Pyotr Melissino

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Pyotr Ivanovich Melissino (Greek: ,

Petros Melissinos), (Russian: ), (French: Pyotr Melissino
Pierre De Mellisino); c. 1726 c. 1797) was a General of
the Artillery of the Russian Empire and was widely
considered the best Russian artilleryman of the 18th
century.[1]

Biography
He was born as Petros Melissinos on the Greek island of
Cephalonia in 1726,[2] he was of Greek origin[2][3][4][5] and
his father was a physician who belonged to the noble Greek
family of Melissenos (Greek ). Throughout his
life, he prided himself on his Greek origin.[2] He received a
thorough education in his youth and was fluent in many
languages including Russian, German, Italian, French,
Turkish as well as his native Greek, he also knew some A portrait of General of the Artillery Pyotr Melissino in
Latin and English.[2] Melissinos arrived in Russia during the
the Kursk gallery, Russia.
reign of Peter the Great and ended his career as Vice-
President of the Commerce Collegium in 1740-45. Born 1726
Cephalonia, Venetian Republic
During the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, Pyotr Melissino Allegiance Russia
was in charge of the Russian artillery. His efficient
command helped Russian forces prevail against a fourfold Years of service 1740 1797
numerical superiority of the Ottomans at Khotin, Larga, and Rank General of the Artillery
Kagula. In 1783, he was appointed Director of the Artillery
and Engineering Corps in St. Petersburg. He is remembered as an organizer of the artillery education in the
Russian Empire. After the ascension of Emperor Paul, Melissino was put in charge of the entire Russian
artillery but died the following year.

Melissino was instrumental in promoting the career of one of Paul's favourites, Aleksey Arakcheyev. His son
Aleksey Melissino, a Major General, was killed in the Battle of Dresden (1813). His brother, Ivan Melissino,
was Dean of the Moscow University under Catherine the Great.

Jenkins (pp. 3536) says:

Melissino himself was intelligent and ambitious and was doing much to promote the cause of
the artillery. He could certainly have enjoyed an even more illustrious career were it not for
certain defects of character which made him appear less serious about his profession than was
in fact the case. He had a reputation of being vain, weak, and a spendthrift. He was a prominent
figure in Saint Petersburg society; he spoke several languages, fenced and danced well, and was
an authority on the theater. But it was difficult to take him seriously, and society had nicknamed
him "le grand seigneur manqu." Nonetheless, the school rapidly acquired a name under him,
and in very little time the number of cadets more than doubled. The sensible changes in the
studies which he introduced with the help of his abler pupils bore fruit; and the major reform in
the artillery which subsequently took place was largely the work of his former pupils.
Melissino as a freemason and his Masonic circle
In 1765, Catherine the Great was immersed in formulating her Grand Instruction, which was intended as a
guide to the Enlightened principles on which a better government and society might ultimately rest. At the
same time as the empress was composing her instruction, the eminent masonic figure of Melissino established
his new Masonic rite in St. Petersburg inspired by chivalric and clerical symbolism and rituals, which
advocated an alternative worldview in which alchemy played a pivotal role. Over the course of the following
two decades Melissinos high-grade system of Freemasonry acted as a key crucible in which both Russian and
European aristocrats indulged their passion for alchemy in the Russian capital. We do not exactly know when
Melissino was initiated into Freemasonry. The first reliable Masonic reference about Melissino is made by
Boris Telepneff:

Melozino Rite (sic) which had flourished already from 1765 in the
Lodge of Silence. And the same author adds:

A Peter Mellozino is listed as Worshipful Master of a Lodge at Yassy,

Moldavia, N 469, one of the five Lodges composing the Grand
Provincial Lodge of Russia [...] originally established in St. Petersburg
under the auspices of the Berlin Grand Lodge Royal York. This event
took place on the 22nd May, 1770: Yelagin was elected Grand Master.

