Semyon Zorich

Semyon Zorich was a Serb by nationality and adjutant to Prince Grigory Potemkin. Catherine the Great promoted him from the rank of major to her personal aide-de-camp. He spent eleven months with the empress, who awarded him a rich estate in Shklov in White Russia with an annual income of eight thousand roubles. After managing to spend all this money in the space of a few years, mainly on French operas and Italian ballets, he founded a military academy in Shklov, which functioned in Russia right up until 1917.