Jacob’s father was William the Bruce, a representative of an ancient Scottish family, who settled in Muscovy in 1647. Here in 1670 (according to other sources – in 1669) a son was born – James Daniel, he, in the Russian manner, Yakov Vilimovich.
Having received an excellent education at home, Yakov discovered a passion for the exact sciences and natural science and did not leave these sciences throughout his life. Bruce found himself in 1683 in the tsar’s amusing regiments, which determined the closeness to Tsarevich Peter and the further fate of the Russian Scotsman.
Constant companion of the king In 1687 and 1689, Bruce took part in the Azov campaigns, for excellent service he received an estate as a reward. After the Battle of Poltava, he received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called from the hands of Peter. In 1721, Bruce received the title of count, Glinka’s estate near Moscow and 500 households in the Kozelsky district.
Jacob Bruce was the most educated person of the Peter the Great era. The sovereign gave him the upper tier of the Sukharev Tower for use, where the “nestling of Petrov’s nest” set up the first observatory in Russia. Bruce also compiled a “Map of Lands from Moscow to Asia”, significantly developed book printing, collected one of the largest libraries of that time (1,500 books) and did much more. After the death of Peter I in 1725, Bruce practically retired, a year later he retired, settled in Glinki, rarely visited Moscow and died without leaving offspring.