Count Alexander Konstantinovich Benkendorf, born on August 1, 1849, was a prominent Russian diplomat who served as ambassador to Denmark and Great Britain. He came from a noble family: his father, Count Konstantin Alexandrovich Benkendorf, and mother, Princess Louise Konstantin Natalie Johanna de Kroi, were from aristocratic lineages. Alexander received his education in France and Germany before starting his diplomatic career in 1869. He began his service as an attaché in Florence and then worked in Rome. In 1876, he temporarily left the diplomatic service and spent nearly ten years in his estates in St. Petersburg and abroad.

In 1879, Benkendorf married Countess Sophia Shuvalova, the granddaughter of Lev Naryshkin and Olga Pototskaya. They had a son and a daughter. His younger son was killed on the East Prussian front at the beginning of World War I.

Resuming his diplomatic activities in 1886, Benkendorf became the first secretary of the embassy in Vienna, and from 1897 to 1903, he served as ambassador to Denmark. This position allowed him to observe European politics, as the Danish royal family often hosted representatives from other monarchies, including the widow of Alexander III, Nicholas II, and the future King Edward VII. This gave Benkendorf the opportunity to participate in the Anglo-Russian rapprochement.

From 1903 until his death in 1917, he was the ambassador to Great Britain. His main achievement was the signing of the Anglo-Russian agreement on the Entente in 1907, which strengthened relations between the two countries and contributed to the formation of the Triple Entente, an important alliance in World War I. He also proposed the agenda for the Second Hague Conference in 1907.

In 1911, his daughter Natalie married the Englishman Jasper Nicholas Ridley and later became the grandmother of economist Adam Ridley. His son Konstantin married the harpist Maria Korchinskaya.