Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov (1785 1856) is generally acclaimed as one of tsarism's most successful and innovative administrators. After growing up in England, where his father was Russian ambassador, he returned to Russia and became an officer in the army during the Napoleonic wars. In 1823 Alexander I appointed Vorontsov to the post of governor general of New Russia the then "half-wild" southern Ukraine. His task was to encourage development and link the area more effectively with the economy and administration of the empire. Vorontsov was so successful that in 1845 Nicholas I promoted him to viceroy and extended his authority to include Caucasia, which he administered with the extraordinary mandate of "unlimited powers."