An incredible amount of myths, gossip and rumors always gather around historical figures, cultural figures, art and politics. The Russian Empress Catherine II was no exception. According to various sources, the children of Catherine II were born from her lawful husband Peter III, favorites Grigory Orlov and Potemkin, as well as adviser Panin. Now it is difficult to say which of the rumors is true and which is fiction, and how many children Catherine II had.
Children of Catherine II and Peter III
Pavel Petrovich- the first child of Catherine II from Peter III, was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in the Summer Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg. At the birth of the heir to the empire were present: the current Empress of Russia Elizaveta Petrovna, the future Emperor Peter III and the Shuvalov brothers. The birth of Paul was an extremely important and expected event for the empress, so Elizabeth arranged festivities on this occasion and took all the trouble of raising the heir upon herself. The empress hired a whole staff of nannies and educators, completely isolating the child from her parents. Catherine II had almost no contact with Pavel Petrovich and did not have the opportunity to influence his upbringing.
It should be noted that the father of the heir doubted his paternity, although Catherine II herself categorically denied all suspicions. There were also doubts at court. Firstly, the child appeared after 10 years of marriage, when everyone at the court was sure of the infertility of the spouses. Secondly, it is not known for certain what caused the long-awaited pregnancy of Catherine II: the successful cure of Peter III from phimosis by surgical intervention (as the empress claims in her memoirs) or the appearance at the court of the noble handsome Sergei Saltykov - Catherine's first favorite. In fairness, it should be noted that Pavel had an extraordinary external resemblance to Peter III and was completely different from Saltykov.
Anna Petrovna
Princess Anna was born on December 9 (20), 1757 in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. As in the case of Paul, Empress Elizabeth immediately took the baby to her chambers for education, forbidding her parents to visit her. In honor of the birth of a girl from the Peter and Paul Fortress, 101 shots were fired around midnight. The baby was named Anna in honor of the sister of the Empress Elizabeth, although Catherine intended to name her daughter Elizabeth. The baptism was carried out almost secretly: there were no guests and representatives of other powers, and the empress herself entered the church through a side door. Both parents received 60,000 rubles each for the birth of Anna, which greatly pleased Peter and offended Catherine. The children of Catherine II from Peter grew up and were brought up by strangers - nannies and teachers, which deeply saddened the future empress, but completely suited the current one.
Stanislav August Poniatowski
Peter doubted his paternity and did not hide it, there were rumors at court that Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland, was the real father. Anna lived a little over a year and after a short illness she died. For Catherine II, the death of her daughter was a strong blow.
Illegitimate children
Children of Catherine II and Grigory Orlov
Alexey Bobrinsky
The connection between Catherine II and Grigory Orlov was quite long, because many are inclined to the idea that the empress gave birth to several children of the count. However, information about only one child, Alexei Bobrinsky, has been preserved. It is not known whether Orlov and Catherine II had other children, but Alexei is the official offspring of the couple. The boy became the first illegitimate child of the future empress and was born on April 11-12 (22), 1762 at the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg.
Immediately after birth, the boy was transferred to the family of Vasily Shkurin, Catherine's wardrobe master, where he was brought up with Vasily's other sons. Orlov recognized his son, secretly visited the boy with Catherine. The son of Catherine II from Grigory Orlov, despite all the efforts of his parents, grew up as a mediocre and infantile man. The fate of Bobrinsky cannot be called tragic - he received a good education, arranged his life well at the expense of state funding and even maintained friendly relations with his brother Paul after his coronation.
Other children of Orlov and Catherine II
In various sources, one can find references to other children of the empress and favorite, but there is not a single fact or document confirming their existence. Some historians are inclined to the version that Catherine II had several failed pregnancies, others speak of stillborn children or those who died in infancy. There is also a version about the illness of Grigory Orlov and his inability to bear children after it. However, the count, having married, became a father again.
Children of Catherine II and Grigory Potemkin
As well as with Orlov, with Potemkin, Catherine II had a close relationship for a long time, because there are many myths around this union. According to one version, Prince Potemkin and Catherine II had a daughter who was born on July 13, 1775 in the Prechistensky Palace in Moscow. existence itself Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina there is no doubt - such a woman really existed, even left behind 10 children. The portrait of Tyomkina can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. More importantly, the origin of the woman is unknown.
