Lieutenant General of the Imperial Russian Army and Knight of St. George, Anton Antonovich Bistrom was born on June 18, 1789, into the family of Lieutenant Otto Ottovich Bistrom and Augusta Johanna von Krusenstern, sister of the famous navigator Ivan Fyodorovich Krusenstern. He came from the Estonian branch of the ancient family of barons von Bistrom, who adopted Russian citizenship after the Northern War.

In 1806 and 1807, Anton Antonovich participated in the War of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he commanded an artillery brigade and fought near Klyastitsy and Polotsk. For his merits, he was awarded the Orders of St. George 4th class, St. Anna 2nd class, St. Vladimir 3rd class, as well as the Prussian Kulm Cross and the Order of the Red Eagle. Additionally, he received silver and bronze medals for 1812. Anton von Bistrom was wounded several times.

He particularly distinguished himself in the battle near Kulm, where he commanded a horse artillery company. Lieutenant General D. V. Golitsyn, who participated in the battle, reported: "On August 18, when it was decided to attack the enemy from the right flank, I ordered the His Majesty's Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment to cross the ditch and position themselves on the slope to attack the enemy batteries together with the Tatar Uhlan Regiment. The artillery under the command of the brave Lieutenant Colonel Bistrom, consisting of four guns, inflicted significant damage on the enemy and, despite the heavy cannonade, advanced forward, hitting the sharpshooters hiding in the gardens. Finally, the height was cleared and occupied by the artillery of Lieutenant Colonel Bistrom, who was wounded in this attack by three bullets."

According to family tradition published by his grandson M. M. Lyuboshchinsky, Emperor Alexander I, upon learning of Anton Antonovich Bistrom's mortal wound, said: "I regret the loss of the brave man. Let Bistrom die a general." According to M. Lyuboshchinsky, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, his grandfather's name was immortalized on a marble plaque among others mortally wounded at Kulm.

However, Anton Antonovich survived and in 1815 was sent abroad for treatment of his wounds at state expense. In 1816, he resumed service in the horse artillery, but a severe wound forced him to go abroad for treatment again in 1817. During his trip to Italy, he met the artist I. Eggink and commissioned his portrait.

In 1821, he became the commander of the Life Guards Horse Artillery. Anton Bistrom was a Freemason and belonged to the St. Petersburg lodge "Alexander to the Crowned Pelican." He retired as a lieutenant general on March 6, 1834.

A. A. Bistrom settled with his family in Nikolsk in the Kozlovsky district of Tambov province, which became known as Nikolsk-Bistrom and was considered the ancestral estate of the Bistroms.

In memory of his salvation in the battle of Kulm, a brick Nikolsk church in the Empire style with a stone fence and a tall bell tower was built here in 1852. The iconostasis featured an image with the faces of saints whose names were borne by family members. The church did not survive; it was destroyed during the Soviet years. Additionally, the couple built a wooden school for 30 students to educate their serfs.

Anton Antonovich Bistrom passed away on March 22, 1854, in Nikolsk, Tambov province.