Varvara Arkadyevna Nelidova (Варвара Аркадьевна Нелидова, 1814–1897) was a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

from 1832 until his death in 1855. Her aunt Yekaterina Nelidova was a mistress of Nicholas' father

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and her maternal grandfather was Count

Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Buxhoevden (russian: Фёдор Фёдорович Буксгевден, ''Fyodor Fyodorovich Buksgevden''; other spellings: ''Feodor Buxhoeveden'', ''Buxhœwden'', ''Buxhöwden'') (September 14, 1750 Võlla, Govern ...

. Nicholas discontinued visits to his wife's bedroom and set his sights on Nelidova after the court doctors had declared that sex might be detrimental to the frail health of the Empress and that another childbirth might prove fatal for her. Nelidova's liaison with the Tsar was kept more or less secret, giving rise to never ending speculations about its length and the number of children she had with him. According to

Nikolay Dobrolyubov Nikolay Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov ( rus, Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Добролю́бов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ dəbrɐˈlʲubəf, a=Nikolay Alyeksandrovich Dobrolyubov.ru.vorb.oga; 5 February Old_Style_a ...

, their several children were adopted by her relative, Peter von Kleinmichel, Russia's Minister of Communications. Nelidova is also claimed to have been the mother of Baron Paskhin, an 8-year-old boy who was made a Baron of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

in 1839. His surname is derived from the feast of

Pascha Pascha (or other similar spellings) may refer to: * Passover, the Aramaic spelling of the Hebrew word ''Pesach'' **Pesach seder,_the_festive_meal_beginning_the_14th_and_ending_on_the_15th_of_Nisan *Easter.html" ;"title="san in the Hebrew c ..., t ...

, for he was born on Easter Sunday. No documentation as to his parentage survives, however. Nelidova's secretive relationship with the Tsar is the subject of Yuri Tynyanov's novella ''Young Vitushishnikov'' (1933) and is briefly mentioned by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

in '' Hadji Murat''.

References

Mistresses of Russian royalty Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire 1814 births 1897 deaths {{russia-bio-stub