The main reason for doubt that Elizabeth is the daughter of Potemkin and the Empress is the age of Catherine II at the time of the birth of the girl: at that time the empress was about 45 years old. At the same time, the baby was transferred to be raised in the family of the prince's sister, Potemkin appointed his nephew as guardian. The girl received a good education, Gregory allocated significant amounts for her maintenance and fussed about the marriage of his alleged daughter. In this case, it is more obvious that Grigory Potemkin was Elizabeth's father, while one of his favorites, and not Empress Catherine, could well have been her mother.
Other illegitimate children of Catherine II
It is not known for certain how many children Empress Catherine II had and how their fate turned out. Various sources call different amount children mention different fathers. According to some versions, miscarriages and stillborn babies were attributed to Catherine's union with Potemkin, as well as with Orlov, but there is no evidence of this.
Museums section publications
Portraits of illegitimate children of Russian emperors
Descendants of the ruling dynasty, born from favorites - what secrets do their images hide? We examine the "fruits of love" of the Romanov family together with Sofia Bagdasarova.
In the Russian kingdom, in contrast to medieval Europe with morality, at least in the annals, it was strict: there is no mention of extramarital affairs and children of monarchs (the exception is Ivan the Terrible). The situation changed after Peter the Great turned Russia into the Russian Empire. The court began to focus on France, including in gallant adventures. However, this did not affect the appearance of bastards at first. In the first half of the 18th century, the Romanov dynasty also had a shortage of legitimate heirs, not to mention illegitimate children. With the accession of Catherine the Great in 1762, stability came to the country - it also influenced the growth in the birth rate of illegitimate offspring. And, of course, the appearance of works of art dedicated to them.
Son of Catherine II
Fedor Rokotov. Portrait of Alexei Bobrinsky. Around 1763. Rim
Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky was the son of the then simply Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (without a serial number) and her favorite Grigory Orlov. He was born under stressful conditions: Catherine was pregnant with him when Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died in December 1761 and her lawful husband Peter III ascended the throne. Relations between the spouses by that time were already very strained, they did not communicate much, and the emperor did not even know about interesting position Catherine. When it was time for childbirth in April, the devoted valet Shkurin set fire to his house to distract Peter, who loved to look at the fire. Barely recovering (a little more than two months passed), Catherine led the coup, and spent the night on her horse.
Alexei grew up not at all like his passionate, smart parents, he received a poor education, reveled, made debts and, on the orders of his angry mother, lived in the Baltic states, away from the court, throughout her reign.
In the portrait by Rokotov, a boy with a silver rattle in his hands is depicted at the age of about a year. When the painting ended up in the Russian Museum, it was believed to be a portrait of his half-brother, Emperor Paul. The subtle resemblance to her mother's features, as well as the fact that the picture came from her private quarters, seemed to confirm this version. However, experts on Rokotov's work saw that, judging by the style, the picture was created in the mid-1760s, when Pavel was already ten years old. Comparison with other portraits of Bobrinsky proved that it was he who was depicted.
Daughter of Catherine II
Vladimir Borovikovsky. Portrait of Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina. 1798. State Tretyakov Gallery
Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina was the daughter of the favorite of the Empress Grigory Potemkin - this is evidenced by her artificial shortened surname (such were given by Russian aristocrats to illegitimate children), and patronymic, and the words of her son. Who exactly was her mother, unlike Bobrinsky, is a mystery. Catherine II never paid attention to her, however, the version of her motherhood is widespread. The son of Tyomkina, directly pointing out that she is Potemkina by her father, writes evasively that Elizaveta Grigorievna "from her mother's side is also of highly significant origin."
If the Empress is really her mother, then she gave birth to a child already at the age of 45, during the celebration of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, when, according to the official version, Catherine suffered from indigestion due to unwashed fruits. The girl was raised by Potemkin's nephew Count Alexander Samoilov. When she grew up, she was given a huge dowry and married to Ivan Calageorga, a school friend of one of the Grand Dukes. Tyomkina gave birth to ten children and, apparently, was happy. One of her daughters married the son of the sculptor Martos - is this really how the author of Minin and Pozharsky became related to the Romanovs?
