The Countess (from 1801) Anna Stepanovna Protasova (1745 - 12 ( 24 ) April 1826 ) is a trusted maid of honor of Catherine II .
Her cousin, Orlov's brothers, was granted by Empress Catherine II, first to a state-maid of honor, then, in 1785, to a camera-maid of honor , enjoyed her unlimited trust and was inseparable from her after the death of the monarchy.
Anna Stepanovna Protasova | |
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Date of Birth | 1745 |
Date of death | 12 (24) April 1826 |
Place of death | St. Petersburg |
Occupation | camera maid of honor |
Father | Stepan Fedorovich Protasov (1703-1767) |
Mother | Anisya Nikitichna Orlova , his 2nd wife (1721-1775) |
Biography
Her father Stepan Fyodorovich , a full state adviser, was a senator of Moscow departments in the 1760s; until 1767 its name is read in the Address-calendar [1] ; in St. Petersburg. Vedomosti 1774 (No. 38) printed an advertisement for the sale of a deceased country house in Moscow. There was also a maid of honor, Elisaveta Stepanovna Protasov, probably Anna’s sister.
Her mother was a cousin of the Orlov brothers, and shortly after the coup of 1762, at the request of Aleksey Orlov, Protasov was granted a statute of honor. Since that time, she enjoyed the constant favor of the Empress, with the course of time becoming her close friend. From 1779, Praskovia Bruce changed as a confidant after she was caught in the arms of the Empress's favorite. Rumors attribute to her the role of L'éprouveuse - the “taster” of potential favorites [2] .
Catherine gave her the nickname "Queen", which, according to Countess V. N. Golovina , is allegedly explained by the fact that Protasov was "black as the Queen of the Tahiti Islands." Ségur writes: “Catherine, being deceived many times by the frivolity and envy of some noble ladies whom she honored with her trust, accepted into her close circle only Mrs. Protasova, who was assigned to supervise the maid of honor” [3] . Protasova was also entrusted with the upbringing of a certain girl Alexeyeva, who was reputed to be the daughter of the Grand Duchess and Grigory Orlov (it is not clear whether Elizabeth or Natalia , see Children of Catherine II ).
Golovina writes about her: “Mrs. Protasova, ugly and black, like the queen of the islands of Tahiti, constantly lived at the court. She was a relative of Prince Orlov (the mother of Anna Stepanovna Protasova was a cousin of the prince and Counts Orlov.) And, thanks to his favor, was attached to the court. When she reached more than a mature age and did not form a party for herself, her majesty presented her with her portrait and bestowed it to the chamber-maid of honor. She belonged to the intimate circle of the empress, not because she was a friend of the empress or possessed high qualities, but because she was poor and grumbling. It developed, however, a sense of gratitude. The empress, taking pity on her poverty, wished to support her with her patronage: she allowed her to call her nieces to her and study them ” [4] .
Baron Wrangel tells about her: “who died in old age, Protasova never married, although the Empress repeatedly wanted to arrange Protasova's marriage with Count Arkady Morkov . But it prevented the ugly appearance Protassova about which one of her contemporaries wrote: Mademoiselle Protassoff etait d'une laideur repoussante , grosse, noire, ayant considerablement de barbe et une prestance tres ridicule par ses grands airs ( Mademoiselle Protasov was repulsive, ugly, black , bearded and very confused by the majesty of his appearance). He was distinguished by his beauty, Count Morkov, refused this marriage, saying: "She is bad, I am bad, that we will only disgrace the human race with her." [5] .
Corberon writes on June 4, 1777: “Unhappy Protasov, Maid of Honor, they say, has gone mad; Indeed, she is in a dark mood, reminiscent of madness. There are people who think that this is from envy and love for Prince Orlov , who marries her cousin Zinoviev ” [6] .
In March 1784 she was granted the title of camera-maid of honor and a precious portrait. Repeatedly accompanied her on travels (1785 - Vyshny Volochek; 1787 - Crimea, where she traveled with her in one carriage). Was under Catherine until his death last [7] .
After Catherine's Death
The new emperor, Paul I , was pleased with her: she retained her position. On the day of the coronation (April 5, 1797 ), Paul granted her the Order of St.. Catherine 2nd class (smaller cross). Emperor Alexander I, on the day of his coronation (September 15, 1801 ), elevated her to a county dignity, which, at her request, was extended to her educated nieces: "elevated to the county Russian empire dignity", and two days later the maid of honor Countess Anna Protasova, the count dignity granted to her from us We are all graciously distributed to her relatives nieces, daughters of the late Lieutenant-General Peter Protasov, maid of honor: Barbara, Vera and Anna ... ”. (At the same time, her relatives, the widow of Senator Alexander Yakovlevich Protasov ( 1742 - 1799 ) Varvara Alekseevna and her children [8], received her dignity in the county [8] .
In 1803, she acquired the village of Orlino in the Tsarskoye Selo district (now in the Gatchina district ) and laid there a stone Spaso-Preobrazhensky church in the presence of the Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna [9] .
