Alexander I Obrenovic´'s visits to Russia and S. I. Speransky's Serbian Awards

The article deals with two Serbian certificate awarded to an employee of the Ministry of the Imperial Court S.I. Speransky, and that are now along with the orders of the Takovo Cross of the second degree kept in the collection of manuscripts and documents of the Department of the History of Russian Culture of the State Hermitage. The history of awarding of S. Speransky with the Serbian orders is seen through the prism of Russian-Serbian relations in the last quarter of the 19th century. The article provides brief information on the history of the Order of the Takovo Cross from the moment of its foundation until its abolition, the names of Serbian and Russian statesmen who were knights of the order are also provided. On the basis of printed and archival sources a description of two trips to Russia of the Serbian king Alexander Obrenović in 1891 and 1894 is given as well as the changing attitude towards him from the Russian ruling circles. Particular attention is paid to patents, which are not only materials for the biography of S. Speransky and interesting documents on the history of Serbian phaleristics, but also shed light on relations between Russia and Serbia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.