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Ekaterina Adlerberg

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Ekaterina Nikolaevna Adlerberg
BornEkaterina Nikolaevna Poltavtseva
(1821-09-02)2 September 1821
Saltykovo, Tambov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died16 June 1910(1910-06-16) (aged 88)
Tsarskoye Selo, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Noble familyAdlerberg
Spouse(s)Alexander Vladimirovich Adlerberg
IssueNikolai Alexandrovich Adlerberg
Maria Alexandrovna Adlerberg
FatherNikolai Petrovich Poltavtsev
MotherDaria Alekseevna Pashkova

Countess Ekaterina Nikolaevna Adlerberg (Russian: Екатерина Николаевна Адлерберг) nee Poltavtseva (Russian: Полтавцева; 2 September [O.S. 21 August] 1821, Saltykovo Tambov Governorate, Russian Empire[1] – 16 June [O.S. 3 June] 1910, Tsarskoye Selo[2]) was a maid of honour, state lady,[3] dame of the Order of Saint Catherine, and of the Order of the Red Cross.

Biography

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Ekaterina Nikolaevna was the daughter of pomeshchik, guard ensign Nikolai Petrovich Poltavtsev (1769–1849) and Daria Alexeevna Pashkova (1798–1842), owner of the Pashkov House. On her father's side, she was a descendant of Ignatius Poltavtsev, a court singer who was ennobled by Empress Elizabeth.

The Poltavtsevs had six daughters and four sons. Natalia (1815–1896), was distinguished by an original life style and was not married,[4] Elizabeth (1816–1866), married Adjutant General Nikolai Trofimovich Baranov, Zinaida (1819–1854), died of consumption in Rome unmarried.[5] The youngest three daughters were raised at the Smolny Institute. In 1842, the second youngest, Olga (1823–1880) left the institute and soon married Dmitri Skobelev. In 1845, the youngest, Anna (1825–1904), received a code upon graduation and later married the master of ceremonies Andrei Zherebtsov.[6]

All of the children were born and raised on their father's estate in the village of Saltykovo. In 18330, they moved to the Bolshoye Gagarino estate [ru]. At the end of 1833, Daria Alekseevna and her children moved to Moscow, where she was 'received very coldly in society and treated very condescendingly'.[7] In 1836, she moved again with her family to Saint Petersburg, where she enrolled her daughters in the Smolny Institute.

Ekaterina Nikolaevn graduated from the institute in 1839[8] and on 15 March of the same year, she was accepted as a maid of honour to the court of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. Her sister Elizabeth, a cunning woman, managed to arrange a very profitable match for Ekaterina, her husband's cousin, Count Alexander Vladimirovich Adlerberg (1818–1888), the closest friend of Tsarevich Alexander. Their wedding took place on 17 July 1842, in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Petergof.[9]

The house of the Countess (or 'Katish' as she was called by those around her) was one of the most fashionable and famous in Saint Petersburg. It was considered a great honour to enter it. A great lover of music, on Tuesdays during the winter season, she hosted musical evenings and receptions where one could hear all the famous singers and musicians who were visiting the capital. The countess herself performed romances and folk songs. According to Anna Tyutcheva, 'she became a different person when she sang, her whole being was transformed; from vulgar and cutesy, she became graceful and spiritual'.[10]

As a member of the intimate circle of Alexander II, on the occasion of his 25th wedding anniversary, Countess Adlerberg was made a dame of the Order of Saint Catherine (lesser cross), and on 22 July of the same year, her daughter, Maria, was granted the position of maid of honour.[11] In 1872, Ekaterina Nikolaevna received the title of state lady.[3]

The Adlerberg couple lived widely and their affairs were always complicated. Alexander II repeatedly paid off his friend's large debts. Under Alexander III in August 1881, Count Adlerberg was dismissed. Though the emperor chose to pay his colossal debt to the tune of more than 1,200,000 rubles. Having lost her position at court, Countess Ekaterina Nikolaevna openly expressed her dissatisfaction and made comments about the ingratitude of the sovereign. She tried to gather opposition to the new reign, but failed. When her nephew, General Mikhail Skobelev was recalled to Saint Petersburg after his Paris speech, the Countess defiantly arrived to meet him at the station with a huge bouquet of flowers, which further alienated society.[12]

