On the life of one of the largest Russian statesmen of the XVIII century. Nikita Ivanovich Panin tells the novel by Z.K. Chirkova. Panin Nikita Ivanovich - a famous diplomat, born September 18, 1718 in Danzig, spent his childhood in Pernov, where his father was a commandant; in 1740 he was promoted to cornet from the horse guards; according to some news, he was at the court of Elizabeth a dangerous rival of Razumovsky and Shuvalov.