Platov family

The Platov family (Russian: Платов) was the name of a Russian noble family of Greek descent.^[1]^[2] The family's name is a Russification of the Greek name "Platon" (Greek: Πλάτων).^[2]

Notable members

Matvei Platov (1751–1818), was born in Starocherkassk. Was a general who commanded the Don Cossacks in the Napoleonic wars,^[3] upon Alexander I's accession to the throne, he was appointed Ataman of the Don Cossacks. In 1805, he ordered the Cossack capital to be moved from Starocherkassk to a new location, known as Novocherkassk. Count of the Russian Empire in 1812. Platov later accompanied emperor Alexander to London where he was awarded a golden sword and an honorary degree in Law by the University of Oxford (1814).
Ivan Platov II [ru] (1796-1874). Youngest of Matvei Platovs sons. Colonel of Don Cossacks in Napoleonic Wars.

^ Colby, Frank Moore; Williams, Talcott (1930). The New International Encyclopaedia. Dodd, Mead. p. 717. PLATOV, [...] MATVEI IVANOVITCH, COUNT (1751-1818). A Russian general. He was born on the banks of the Don, August 17 (6), 1751, and was of Greek descent.
^ ^a ^b Саван, Жан (2024). Казаки. Происхождение. Воинские традиции. Государева служба (in Russian). Litres. p. 130. ISBN 978-5-04-658672-5. Платов, граф империи. Он родился около 1765 года в казачьей семье греческого происхождения (Платов от Платон) и умер в феврале 1818-го. Совсем юным, как и все донские казаки, он научился ездить верхом и обращаться с оружием.
^ Mikaberidze, A. The Russian officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars 1792–1815. Savas Beatie, New York, 2005, p.304