Until 1823, she was listed in the rank of chamber-maid of honor Emperor-Empress, then listed on leave, perhaps because at the end of her life she was blind.
She died April 12, 1826 in St. Petersburg , was buried in Saint. Dukhovskoy Church of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, the tombstone is lost [10] .
Niece
Five orphans, the daughters of her brother, Kaluga governor Peter Stepanovich Protasov (1730-1794), lived with their aunt in the palace, and were appointed freelines [11] . She gave her nieces a brilliant education at that time, with the main attention being paid to foreign languages, not excluding Latin and Greek, to the detriment of Russian, whom they were not taught, as well as national history and religion. At her request, those who were not married at the time of the coronation of Alexander I received a count of dignity.
- Alexandra Petrovna (1774–1842), married to Prince Alexei Andreyevich Golitsyn
- Ekaterina Petrovna (1776-1859), in marriage with Count Fyodor Rostopchin , and Rostopchin, during Catherine’s lifetime, enjoyed the patronage of her aunt.
- Anna Petrovna (177. —1869), maid of honor, married (since 11/13/1810) with Count Varfolomey Vasilyevich Tolstoy.
- Vera Petrovna (1780? - 1814), in marriage after Hilarion Vasilyevich Vasilchikov , later the prince
- Varvara Petrovna (178. — 1852), who died in maidens
In literature
- Derzhavin in 1789 wrote poems on the occasion of the empress's visit to her ( “Cantata” ).
- Mentioned as l'éprouveuse in Byron's poems.
- Anatoly Tomilin-Brasol. The novel “In the Shadow of the Ermine Mantle” from the series “The Intimate Life of Monarchs”, 2004. Dedicated to the duties of Protasova to check Catherine's potential favorites before they get to the Empress.
Bibliography
- Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Romanov. Letters of the highest persons to Countess A. S. Protasova. With 16 portraits and facsimiles. St. Petersburg., Expedition for the Procurement of Government Papers, 1913.
Notes
- ↑ Address calendars were issued in 1765, 1766 and 1767. In a copy imp. public bibl. over the past year, the name Protasov is marked in pencil: dead.
- ↑ The description of the repeated tests for compliance in the performance of the direct intimate duties of the empress's favorite has been preserved. A.M. Turgenev described the procedure as follows (however, there is no certainty that he can be trusted): “Usually they sent to Anna Stepanovna Protasova to try on Her Majesty’s favorites. On examination of the superior officer, appointed to the highest rank, Mother-Empress, Leib-Medic Rogerson, and, on certification, presented to those in good health service, she was recruited to Anna Stepanovna Protasova for a triple test. When the clerk satisfied the requirements of Protasova quite well, she informed the most gracious queen about the trustworthiness of the person tested, and then the first meeting happened according to the established court etiquette or according to the regulations most highly ordained as a convoy confirmed. Perekusykhina Marya Savvisna and the valet Zakhar Konstantinovich were obliged to have dinner with the elect that day. At 10 o'clock in the evening, when the empress was already in bed, Perekusykhina introduced the recruit into the bedchamber of the pious, dressed in Chinese dressmaker , with a book in her hands, and left him to read in the chairs near the anointed bed. On the next day, Perekusykhin would take the initiate out of the bedchamber and transfer him to Zakhar Konstantinovich, who led the newly-appointed conscript to the palaces prepared for him; here Zakhar reported to a slavishly favorite, that the most gracious sovereign had deigned to appoint him, with the highest person, as his adjutant adjutant , offered him an adjutant uniform with a diamond aggraf and 100,000 rubles of pocket money. Before leaving the empress, in the winter to the Hermitage , and in the summer, in Tsarskoe Selo , to the garden, take a stroll with the new aide-de-camp to whom she gave a hand to lead her, the front hall of the new leader was filled with the first state dignitaries, nobles , courtiers to bring him the hardest congratulations on receiving the highest mercy. The highly enlightened pastor, the Metropolitan , usually came to the favorite the other day to consecrate him and blessed him with holy water. ” Subsequently, the procedure became more complicated, and after Potemkin, the favorites checked not only the Protasov Pro-Maid of Honor, but also Countess Bruce , and Perekusykhin, and Utochkina. (The description is attributed to A. M. Turgenev (cited by: V.N. Balyazin. "Secrets of the House of the Romanovs. Related Unions", 2005))
- ↑ Ségur L.-F. Notes on staying in Russia in the reign of Catherine II
- ↑ Notes of Countess V.N. Golovina // Historical Bulletin, No. 2. 1899 (Inaccessible link) . The circulation date is February 1, 2010. Archived July 1, 2010.
- ↑ Baron Nikolai Wrangell. Old manor houses
- ↑ From Corberon's notes
- ↑ F.V. Rostopchin. The last day of the life of Empress Catherine the Second and the first day of the reign of Emperor Paul the First
- ↑ Protasov (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Spaso-Preobrazhensky Church, village Orlino, Gatchina District
- ↑ Russia. St. Petersburg. Shrine of the Spirit Church
- ↑ Counts Protasov