Maximilian von Alopaeus

Magnus Maximilian Graf von Alopaeus was a Finland-Swedish diplomat, born at Vyborg and educated at Åbo, afterwards at Göttingen, was intended for the ecclesiastical profession, but his employment as secretary by Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian ambassador at the Swedish court, was the first step in a gradual rise through the political ranks. In 1783, Alopeus was appointed resident-minister at the court of the Bishop of Lübeck, where he maintained the correspondence between Tsesarevich Paul and Frederick II. In 1789, Alopeus was sent to Berlin where he stayed for 6 years, gained favor from Frederick William II, and secured the signing of the allied treaty between Russia and Prussia. He was named minister plenipotentiary at the court of Berlin, by the Empress Catherine, in 1790.