Elena Lukinichna Mrozovskaya or Helène de Mrosovsky (; russian: Елена Лукинична Мрозовская Княжевич; before 1892–1941) was a Russian Empire and Soviet professional photographer of Montenegrin descent...

Life and career

Mrozovskaya's brother, Vladimir Pavlovich Mrozovsky, was a mechanical engineer and painter, and her uncle, , became the military

governor-general of Moscow Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire Governorates of the Russian Empire was created by the edict (ukase) of Peter the Great on 18 December 1708 "On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them", which divided Russia into eig ...

from 1915 to 1917.. Mrozovskaya herself was originally a teacher and sales clerk. She studied photography at the Russian Technical Society, finishing in 1892, and then continued her studies with

Nadar Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar, was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloon (aircraft), balloonist, and proponent of Aircraft#Heavier-than-air – aerodynes, h ...

in Paris. Returning to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, she opened a studio there in 1894. In the 1920s, she was living in

Serovo Serovo (russian: Серо́во; fi, Vammelsuu) is a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Fi ...

, a district of St. Petersburg. She died in 1941 in

Repino Repino (russian: Репино) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities *Repino, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg ;Rural lo ...

, another district of St. Petersburg.

Photography

Mrozovskaya's subjects included

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

Mathilde Kschessinska Mathilde-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinska ( pl, Matylda Maria Krzesińska, russian: Матильда Феликсовна Кшесинская; 6 December 1971; also known as Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya after her marriage) was a Polish ...

Vera Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fyodorovna Komissarzhevskaya (russian: Ве́ра Фёдоровна Комиссарже́вская; 8 November 1864 – 23 February 1910) was one of the most celebrated actresses and theatre managers of the late Russian Empire. She made ...

, and other artists, writers, and actors of the time. Her photos of the interior of the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

, taken beginning in 1896, are among the earliest recordings of the conservatory, and in 1897 she was named its official photographer. She won a bronze medal at the

General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm (1897) The General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm of 1897 ( sv, Allmänna konst- och industriutställningen) also known as Stockholm Exhibition or Stockholm World's Fair (''Stockholmsutställningen'') was a World's Fair staged in 1897 in Stoc ...

and a silver medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

in Paris, and participated as well in the

Liège International (1905) ''Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Liège'' was a world's fair held in Liège from 27 April to 6 November 1905 just 8 years after a Belgian exposition held in Brussels. Intended to show Liège's industrial importance it also marked 75 ye ...

Collections and exhibits

One of her photos, a hand-tinted image of Princess Olga Orlova wearing a

kokoshnik The kokoshnik ( rus, коко́шник, p=kɐˈkoʂnʲɪk) is a traditional Russian headdress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan. The kokoshnik tradition has existed since the 10th century in the ancient Russian city Veliky Novgo ...

at the 1903 Ball in the Winter Palace, is in the collection of the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

and was sent to the

Hermitage Rooms The Hermitage Rooms was the name by which a series of rooms at Somerset House, London, were known from 2000 to 2007. During this period they were used as a venue for temporary exhibitions from the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Pet ...

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

in London in 2003, as part of a traveling exhibit celebrating St. Petersburg's tricentennial. Another of her tinted photos, "Portrait of girl in Little Russia costume", is in the collection of the

Moscow House of Photography The Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM; russian: link=no, Мультимедиа Арт Музей, Москва) is a Russian state museum dedicated to the presentation and development of contemporary art related to new multimedia technologies ...

, and was exhibited in Amsterdam in early 2013 as part of an exhibit organized by the Russian Ministry of Culture. Many photos by Mrozovskaya are kept in the collection of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and several more are in the collection of the

Russian State Archive of Literature and Art Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (russian: Государственный архив литературы и искусства (РГАЛИ), or RGALI) is one of the largest state archives in Russia. It preserves documents of national l ...

.Mrozovskaya, Helena Lukinichna
Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Retrieved 18 October 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrozovskaya, Elena Year of birth missing 1941 deaths Photographers from the Russian Empire Expatriates from the Russian Empire in France 19th-century women photographers People from the Russian Empire of Montenegrin descent Date of death missing Photographers from Saint Petersburg Soviet photographers 19th-century photographers from the Russian Empire