MENZIES, PAUL [SSNE 4015]

Surname
MENZIES
First name
PAUL
Title/rank
MAJOR GENERAL
Nationality
SCOT
Region
PITFODELS, ABERDEENSHIRE
Social status
NOBILITY
Religion
CATHOLIC

Text source

Paul Menzies was the 4th son of Sir Gilbert Menzies of Pitfodels and born in Maryculter in 1637. He studied at Douai. In 1661 he left Polish service with Patrick Gordon and enlisted in the Tsar's army. In 1672-3 Menzies was Russian envoy to Germany, Austria, and Italy, revealing great diplomatic skill. He advanced to colonel, and became the first foreign tutor to the young Tsarevich, the future Peter the Great. He took part in the Chigirin and Crimean campaigns of 1677 and 1678. In 1683 he undertook diplomatic negotiations with the Swedes and in 1684, with a papal deligation. By 1688 he was serving in Golitsyn's second Christian campaign in the Crimea and in 1689 he was made a major-general. He was a staunch Roman Catholic, and was thus involved in securing permission to open the first Catholic church in Muscovy. He died in Moscow in 1694.

W. Barnhill and P. Dukes, 'North-east Scots in Muscovy in the seventeenth century' in Northern Scotland, vol. 1, no. 1, 1972, pp.49-63; D. Fedosov, The Caledonian Connection (Aberdeen, 1996); Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), pp.102-103.

Service record

POLAND, POLISH ARMY
Arrived 1660-01-01, as OFFICER
Departed 1660-12-31, as OFFICER
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
RUSSIA, RUSSIAN ARMY
Arrived 1661-01-01, as COLONEL
Departed 1670-12-31, as MAJOR GENERAL
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
RUSSIA, SCOTLAND
Arrived 1671-01-01
Departed 1672-04-01
Capacity DIPLOMACY, purpose DIPLOMACY
RUSSIA, GERMANY
Arrived 1672-12-31
Departed 1673-01-01
Capacity DIPLOMACY, purpose DIPLOMACY
RUSSIA, ROME
Arrived 1673-01-01
Departed 1674-12-31
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY
RUSSIA, RUSSIAN ARMY
Arrived 1674-12-31, as COLONEL
Departed 1683-12-31, as COLONEL
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
RUSSIA, SWEDEN
Arrived 1683-01-01
Departed 1683-12-31
Capacity DIPLOMAT, purpose DIPLOMACY
RUSSIA, MOSCOW
Arrived 1684-01-01
Departed 1684-12-31
Capacity DIPLOMAT, purpose DIPLOMACY
RUSSIA, RUSSIAN ARMY
Arrived 1685-01-01, as COLONEL
Departed 1694-12-31, as MAJOR GENERAL
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY