Dorothea "Dolly" de Ficquelmont (; ''Daria Fyodorovna Fikelmon''; 14 October 1804,

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 ...

10 April 1863,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

), born Countess Dorothea von

Tiesenhausen The House of Tiesenhausen is an old Baltic-German noble family. The origins of the family are in Lower Saxony. During the Baltic crusades they settled in Livonia in the first half of the 12th century. Bishops Albert of Riga and Herman of Tart ...

, was a Russian writer and salonist. A granddaughter of the Russian war hero General Prince Kutuzov (who distinguished himself in the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

), she was a Russian

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

of German Baltic origin, and later a member of the

Austrian nobility The Austrian nobility () is a status group that was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of Austria-Hungary. Austria's system of nobility was very similar to that of Germany (see German nobility), as both countries were previously part of ...

as the wife of

Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont Karl Ludwig, Count of Ficquelmont (; ; 23 March 1777 – 7 April 1857) was an Austrian aristocrat, statesman and Field marshal of the Austrian Imperial army of French noble origin. Biography French nobleman He was born Gabriel-''Charles-Lou ...

Biography

Dolly von Tiesenhausen was the daughter of Count

Ferdinand von Tiesenhausen Count Berend Gregor Ferdinand von Tiesenhausen (Russian: Фёдор Иванович фон Тизенгаузен; June 1, 1782, Reval – December 2, 1805, at the Battle of Austerlitz) was a Russian noble and military officer of German ...

, aide-de-camp of Emperor Alexandre I of Russia who died at Austerlitz, and of Princess Elisabeth "Lisa" (sometimes "Elisa") Koutouzova, daughter of Prince Kutuzov. Her mother remarried in 1811 to Count Nicolas Khitrovo, Russian special envoy to the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

. From 1815, Dolly von Tiesenhausen spent her childhood with her mother and her sister

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

— future

lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Court of Russia A lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Russian Court (''придворные дамы'') was a woman of high aristocracy at the service of a woman of the Imperial family. They were organised according to the strict hierarchy of Peter the Great's tab ...

— in

Reval Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju ''maakond'' (co ...

, then moved to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

where she spent the rest of her youth. On 3 June 1821 she married Count Charles-Louis de Ficquelmont, Austrian

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

before the Habsbourgs-Tuscany, who was 27 years her senior. Following their marriage, the Count was appointed Ambassador to the Court of King

Ferdinand I of Two Sicilies Ferdinand I (Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand IV and King of Sicily as Ferdinand III. He was ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. In spite of the revolutionary troubles in the

Kingdom of Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and land area ...

and the increasing tensions between Austria and Naples, the Ficquelmonts perfectly integrated into Naples' aristocratic high society. In 1823, the Ficquelmonts travelled to

Emperor Alexander Emperor Alexander may refer to: * Alexander the Great (326-323 BCE), a Macedonian king who conquered the known world * Alexander Severus (208–235), a Roman emperor (222-235) of the Severan dynasty * Domitius Alexander, Roman usurper who declared ...

offered her mother, Princess Khitrova, an imperial pension and the family was often seen at

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

Back in Naples in 1825, Dolly gave birth to her only daughter, Elisabeth-Alexandrine-Marie-Theresa de Ficquelmont,

Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Clary und Aldringen The House of Clary und Aldringen, also known as Clary-Aldringen, is one of the most prominent Austro-Hungarian princely families. Originally from Friuli, Northern Italy, one branch of the family moved to the County of Tyrol around 1500 and to the ...

by marriage. In 1829, Dolly's husband was appointed Austrian Ambassador in Russia. The

Saltykov Mansion The Saltykov Mansion (, , ''Palais Soltikoff'') is a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical palace situated between Palace Embankment and Millionnaya Street in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built to the design of Giacomo Quarenghi in the 1780 ...

was rented by the Austrian Government as the Austrian Embassy. Dolly's mother, Elisabeth Khitrovo had her own apartments in the palace and held a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

. Countess Ficquelmont, who took great interest in literature,

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, religion and politics, also held her own

Alexander Turgenev Alexander Ivanovich Turgenev (; (27 March April1784, Simbirsk - 3 5December 1845, Moscow) was a Russian statesman and historian. Biography Alexander Turgenev was born in Simbirsk in 1784. His father, Ivan Petrovich Turgenev (1752-1807) was ...

, Viazemski or

Ivan Kozlov Ivan Ivanovich Kozlov (; ) was a Russian Romantic poet and translator. As D. S. Mirsky noted, "his poetry appealed to the easily awakened emotions of the sentimental reader rather than to the higher poetic receptivity". Biography Kozlov was b ...

were regulars of the countess's salon.

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 ...

was often seen in Ficquelmont's salon which was described by Prince Wiazemsky as "a place of wisdom and intelligence". Teplice 25

In 1839 her husband was recalled to Vienna to assume the duties of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

, so the Ficquelmonts left Russia. During her remaining years, Dolly essentially lived between their palaces of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

and their daughter's castle in

Teplice Teplice (, until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; , ''Teplitz-Schönau'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 51,000 inhabitants. It is the most populous Czech spa town, followed by Karlovy Vary. The historic city cen ...

. Her husband, Count de Ficquelmont became Minister-President of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

during the 1848's revolutionary troubles. But, close ally of Russia, he was accused of supporting the Russian repression. The Countess, who was at their

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

at the time, Venetia was a part of the Austrian Empire was arrested twice by the Venetian ''guarda civil'' and finally had to leave the city on board an English ship with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. The family eventually returned to Venice after the Revolution ended and Count de Ficquelmont died in their Venetian Palace in 1857. After her husband's death, Dolly continued writing her correspondence and organized it in order to publish it. It is mostly made up of philosophy and political thoughts. She also wrote a ''

Journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'' in French that was published in 1950 in Italian and Russian. The St. Petersburg's period had been closely studied by historian Antony Florovski (1884–1968). Countess Dolly de Ficquelmont is buried in Princess

's family chapel in

Dubí Dubí (; ) is a spa town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. Administrative division Dubí consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 censu ...

, near Teplice.

In fiction

Countess de Ficquelmont met

during fall 1829 and often invited him to her

Palace. They became friends. Ficquelmont's palace is believed to be the frame for the old Countess' palace in Pushkin's story '' The Queen of Spades''.

Notes

Sources

Biography

In fiction

See also

Notes

Sources