COUNT SAVA VLADISLAVIĆ’S EURASIAN HORIZONS
COUNT SAVA VLADISLAVIĆ’S EURASIAN HORIZONS

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the diplomatic, political, trade and cultural activity of the well-known, Dubrovnik-born Herzegovinian, count Sava Vladislavić. It provides a short review of his trading activities in Venice, Spain and France, and then in greater detail sheds light on his business and his political-intelligence work in Constantinople at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century for the state interests of Tsarist Russia. Gifted and educated, tactful, with good knowledge of Western and Eastern languages, Vladislavić gained excellent insight into the circumstances of the Ottoman Empire. From 1705 to 1738 he lived mostly in Russia, becoming one of the most accomplished Russian diplomats and one of the richest persons in Tsarist Russia. During his stay in Venice in 1716–1722, he engaged in various activities (trading, negotiations with Pope Clement XI about a concordat), of which the most significant was his collecting of statues, busts and other works of art for the decoration of the newly-founded Russian capital, Saint Petersburg. The peak of his diplomatic state activity was his diplomatic mission in China in 1725–1728.

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