Countess Anna Karlovna Vorontsova,

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Countess Skavronskaya ( – ), was a Russian

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written 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 ...

, salonist and noble, cousin of the Empress

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of Russian rulers, Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, ...

. She was married to Chancellor Count

Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov () (12 July 171415 February 1767) was a Russian statesman and diplomat, who laid foundations for the fortunes of the Vorontsov family. At the age of fourteen, Vorontsov was appointed a kammerjunker at the ...

Life

She was the daughter of the elder brother of

Catherine I of Russia Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1727. Life as a servant Onl ...

, Karl Samoilovich Skavronsky, and Marya Ivanovna. She was made a maid of honor at the court of her cousin, princess Elizabeth, and the two girls were brought up together. Elizabeth was very fond of her cousin, and on 31 January 1742—a year after her accession to the throne—she had her marry Mikhail Illarionovich

Vorontsov The House of Vorontsov (), also Woroncow and de Woroncow-Wojtkowicz, is the name of a Russian noble family whose members attained the dignity of Counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1744 and became Princes of the Russian Empire on 6 April 1845 ...

. On 25 April, she was made lady in waiting. Anna Karlovna loved fine arts, and her house was constantly visited by artists, writers, scientists, government people. She was described as beautiful, kind, charming and temperamental. Anna Karlovna was constantly in the vicinity of the Empress, and Elizabeth was often informally in her home, where she met with all the foreign residents at the Russian court, and thanks to his spouse, her husband the Grand Chancellor exerted influence in foreign policy. On 9 February 1760 Anna Karlovna received the Order of St. Catherine's great cross. On 29 June 1760 Anna Karlovna was made chief gofmeysteriny. In the short reign of

Peter III of Russia Peter III Fyodorovich (; ) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine II (the Great). He was born in the German city of Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holst ...

, the Vorontsovs belonged entirely to the party of the Emperor and is among those who accompanied him on 28 June 1762 in flight in the galley of Oranienbaum in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

. Widowed in 1767, the Countess Anna Karlovna did not play a prominent role at court, although the Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich called her aunt.

References

* Знаменитые россияне 18-19 веков. Биография и портреты. — С.-Петербург.: Лениздат, 1996. — с.31 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsova, Anna 1722 births 1775 deaths Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire Countesses of the Russian Empire Salon holders from the Russian Empire Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg) Court of Elizabeth of Russia Court of Catherine the Great State Ladies from the Russian Empire