These Frenchmen nobly served Russia!

Louis Caravacq, a native of Marseille, served as an artist at the court of Tsar Peter the Great. He painted portraits and battle compositions, decorated the tsar's residences and organized the first nude painting school in Russia.

A descendant of the famous Cardinal Richelieu, Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu found himself in the Russian Empire after the French Revolution in 1789. There, the aristocrat fought against the Turks and Napoleon, served as governor-general of Novorossiya (Northern Black Sea region), as well as the mayor of Odessa, making a huge contribution to the prosperity and well-being of the city.

Meanwhile, the Great French Revolution also forced Emmanuel Guignard, Count de Saint-Pree, to leave his homeland. Joining the Russian army, he took part in dozens of battles against Napoleon's army and, for his bravery, was recognized with numerous awards. The aristocrat was not destined to see the fall of Napoleonic France - on March 13, 1814, at Reims, he was seriously wounded and died soon thereafter.

French architect Henri Louis Auguste Ricard de Montferrand’s lifework was the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral - the largest Orthodox church in St. Petersburg. Of the 41 years that the Frenchman lived in Russia, he devoted 40 years to the creation of this monumental structure.

Finally, during World War II, a few French pilots fought against the Germans on the territory of the USSR as part of the Normandie-Niemen air regiment. The most effective of them was a native of Paris, Hero of the Soviet Union Marcel Albert. He accounted for 23 air victories, 15 of which were won with his group.

Credits: Russia Beyond (Photo: Thomas Lawrence; George Dawe; Eugène Pluchart)

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