The portrait painted by Borovikovsky, at first glance, is quite in line with the images of beauties for which this artist became so famous. But still, what a contrast with the portrait of Lopukhina or other languid young ladies of Borovikovsky! The red-haired Tyomkina obviously inherited from her father both temperament and willpower, and even an empire dress in ancient fashion does not make her cold. Today this picture is one of the decorations of the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery, proving that Borovikovsky could reflect the most different sides human character. But the founder of the museum, Tretyakov, twice refused to buy a portrait from her descendants: in the 1880s, the art of the gallant age seemed old-fashioned, and he preferred to invest in actual, acutely social Wanderers.
Daughter of Alexander I
Unknown artist. Portrait of Sophia Naryshkina. 1820s
Sofya Dmitrievna Naryshkina was the daughter of a long-term favorite of Emperor Alexander I, Maria Antonovna Naryshkina. Despite the fact that the beauty deceived the emperor (and her husband) either with Prince Grigory Gagarin, or with Count Adam Ozharovsky, or with someone else, Alexander I considered most of her children to be his own. In addition to the eldest daughter Marina, born of her husband, Maria Antonovna, over the 14 years of communication with the emperor, gave birth to five more children, of whom two survived - Sophia and Emmanuel. The emperor especially loved Sophia, who in the world was even called “Sofya Alexandrovna”, and not “Dmitrievna”.
Alexander I was anxious about her fate and wanted to marry the girl to one of the richest people Russia - the son of Parasha Zhemchugova Dmitry Nikolaevich Sheremetev, but he managed to evade this honor. Sophia was engaged to the son of her mother's friend, Andrei Petrovich Shuvalov, who expected this great career take-off, especially since the emperor had already begun to joke with him in a kindred way. But in 1824, 16-year-old Sophia died of consumption. On the day of the funeral, the frustrated careerist groom said to a friend: “My dear, what meaning have I lost!” Two years later he married a millionaire, the widow of Platon Zubov. And the poet Pyotr Pletnev dedicated her to the end of the line: “She did not come for the earth; / It bloomed not according to the earthly, / And like a star it is far away, / Without approaching us, it shone.
On a small miniature painted in the 1820s, Sophia is depicted as it was supposed to portray young, clean girls - without elaborate hairdos or rich jewelry, in a simple dress. Vladimir Sollogub left a description of her appearance: "Her childish, as it were, transparent face, large blue children's eyes, light blond curly curls gave her an unearthly reflection."
Daughter of Nicholas I
Franz Winterhalter. Portrait of Sophia Trubetskoy, Countess de Morny. 1863. Château Compiègne
Sofya Sergeevna Trubetskaya was the daughter of Ekaterina Petrovna Musina-Pushkina, married to Sergei Vasilyevich Trubetskoy (Lermontov's future second) at a long pregnancy. Contemporaries believed that the father of the child was Emperor Nicholas I, because it was he who organized the wedding. After the birth of the baby, the couple parted - Ekaterina Petrovna left for Paris with the child, and her husband was sent to serve in the Caucasus.
Sophia grew up beautiful. When she was 18 years old, at the coronation of her alleged brother Alexander II, the French ambassador, the Duke de Morny, saw the girl and proposed to her. The duke was not embarrassed by the doubtful origin of Trubetskoy: he himself was the illegitimate son of the Dutch queen Hortense de Beauharnais. And moreover, he even flaunted the fact that for several generations there were only bastards in his family: “I am the great-grandson of a great king, the grandson of a bishop, the son of a queen,” referring to Louis XV and Talleyrand (who, among other things, had the title of bishop) . In Paris, the newlywed was among the first beauties. After the Duke's death, she married the Spanish Duke of Albuquerque, made a splash in Madrid and planted the first Christmas tree there in 1870 (an exotic Russian custom!).
Her portrait was painted by Winterhalter, a fashionable portrait painter of that era who painted both Queen Victoria and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. A bouquet of wild flowers in the beauty's hands and rye in her hair hint at naturalness and simplicity. A white outfit emphasizes this impression, as does pearls (which are fabulous, however, in value).
Children of Alexander II
Konstantin Makovsky. Portrait of the Children of the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. 19th century
George, Olga and Ekaterina Alexandrovich, the most serene princes of Yuryevsky, were the illegitimate children of Emperor Alexander II from his long-term mistress, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. After his wife Maria Alexandrovna died, the emperor, unable to endure even two months of mourning, quickly married his beloved and granted her and the children a title and a new surname, simultaneously legitimizing them. His assassination by the People's Will next year stopped the further flow of honors and gifts.
