1760s
Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva(December 18 (29) - May 17 (28) - maid of honor, daughter of P. B. Sheremetev; bride of the Grand Duke's mentor, Count N.I. Panin.
In her father’s house on the embankment of the Fontanka River, 34, home “noble” performances were staged, in which Pavel Petrovich took part, for example, on March 4, 1766, a performance of the comedy in one act “Zeneida” took place, in which Grand Duke, Countess Anna Petrovna in the role of a sorceress, and Countess Daria Petrovna and Natalya Petrovna Chernyshev, and according to recollections, the four persons participating in the performance were wearing diamonds worth 2 million rubles. On July 22, 1766, at the court carousel, Anna Petrovna “gloriously distinguished herself in the Roman quadrille,” and received gold medal with her name.
Around the same time, the teacher of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, S. A. Poroshin, fell in love with Anna Sheremeteva. As they said, he even wooed her, the matter ended in a scandal and Poroshin’s removal from the court. They said that Empress Catherine II planned that one of the richest brides in Russia, Anna Sheremeteva, would become the wife of one of the brothers of her favorite Grigory Orlov, but Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin wooed the countess.
The engagement of Countess Anna Pavlovna and Count Nikita Panin, chief chamberlain of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, an old friend and peer of her father, took place at the beginning of 1768 in St. Petersburg. And on May 23, 1768, a few days before the wedding, Anna Sheremeteva died of smallpox. It was rumored that an unknown rival put a piece of material that had contact with a smallpox patient into the snuff box that Sheremeteva was given by her groom.
Buried at this place is Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva, daughter of Count Pyotr Borisovich, bride of Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Lady-in-waiting of the wise Monarch, who died in the 24th year, 1768, May 17, and instead of the bridal chamber, her body was buried in the bowels of the earth, and her immaculate soul returned to its immaculate source in the eternal belly, to the eternal and living God.And You, O God! listen to the voice of the parent,
May his daughter, taken away by Fate, be
Only in heaven I am praised before You,
Koliko remained most praiseworthy on earth"
It is interesting that Count Nikolai Sheremetev bequeathed himself “to be buried in the same monastery, near the tomb of my late sister, Countess Maria Petrovna Sheremeteva, who in her life was called Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva.”
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Links
- Russian portraits of the 18th-19th centuries. Ed. Vel. Book Nikolai Mikhailovich. SPb. 1906. T. II issue IV. No. 132.
An excerpt characterizing Sheremetev, Anna Petrovna
- My God! For what?...” Nikolai shouted in despair.The uncle's hunter, on the other side, galloped to cut off the wolf, and his dogs again stopped the beast. They surrounded him again.
Nikolai, his stirrup, his uncle and his hunter hovered over the beast, hooting, screaming, every minute getting ready to get down when the wolf sat on its backside and every time starting forward when the wolf shook itself and moved towards the notch that was supposed to save it. Even at the beginning of this persecution, Danila, hearing hooting, jumped out to the edge of the forest. He saw Karai take the wolf and stop the horse, believing that the matter was over. But when the hunters did not get down, the wolf shook himself and ran away again. Danila released his brown one not towards the wolf, but in a straight line towards the notch in the same way as Karai - to cut off the beast. Thanks to this direction, he jumped up to the wolf while the second time he was stopped by his uncle's dogs.
Danila galloped silently, holding the drawn dagger in his left hand and, like a flail, swinging his arapnik along the toned sides of the brown one.
Nikolai did not see or hear Danila until a brown one panted past him, panting heavily, and he heard the sound of a falling body and saw that Danila was already lying in the middle of the dogs on the back of the wolf, trying to catch him by the ears. It was obvious to the dogs, the hunters, and the wolf that it was all over now. The animal, with its ears flattened in fear, tried to rise, but the dogs surrounded it. Danila, standing up, took a falling step and with all his weight, as if lying down to rest, fell on the wolf, grabbing him by the ears. Nikolai wanted to stab, but Danila whispered: “No need, we’ll make a joke,” and changing position, he stepped on the wolf’s neck with his foot. They put a stick in the wolf's mouth, tied it, as if bridling it with a pack, tied its legs, and Danila rolled the wolf from one side to the other a couple of times.
