Charles Osipovich Ode-de-Sion (; born Charles-Marie-Joseph-Joachim Audé, or shortly Charles Audé; 23 August 1758, Faverges, Duchy of Savoy, Kingdom of Sardinia5 January 1837, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Savoyard Benedictine monk and military serviceman; in Russian service — major general, military pedagogue, a prominent freemason of the highest degrees of initiation. Landowner and founder of the Russian noble family Ode-de-Sion.
During his early years, he exchanged monastic vows for military service, swearing oaths to several European sovereigns — including the French, Prussian, and Polish crowns — through which he attained a Doctor of Theology degree in the ecclesiastical sphere and the rank of captain in the military. Upon entering Russian service, he was posted to Warsaw as an officer on special assignments under the Commander-in-Chief of Russian forces in Lithuania and Poland, General of Infantry Count Osip Igelström. He distinguished himself in engagements against Polish insurgents during the Kościuszko Uprising.
He was the tutor of Arkadi, the son of the great commander Count Alexander Suvorov. Enjoying the latter's trust, he participated in the financial machinations of his son-in-law Count Nikolai Zubov. From a private tutor, he advanced under Alexander I to the position of inspector of classes at the Page Corps, to which he devoted 25 years.
After the initiation into the free masons brotherhood in Poland and Savoy at the end of the 18th century, he reached the highest degrees and became a prominent figure in the "golden age" of Freemasonry in Russia (1802–1822). Co-founder and Worshipful Master of the lodge "United Friends" in Saint Petersburg, member of a number of other lodges and higher Masonic organizations.
Names He was baptized as Charles-Marie-Joseph-Joachim Audé (), or briefly — Charles Audé. In monastic life, he bore the name Dom Joachim (), but upon entering Russian service, he adopted the name Charles Osipovich Ode-de-Sion.Формулярный список К. О. Оде-де-Сиона, составленный в 1817 году. [Formular list of K. O. Ode-de-Sion, compiled in 1817] // РГВИА. Ф. 318. Оп. 1. Д. 9713. Л. 21 об.-23. P. 2. According to his biographer, the French historian Dr. Michel Francou, in order to give the merchant surname Audé a more aristocratic ring, he "borrowed" the prefix from his distant Savoyard relatives, the barons de Sion (), who from 1276 owned the eponymous château () and a small parish in the vicinity of Annecy (now part of the commune Val-de-Fier).Château de Sion, Val-de-Fier, France: Archived: 03.10.2012] : [French]. Google Maps, 2012. 23 janvier. Access date: 23 July 2012.Val de Fier: Une histoire vieille de plus de 2000 ans: Archived: 03 October 2012]: [French.] Mairie de Val de Fier, 2010. 28 mai. Access date: 21 July 2012. It is also possible that such a surname was a kind of allusion to Charles Osipovich's Masonic nickname — Chevalier du Fort de Sion (French: Chevalier du Fort de Sion). In private correspondence and some official documents, his Russian surname appears in abbreviated form — Sion.
Origin Charles Audé came from the "Annecy-Faverges" branch of the ancient Savoyard family Audé. Although some Russian sources erroneously describe him as Swiss or French, his official biography confirms his Savoyard origin.
His ancestors settled in Annecy from 1628, initially trading in spices before switching to iron goods — mainly weapons — and acquiring several forges and mines in the vicinity. In 1715 the family purchased the notarial patent of nearby Faverges and relocated there, retaining their Annecy home and part of their forge operations. The position passed from father to eldest son until 1786.
Despite their low origin, the family's wealth and influence secured them a prominent place in Savoyard society, and impoverished noble houses willingly intermarried with them. Charles's second cousin once removed, Philibert de La Diat, married the nobleman Prosper-Antoine ; his paternal grandmother, Claudine Cochet, was a second cousin of mathematician and Sorbonne rector Jean Cochet (1698–1771); and his mother, demoiselle Marie-Thérèse, née Favre (1710–?), was the full sister of François Favre, marquis de Thônes. Thus, while not noble by estate, Charles Audé was of noble blood.
Biography
Birth and early years According to Savoyard sources, Charles Audé was born on August 23, 1758, in his parents' house in Faverges.This building, No. 1163 on rue Tendante du Couchant, perished in the great fire of 1783, leaving only a stone arch with the entrance door on the facade. However, the Audé family built a new house on the site, which still exists today (property No. 2377 on rue Victor Hugo).Pajani, Bernard-Marie. Incendie de la Rue tendante du Couchant: [French.]: blog. 2010. 26 octobre. Access date: 13 October 2018. Russian sources do not report the place of birth, and the dates vary: according to the Russian Biographical Dictionary, he was born in 1753 (in the Petersburg Necropolis — August 1, 1753), while his 1817 service record states his age at the time of compilation as 56 years old. He was the eighth of 16 children (five died in infancy) in the family of Joseph-Philibert Audé (1715–1786) and Marie-Thérèse. His godparents were his brother and sister — Charles-Joseph-Joachim (1726–1787), Marquis of Faverges, and Marie-Claudine Millet de Monthoux du Barrioz. His father —the last representative of a dynasty of notaries— held his position until his death and owned a substantial fortune, including town houses in Annecy and Faverges, as well as numerous estates in the surrounding area, where Charles Audé spent his childhood and adolescence. He received a home education solid enough to later demonstrate outstanding success in theological studies.
