Burnashov Stephan

Stephan Burnashov (October 8, 1743 – March 31, 1824) was a Russian statesman. He was a military engineer by profession. He distinguished himself during the Russo-Ottoman War. In 1783, he was appointed as the representative of the Russian government at the courts of King Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti and King Solomon I of Imereti. Additionally, he led the battalions sent to Georgia according to the terms of the Treaty of Georgievsk (1783). In 1787, he was withdrawn from Georgia along with the Russian army. For his merits in the Russo-Ottoman War (1787–1791), he was awarded the rank of Major General. From 1791, he served as the governor of Kursk Province ("Namestnichestvo"), and from 1798, he became a senator. He resigned from his position and lived on his estate in the village of Spaskoje in Kursk Province until his death. In 1793–94, he published several works in which he described the political and economic conditions of Georgia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and the Caucasian mountain peoples. His cartographic works are also significant. Burnashov's reports to the Russian government are an important source for the history of Georgia in the 1780s (part of them have been published).

Literary works: Картина Грузии или описание политического состояния царств Карталинского и Кахетинского. Тфл., 1896.

Literature: Бурнашев С. Н., Новые материалы для жизнеописания и деятельности С. Д. Бурнашева, бывшего в Грузии с 1783 по 1787 гг., СПб., 1901; в Грузии с 1783 по 1787 гг., СПб., 1901; Полиевктов М. А., Европейские путешественники XIII–XVIII вв. По Кавказу, Тфл., 1935.

V. Macharadze