Maria Savvishna Perekusikhina (russian: Марья Саввишна Перекусихина) (1739–1824), was a Russian
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...
ist, a
lady's maid of Empress
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 ...
of Russia. She was a close friend and confidant of Catherine and quite influential.
Life
She was from a noble family. Her brother
Basil Perekusikhin received a good education and died a senator (1724–1788).
Catherine's lady's maid from the 1760s onward, she was so trusted by Catherine that it was said that the favorites of Catherine the Great were all somewhat dependent upon her, as she was frequently assigned to act as a go-between. Her closeness to the monarch made her an unofficial channel for people who wanted something from Catherine. During
her journey to the Crimea in 1787, Catherine reprimanded
Grigory Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...
for not seeing to the comfort of Perekusikhina. She was present at Catherine's death, and later wrote down her memories of her.
References
* В. О. Михневич. Исторические очерки и рассказы. В двух томах. Издание А. С. Суворина, 1900. Т.2. Очерк «М. С. Перекусихина».
1739 births
1824 deaths
Courtiers from the Russian Empire
Nobility from the Russian Empire
18th-century women from the Russian Empire
Memoirists from the Russian Empire
Maids
Court of Catherine the Great
Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)
Domestic workers in the Russian Empire
Women memoirists
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