The prince lived from 1676 to 1730. As a general of the Russian army, he was in almost all Peter’s campaigns and was injured many times. In the battle of Lesnaya he injured his arm and leg, but continued to fight.
The tsar trusted the prince so much that he entrusted him, among other things, with delicate civil affairs — investigating numerous cases of treasury theft. “The nestlings of Peter’s nest”, as aptly Alexander Pushkin called the tsar’s associates, proved quite prone to abuse of trust.
In 1719, Grigory Yusupov received the rank of Major-General, and in 1722, became a senator. Under Peter II his family received many lands in Kursk governorate, including the Rakitnaya sloboda. The same emperor granted the prince the present Yusupov Palace in Moscow.
In the last months of his life, Yusupov made a courageous public political statement. During a meeting in the Kremlin with the future Empress Anna Ioannovna, he addressed her on behalf of the generals and nobility. The prince urged her to retain her autocracy without any restrictions, despite the treaty “Conditia” — this paper she had previously signed with the Supreme Privy Council. The document proposed to limit the power of the monarch either through a parliament or an elected council, or by other measures. The Empress listened to the prince and publicly tore up the “Conditia” and the Privy Council was disbanded.
A brief characteristic of Yusupov was given by the Spanish ambassador to the Russian court:
