Nikolay Petrovich, Count Rumyantsev

Nikolay Petrovich, Count Rumyantsev (born April 3 [April 14, New Style], 1754—died Jan. 13 [Jan. 15], 1826, St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian statesman and diplomat who was also a bibliophile and a patron of historiography and voyages of exploration. The Rumyantsev Museum in St. Petersburg, founded to house his collection of books, rare manuscripts, and maps, became the heart of the present Russian State Library, one of the world’s largest such collections. Rumyantsev was...