Biography
Knyazhnin was born into the family of the vice-governor of Pskov. From 1750 he studied in the gymnasium at the Academy in St Petersburg. In 1755 he was a cadet of the Justice Board; and in 1757 translator at the Construction Office. In 1762 he was in military service as a secretary of Kirill Razumovsky.
In 1773 he was sentenced to death for spending 6,000 roubles of fiscal money, however the sentence was reduced: he was deprived of the rank of officer and his nobility. In 1777 he obtained the forgiveness of the Empress Catherine II, and received back his nobility and officer rank. He was employed by Ivan Betskoy as his secretary. Soon he left into the resignation. He taught Russian Literature at the Military School. He was a member of Russian Academy from 1783.
The son of Knyazhnin in a biographic essay about this father wrote that he died of "catarrhal fever". This seems to be more accurate than another version, propagated by Pushkin, which claims that Knyazhnin died from torture at the hands of the secret police.
Read more about this topic: Yakov Knyazhnin
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