With happy, exhausted faces, the living, seasoned wolf was loaded onto a darting and snorting horse and, accompanied by dogs squealing at him, was taken to the place where everyone was supposed to gather. Two young ones were taken by hounds and three by greyhounds. The hunters arrived with their prey and stories, and everyone came up to look at the seasoned wolf, who, hanging his forehead with a bitten stick in his mouth, looked at this whole crowd of dogs and people surrounding him with large, glassy eyes. When they touched him, he trembled with his bound legs, wildly and at the same time simply looked at everyone. Count Ilya Andreich also drove up and touched the wolf.
“Oh, what a swear word,” he said. - Seasoned, huh? – he asked Danila, who was standing next to him.
“He’s seasoned, your Excellency,” answered Danila, hastily taking off his hat.
The Count remembered his missed wolf and his encounter with Danila.
“However, brother, you are angry,” said the count. – Danila said nothing and only smiled shyly, a childishly meek and pleasant smile.
The old count went home; Natasha and Petya promised to come right away. The hunt went on, as it was still early. In the middle of the day, the hounds were released into a ravine overgrown with young, dense forest. Nikolai, standing in the stubble, saw all his hunters.
Opposite from Nikolai there were green fields and there stood his hunter, alone in a hole behind a prominent hazel bush. They had just brought in the hounds when Nikolai heard the rare rutting of a dog he knew, Volthorne; other dogs joined him, then falling silent, then starting to chase again. A minute later, a voice was heard from the island calling for a fox, and the whole flock, falling down, drove along the screwdriver, towards the greenery, away from Nikolai.
He saw horse-dwellers in red hats galloping along the edges of an overgrown ravine, he even saw dogs, and every second he expected a fox to appear on the other side, in the greenery.
The hunter standing in the hole moved and released the dogs, and Nikolai saw a red, low, strange fox, which, fluffing its pipe, hurriedly rushed through the greenery. The dogs began to sing to her. As they approached, the fox began to wag in circles between them, making these circles more and more often and circling its fluffy pipe (tail) around itself; and then someone’s white dog flew in, followed by a black one, and everything got mixed up, and the dogs became a star, with their butts apart, slightly hesitating. Two hunters galloped up to the dogs: one in a red hat, the other, a stranger, in a green caftan.
"What it is? thought Nikolai. Where did this hunter come from? This is not my uncle’s.”
The hunters fought off the fox and stood on foot for a long time, without rushing. Near them on chumburs stood horses with their saddles and dogs lay. The hunters waved their hands and did something with the fox. From there the sound of a horn was heard - the agreed signal of a fight.
“It’s the Ilaginsky hunter who is rebelling with our Ivan,” said the eager Nikolai.
Nikolai sent the groom to call his sister and Petya to him and walked at a walk to the place where the riders were collecting the hounds. Several hunters galloped to the scene of the fight.
Nikolai got off his horse and stopped next to the hounds with Natasha and Petya riding up, waiting for information about how the matter would end. A fighting hunter with a fox in torokas rode out from behind the edge of the forest and approached the young master. He took off his hat from afar and tried to speak respectfully; but he was pale, out of breath, and his face was angry. One of his eyes was black, but he probably didn’t know it.
Reign Russian empress Catherine the Second was extremely ambiguous, but for one act she certainly deserves the warmest gratitude. Exactly 250 years ago, she ordered the first smallpox vaccination in Russia - for herself, as the first patient
Black Death
Introduced by the Crusaders, smallpox was the terror of Europe for several centuries. Along with the plague and cholera, it claimed millions human lives, and the faces of the survivors were “decorated” with monstrous scars, which were called pockmarks.
Smallpox did not choose between rich and poor. The Queen of England was sick of her Maria II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, Spanish king Louis I, French king Louis XV, A PeterII, last descendant Peter the Great in the male line, died from it at the age of 14 years.
It was not fashion, but the presence of ugly pockmarks that forced the European aristocracy to cover their faces with a thick layer of powder. Such famous personalities, How Mirabeau, Nikolay Gnedich And Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart they had terrible scars and went out only after powdering their faces.
Risked herself for others
Late in the evening of October 12, 1768, a doctor specially discharged from England was secretly led into the chambers of the Great Empress. Dimmesdale and a six-year-old boy Sasha Markova.
Catherine the Second decided to personally try a rather risky method of vaccination on herself. True, it was known for certain that it was used quite successfully in England, but was categorically prohibited in “brilliant” France.
Mortality during variolation was 20 times lower than during normal infection, but no one could completely eliminate such a risk.
