Catherine Desnitski ( ua, Катерина Десницька) (27 April 1886 – 3 January 1960) was a Russian noblewoman, a participant in the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
and the holder of the
Cross of St. George
The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of ...
(1904). She was the wife of the
Siamese prince
Chakrabongse Bhuvanath
Field Marshal Chakrabongse Bhuvanath, the Prince of Bishnulok ( th, จักรพงษ์ภูวนาถ; ; 3 March 1883 – 13 June 1920), was the 40th child of King Chulalongkorn and the fourth child of Queen Sri Bajarindra.
Biography ...
. The story of their love is described in literary works and a ballet by the Kremlin Ballet Company at the Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music (2003).
Childhood
Desnitski was born Katerina Ivanov Desnitskaya. Her father was Ivan Stepanovich Desnitsky. Born in 1838, to a poor rural deacon, he received his early education in a theological
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
. Later he entered
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
, graduating from the Faculty of Law in 1866.
During his studies, despite financial difficulties, he married Karolina Karlovna (Klementievna), née Gecklin (?–1882) a Frenchwoman brought up in the Reformed tradition. They had six children:
* Vladimir (06/05/1867, Moscow – ?)
* Hope (07/29/1869, Nizhny Novgorod – ?)
* Sofia (09/19/1871, Samara – 12/12/1872, Samara)
* Evgenia (11/26/1873, Samara – ?1942)
* Nikolay (October 10, 1875, Samara – ?)
* Alexander (1881, Kiev – ?1943)
Her mother was Maria Mikhailovna Desnitskaya (née Khizhnyakova) (06/20/1851 – winter 1903, Kiev). In 1868, she had graduated with a silver medal from the Poltava Institute of Noble Maidens (now
Poltava National Technical University
National University "Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic" is a Ukraine, Ukrainian university in Poltava. It is located on Pershotravneva Avenue. Previously known as Poltava National Technical Yuri Kondratyuk University, PoltNTU.
History
Earl ...
named after
Yuri Kondratyuk
Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk (russian: Юрий Васильевич Кондратюк; ukr, Юрій Васильович Кондратюк; 21 June 1897 – February 1942), real name Aleksandr Ignatyevich Shargei (russian: Алекса́нд ...
).
Adult life and marriage
Desnitski became a nurse and served in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War and was awarded a medal.
In 1904, Desnitski met the Siamese
Prince of Bishnulok, a son of King
Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
, who received a military education in St. Petersburg,
and was a graduate of the
Page Corps
The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...
.
In 1906 they married in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
's
Greek Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
of the Holy Trinity. She had a son
Chula Chakrabongse
Chula Chakrabongse ( th, จุลจักรพงษ์; ; 28 March 1908 – 30 December 1963), was a member of the family of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand and of the House of Chakkraphong. He was the only child of Prince Chakrabongse Bhuva ...
on 28 March 1908 and they lived at the
Paruskavan Palace
Paruskavan Palace (Thai :th:วังปารุสกวัน, วังปารุสกวัน) is a historic mansion in Bangkok. The house was built for King Chulalongkorn's son, Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath and his Ukrainian wife (:ru ...
in Bangkok.
In 1919, the Prince and Desnitski divorced, but she refused a financial settlement,
and left for
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, where her brother had settled and there was a large
Russian diaspora
The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or not.
History
...
. She became involved in charity work there
and later married American Harry Clinton Stone. They later moved to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and then
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, Oregon. Desnitski was buried in Paris.
She met her only granddaughter just once –
Narisa Chakrabongse
Narisa Chakrabongse is a writer, publisher, and environmental activist. The only daughter of Prince Chula Chakrabongse, and the only granddaughter of Prince Chakrabongse and his Ukrainian wife Katerina Desnitskaya, a great-granddaughter of th ...
(b. 1956), the daughter of her son Chula Chakrabongse and his English wife Elizabeth Hunter. In 1995, Narisa Chakrabongse, in collaboration with Eileen Hunter (her maternal aunt), published the book ''Katya and the Prince of Siam''.
Narisa maintained good relations with her cousins from the Desnitski family in Paris and St. Petersburg. Her son, Catherine's great-grandson,
Hugo Chakrabongse Levy, a musician and composer, is married to Thai actress .
References
External links
Екатерина Десницкая оставила сиамского принца.История любви русской красавицы и принца Сиама.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desnitski, Catherine
1886 births
1960 deaths
Deaths in Paris
People of the Russo-Japanese War
Catherine Desnitski
Catherine Desnitski ( ua, Катерина Десницька) (27 April 1886 – 3 January 1960) was a Russian noblewoman, a participant in the Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russia ...
Russian expatriates in Thailand
Expatriates in the Rattanakosin Kingdom
20th-century Chakri dynasty