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CHEREMETIEFF, Elisabeth Vassilevna (1885–1955). A set of two…
See original version (French)
507
-
CHEREMETIEFF, Elisabeth Vassilevna (1885–1955). A set of two…
See original version (French)
Estimate €400 - €600
Voluntary lot
Description
CHEREMETIEFF, Elisabeth Vassilevna (1885–1955).
A set of two diaries written by the young
aristocrat, dating from 14 October 1898 to 31 May 1900, bound
in two volumes of 464 pages and 509 pages, in-4°, cardboard bindings
united by a cloth cover, text in Russian.
These diaries contain drawings, dried flowers,
photographs, letters, illustrations and various collages.
Creases, foxing, signs of age as is.
History: The princess married Prince Cherkassky in her first marriage,
then, in 1919, Prince Vladimir Nikolaevich Obolensky (1865–1927).
She was the daughter of Prince Vasily Petrovich Cheremetev (1836–1893), from his
marriage to Olga Dmitrievna Skobelev (1847–1898), sister of the famous General
M. D. Scobeleff, had three children: Princess Olga Vasilievna, later
Princess Kochubey, Princess Marina Vasilievna, the future Princess Gagarin,
and Prince Pyotr Vasilievich Cheremetev. As he had no children, upon his death in 1916, the
Nizhny Novgorod branch of the Cheremetev family died out. After the death
of her parents, Elisabethe and her sisters were raised by the family of her grandmother
Martynoff. The diary we present here is the fifth volume of her writings, covering the period
from September 1900 to January 1901, when she was a boarder at the Institut
des Essorts in Montreux, Switzerland (now known as the Institut Monte-Rose). For
the 13-year-old girl, this diary was very important to her: ‘Putting all
my thoughts down on paper is a huge relief.’ She loved re-reading
her diary: ‘My diary – ah, what a pleasure it really is to read it!’
Probably familiar with Maria Bashkirtseff’s diary, published in France
in 1887 and in Russia in 1893, her diary means a great deal to her; she admits
“I love it with all my heart”. Far from her loved ones, her country and her family, she
confides in her diary just how much she longs to go home. “I’m ready
to cry the moment I think of it; I cry, I cry.”, “I’m fed up with the boarding school.
Lake Geneva is like a nightmare, I’m so fed up with it! It’s always
the same!” She admits, however, that “the boarding school is magnificent and I
really like everyone. But I’m just fed up with life here. I want to go
home!” Ella admits that she left the Martynoffs because their
temperaments didn’t mesh. And now there is such sadness here!” In this
diary, the princess recalls her happy times at the Znamenskoye estate
near Moscow, at her aunt Vera Martynoff’s home, and in her parents’ magnificent
castle in Yurino, surrounded by that extraordinary art collection
nicknamed the ‘Hermitage of the Volga’. The young girl was not spared the
hardships of life. She was orphaned at the age of 12
. Her diary became her companion in misfortune, to which she confided all her
fears and anxieties: ‘Tonight, I shed many tears. It’s hard being
an orphan! Even though my uncles and aunts are very kind to me,
something is still missing. A mother!’ Of course, there are also
happy and joyful moments in her life at the boarding school: walks in the Chillon woods,
outings, and visits with relatives. In the diary we often come across
the names of the important figures who shaped her life: Vera Dmitrievna Kvitko,
née Martynoff, Ella’s aunt and a close friend of Princess Youssoupoff; Princess
Olga Konstantinovna Orlov, née Princess Belosselskaya-Belozerskaya, her
cousin (Princess Orlov’s mother was the sister of Elisabethe’s mother), the son
of Princess Orloff, Prince Nikolai Vladimirovich Orloff, who would later marry
the daughter of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich, Princess Nadezhda Petrovna. – 25 October 1898: ‘Today I have decided to start my new diary.
Of course, I cannot yet call it my dear diary, since there are
no memories in it as yet and it has not been watered by my tears. But the love
for my diary will come with time.” – 11 August 1898: “How long
has she been putting up with this nasty husband! And the beatings! Born Princess Ourousoff! To a
husband who has lost his entire fortune at cards! On top of that, he talks rubbish about
her! I just have a stone in my soul.” - 24/11/1898: “Today, after
the lesson, I realised I’d grown up! Already! At my age!” - “Nadia and Dima
went off with my aunt to the children’s ball. I threw myself onto the sofa in the
classroom and gave free rein to all the bitterness that had built up in
my soul. I wept for my dear mother.” – 6 June 1898: “For the centenary of
Alexander Pushkin’s birthday, the whole school and the village were decorated with
flags. There was a memorial service in his honour. After a short talk on the poet’s life,
everyone went off to plant trees in the forest.” – 4 June 1898:
“I haven’t written anything in my diary for a long time… A mother is like
God: she is forgotten in times of joy, but called upon in times of trouble. It is
the same story with the diary. It is the sole solace of my spiritual life. ” – 2 June 1898: “Help me, my God, teach me the lessons. It is hard, very hard
to be an orphan in a strange house. I would have preferred never to have been born. Oh,
my dear Mummy! Why didn’t you take me with you! I can’t go on! My
soul is suffering so much!” - 8 June 1898: “ Today I read in the newspapers
that my Aunt Zina (née Duchess Leuchtenberg and sister of the famous General
Scobeleff) passed away on Friday, 4 June. One sister after another. I confess,
I wept bitterly. I felt once again just how far removed I am from
my own family amidst this completely foreign household. The Martynovs, for their part, received this
news with utter indifference. It is understandable, but very bitter. It
affected me deeply. ” – 15/06/1898: “My uncle treats
all the children the same: his own and us. Dear Uncle, everything changes when he is
at home. ” – 17/06/1898: “Why, my dear Mummy, are you so far
away from me, in St Petersburg, which I hate so much? Why aren’t you here, in the
countryside, amongst the flowers with me? How I would love to tend your grave,
to decorate it, to water all the earth on your grave with my tears!” – 5 July 1898:
“I have turned from a beauty into an ugly creature, especially in the last few weeks.
I’ve lost my eyes, my beautiful blue eyes, because of the tears! I, the beauty,
was admired and now I’ve become a sight to be feared.” – 13/07/1898:
“After lunch, the famous philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Soloviev
arrived. He is tall, slim, dressed very casually; his hair
is unkempt, half black, half grey. His gaze is piercing and extremely
brilliant. His eyes are blue, almost green… He wrote his work on
Auntie’s desk. Perhaps one day I shall know its title.” – 8 August 1898: “ I cut out
the ‘Nouveau Temps’ newspaper and stuck the drawings in my diary: a
Parisian woman bathing, who looks like my aunt, but with shorter legs, and
on the Dreyfus affair: his defenders E. Demange and Laboré. ” – 10 August 1898:
“Today during the lesson, we talked about Maria Bashkirtsev’s diary.
What a beauty, especially her eyes! I’m your biggest fan. Oh, how I wish
I had Maria Bashkirtsev’s face!”
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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