The doctor made an incision on the empress’s hand and through the opened wound pulled a thread soaked in the pus of Sasha Markov, a smallpox patient. According to Dimmesdale's calculations, in less than a week the empress should have contracted a mild form of smallpox and endured it without any complications.
The very next day, the Empress, as usual, went out to her ladies-in-waiting, had noisy fun in the courtyard, played cards with the courtiers and talked about all sorts of things, sitting at the common dining table.
Despite the global secrecy of the operation, the entire court knew about it. One can only imagine the horror of the court ladies and their gentlemen, who had to carefreely communicate with the empress, approaching her at an unsafe distance.
The unbridled “fun” in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace lasted for 6 days, after which the empress showed the first signs of infection, and she retired to her chambers.
Destroyed fear and prejudice
As Dimmesdale had predicted, the treatment was quite successful, leaving no scars on Catherine’s face. Less than a month later, the future emperor was inoculated with maternal blood. Pavel Petrovich.
The court nobility was inspired by the idea of receiving “smallpox matter” from the empress herself, and in a short time more than 140 aristocrats were vaccinated.
Catherine did not refuse anyone, which earned her fame as a caring mother, ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of her subjects. The Holy Synod and the Senate congratulated Catherine on her successful inoculation of smallpox, to which the intelligent empress meekly replied:
“My object was by example to save from death numerous of my loyal subjects, who, not knowing the benefits of this method, fearing it, remained in danger. I have thus fulfilled part of the duty of my title; for, according to the word of the Gospel, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Soon the ballet “Defeated Prejudice” was staged in St. Petersburg, the main characters of which were Minerva, Ruthenia, Genius of Science, Superstition And Ignorance. And the audience cheerfully mocked their recent fears.
Some historians suggest that Catherine took a similar risk in order to raise her own authority among the courtiers. But the fact remains a fact. The Russian Empress did something that no monarch in Europe could afford. She demonstrated to her subjects that she was ready to sacrifice even her own life for them.
Made Russia an advanced country
Catherine II generously rewarded Dr. Dimmesdale, granting him the title of baron, the ranks of life physician and full-time state councilor, and also pledged to pay an annual pension of 500 pounds sterling for the rest of his life. A crazy amount for those times.
I instructed Neelov to make “The Tsarskoye Village, palaces, gardens, mountains and other entertainment plans, facades and profiles in the very speed, on blank paper, of mediocre size.” In 1768, to carry out this work, “Alexandrian paper, the cleanest, of large and medium quality”, ink, pencils and two students were sent to the drawing workshop - the architect Vasily Mylnikov and the artist Andrei Bogdanov. They began work on the first ceremonial album, which later received the name “Neelovsky”. All these drawings are similar in the technique of execution and accuracy of reproduction of the historical plan of the city (excluding the territory of the park, which is given in separate parts in the design version. " General plan to the entire Tsarskoye Village” V.I. Neelov handed over the buildings of the Tsarskoye Village to the Office before leaving abroad. It was a recording plan that captured the state of the imperial residence on the eve of extensive work on laying out a landscape park. This album reflects the appearance of Tsarskoye Selo buildings up to a year ago and is an important source for researchers of the architecture of Tsarskoye Selo in the 18th century. The album compiled by Neelov was the first systematic collection of drawings for the palace and park complex of Tsarskoe Selo.
On another handwritten plan, dated by us from 1766-1768, the wooden Material Courtyard, built (in the future Kupalny) in the first half of the 60s of the 18th century, is indicated for the first time: a complex of buildings (wooden storerooms) located along the perimeter of the site in the form of an irregular quadrangle. From the south-west the Material yard bordered on the wooden one, from the south-east - on the route of the road to Sovereign Slavyanka.
Around the turn of the Bypass Road towards the western stone wall of the Menagerie, you can see the canal for the first time on the plan of 1766-1768.
The plans for the first time recorded the location of the Galitsky (formerly Dubinkinsky) brick factories. According to modern topography, this is the intersection of Kadetsky Boulevard and Artilleriyskaya Street. To the east of the factories, closer to the road to Grafskaya Slavyanka (now Pavlovskoye Highway), along the bed of the ancient Galitsky stream there was a small factory settlement. Data from plans, especially boundary plans, containing extremely exact information, are confirmed by information from textual materials about the transfer of brick factories to the Slavyanskaya road in Sofia district in 1767.
