Yelena Sheremeteva (c. 1553 – 4 January 1587), was a Russian noblewoman,

tsesarevna Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...

of Russia as the third wife of

Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia Ivan Ivanovich (Ива́н Иванович) (March 28, 1554 – November 19, 1581) was a Tsarevich (heir apparent) of Russia and the son of Ivan the Terrible, who killed him in a fit of rage. Early life Ivan was the second son of Ivan the T ...

, son of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

Biography

Yelena Sheremeteva was the daughter of the boyar Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetev. She was selected to marry the son of the tsar in a

bride-show The bride-show ( el, δείχνουν οι νύμφες, russian: смотр невест) was a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country. A similar practice also existed ...

of daughters from the nobility. Before her marriage to the Tsarevich, his father had considered many women as a possible wife for his son, but had found most of them unsuitable for one reason or another. The young Ivan's first and second wives were both thrown into convents on account of their apparent inability to have children. In October 1581, Yelena was found to be pregnant. However, on 15 November, the Tsar accused her of supposedly wearing immodest clothing and he began to beat her. Hearing her screams, Yelena's husband hurried to her defense, shouting at his father, "You sent my first wife to a convent for no reason, you did the same with my second, and now you strike the third, causing the death of the son she holds in her womb." Subsequently, Yelena did indeed suffer a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

. The Tsarevich Ivan soon confronted his father on the matter, and a heated argument ensued and only ended when the Tsar struck his son on the head with his staff. The Tsarevich died of his wound on 19 November 1581, leaving Yelena a widow. After the death of her spouse, her father-in-law placed her in the

Novodevichy Convent Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery (russian: Новоде́вичий монасты́рь, Богоро́дице-Смоле́нский монасты́рь), is probably the best-known clois ...

. However, unlike her two predecessors, she was not exiled far away from Moscow, but placed in a convent near the court, where she was treated in accordance to her status as a member of the imperial family.

References

* Шереметева, Елена Ивановна // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). — СПб., 1890—1907.

Yelena Yelena or Jelena is a feminine given name. It is the Russian language, Russian form of Helen (given name), Helen, written Елена in Russian. Notable people called Yelena *Yelena Afanasyeva (born 1967), former Russian athlete who competed in t ...

Russian tsarevnas Rurik dynasty 16th-century Russian people 1550s births 1587 deaths Year of birth uncertain {{Russia-royal-stub