an avid card player. A notable event was a dinner organized by Palmstierna and where both Alexander Puškin and the grammarian Nikolaj Greč were among the invited guests.