In addition to the described topographical objects, the plan shows the villages that existed at that time: Bolshaya Ladoga on the Ladoga Stream (in the area of the future Kazan cemetery). Malaya Ladoga (west of Bolshaya Ladoga). Kumolosari (Gummolosary), Big and Small Katlino (south of Malaya Ladoga).
Despite the appearance of new roads, Tsarskoye Selo presented a rather strange picture on the plans of the second half of the 1760s. Due to the undeveloped space to the north of the Bolshoi Pond, it historical plan visually “broken up” into northern and southern parts, simultaneously creating a feeling of enclosed space. It was intensified due to the “mirror reflection” of the two bastions of the Menagerie, facing the New Garden, in the bastions built under Elizabeth Petrovna at the circumferences of the Big Front Courtyard, on the site of the future palace kitchens.
To manage the matter of colonization and the establishment of colonies, the manifesto of 1768 was established in St. Petersburg. "Office of Guardianship of Foreigners", which had "power and advantages equal to those of state boards"; she received 200,000 rubles annually. for assistance with relocation.
- On January 23, 1768, to the sound of cannon fire, Catherine II arrived in Tsarskoe Selo, after an absence of almost a year. She was met by those who arrived from St. Petersburg, Guard Lieutenant Colonel V.M. Suvorov, L.Ya. Ovtsyn, guard majors A, L. Shcherbachev, Prince P. A. Golitsyn. When Her Majesty left the inner apartments, those mentioned brought worship and were given the hand. Then, as always, playing cards in the “Amber Room” at ordinary times. Evening meal on 18 kuverts.
- On April 21, the Empress celebrated her birthday in Tsarskoe Selo. At the end of the Divine Liturgy in the church, Catherine II deigned to impose the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called on His Excellency Count Alexei Grigorievich Orlov. At this time, I.P. Elagin was in Tsarskoye Selo.
In his autobiographical notes “A sincere confession of my deeds and thoughts,” D. I. Fonvizin described his visit to Tsarskoe Selo in 1768.
The playwright recalled that: “Having arrived in Tsarskoe Selo, I was delighted and found a special room reserved for me, in which nothing could interfere with my exercises.” In the mornings, Fonvizin took walks in Tsarskoye Selo Park. During one of these walks, he met Grigory Nikolaevich Teplov. Just like I.P. Elagin, he was the Empress's secretary of state. Teplov published several works of a moralizing and philosophical nature, a collection of Russian songs set to music by himself. He contributed to the academic journal “Monthly Essays”. When they met in the Tsarskoye Selo Garden, the conversation turned to the comedy “The Brigadier,” which Fonvizin promised to read to Teplov. Then we talked about a book by the philosopher Samuel Clarke, who tried to substantiate the existence of God. - On April 27, Catherine II and her entire retinue left Tsarskoye Selo for St. Petersburg to attend the performance of a new Italian opera.
At 10 o'clock Her Imperial Majesty returned to Tsarskoe Selo.
- In 1768, by decree of Catherine II, “porcelain dishes” were sent to Tsarskoe Selo from the storerooms of Smolny; Among the 188 items were products from Chinese and Japanese workshops.
Beginning of 1768. The court returned to St. Petersburg. The smallpox epidemic that spread this year did not spare even members of high society in St. Petersburg. IN May In 1768, the bride, Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremetyeva, fell fatally ill with smallpox. Then the Empress, turning to the mediation of I.P. Elagin, writes to him May 5th from Tsarskoye Selo. She asks that Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich urgently come to Tsarskoe Selo, and N.I. Panin, his teacher, would appear in Tsarskoe Selo only two weeks later, i.e. survived the quarantine.
On May 6, His Imperial Highness Pavel Petrovich arrives in Tsarskoye Selo at six o’clock in the evening.
Ekaterina and Pavel Petrovich returned to St. Petersburg only July 10.
On Sunday evening, October 12, 1768, Dimmesdale, along with his assistant son and a sick child, were led through a secret passage into the Empress's chambers. Winter Palace. There she was vaccinated with smallpox.
October 12 in the morning Her Imperial Majesty moved to Tsarskoe Selo. The doctor Dimmesdale also came with her, who in his notes described these days in Tsar’s Selo: “At first there was no one in the palace there except ordinary servants... but many of the nobles soon followed her there, and the Empress, noticing that between There were many of them who, as she supposed, had never had smallpox. She told me: “I must rely on you to tell me, as soon as possible, when the disease can spread to others from me. I would like to keep this matter a secret, but God forbid that I hide my position for even a minute when it could be dangerous for others."