From whom Melissino have been masonically influenced? He may have been influenced by Baron (Louis) Thodore Henri de T

The seven degrees according to the Melissinos system were as follows:

1. Entered Apprentice;

2. Fellow-Craft;

3. Master-Mason;

4. Dark Vault;

5. Scottish Master;

6. Philosopher;

7. Spiritual Knight (Magnus Sacerdos Templariorum)

It wouldnt be an invalid assumption to attribute the ritual of the seven grade system to Melissino. The
possibility of his authorship is likely to be the case if one considers the following facts carefully. He had been a
keen freemason for several years, fluent in many foreign languages, erudite, person of great education, member
of esoteric circles and thus well-versed in esotericism and also in the Eastern Orthodox ritual. This is the reason
why Melissino easily combined chivalric and clerical mythology and rituals linked to the Knights Templar and
Orthodox and Catholic liturgical practices alongside Rosicrucian-style esoteric philosophy immersed in
alchemical lore. Furthermore, Melissino had many contacts with distinguished Greek freemasons who lived in
St. Petersburg during that era. In fact, he could be regarded as the most prominent representative, as it were, of
the Greek community of Petersburg. Another eminent figure of the society of St. Petersurg and member of
Melissino circle was Marinos Carburi or Charvouris (In Greek ), another Greek from the
Island of Kefallonia, serving as lieutenant-colonel in the Russian Army. Marinos (although we do not have any
reference proving that himself was a freemason) was the brother of the famous freemason Marco Carburi
(1731-1808), a chemistry professor at the University of Padua, who was sent in 1764-1765 to Sweden by the
Venetian government to study mining techniques. Marco, while in Stockholm, visited a lodge, where conferred
with Swendeborg. It must be pointed out that Carburi was the major proponent of the Rose Croix masonry in
Italy. He is the one that signed the Chart for the installation of the first lodge in Corfu, under the name
Beneficenza.In April 1782, secret societies were forbidden in Russia. Although Freemasons were non included,
Melissino foreseeing the probable victory of Yelagins Grand Lodge, now left almost supreme, took advantage
of the edict to gracefully withdraw from the contest and retired to Moscow, directing his lodges to close their
doors, in obedience to the law.

References
1. Schenker, Alexander M. (2003). The Bronze Horseman: Falconet's monument to Peter the Great. Yale
University Press. pp. 172173. ISBN 0-300-09712-3. "Marins first connection in St. Petersburg was his
compatriot Colonel Melissino, who, as Russia's best artilleryman, must have been of considerable interest
to Venetian intelligence services."
2. Masson, Charles Franois Philibert (1802). Secret memoirs of the court of Petersburg: particularly
towards the end of the reign of Catharine II and the commencement of that of Paul I. (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=EmNKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA339&dq=#v=onepage&q=Melissino%20Greek%20origin&
f=false) T.N. Longman and O. Rees. pp. 339340. OCLC 35652011 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3565
2011). "GENERAL MELISSINO - In these Memoirs we have frequently spoken of general Melissino,
whose name will long live in Russia. He originally came from Cephalonia, and prided himself on his
Greek origin, which he was fond of recollecting A sure discernment, an exquisite sensibility, with him
compensated for a particular study which circumstances had not allowed him ; but he spoke, equally well
and correctly, Russian, German, Italian, and French : he knew enough of modern Greek and Turkish to
make himself understood; and he was not unacquainted with Latin and English. Gallant and magnificent,
his military entertainments, his camps, his parties, and even his orgies and follies, will long be the subject
of conversation."
3. Telepnef, Boris (2003). Outline of the History of Russian Freemasonry. Kessinger Publishing. p. 9.
ISBN 978-0-7661-8110-6. "Peter Melissino, a Russian General, of Greek extraction; born, 1726; died,
1797"
4. , (1999). XVIII . -. p. 178.
ISBN 978-5-8037-0028-9. " (171823 1795, )
, . ,
..."
5. Mandich, Donald R.; Placek, Joseph Anthony (1992). Russian heraldry and nobility. Dramco. p. 311.
ISBN 978-0-9633063-9-5. "MELISSINO This family is descended from a most distinguished Greek
family which resided in Constantinople A descendant, Rikhard Melissino in 1454 left behind his
property on the Island of Crete and settled in Cephalonia from which in more recent times Ivan
Afanasievich Melissino departed for Russia. He and his descendants served the Russian Throne in
distinguished posts and gained fame for their family..."

Michael Jenkins, Arakcheev: Grand Vizier of the Russian Empire (Dial Press, 1969)

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Brockhaus and Efron
Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.

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This page was last edited on 30 January 2017, at 17:03.

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