George died in 1913, but continued the Yuryevsky family, which still exists today. Daughter Olga married Pushkin's grandson, the unfortunate heir to the Luxembourg throne, and lived with him in Nice. She died in 1925. The youngest, Ekaterina, died in 1959, having survived both the revolution and both world wars. She lost her fortune and was forced to earn money professionally by singing in concert.
Portrait of Konstantin Makovsky, in which the three of them are depicted in childhood, - is typical for this secular portrait painter, from whom many aristocrats ordered their images. The picture is so typical that long years it was considered an image of unknown children, and only in the 21st century did the experts of the Grabar Center determine who these three were.
Russian monarchs are credited with a considerable number of illegitimate children, most of whom never really existed. There are very real historical people who were considered imperial children, but who in fact were not.
But there are people over the mystery of whose origin historians are still puzzled. One of these is Elizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina.
At Catherine the Great there were many favorites Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin stands alone. He managed to become not only the lover of the Empress, but also her close friend, right hand, assistant in all matters and undertakings.
Changed as favorite Grigory Orlov, his namesake turned out to be wiser, more far-sighted, more active.
Relations between Potemkin and Catherine II in a certain period of time were so close that there was even a version of their secret wedding.
As you know, from Grigory Orlov, Catherine gave birth to a son, Alexei. Considering the empress's affection for Potemkin, the version that Catherine decided to have a child from him looks quite realistic.
Secret childbirth
On July 13, 1775, a girl was secretly born in Moscow, named Elizabeth. baby was taken by Potemkin to his sister Maria Alexandrovna Samoilova, and his nephew was appointed guardian of the girl Alexander Nikolaevich Samoilov.
When the girl grew up, in the 1780s they picked up another guardian for her - they became personal physician Ivan Filippovich Beck who treated the grandchildren of the Empress. In the future, the girl was given for training and education in a boarding school.
The question of Grigory Potemkin's paternity does not arise in this case - direct evidence is the surname "Tyomkina" given to the girl.
According to the then tradition, the surname of the illegitimate offspring of a noble father was formed by removing the first syllable from the parent's surname. So the Betskys, Pnins and Litsyns appeared in Russia - illegitimate descendants of the princes Trubetskoy, Repnin and Golitsyn. So there is no doubt that Liza Tyomkina was the daughter of Grigory Potemkin, no.
But was the Empress her mother?
For some time before and after July 13, 1775, Catherine did not appear in public. According to the official version, Catherine got an upset stomach due to unwashed fruits. During this period, she really was in Moscow, where the celebration of the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty, which ended the Russian-Turkish war, took place. That is, Catherine had all the conditions for secretly giving birth to a child.
"Now is the time to have children"
There were many skeptics, however, both then and now. Most of all, the age of Catherine herself caused doubts: by the time of the alleged birth, she was already 46 years old, which is quite a lot in terms of childbearing today, and by the standards of the 18th century, it seemed to be beyond the age.
King of France Louis XVI, the one who was about to lose his head from the guillotine knife, ironically: "Mrs. Potemkina is a good forty-five: it's time to give birth to children."
The second reason for doubt is Catherine's attitude towards Elizabeth Tyomkina. Or rather, the absence of any relationship whatsoever. Against the background of first care, and then anger towards Orlov's son Alexei Bobrinsky, such indifference of the Empress looks strange.
It cannot be said that the father spoiled the girl with attention, although Elizabeth, of course, had everything she needed.
There is an assumption that the mother of Elizabeth could be one of the favorites of Potemkin himself, who, of course, could not compete with the empress and about whom little is known. However, there is no convincing evidence for this version either.
"The family lived together, cheerfully and noisily"
According to contemporaries, Elizabeth Tyomkina herself knew from childhood that she was the daughter of Grigory Potemkin and Catherine the Great.
After the death of her father, Elizabeth Tyomkina was granted large estates in the Kherson region - a region, the development and arrangement of which gave a lot of effort to the Most Serene Prince.
