Jacob Bruce

For other people named James Bruce, see James Bruce (disambiguation).

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James Bruce

Count Jacob or James Daniel Bruce (Russian: Граф Яков Вилимович Брюс, Graf Yakov Vilimovich Brus; 11 May 1669 - 30 April 1735) was a Russian statesman, military leader and scientist of Scottish descent (Clan Bruce), one of the associates of Peter the Great. According to his own record, his ancestors had lived in Russia since 1649. He was the brother of Robert Bruce, the first military governor of Saint Petersburg.

He participated in the Crimean (1687, 1689) and Azov campaigns (1695–1696) of Peter the Great against the Ottoman Empire during the Russo–Turkish War. During the Great Northern War Bruce was appointed major-general of artillery. He was involved in the revival of Russian artillery, which had been lost to the Swedish forces along with its commander, Prince Alexander of Imereti at Narva in 1700. He was commander of artillery in the Battle of Poltava (1709), for which he was made a knight of the Order of St Andrew. In 1721, he became one of the first Russian counts.

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Arms of Count James Bruce, from his diploma of nobility. Note the red lion and unicorn, both symbols of Scotland

Bruce was one of the best educated people in Russia at the time, a naturalist and astronomer. In 1702, he founded the first Russian observatory; it was located in Moscow in the upper story of the Sukharev Tower. Bruce's scientific library of more than 1,500 volumes, compiled in the 1730s, became a substantial part of the Russian Academy of Sciences library.

Among Muscovites, Bruce gained fame as an alchemist and magician, due in part to the innovative design of the Sukharev Tower, which was very unusual in 18th century Moscow. It was rumored that the greatest Black Magic grimoires of his collection had been bricked up into the walls of the Sukharev Tower.

External links

• Photograph of a page of the Calendar of Bruce, 1710 (etching) from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg
• About the Jacob Bruce book collection at the Russian Academy of Sciences Library, St. Petersburg