From October 13 to October 18, the Empress did not show the slightest concern about what was done to her. She still ate with others, went out with her retinue for walks, played cards in the Amber Room, and had a casual conversation. And only on October 19, she announced to those around her that she had been vaccinated with smallpox, and she was retiring to her inner chambers. Only on October 30, Catherine II went out for a walk in a carriage in the morning, and in the evening she deigned to play cards with her gentlemen in the “Amber Room”.
On November 1, a prayer service was held in the court church that Her Imperial Majesty deigned to be freed from smallpox, and cannon fire was fired. After this, the Empress and her retinue went to St. Petersburg.
On November 16, 1768, Catherine wrote to the Livonian Governor-General Brown: “You, General, tell me that fearlessness was needed on my part when inoculating smallpox, therefore, I must believe that this is so; and yet I believed that this fearlessness is found in any street boy in England...”
The Empress understood perfectly what personal example meant. The example turned out to be fateful for the empire. He was followed by the enlightened wing of the nobility (a precedent was, as it were, created for a small demographic boom: this... gave 19th century additionally a considerable number of officers). After 3 years, the 71-year-old doctor will return to Russia with his wife, Baroness Elizabeth Dimmesdale, who will leave
Having experienced smallpox vaccination on herself, Catherine encouraged the Tsarevich to protect himself with a similar remedy. On November 20, a Senate decree was issued on the successful inoculation of smallpox in the Empress and the Tsarevich; It was immediately said that with her permission, for the future, it was established to celebrate November 21 in all cities of the empire, since from that day healing smallpox vaccination began to spread throughout Russia. It was supposed, after the thanksgiving prayer, to carry out the whole day bell ringing, and then illuminate the cities; at the same time, the day November 21 was included in the month as a service day, with the release of public places and schools from classes.
Historical anecdote: Catherine the Great, generously rewarding Dr. Dimmesdale for his efforts and success in inoculating her and her dear son with smallpox, did not forget that seven-year-old baby Alexander Danilov, son of Markov, from whom the doctor took smallpox matter and safely inoculated her Majesty. She remembered the sadness of his father and mother, who were certainly sure that after this she had to lose her dear and only son. She remembered her mother's pitiful lamentations and her request to the doctor not to take smallpox from her son, who they had alone. She also remembered the generous speech of her father, who persuaded his wife to obey, if not this doctor, then at least the monarch, who has the power not only to take away their son, but also their life; since Doctor Dimmesdale then told this touching story to the empress. She remembered this, and wanting to reward their sadness with her mercy and benevolence, she most mercifully bestowed noble dignity on him and his descendants to Alexander Danilov Markov; and some time after his by the highest decree She ordered this Markov to be called Smallpox, and not Markov.
Born this year:
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Portrait of Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev as a child
Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva - maid of honor, daughter of P.B. Sheremetev; bride of the mentor of the Grand Duke Count N.I. Panina. The eldest daughter of Chief Chamberlain Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev and Princess Varvara Alekseevna Cherkasskaya, the only heir to the enormous fortune of State Chancellor Prince A.M. Cherkassky. She was the favorite of her parents, according to the recollections of her contemporaries she was: “a charming woman, had small black eyes, a dark, lively face, small, thin, beautiful hands, but her facial features were not good.”
Portrait of Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva
Portrait of B.V. Sheremetev in Horse Guards uniform. Boris Petrovich Sheremetev - Russian commander of the time Northern War, diplomat, one of the first Russian field marshals (1701). In 1706, he was the first to be elevated to the dignity of count of the Russian kingdom.
Anna Petrovna Naryshkina, née Saltykova, wife of Field Marshal Boris Petrovich Sheremetev
Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya, née Kurakina, is the niece of Counts Nikita and Pyotr Panin, sister of State Lady N.A. Repnina; dear aunt of princes Alexander and Alexei Kurakin. Second cousin of Emperor Peter II. Ekaterina Alexandrovna, the fourth of seven daughters of Prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin, Chief of the Horse and Conference Minister, and his wife, Alexandra Ivanovna, born Panina. She received an excellent upbringing and education. Her mother loved to lead a secular lifestyle, so she began to take all her daughters out early. At a very young age, Catherine was presented to the court, where she immediately won the title of one of the first beauties.
