Tchaikovsky
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Andrei Assier

Andrei Mikhailovich Assier (Андрей Михайлович Ассиер) was the maternal grandfather of the composer, born Michael Heinrich Maximilian Acier at Meissen (near Dresden, Saxony) in 1778, the son of Michel Victor Acier and his wife Maria Christina Elenora (b. Wittich).

He was brought to Russia in 1795 as a teacher of German and French for the Saint Petersburg Military School by the Russian general Petr Melissino. In 1800, by an oath of allegiance, Heinrich officially became a subject of the Imperial Crown and adopt the Russian name "Andrei Mikhailovich Assier". He later served as a Customs and Ministry of Finances official, and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir (4th Class) and the Order of St. Anne (2nd Class).

In 1800 he married for the first time to Ekaterina Popova (1778–1816), and they had five children—Mikhail (b. 1802); Ekaterina (1805–1882); Nikolai (b. 1809); Andrei (b. 1811); and Aleksandra (1812–1854), mother of the composer.

After 1816 he married his second wife, Amalia Grigor'evna Gogel', by whom he had two more children—Elizaveta (b. 1823), and Pavel (b. 1824).

Andrei Assier is believed to have died in 1835.