Mikhail Nikolayevich von Giers in Peking, 1900.
Mikhail Nikolayevich von Giers (alternatively styled Mikhail Nikolaevich von Giers or Mikhail Nikolayevich de Giers) (1856–1924) was an Imperial Russian ambassador and the son of Russian Foreign Minister Nikolay Girs.
Biography[]
Mikhail Nikolayevich von Giers' father was Nikolai Karlovich von Giers. De Giers served in the military from 1877 to 1878 in the Russo-Turkish War and entered the foreign service in 1878. He was also accredited to the government of the United States of Argentina from 1895 to 1898 with his legation seat in Rio de Janeiro. Further stations were Beijing from 1898 to 1901.
Giers served as the Imperial Russian ambassador to Romania from 1902 to 1912 before transferring to perform the role in the Ottoman Empire. His conservative approach to diplomacy and abidance to protocol meant he could do little to stem increasing German influence on the Ottoman Porte. In the lead up to the Black Sea Raid, Giers maintained a network of informants in the Ottoman government. Giers was withdrawn from Constantinople on 31 October, 1914, shortly before the Russian declaration of war on the Empire. From 1915 to 1917 he was the Russian ambassador to Italy.
He is buried in Batignolles Cemetery in Paris.