After the death of her husband in 1888, Countess Adlerberg wanted to retain ownership of the state house of the Minister of the Imperial Court and the salary awarded to her husband (76,000 rubles per annum), but the Emperor refused, since she had her own funds. According to one of the friends of Alexander III (Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov), Countes Adlerberg 'kept 450 thousand rubles in the cash register of the Ministry of the Court and made a fortune for herself from various kinds of dark scams'.[13] After leaving the court, Ekaterina Nikolaevna settled in Tsarskoye Selo, where she died of pneumonia on 3 June 1910. She was buried next to her husband in the Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius.

Marriage and issue

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From Ekaterina Nikolaevna's marriage to Count Alexander Vladimirovich Adlerberg (1818–1888) she had five children:

  • Alexander (1843–1849)
  • Nikolai (1844–1904), major general, director of the department of general affairs of the Ministry of State.
  • Vladimir (1846–), chamberlain, minister of the imperial court, married a Kurdish woman, which was not recognised in Russia.
  • Maria (1849–1892), maid of honour, married Niko I Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia in 1874.[14]
  • Alexandra (1852–1855)

References

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  1. ^ Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich. St. Petersburg necropolis / Comp. V. Saitov. In 4 volumes - St. Petersburg, 1912-1913. - T.1. — P. 22.
  2. ^ TsGIA St. Petersburg. f.19. op.127. No. 2473. Parish books of the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Tsarskoe Selo.
  3. ^ a b Court calendar for 1879. - Printing house R. Golike, 1879. - P. 246.
  4. ^ According to a contemporary, Mrs. Poltavtseva, an old maid, was more like a man than a lady both in her lifestyle and her tastes. She rode well on horseback, hunted animals with greyhounds, was a good drinking companion at rest, not much inferior in this respect to her male companions, and an invariably cheerful conversationalist. She spent the winter in Moscow, but even there she did not abandon her masculine habits. The best entertainment for her was to gather a company of young people of both sexes and lead them to Yar to the gypsies (From the memoirs of a white general // Russian Antiquity. - Volume CLIII. - 1913. - Issues 1-3. - P. 210.).
  5. ^ TsGIA. F.19. O.123. D.10. P. 12. Buried in the Roman non-Catholic cemetery .
  6. ^ TsGIA St. Petersburg. f.19. op.124. d.784. With. 184. Parish books of the Church of the Mariinsky Palace.
  7. ^ P. Dolgorukov. Petersburg essays. Emigrant's pamphlets. - M., 1992. - 560 p.
  8. ^ N. P. Cherepnin. Imperial Educational Society of Noble Maidens. Historical essay 1764-1914. - Petrograd: State Printing House, 1915. - Volume 3. - P. 538.
  9. ^ TsGIA St. Petersburg. f.19. op.124. d.649. With. 714. Metric books of the Peter and Paul Church in Peterhof.
  10. ^ A.F. Tyutcheva. At the court of two emperors. - M.: “Zakharov”, 2008. - 592 p.
  11. ^ Brief historical overview of the Imperial Main Apartment. - SPb.: type. P. P. Soikina, 1902. - P. 12.
  12. ^ Catherine Radziwill. Behind the Veil at the Russian Court.— London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne, 1913.— С. 64—65.
  13. ^ A. A. Polovtsov. Diary of the Secretary of State. In 2 volumes. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2005.
  14. ^ Grebelsky, P. Kh.; Dumin, S.V.; Lapin, V.V. (1993). Дворянские роды Российской империи. Том 4: Князья Царства Грузинского [Noble families of the Russian Empire. Vol. 4: Princes of the Kingdom of Georgia] (in Russian). Vesti. pp. 46–47
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