In 1794, a 19-year-old rich bride was married off as a 28-year-old Second Major Ivan Khristoforovich Kalageorgi.
The son of a Greek nobleman, guardsman-cuirassier Ivan Kalageorgi was a prominent person. From childhood, he was brought up with the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich and therefore was one of the close associates of the imperial family.
This marriage turned out to be happy - Ivan and Elizabeth had ten children, 4 sons and 6 daughters. Ivan Kalageorgi himself rose to the rank of governor of the Yekaterinoslav province.
The character of Elizabeth Tyomkina was described in different ways - some called her spoiled, self-confident and uncontrollable, others - a modest woman and a good mother.
Great-grandson of Elizabeth Tyomkina, famous literary critic and linguist Dmitry Nikolaevich Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskiy, he described the life of his ancestors in this way: “The family lived together, cheerfully and noisily, but at the same time somehow very restless, expecting at times all sorts of troubles and misfortunes.”
Portrait from the Tretyakov Gallery
After Elizabeth got married, one of her former guardians Alexander Samoilov ordered famous artist Vladimir Borovikovsky her portrait. “What I need most... is to have a portrait of Elizaveta Grigorievna Kalageorgieva... I want the painter Borovikovsky to copy it... let Elizaveta Grigorievna be painted in such a way that her neck was open and her hair, disheveled with curls, lay on it without order.. . ”, Samoilov gave instructions in a letter to his representative.
Portrait of Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina as Diana. 1798. Photo: Public Domain
The portrait was ready in a year. Borovikovsky also performed his miniature repetition on zinc. On it, Elizabeth was depicted in the image of the ancient Greek goddess Diana, bare-chested, with a crescent-shaped decoration in her hair.
The portrait and miniature were donated to the Calageorgi family.
Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina-Kalageorgi lived a life far from political storms, and died in May 1854, at the age of 78.
In 1884 the son of Elizabeth Konstantin Ivanovich Kalageorgi offered to purchase a portrait of his mother to a collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov for 6 thousand rubles.
Tretyakov considered the price too high. Then the grandson of Elizabeth and the son of Constantine, the justice of the peace, joined the bargaining Nikolai Konstantinovich Kalageorgi, who wrote to the collector: “The portrait of my grandmother has triple historical meaning- by the personality of the artist, by the personality of my grandmother and as a type of beauty of the eighteenth century, which constitutes its value quite independently of the fashionable trends of contemporary art.
Tretyakov, however, was not convinced by this argument either. As a result, the portrait remained in the Calageorgi family.
In 1907, the widow of Judge Calageorga sold the portrait to the Moscow collector Tsvetkov. 18 years later, the Tsvetkov collection became part of the State Tretyakov Gallery. The miniature with Elizaveta Tyomkina as Diana was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery in 1964.
The portrait of the daughter of Grigory Potemkin today can be seen by all visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery. See and try to independently conclude whether she was the daughter of Catherine II. After all, historians did not have one hundred percent evidence of the correctness or fallacy of this version, and still do not.
We managed to find the book "General alphabetical list members of the Imperial Moscow Society of Naturalists" for 1838 (posted on the Wikipedia page of the MOIP). We were surprised to learn that, along with other prominent people of Russia, the grandchildren of Catherine II, Alexei Alekseevich and Vasily Alekseevich Bobrinsky, were members of the MOIP.
The Empress Catherine had two children - a legitimate son, Pavel Petrovich (born in 1754) and an illegitimate son, Alexei Grigorievich (1762).
Alexei Grigoryevich was the son of Catherine the Great and Count Grigory Orlov, born during the reign of Peter III. During the birth of the baby, the palace attendant set fire to his house in order to divert the attention of the sovereign. The emperor went to the fire, and the born boy was immediately taken to a distant estate. Soon Catherine bought for him the village of Bobriky, located in the Tula province. So the surname Bobrinsky was assigned to Alexei Grigorievich - by the name of the estate. Subsequently, he received the title of count.
A large family of counts Bobrinsky originates from Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky. Alexei was born on April 11, 1762, shortly before his mother's accession to the throne. In the future, the legitimate son of Catherine, Pavel Petrovich, having become Emperor, recognized his brother. A.G. Bobrinsky was promoted to major general and elevated to count Russian Empire dignity. Emperor Paul I introduced him to the Senate as his brother and member of the imperial family.
