Count Nikolai Zubov (1763–1805) was the brother of His Supreme Highness Prince Platon Zubov, Catherine the Great’s last favourite. He served in the Life Guards of the Cavalry Regiment, where he was a colonel. He married the daughter of Alexander Suvorov, the famous military leader, in 1794. He became president of the Equerry Office when Paul I came to the throne, but he and his brother were then dismissed from the court and went to live in the country. He returned to St Petersburg in 1800 and was directly involved in the murder of the Emperor. According to available eyewitness accounts Nikolai Zubov struck Paul very hard on the temple with a gold snuff-box, and this was taken by the conspirators as the sign for a savage attack.
