Xenia Borisovna Godunova () (1582–1622) was a Russian

Tsarevna Tsarevna (, ) was a title given to the daughters of tsars in Russia before the 18th century. The male equivalent was ''tsarevich''. All of them died unmarried with the exception of the daughters of Ivan V. Notably, his daughter Catherine marrie ...

, daughter of Tsar

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

, and sister of Tsar

Feodor II of Russia Feodor II Borisovich Godunov (; 1589 – ) was Tsar of all Russia from April to June 1605, at the beginning of the Time of Troubles. Life Fyodor II was born in Moscow, the son and successor to Boris Godunov. His mother Maria Grigorievna Skura ...

Life

She was described as very beautiful and well educated, with an average height, a white and ruddy face, with black wavy hair and large black eyes. Among her fiancés were: *

Prince Gustav of Sweden A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

, who arrived in Moscow in 1600, but the engagement was broken because of his dissolute life. *

John, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein Johan of Schleswig-Holstein (9 July 1583 – 28 October 1602) was the youngest son of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway and Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He went to Russia in 1602 as the bridegroom of Boris Godunov's daughter Ksenia (Xen ...

, arrived in 1602, but fell ill and died before the marriage. Xenia remained a maiden until her father's death in 1605, when her brother Feodor became a Tsar. Some months later, when the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...

started, her mother and her brother, Feodor, were killed by order of

False Dmitriy I False Dmitry I or Pseudo-Demetrius I () reigned as the Tsar of all Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich (). According to historian Chester S.L. Dunning, Dmitry was "the only Tsar ever raise ...

. She was spared, but False Dmitriy

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

d her and kept her in his palace as a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

lasting five months. Before the arrival of his bride

Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech or Mnishek (, ; , ; – 24 December 1614) was a Polish noblewoman who was the tsaritsa of all Russia in May 1606 during the Time of Troubles as the wife of False Dmitry I. Following the death of her husband, she later married ...

, Xenia was sent to the Voskresensky Monastery in

Beloozero Belozersk (), known as Beloozero () until 1777, is a town and the administrative center of Belozersky District in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the southern bank of Lake Beloye, from which it takes the name, northwest of Vologda, the admi ...

and forced to take monastic vows, whereupon she was given the name "Olga". Subsequently, she was transferred to the Assumption Princess Monastery in

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

. According to one account, she was pregnant and bore a son of False Dmitry in the monastery. In 1606 she sojourned to the

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius () is a lavra and the most important Russian monastery, being the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about to the northeast from Moscow ...

to attend the reburial of her father; vestments she sewed as a nun are on display at that Lavra. In 1610, the monastery was attacked by Cossack troops, and the nuns including Xenia were raped by them. Her name is inscribed as "Nun Olga Borisovna" at the crypt of the Godunovs near the entrance of the Assumption Cathedral at Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra where she is buried with her parents and brother.

In the arts

She is one of the characters in Mussorgsky's opera ''

'', but plays only a minor role in the story. She also appears in

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

's opera ''

Dimitrij Dimitrij is a masculine given name related to Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinization of names, Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male name, male Greek given names, given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alterna ...

'', where the False Dmitry and her relationship to him is portrayed in a more sympathetic light. The opera is only loosely based on the historical account; she is murdered on

's orders rather than sent to the monastic life. A fictionalized dramatization of her life during the time of troubles appeared in the Russian film ''1612'', where she was played by actress Violetta Davydovskaya.

References

{{authority control 1582 births 1622 deaths Tsarevnas of Russia House of Godunov 16th-century Russian women 17th-century Russian women Rape in Russia Nuns from the Tsardom of Russia Wartime sexual violence in Europe Forcibly monasticised