Many representatives of the Bobrinsky family left a bright mark in the history of Russia. Ministers, governors-general, members of the State Council and State Duma, metropolitan leaders of the nobility and court dignitaries, as well as the largest sugar refiners and builders railways. One of them (Aleksey Pavlovich Bobrinsky) under Alexander II was the Minister of Railways and did a lot for the development of railway transport in Russia. The largest Russian zoologist, a professor at Moscow University and a member of the MOIP, also came out of the Bobrinskys.
Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762-1813) from his marriage to Baroness Anna Vladimirovna Ungern-Sternberg (1769-1846) had four children - a daughter and three sons. Among them are Alexei Alekseevich Bobrinsky, Pavel Alekseevich and Vasily Alekseevich.
Alexei and Vasily subsequently became members of the Moscow Society of Naturalists. They were accepted as members of MOIP for practical activities in the field of plant breeding and introduction, publication of scientific papers, exemplary management Agriculture. The sons of A.G. Bobrinsky were cousins to Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I, although they did not have the right to the Russian throne.
All Bobrinskys, to one degree or another, were fond of natural science, agriculture, and horse breeding. This passion led some representatives of the Bobrinsky family to become members of the Imperial Moscow Society of Naturalists.
Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky himself, like all young people of that time, began his life path in the army. In 1798 (at the age of 36) he retired from military service and retired to the Tula province, where he spent most of the year. He was engaged in agriculture, mineralogy and astronomy (he built a turret over his house, which served him as an observatory). He died in 1813 and was buried in the family vault in Bobriky.
His son, Count Alexei Alekseevich Bobrinsky (1800–1868), received an excellent education at home, which he continued at the Moscow School of Column Leaders, served in a hussar regiment, and in 1827 retired with the rank of staff captain. Later he served in the Ministry of Finance. Aleksey Alekseevich Bobrinsky, being an educated person, had extensive knowledge in mathematics, finance, chemistry, mechanics, and photography. Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky wrote about him as an ardent patriot, an unusually inquisitive, active and enthusiastic person. " It would not be enough for him, like Columbus, to discover America alone; he would like to open several of them ... He was a liberal in the best and most sublime sense of the word».
Aleksey Alekseevich Bobrinsky is a well-known Russian agriculturalist and sugar factory, flower grower. He was engaged in the selection of roses, brought out several new varieties, one of them was named after him. He laid a solid foundation for the beet sugar industry in Russia. In 10 years, he built four sugar factories: Smelyansky sand-refinery in 1838; Balakleysky sugar factory in 1838; Grushevsky sugar factory in 1845; Kapitanovsky sugar factory in 1846
A breeding station was organized at the Kapitanovsky Plant, which is engaged in breeding new sugar-containing beet varieties. The Smelyansky sand and refinery was a school of highly qualified personnel. So out of 40 technologists who worked for Bobrinsky, 24 eventually became directors and independent entrepreneurs. Classes organized in Smela (Ukraine) for the training of specialists eventually developed into a school, and later (1921) into the Institute of the Sugar Industry.
A.A. Bobrinsky published: “Statistical materials for the history of the sugar beet industry in Russia” (1856) and “On the application of protective and free trade systems in Russia” (1868). In addition, he was known as a connoisseur of exact sciences and an engineer (he created a mechanical plant in Smela).
A.A. Bobrinsky was a member of the Imperial Moscow Society of Naturalists, the Society of Agriculture, a member of the Statistical Committee. According to his friend P.A. Vyazemsky, he was “ one of the noblest and most sympathetic personalities". He died on October 4, 1868 in Smela, was buried in St. Petersburg in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Alexei Alekseevich Bobrinsky had several children, among whom were an archaeologist, a writer, a military leader, a musician, a governor general, and even a minister of communications.
Pavel Alekseevich Bobrinsky's children were politicians, the Minister of Railways (he replaced his cousin in this post in 1874). One of the sons of Pavel Alekseevich, Aleksey Alekseevich Bobrinsky (1864–1909) and his wife Varvara Nikolaevna Lvova (1864–1940), had a son, Nikolai Alekseevich (1890–1964), who later became a prominent Russian zoologist and geographer.
third and younger son Count Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky was Vasily Alekseevich, who was also a member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists.