Monk and soldier (1774–1785) On May 12, 1774, fifteen-year-old Charles Audé was tonsured at the Benedictine Talloires Abbey near Annecy under the name Dom Joachim. His father assigned him a pension ensuring a comfortable monastic life; as one monastic vow required renunciation of personal property, this also conveniently excluded him from inheritance. The practice was common in the family — his paternal uncle had been tonsured at Talloires in 1745, and his younger brother Michel (1764–1840) served as a parish priest. From Talloires, Dom Joachim was sent to study at Monte Cassino, where he earned a doctorate in theology at age 18.
His monastic career was marked by repeated flight and repentance. He first fled in February 1777, was subjected to penance upon return, and fled again in February 1779 — stealing the abbot's horse during Annecy's carnival. He eventually enlisted as a common soldier in the Alsace Regiment at Landau, where he attracted the patronage of its colonel, Prince Maximilian de Deux-Ponts-Birkenfeld, the future King of Bavaria. After securing his discharge through intermediaries in August 1779, he walked some 500 km back to Talloires, submitted to further penance, and remained there at least until late 1781.
He soon fled again, this time enlisting as a hussar in the Prussian Army, and deserted and headed to Danzig intending to join volunteers for the Great Siege of Gibraltar, only to find on arrival that the siege had ended. Stranded in a foreign country, he appealed to a local priest in Latin, who arranged his passage to the Benedictine monastery in Lublin. There, on January 27, 1783, he wrote to the Talloires abbot requesting permission to take holy orders in Lublin, but was refused. This finally ended his ecclesiastical ambitions, and he soon left monastic life permanently. His release from monastic vows was formalized by a papal bull, legalized on June 16, 1785.
Officer of the Crown Army (1783–1790) Charles joined the Crown Army of the Kingdom of Poland as an officer in Poznań in 1783. In 1786, on leave, he went to Annecy to attend the reading of his recently deceased father's will, which included movable and immovable property and about livre tournois in cash. Having learned shortly before death of his son's secularization, Joseph-Philibert Audé reinstated him among the heirs, much to the displeasure of other relatives. All claimants could only be gathered in Annecy by April 2, 1787, and the will was read in the Audé family home on Rue Filaterie. His brothers Michel and François didn't want to accept him back into the family, and insisted he cede his share to them for livres with a notarized commitment to renounce all claims forever. This visit to Savoy and meeting with relatives was his last. From Annecy Charles Audé returned to service in the Polish Crown in Poznań.
Russian citizen (since 1791) On January 1, 1791, under the name Charles Osipovich Ode-de-Sion, Charles Audé was accepted into Russian service from Prussian in his former rank of captain and assigned to the Elisavetgrad Horse-Jäger Regiment. The son of bourgeois Joseph-Philibert Audé declared himself a Savoyard nobleman. When and how, as a Polish Crown officer, he obtained documents as a Prussian captain under the new surname remains unknown. It is also unclear why an exception was made for him from the 1764 imperial decree requiring foreign officers entering Russian service to be reduced by one rank.
On May 18, 1792, the Russo-Polish War began, during which his regiment fought as part of the 64,000-strong Moldavian Army under General-in-Chief Mikhail Vasilyevich Kakhovsky from Podolia and Volhynia to Warsaw. No records survive of Captain Ode-de-Sion's participation in this campaign. After the fighting ended, in January 1793 General-in-Chief Count Joseph Andreyevich Igelström replaced Kakhovsky as commander of Russian troops in Lithuania and Poland. Captain Ode-de-Sion was appointed officer for special assignments at his headquarters, located in the Russian Embassy building on Miodowa Street.
Warsaw and Kościuszko Uprisings (1794)
Early on April 6, 1794, Poles massacred the Russian garrison in what became known as the Warsaw Uprising. Captain Ode-de-Sion was with the commander-in-chief, who barricaded himself in his residence on Miodowa Street. While Igelström hesitated indecisively, unsuccessfully trying to negotiate with King of Poland and rebel leaders, a small detachment (about two battalions) under his staff officers repelled continuous enemy attacks. On April 8, with only slightly more than 400 armed men left in the embassy building, the officers decided to break out, forcing the commander to agree. Clearing their path with two regimental guns and covering the rearguard with two more, the Russian detachment advanced under heavy artillery and rifle fire, especially from nearby houses. Of Igelström's detachment that broke through to Warsaw suburbs under cover of Prussian allies, only 250 survived. Among them were Charles Osipovich, who showed "exceptional bravery and zeal for service", and his future patron Major General Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Zubov. In the city gripped by uprising and looting, Ode-de-Sion's wife Karolina Ivanovna remained, in the final stage of pregnancy.