Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (ambassador)

Reichsgraf Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (1736–1800) was a diplomat of the Russian Empire. He served as an envoy in Madrid from 1767 to 1771, ambassador in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772 to 1790 and in Sweden from 1791 to 1793.

In his early career, he served as an envoy in Madrid from 1767 to 1771.

After the treaty of the First Partition of Poland, signed in February, was made public on 5 August 1772, Otto Magnus von Stackelberg became the new ambassador to Poland. During his stay in Warsaw, due to the Russian Empire's influence in the Commonwealth, he was almost the de facto ruler of Poland in the name of Empress Catherine II who became a protectress of this country. He governed Poland by Permanent Council, which became an instrument of Russian surveillance over the Commonwealth.

Stackleberg had enormous influence in the Commonwealth, according to many historians, equal or bypassng the king. He has been described as ruling the Commonwealth, from 1772 to 1788, as "a Roman proconsul". He often humiliated the king, for example, by inviting guests to the Royal Łazienki Palace without so much as even notifying the king of his plans.

His first task was to ensure that the Polish parliament (Sejm) would ratify the treaty. The Partition Sejm, with many of its deputies coerced or bribed by the Russian embassy, indeed ratified the treaty (on 30 September 1773), as well as established the Permanent Council - a small body that both promised to reform the inefficient Polish governance and which could be easily controlled by Russia. In 1773 King Stanisław August Poniatowski bestowed him Order of the White Eagle.

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