Description:

Catherine II of Russia Czarina

Catherine the Great DS promoting Dutch Engineer Who later designed her Northern Catharine Canal

 

1p printed DS in Russian Cyrillic lettering signed by Empress Catherine II (1729-1796) as "Catherine" in the lower right corner. With four other handwritten inscriptions including one verso. The vellum sheet measuring 16" x 10.875" overall is decorated by a Neo-Classical frieze border depicting soldiers, armaments, vegetal motifs, and rustic vignettes. A beautifully preserved embossed paper seal is located in the lower left corner. Expected light soiling and minor paper folds. Three of the four seal star points partly folded, else near fine.

 

Empress Catherine II conferred the rank of engineer Lieutenant Colonel on Jan Pieter van Suchtelen (1751-1836) in the summer of 1786.

 

Translated from Russian in part:

 

"Divinely Chosen We, Catherine II Empress and Autocrat of all Russias, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Catherine the Great’s insignia, let it be known to everyone that it is our desire to accept Peter van Suchtelen, who served in the Dutch service as an engineer Lieutenant Colonel with fine service, into the Russian service as an engineer Lieutenant Colonel, which rank is equivalent to a military Colonel in seniority.  We so decree on July 4, 1783 and command all of our faithful subjects to recognize and respect the aforementioned Peter van Suchtelen as our engineer Lieutenant Colonel.  And we hope that in this position he will act honestly and diligently.  Let it be known that we signed this document with our own hand.

Outskirts of St. Petersburg Summer 1786

 Before sealing, inspected by Kolya, International Division #2914."

Dutch military engineer Jan Pieter van Suchtelen joined Catherine's service when the monarch asked him to design and construct a canal that would unite the White Sea and Caspian Sea via the Kama River Basin. The canal would link the Northern Dvina River with the Kama River (by way of tributaries North Keltma, Vychegda, Dzhurich, and South Keltma), thus providing a continuous north-south waterway between Scandinavia and the Balkans. Van Suchtelen estimated that the 13-mile-long canal would cost about 400,000 rubles and take 3-4 years to complete. As it happened, construction of the canal was interrupted during the Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792). Construction resumed under a different engineer in 1803 and wrapped up in 1822, but the canal was abandoned in 1838.

 

In recognition of van Suchtelen's new status as chief engineer of the Northern Catharine Canal, Catherine the Great doubled his salary to 3,000 rubles, granted him a cash bonus and travel expenses, and invested him with the Order of St. Vladimir.

 

Jan Pieter van Suchtelen came from a family of military engineers and mapmakers. He served as an officer in the Dutch army between 1768-1783. After his work on the Northern Catharine Canal, Van Suchtelen was appointed Director of the Institute of Mapmaking in Russia; he held this post, and similar ones, during the early 1800s. Van Suchtelen later served as a military advisor and diplomat.

 

Catherine II controlled her diverse subjects and vast territories through a large, complex, and fully funded military. One of Catherine's primary objectives was territorial gains. During her 34-year-long reign, Catherine expanded the Russian Empire to the southwest into areas formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire, annexed Crimea, and partitioned Poland. Connecting her massive empire through improved roadways, bridges, and canals was of tantamount importance.

 

 In 1786, the same year she signed this document, Catherine the Great implemented her Statute of National Education, which provided free primary and secondary schooling to non-serf status children. Catherine also standardized teacher training and school textbooks.

 

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