Vasily Alekseevich retired with the rank of lieutenant of the guard, traveled extensively in Europe, returning to Russia, lived in the Tula province. He was elected the Tula provincial marshal of the nobility. In his estate Bobriky in 1834 he founded a cloth factory, and in 1854, following the example of his brother Alexei, a sugar beet factory. He was engaged in the introduction and breeding of rare tree species such as Amur velvet and cork tree. He intended to use their bark to obtain a cork. He was a member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists.
V.A. Bobrinsky was actively involved in charitable activities, donated money to open a public library, a boarding house at a classical gymnasium in Tula. Vasily Alekseevich died in 1874 in Moscow and was buried in a family tomb in the village of Bobriky.
His son Alexei Vasilyevich was a Moscow Marshal of the Nobility, and his grandson Alexei Alekseevich Bobrinsky (1861–1938) was a traveler and ethnographer. He is in late XIX century, he participated in several expeditions to Central Asia and the Pamirs, partially financed them from his own funds. Expedition materials are stored in the ethnographic museum of St. Petersburg. In 1888, he founded a stud farm on the Bobriky estate and continued his father's afforestation business.
Another prominent person from the Bobrinsky family was also a member of the MOIP (since 1916). This is Count Nikolai Alekseevich Bobrinsky (1890–1964), a Russian zoologist and geographer. Nikolai Alekseevich Bobrinsky is a well-known Russian zoologist, professor at Moscow University, author of the remarkable book " Animal world and nature of the USSR”, one of the most prominent representatives of the Moscow school of ornithologists and zoogeographers of the first half of the 20th century. His portrait hangs at the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Nikolai Alekseevich Bobrinsky was a member of MOIP.
In 1908 he entered the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. At the university, Nikolai Alekseevich showed great interest in ornithology and zoogeography and immediately began working under the guidance of M.A. Menzbier (the president of the MOIP at that time) and his staff. In 1911–1912 he went on an ornithological expedition to Armenia, to the low plains surrounding Greater and Lesser Ararat. Based on the results of the expedition in 1916, he published several scientific articles. In 1914, Nikolai Alekseevich made another expedition - to the mountainous Bukhara, but when the war began, he signed up as a volunteer in the Izyum Hussar Regiment. While fighting, he earned two soldier Georges and was soon promoted to officer.
The scientific interests of Nikolai Alekseevich are focused on the zoogeography of Central Asia. He was especially fond of birds, bats, snakes, published guides on hunting animals and birds, wrote monographs on marmots and domestic cats. His theoretical works were also published: in 1922 - on the history of the study of Central Asian birds, in 1927 - "Zoogeography and evolution". In 1932 an anatomy textbook was published. In the late 1930s - early 1940s. Bobrinsky, being a professor at Moscow University, was intensively engaged in processing own materials and the publication of textbooks for universities and teacher training colleges.
In 1943 for fruitful scientific and pedagogical activity Bobrinsky was awarded a doctoral degree without defending a dissertation. A great contribution of Nikolai Alekseevich to the development of domestic zoology was the repeatedly published textbooks on zoogeography, including the “Course of Zoogeography” published in 1951, which is still used by students today. For several decades this book was one of the best textbooks on zoogeography for higher education.
Since 1948, he left his teaching job and devoted himself to work in the Moscow Society of Naturalists. Last years The life of Nikolai Alekseevich was overshadowed by a serious illness that chained him to bed. He died in 1964 at the age of 74 and was buried at the Vostryakovsky cemetery.
Bobrinsky N.A. Animal world and nature of the USSR. M.: Publishing House of Moscow. islands of naturalists, 1949. -216 p.
Source "https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobrinsky,_Vasily_Alekseevich&oldid=74266922
Moscow Island of Nature Testers (until 1917). General alphabetical list of members of the Imperial Moscow Society of Naturalists. - Moscow, 1838.
"https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobrinsky&oldid=73271808"
"https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobrinsky,_Aleksey_Alekseevich&oldid=73668823"
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki
A.P. Sadchikov,
Professor of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov,
Vice-President of the Moscow Society of Naturalists
(http://www.moip.msu.ru).
Catherine II had 23 lovers and at least three illegitimate children. At the lecture “Secrets of the Imperial House” at the Tretyakov Gallery, I learned many curious, funny and sad facts from the life of the empress.
