Countess Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova (for her husband Polyanskaya , 1739-1792) - favorite of Peter III , maid of honor ; the daughter of the General-in-Chief of Count R. I. Vorontsov ; sister of the famous princess E. R. Dashkova , chancellor A. R. Vorontsov and diplomat S. R. Vorontsov .
| Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | |
| Date of Birth | August 13 (24), 1739 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | February 2 (13) 1792 (52 years) |
| Place of death | |
| Allegiance |  Russian empire |
| Occupation | |
| Father | Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov |
| Mother | Marfa Ivanovna Surmina |
| Spouse | Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky |
| Children | Anna, Alexander |
| Awards and prizes |
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Content
Biography
The second daughter of Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov from marriage with Marfa Ivanovna Surmina . After the death of the mother in 1745, she was brought up with her sister and brother in the house of her uncle, Vice-Chancellor M. I. Vorontsov . In November 1749 she was appointed by the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to the maids of honor [1] , in the court staff of Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseevna , who found her:
| ... A very ugly, extremely unclean child with olive skin color, and after suffering smallpox, became even ugly, because her features were completely disfigured and her whole face was covered not with pock marks, but scars [2] . |
However, the opinion of Catherine Alekseevny, who disliked Peter III and people close to him, can hardly be completely trusted.
Favorite
The clear preference given by the Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich several years later was “fat and ungainly” , “with a flabby face” , “wide- width” freeline Vorontsova, which he simply called “Romanovna”, caused everyone to be amazed [3] .
Many believed that the Grand Duke "showed a very regrettable taste . " According to the French envoy J.-L. Favier [4] :
| The ugliness of Vorontsova was inexpressible and was not bathed by either good addition or whiteness of the skin. She was not devoid of intelligence and, on occasion, could use her position if even the slightest opportunity presented itself. |
The hobby of the grand duke, which amused Elizabeth Petrovna, nicknamed Vorontsov as “ Madame Pompadour, ” with his accession to the throne crossed all bounds. Immediately upon accession, Peter III granted his "Lizka" to the maid of honor, took her to the room in the Winter Palace next to his own, and on June 9, 1762, solemnly laid the Catherine's ribbon on her.
In the memoirs of contemporaries of those years, Elizaveta Vorontsova constantly appears as the “official favorite” of the emperor and a participant in his entertainment, according to Bolotov , the emperor “ spent almost all the time with her ” [5] . Peter III "did not hide before anyone an inordinate love for her." Vorontsova received from the emperor 5 thousand imperials (for paying debts) and valuables of more than 50 thousand rubles. Foreign ambassadors in St. Petersburg reported on the intention of the emperor to imprison her spouse in a monastery and marry the maid of honor Vorontsova, who behaves arrogantly towards the empress.
After the coup on June 29, 1762, Vorontsova was arrested along with Peter III in Oranienbaum , where her quarters are still preserved in the Grand Palace . Despite her requests, on her knees in front of Panin, to follow Peter to Holstein, the countess was sent to her father’s village near Moscow, and she lost her camera-Freilinsky portrait and the Order of St. Catherine. But immediately after this, Catherine II undertook to arrange the further fate of Vorontsova, thought about buying a house for her in Moscow and ordered Count R. I. Vorontsov to single out a daughter, “so that she would have no business with anyone and live in silence, not giving people much reasons to talk about yourself . "
Marriage
On September 18, 1765, Elizaveta Vorontsova married a colonel, then State Councilor Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky (1721–1818). The wedding took place in the estate near Moscow Vorontsov Konkovo . Over time, the couple moved to St. Petersburg, where Vorontsova lived until her death. Without appearing at the court, she visited the world and even saw Countess A. S. Protasova, a close friend of Catherine II.
In 1776, according to the testimony of the French diplomat Corberon , the empress gave Polyanskaya 45,000 rubles in payment of her debts, kindly reproaching Elizabeth that she had not previously resorted to her help, but refused her sister Dashkova 200 souls, although she was the last owes her crown [6] .
The letters of Elizabeth Vorontsov to her brother, Count S. R. Vorontsov, are not much inferior to the French style of her sister, Princess Dashkova, and are full of details about secular and court events. Her two brothers, Counts Semyon and Alexander Vorontsov, loved her very much and gave her a great preference over Princess Dashkova, who was reproached not without reason for her unfriendly attitude towards her sister, who was greatly afraid of her not only during her favor, but also after her disgrace.
Elizaveta Romanovna died on February 2, 1792 and was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery [7] .
Children
From marriage with Polyansky had children:
- Anna Alexandrovna (1766–1845), in 1782, was granted to a maid of honor; for this, her mother addressed a letter to the empress with a request for a code for her daughter. She participated in the choir of singers at the festival, given by Prince Potemkin in the Tauride Palace . She was married to Baron Wilhelm d' Ogger (d'Hogger), the Dutch ambassador in St. Petersburg, who married Polyanskaya, remained to live in Russia.
- Alexander Alexandrovich (1774-1818) secret adviser, real chamberlain, since 1817 a senator.
Movie Image
- "The dissolute empress " ( 1934 )
- “ Favorite ” (2005) - Margarita Bychkova
- " Catherine " (2014) - Anastasia Korolkova
- The Great ( 2015 ) - Olga Medynich .
Notes
- ↑ Saskie "of Elizabeth Russia / / Russian Archive: History of the Fatherland in the testimonies and documents of the XVIII — XX centuries. New series. Issue 15. M., 2007. -P. 177.
- ↑ Catherine II. Memoirs.
- ↑ Famous Russians of 18-19 centuries. Biography and portraits. - SPb .: Lenizdat, 1996. - p. 23.
- ↑ Russian court in 1761. Translation from the French manuscript by Lafermeier ... // Russian olden time, 1878. - V. 23. - № 10. - P. 187—206.
- ↑ The life and adventures of A. Bolotov, described by him for his descendants (1738—1793).
- ↑ Catherine II and G. A. Potemkin: personal correspondence. M., Science, 1997. P. 605.
- ↑ Tombstone E. R. Polyanskaya
Literature
- Polyanskaya, Elizaveta Romanovna // Russian biographical dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
- Palmer Elena . Peter III. Der Prinz von Holstein. - Sutton, Germany, 2005. - ISBN 3-89702-788-7 .