Prince Ivan Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky is a lieutenant from whom all the Lobanov-Rostov princes of the 19th-21st centuries descend through the male line. He belonged to that senior line of the Lobanov-Rostovsky family, dating back to Vladimir Monomakh, which did not shine with talents, but was known for its extraordinary fertility. He married in 1752 one of the most beautiful women of his time - Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Kurakina, daughter of Chief of the Horse Master A. B. Kurakin. The couple had five sons and two daughters.
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Portrait of S.M. Golitsyna
Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
Portrait of Count Sheremetev with a dog
Portrait Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna
Portrait of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev
Ekaterina Alekseevna Melgunova, married Princess Volkonskaya. Since July 1, 1847, Dame of the Order of St. Catherine (Small Cross); from December 1848 - state lady. The only daughter of Catherine's dignitary Alexei Petrovich Melgunov from his marriage to Natalya Ivanovna Saltykova. She was married to Lieutenant General Prince Dmitry Petrovich Volkonsky.
Portrait of an unknown man in a red caftan
Natalya Borisovna Dolgorukova is a famous memoirist of the 18th century, one of the first Russian writers, daughter of Count B.P. Sheremeteva, wife of Prince I.A. Dolgorukova, grandmother of Prince I.M. Dolgorukova.
Samuil Karlovich Greig - Russian admiral of Scottish origin, distinguished himself in the Battles of Chesma and Gogland.
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Portrait of Kozma Aksentievich Khripunov, once a translator and secretary of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.
Princess Maria Yuryevna Cherkasskaya, second wife of Prince Alexei Mikhailovich Cherkassky. On December 18, 1741, Empress Elizabeth confirmed her in the rank of lady of state and awarded her with her portrait.
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Countess Varvara Alekseevna Sheremeteva, wife of Count P.B. Sheremeteva is the only daughter of Chancellor Prince Alexei Mikhailovich Cherkassky from his marriage to Princess Maria Yuryevna Trubetskoy.
The countless riches of the Cherkasy princes attracted many suitors who “sought the princess’s hand, like Jason a golden sheep, for the sake of a rich skin.” But her proud mother was waiting for some kind of fairy prince, and the princess herself was one of the most picky brides: a capricious coquette, proud of her beauty, nobility and wealth, she forgot that “time flies and never returns” and earned the names “tigress” and “beast”, given to her by those who knew her well Princess Maria Dmitrievna Cantemir. Prudent people found that “if she wants to have a spouse, she needs to become more tame,” and the same Princess Maria Cantemir expressed the desire for “the beast to become tame and pay attention to her age.” the brilliant courtly handsome Count Karl-Reingold Löwenwolde and the brilliant diplomat and poet Prince Antioch Cantemir got married; but the matchmaking of Löwenwolde was upset after the betrothal, and the matchmaking of Cantemir never took place.
At the very accession of Elizabeth, Princess V.A. Cherkasskaya was promoted from maid of honor to maid of honor and received a portrait of the Empress. At this time, the princess had already reached an age that, according to the concepts of that time, was completely hopeless for marriage. But the “beast” finally became “tame”, and the wealth of the Cherkasy princes replaced the princess’s lack of youth. They found a groom for the princess, although noble, but not too brilliant, in the person of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev, who was a year and a half younger than the bride, and the marriage took place, and the countess was granted a lady of state.
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Every fairy tale is born from a story - one way or another. Therefore, it is not surprising that sometimes life resembles a plot taken as if from a children's book. For example: a noble prince fell in love with a beautiful but poor girl, and this love was so strong that he spat on prejudices and married her.
Well, maybe not a prince, but a count. And they lived together for a short time. But happy.
Prince
The pillar nobleman, Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetyev, was royally rich, knightly noble and romantically in love with art. On the Kuskovo estate, which he inherited from his father, he built a theater that made waves throughout Russia. The actors in it were serfs, who, as children, were selected from all Sheremetyevo volosts for their special talents to study music, singing, choreography, foreign languages and, of course, stagecraft at the theater school.
Nikolai Petrovich personally selected the repertoire and supervised the rehearsals. The fame of its talented actors excited the entire high society. Emperor Paul, Metropolitan Platon, Polish King Stanislaw II Poniatowski, Swedish King Gustav III and other nobles - all flocked to Kuskovo to enjoy the magnificent performances. And express admiration for the main figure of the Sheremetyevo Theater - Praskovya Zhemchugova.
