Mary Eristavi ( ka, მერი ერისთავი-შერვაშიძე; ''née'' Shervashidze; 1888January 21, 1986) was a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

, fashion icon, and one of the earliest models of Coco Chanel. She held a respectable position in Georgian high society, as well as the Russian Imperial court for the last few decades of its existence. Mary is sometimes believed to be the hopeless infatuation of

Galaktion Tabidze Galaktion Tabidze ( ka, გალაკტიონ ტაბიძე), simply referred to as Galaktioni ( ka, გალაკტიონი),(November 17, 1892 – March 17, 1959), was a Georgian poet of the twentieth century whose writings pr ...

, one of the leading Georgian poets of the time.

Biography

Family and early life

Mary was born in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

, Georgia, into the family of Georgian

General Major Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Prince Prokof Shervashidze. She was popular in Georgia for her beauty and gentle complexion and even drew compliments from Emperor Nicholas II of Russia when he met her during his 1912 visit to

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

. Because her father became a member of the

Imperial Duma The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...

, the family soon had to move to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where Mary became a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. After her father's death, Mary moved back to her native Georgia and spent the rest of her youth in the west of the country with her mother and twin sisters, Ellen and Tamar.

Marriage and Bolshevik invasion of Georgia

After the establishment of the First Georgian Republic following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, Mary's fiancé Prince George Eristavi — an important Georgian nobleman, great-great grandson of King Heraclius II of Georgia and a former '' aide-de-camp'' of

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

— returned to Georgia with intent to marry her. They wed in

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

soon after his arrival and, likely because of security reasons, settled permanently in the country which at that time was a stable

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

stronghold under German protection. The peace in Georgia did not last long and the couple was forced to flee the country in March 1921, during the Red Army Invasion. To escape imminent imprisonment, deportation or death, Mary, along with other prominent Georgian noblemen and government officials, departed on a ship from the city of Batumi. She was reunited with her husband in Istanbul where George had been waiting for her; the couple continued the voyage to France together.

France and final years

After arriving in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Mary and George settled on the ''Rue de la Tour'' in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...

, a district popular with the French high society. Because of losses incurred as a result of fleeing Georgia, Mary's family met some financial problems while living in this expensive neighborhood. For this reason, Mary's mother and sisters, Ellen and Tamar, initially lived with the young couple. This situation changed when the family managed to open its own clothing atelier and further improved as Mary found a modeling position with Coco Chanel, an increasingly popular French designer at the time. Soon after this success, Mary's family moved out and her husband, George, died; the couple had not had any children. Mary spent the rest of her life living alone and rarely made contact with other Georgian émigrés, with the exception of her visits to a local parish of the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

. In the final years of her life she was forced to move to a nursing home where, thanks to her improved financial circumstances, she was provided with a personal maid. Despite the relocation, she continued to visit her friends in the 16th arrondissement to play cards. According to her friend Babo Dadiani, Mary's room was filled with flowers from known and unknown admirers. Because of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

's closed-door immigration policy, Mary, just like other émigrés from the First Republic, was never able to return to Batumi, passing away in France at the age of 97. She and her husband were buried at

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery (french: Cimetière russe de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois) is part of the ''Cimetière de Liers'' and is called the Russian Orthodox cemetery, in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Paris, France. History The ...

. Mary was painted by

Savely Sorin Savely, Saveli or Saveliy (russian: Савелий) is a Russian masculine given name. Its shortened versions include Savel and Sava. It may refer to: *Saveli Chitanava, Chairman of the State Committee for Ecology and the Environment of Abkhazia * ...

; her husband by

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (born Tamara Rosalia Gurwik-Górska; 16 May 1898 – 18 March 1980), better known as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art De ...

, a popular Polish painter.

Mary and Galaktion

Georgian poet

is sometimes thought to have been in love with Mary. The word of Tabidze's alleged romantic feelings for the princess spread throughout Georgia after the publication of his poem titled "Mary," in which the poet bitterly described the wedding ceremony of a certain Mary, without specifying whether he was referring to Princess Eristavi. Princess Mary herself disagreed with the rumors, stressing that the poem was first published in 1915 in a Georgian journal ''Theater and Life'', while her wedding to Prince George Eristavi did not occur until 1918.extract from the Igor Obolensky’s book “The Enigmas Georgia”
/ref> Some sources confirm this, alleging that it was only in 1935 when Galaktion met Mary by accident as she sat in front of

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eristavi, Mary 1888 births 1986 deaths Female models from Georgia (country) 20th-century people from Georgia (country) Expatriates from Georgia (country) in France Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire Nobility from the Russian Empire Nobility of Georgia (country) People from Batumi House of Shervashidze Court of Nicholas II of Russia