Maria Semenovna Choglokova (née Hendrikova; 1723 - 19 March 1756), was a Russian Empire
lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...
and
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
. She was a cousin and confidante of Empress
Elizabeth of Russia
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
, and chief lady-in-waiting to the future
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
. She played an important part in the early married life of Catherine, and is given a prominent place in Catherine's memoirs.
Life
Maria Semenovna Choglokova was the 4th of five children and the second eldest of three daughters of count Simon Hendrikov and Kristina Skavronskaia and thus the maternal first cousin of Empress Elizabeth. In 1742, she married Nikolai Naumovich Choglokov (1718-1754). She had married for love, was thus faithful to her spouse without difficulty and gave birth regularly - she was to have four daughters and four sons during her marriage.
After the marriage of Grand Duke Peter to Catherine in 1745, Choglokova was appointed chief lady-in-waiting and mistress of the household of the Grand Duchess in succession to
Maria Rumyantseva
Countess Maria Andreyevna Rumyantseva née Matveyeva (1699–1788) was a Russian lady in waiting and alleged royal mistress of Tsar Peter the Great.
Life
She was the daughter of privy councilor of Count Andrey Matveyev (1666–1728) from hi ...
, and her spouse was given the equivalent position of Chamberlain to the Grand Duke. They were appointed by recommendation of
Pyotr Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Count Pyotr Mikhailovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (russian: Пётр Миха́йлович Бесту́жев-Рюмин, lv, Pēteris Bestuževs-Rjumins; 1664–1742) was a Russian statesman who effectively governed the Duchy of Courland in the name of ...
because of the happiness and fertility of their marriage, and was to act as an example for Peter and Catherine, whose procreation was politically important. Their task was to supervise the young couple and their behavior in all aspects and make sure that their marriage resulted in procreation of heirs to the throne and their behavior was suitable in the eyes of the public. Choglokova, for example, was always to make sure that Catherine never neglected her religious duties, and or placed herself in any situation with men that could damage her reputation.
In 1752, a change occurred in the behavior of Choglokova. Until then concerned with the marital virtue of Catherine, according to the first version of Catherine's memoirs, edited by Alexander Hertzen, Choglokova had a conversation with Catherine in which she assured Catherine that adultery could be acceptable if circumstances made them necessary. She asked Catherine if she would prefer
Sergei Saltykov
Count Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov ( rus, link=no, Сергей Васильевич Салтыков, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof; c. 1726 – 1765) was a Russian officer (chamberlain) who became the first lover of Empre ...
or
Lev Naryshkin
Lev Alexandrovich Naryshkin (russian: Лев Александрович Нарышкин; also known as Léon Narychkine) (5 February 1785—1846, Naples) was a Russian Imperial aristocrat who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
Biography
He was the ...
, and when Catherine answered that she preferred the former, Choglokova stated that Catherine could trust her and her love for her country, and that she could be assured that she would be of no trouble to her. There is a version of Catherine memoirs that Choglokova only advised her to obtain a platonic lover to make Peter jealous, to consummate their marriage with Peter and to obtain a legal heir to the throne. This conversation is famous and has been interpreted as an indication that Choglokova acted on the orders of Empress Elizabeth, who was tired of the slow procreation of Peter and Catherine and would allow for Catherine to become pregnant from Peter by any means to get rid of both Catherine and Peter ASAP as heirs involved in military plots against Elizabeth.
M. Safonov. The origin of Paul I. The history of Gatchina.
During the last years of their service at court, the Choglokov marriage itself fell apart, and after her husband had committed adultery, Choglokova did the same. She was widowed in 1754 and was relieved of her court office, and her and husband was replaced in their respective offices at court by another couple: Catherine Ivanovna Kasturina (1718-1790) and Alexander Shuvalov
.
She remarried A. I. Glebov.
Fiction
She was portrayed by Katya Galitzine in Young Catherine (1991).
References
* Catherine II, Cruse, Mark. & Hoogenboom, Hilde., The memoirs of Catherine the Great [Elektronisk resurs], 1st ed., Modern Library, New York, 2005
* Чоглокова, Мария Симоновна (ru).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choglokova, Maria Semenovna
1723 births
1756 deaths
Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire
Court of Catherine the Great
Court of Elizabeth of Russia
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...