Baroness Elizaveta Alexandrovna Demidova (née Stroganova; 3/5 February 1779,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– 8 April 1818, Paris; ) was a Russian aristocrat of the Stroganov family. She was the hostess of an aristocratic salon, known for her gallomania. Wife of industrialist Nikolai Nikitich Demidov . She spent most of her life in Paris.

Life

The youngest daughter of the actual privy councilor, Baron Alexander Nikolaevich Stroganov (1740–1789) from his marriage to Elizaveta Alexandrovna (1745–1831), daughter of Chief General A. A. Zagryazhsky. By birth she belonged to the highest nobility of the capital. Elizabeth's father was the owner of the Taman and Kynovsky factories and more than half a million acres of land. Her mother Elizaveta Alexandrovna Zagryazhskaya was a lady in waiting and a famous beauty of

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

's court. Born in St. Petersburg, baptized on 2 December 1776 in St. Sergius Cathedral under the adoption of sister Catherine and brother Gregory. Elizabeth's uncle, Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov, not only owned the Bilimbaevsky mountain district in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

, but was also a major statesman close to Catherine II and Paul I. Elizaveta was also the cousin of N. I. Goncharova (mother-in-law of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

). In September 1795 in Saint Petersburg, she married Count Nikolai Nikitich Demidov at the age of 17. Husband Nikolai Demidov became a diplomat in 1800 and the young couple set up home in Paris, in the Hôtel de Brancas-Lauragais, at the corner of Rue Taitbout and

Boulevard des Italiens The Boulevard des Italiens () is a boulevard in Paris. It is one of the 'Grands Boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the Wall of Charles V and the Louis XIII Wall, which were destroyed by the orders of ...

, becoming strong supporters of

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. However, mounting tensions between France and Russia forced Russia to call Nicolas back home in 1805. The couple then set up home in Italy before returning to Russia in 1812 to settle in Moscow. They were of completely different characters and often lived apart. She was beautiful, light and witty, and her husband more introspective, and so they soon grew bored with each other. After Anatole's birth in 1812, they separated and she returned to live in Paris without her husband; he and his children lived in Rome, and then in Florence. She died at the age of 41, after a short illness, having converted, as her contemporaries persistently said, to Catholicism. She is buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

. Later, by order of her son Anatoly Demidov, the architect Zhoret and the sculptor Quaglia created a majestic mausoleum with white marble columns.

Children

They had two children, who lived to adult age: * Pavel (Paul) Nikolaievich Demidov (1798–1840) * Anatoly (Anatole) Nikolaievich Demidov (1812–1869) Two other died as young children: * Aleksandra Nikolaievna Demidova (19 October 1796 – 24 August 1800) * Nikolai Nikolaievich Demidov (17 February 1799 – 24 August 1800)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroganova, Elizaveta Alexandrovna 1779 births 1818 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Elizaveta Elizaveta () may refer to: People * Elizaveta Alexandrova-Zorina, (born 1984), Russian-born writer * Elizaveta Arzamasova (born 1995), Russian actress * Elizaveta Akhmatova (1820–1904), Russian writer, publisher and translator * Elizaveta Ax ...

Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France