Namely:
Pavel is not the son of Catherine the Great
Historians suggest that the first-born Paul (future Emperor Paul I) is not the son of Catherine the Great at all, but one of the illegitimate children of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. As if, in fact, Catherine II had a girl, but during childbirth she was changed to a boy who was completely different from her mother. The version is confirmed by the fact that from the first minutes of birth, Elizabeth raised Paul herself, and Catherine treated him coolly all her life.
Scheduled dates
"Son" Pavel was taken away from Catherine immediately after the birth and was shown only after 40 days. For 9 months, the woman saw the child only 3 times. Another confirmation of the motherhood of Elizabeth Petrovna: it was probably she who breastfed Pavel.
"Second Madame" for her own husband
The husband of Catherine II, Peter III, did not love his wife, called him “the second madam” and openly started romances. It is known that Peter preferred the game of soldiers to the first wedding night. “I saw very well that the Grand Duke did not love me at all,” Catherine later recalled, “two weeks after the wedding, he told me that he was in love with the maiden Carr, the maid of honor of the Empress. He shared with Count Divier, his chamberlain, that between this girl and me there is not even any comparison.
How to hide pregnancy from husband?
Catherine made lovers and gave birth to children from them. At the same time, she easily managed to hide her pregnancy from her husband (remember how comfortable the dresses were for this!). When the illegitimate Alyosha (the son of Grigory Orlov) was born in 1762, she ordered her servant to distract her husband with an impromptu fire. Pyotr Fedorovich was very fond of watching other people's houses burn. When he returned from the "fun", the child was no longer in the palace. The wife stood elegant and slender, as if nothing had happened. However, as soon as Peter left, Catherine, exhausted, fainted. Amazing strength of mind was a woman!
"Left" son
Beloved son Alyosha had to be given away. The first time Catherine saw him only a year after birth. But even being apart from him, Catherine actively arranged Alexei's life: she bought estates with serf souls, sent cadets to school, and provided money. In addition, she was in constant correspondence with the guardians, asking everything about him.
What is Alyosha?
Alyosha grew up shy and meek. In children's portraits, he looks more like a girl, a small clone of Catherine herself.
The guardians did not hide the fact that the boy was in poor health, withdrawn and indifferent to games. "Isn't he mentally weak?" mother was worried. The boy has a bad heredity: his grandmother on his father's side went crazy, later the same thing happened to Alyosha's father, Count Orlov.
Beavers are kind
Catherine's favorite word was the word "beavers". :). It is no coincidence that she bought Alyosha the estate "Bobriki", and then gave him a surname - Bobrinsky. It has nothing to do with love for animals. Newborn Alyosha was carried away from the house in a beaver skin.
snub noses
Catherine was the first in Russia to be vaccinated against smallpox. And her "son" Pavel was the first person who, due to complications after sinusitis, rotted the tip of his nose. He survived, but remained snub-nosed.
Smolyanka and Cadets
At one of the cadet balls, Alyosha, who did not yet know about his origin, was squeezed in a dark corner by a noble girl from the Smolensk Institute and began to get into girlfriends. "We are both shy, both orphans, we need to be together!" the girl hinted. Frightened Alyosha complained to Catherine. The enterprising mother took urgent measures: she married the girl, and even gave her dresses as a dowry. Needless to say, after this incident, the girls of the Smolensk Institute threw themselves at Alyosha in droves. :).
The first love
When Alyosha fell in love with Potemkin's niece, Katenka, he lost his former modesty. The Empress describes it this way: “Little Bobrinsky says that Katenka has more intelligence than all the other women and girls in the city. They wanted to know what he bases this opinion on. He said that, in his opinion, this was proved only by the fact that she was less reddened and adorned with jewels than others. At the opera, he planned to break the bars of his box, because it prevented him from seeing Katenka and being seen by her; finally, I don’t know how he managed to enlarge one of the cells of the grid - and then, goodbye opera, he no longer paid attention to the action. To cool her son's feelings, the empress finally reveals to him the secret of birth. But that's a completely different story :).
And where do the screenwriters of melodramas look...
Lecturer— Marina Petrova, Ph.D. in art history, leading researcher at the State Tretyakov Gallery.
