The founder of the dynasty was Yakov, a native of the Polish town of Veselovo. For the "services" rendered to the Russian army during the capture of Smolensk in 1654, he was invited to live in Moscow. Thus, Yakov became the founder of the future noble family of Veselovsky, which produced many notable people. His son, Pavel Yakovlevich Veselovsky, married a baptized Jewess, Maria Nikolaevna Arshenevskaya (related to Vice-Chancellor Shafirov), with whom he had six sons and two daughters. Information about the elder Veselovsky is rather scarce. It is known that for some time he served as a stolnik and was apparently an educated man; otherwise, he would not have overseen the work of German schools in Moscow from 1706 to 1711. He lived in the capital, owning a house beyond the Pokrovsky Gate, in the Zemlyanoy Gorod (Earthworks Town). In his later years, he was a commissioner of the Apothecary Office in Moscow. The first to leave a significant mark in Russian history were the children of his youngest son Pavel – Avraam Pavlovich (1685–1783), Isaak Pavlovich (1690–1754), and Fedor Pavlovich (died before 1776) Veselovsky. Two of them, fleeing the monarch’s wrath, left Russia and hid in England (though one later returned), while the third survived disgrace at home. Interestingly, all three brothers openly studied at the first Moscow gymnasium founded by Ernst Gluck, the very pastor whose servant or ward was the future Empress Catherine I.

Avraam Pavlovich, the eldest brother, was raised in the Shafirov household and was soon sent to study at the newly opened first Moscow gymnasium at state expense. A clever youth, he mastered French, German, Latin, Greek, ancient Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldean languages. After several years of practice abroad under Prince Boris Kurakin, Avraam was appointed to the Ambassadorial Chancellery, the Foreign Ministry of that time. He began as a translator, became a clerk of the Ambassadorial Office after a year, and in 1710 came under the patronage of the "minister of state secret affairs" Alexander Menshikov. In 1715, he was appointed resident in Vienna at the Imperial court. However, his diplomatic career soon ended: in 1719, Emperor Charles VI formed an alliance with England and Poland against Russian interests and ordered the Russian resident to leave Vienna within eight days, not even granting a farewell audience. In general, Avraam’s diplomatic career was successful until the beginning of the "case of Tsarevich Alexei" – the son of Peter the Great’s first wife, Evdokia, who was confined to a monastery. Separated from his mother at the age of eight, Alexei opposed all his father’s affairs. When the misunderstanding reached its peak, the tsarevich fled to Austria and was declared a traitor by his father. As is known, Peter Tolstoy and Alexander Rumyantsev played key roles in Alexei’s return, but initially, the capture of the fugitive was entrusted to Avraam Veselovsky. He searched for the tsarevich from December 1716 to July 1717, tracked him to Ehrenberg Castle in Tyrol, and even began negotiations for Alexei’s diplomatic extradition to Russia. Suddenly, Avraam wrote to the tsar that he had "a severe fever, a kidney disease he had never had before" and therefore could no longer "engage in matters concerning the return of the tsarevich to Russia." While Avraam was ill and recovering, Tsarevich Alexei was deceitfully brought back to Russia, where in July 1718 he was executed. At the beginning of 1719, Peter I unexpectedly ordered Avraam to return "with possible haste," supposedly to be sent "with some commissions to another court." Avraam immediately left, reached Berlin, and then disappeared. The tsar’s agents eventually found him in London, but all subsequent attempts by Peter the Great to retrieve the defector were refused by the English king.

In the 1730s, Avraam Veselovsky moved to Switzerland, where he spent his last days. According to some historians, Avraam did not return home because he personally helped Tsarevich Alexei hide. Others believe he simply decided not to tempt fate, knowing how many executions had occurred in the "case of Tsarevich Alexei." Avraam Veselovsky never returned to Russia, although many emperors reigned there during his lifetime.

Isaak Pavlovich, like his elder brother, studied at the Moscow gymnasium and also entered service in the Ambassadorial Office. Traveling through Europe in 1716–1717, Peter the Great chose him as his personal translator – Isaak’s career soared. In 1718, Isaak Veselovsky was appointed secretary and simultaneously head of the Foreign Expedition of the Ambassadorial Chancellery, and in February 1720, secretary of the entire College of Foreign Affairs. It is easy to imagine the prospects before Isaak until suddenly he became the brother of a disgraced fugitive. In anger, Peter I demoted him to a lowly position, but Isaak was once again brought close to the court, though not as a diplomat but as a French teacher for Peter’s daughters – the Annes. In 1728, he was arrested for belonging to the so-called conspirators’ circle of Anna Bestuzheva – for unfavorable discussions about the all-powerful Prince Menshikov. Veselovsky was exiled to Gilan and only after Menshikov’s death transferred to Derbent. Despite several subsequent appointments, Isaak remained, in fact, a political prisoner, going years without even a salary. This continued until 1741, when Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the Russian throne, remembering her French teacher with gratitude. Under her, Isaak Veselovsky swiftly rose several ranks in the Table of Ranks and was appointed head of the Secret Expedition of the College of Foreign Affairs, participating in major interstate negotiations. He was then promoted to Privy Councillor, taught Russian to Peter III upon his return from Holland, and in 1746 was awarded the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky for his merits. He was a member of the State College of Foreign Affairs and died in 1754.

Fedor Pavlovich also began his career in the Ambassadorial Office. In 1707, Peter appointed him secretary of the embassy under Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin, who was then sent to Rome. From there, Kurakin moved to Hanover, then to London, and Veselovsky accompanied him on all these moves. In 1711, Kurakin was recalled to Russia, and Veselovsky was transferred to the Copenhagen embassy, but the following year he was again appointed secretary of the embassy under Kurakin, sent to the Netherlands. When the then Russian envoy to the English court, Baron Shak, was removed, Fedor was ordered to remain in England and manage embassy affairs. In 1717, he was given the rank of resident. During this time, the most important political matter he had to handle was negotiations on returning the city of Wismar to the Duke of Mecklenburg. Through Veselovsky, negotiations were also held on the union of the Anglican and Eastern churches; taking advantage of this, he built an Orthodox church in London. At the end of 1719, English policy took a hostile turn toward Russia. The English government, without prior communication with the Russian court, concluded a defensive alliance with Austria and Poland, then recalled its residents from St. Petersburg and sent a squadron to the Baltic Sea. Veselovsky protested these actions but unsuccessfully; in early 1720, a treaty was even concluded with Sweden against Russia. This circumstance, and even more so the case of his brother Avraam Pavlovich, led to Fedor’s removal from his post as envoy in England. He was ordered to go to Copenhagen as secretary of the embassy. Veselovsky refused this order, writing: "since he is recalled not to be sent to Denmark, but to be deprived of his freedom because of his brother Avraam, feeling himself innocent, he will never leave England." Exactly when he returned to Russia is unknown. Under Elizabeth Petrovna, he served in the military, though he also carried out diplomatic assignments: in 1744, he delivered a charter to Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst regarding the marriage of his daughter to the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich. In 1748, he was court master of ceremonies, in 1760 a major general and curator of Moscow University. Upon Catherine II’s accession, he was retired. The year of his death is unknown. In 1717, in London, he published a memorial he composed for the English queen about the son of Baron Goertz, titled "Mémoire de M. Wesselovsky à la reine d’Angleterre, concernant le fils du baron de Goertz."

Sources:

Berdnikov Lev Iosifovich: Jews of the Russian State. XV – early XX centuries.

https://jewish.ru/ru/stories/chronicles/190920/

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: Veselovsky