Cinderella
She received the surname Zhemchugov at the whim of Nikolai Petrovich himself. Looking for precious talents among the crowds of serf children, the count preferred to call them accordingly: Granatova, Almazov, Biryuzova.
In fact, Praskovya was the daughter of a hunchbacked blacksmith - a “farrier”, and she came to the count’s theater at the age of seven, Parashka Kovaleva. But already at the age of 13 she struck like lightning, performing on stage the deeply touching role of Louise from Seden’s drama “The Runaway Soldier”. At the age of 16, Praskovya Zhemchugova was deservedly considered the prima of the theater, hypnotizing audiences with her soulful dramatic acting, unusual for such a young girl, and her flexible lyric-dramatic soprano.
Zhemchugova easily transformed from a tragic heroine into a comedic talker, or into a young page - her slender, fragile figure allowed her to do this. And she always received a standing ovation. But when she appeared on stage in the image of Eliana from the opera “The Samnite Marriages” by Grétry, the audience burst into general sobbing.
Transformation into a princess
She was a match for Sheremetyev. Yes, excellent musical education, brilliant mastery foreign languages, external grace and bright beauty... But is that really the point? The identity of souls is the root cause of the deep passion of the count and the ardent reciprocity of the serf actress. Harmonious, subtle, generous - Zhemchugova was molded from the same count material. And only according to earthly laws she stood below him.
Sheremetyev made a vow - if he cannot marry his beloved, he will not marry anyone. After the death of his father, Nikolai Petrovich openly moved to a house specially built for Praskovya in Kuskovsky Park.
Everyone knew about their relationship - no one judged. In those days, landowners' crushes on young serfs were widespread. And to suspect Praskovya Zhemchugova of any selfish interest would be almost blasphemous - her whole image was so pure.
However, in 1797, after the count was awarded the title of Chief Marshal imperial court and he had to move to St. Petersburg, high society became agitated. The fabulously rich Sheremetyev was 37 years old, he was single, and besides, he was warm-hearted and good-looking. A most enviable party! Only for some reason he is not interested in social entertainment, and in a St. Petersburg house he lives with a serf actress! It was in Kuskovo that Praskovya was elevated to Olympus - in calculating Petersburg, where connections and origin ruled the show, the world spoke of her only as a courtyard girl.
Meanwhile, the count was terribly burdened by the awareness of guilt before his beloved. The northern winds of St. Petersburg undermined her health - Praskovya lost her magnificent voice. In addition, her hereditary tuberculosis worsened. Having long ago received her freedom from the count, Zhemchugova remained a simple kept woman - and the bitterness of this situation was killing her.
Taking advantage of the sovereign's favor (and inventing a legend about Praskovya Kovalevskaya from a family of Polish nobles!), Nikolai Petrovich was honored in every sense with a royal gift - Alexander I signed a special edict giving Count Sheremetyev the right to marry Praskovya Zhemchugova.
Midnight struck
The wedding, which took place on November 6, 1801, was secret. A dark carriage quickly drove up to the parish church of Simeon the Stylite and hastily took away the count, the newly made Countess Sheremetyeva and the modest witnesses of their marriage.
Nikolai Petrovich did not reveal to anyone that he was married. Despite the imperial approval, Praskovya Sheremetyeva would not have been accepted in high society - the title of actress was not at all better status a former serf, because at that time they even buried actors behind the cemetery fence.
The secret came to light two years later, when it was no longer possible to hide it - a son, Count Dmitry, was born into the Sheremetyev family. Naturally, such an unforeseen turn stunned all the greedy relatives, who happily accepted the fact that Nikolai Petrovich would no longer leave behind a direct heir. “Our eldest relative is an excellent thing,” Anna Semenovna Sheremetyeva noted in her memoirs. Nikolai Petrovich finally secured the title of madman, which he had been awarded for his entire life.
However, did this bother him if his beloved Praskovya died on the twentieth day after the birth of his son? Childbirth, together with tuberculosis, dealt a fatal blow to this strong-willed, but very fragile organism.
For the six years by which he was destined to outlive his wife, Nikolai Petrovich strictly followed her will: he raised his son, helped the poor, invested capital in issuing dowries to poor brides, and built a Hospice House (now the Sklifosovsky Research Institute).
The count was buried next to his wife, in the Sheremetyev tomb of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in a simple plank coffin - Count Sheremetyev bequeathed to distribute all the money allocated for the rich funeral of the highest persons to the poor.
Elena Gorbunova
