Princess Sofya Aleksandrovna Urusova (; April 6, 1804 – July 17, 1889) 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 Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

and the

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

of Nicholas I.

Biography

By birth a member of the house of Urusov, Sofya Alexandrovna was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, as the daughter of Ober-Hofmeister Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Urusov (1766–1853) and his wife, Ekaterina Petrovna Tatishcheva (1775–1855), who was the sister of diplomat Dmitry Pavlovich Tatishchev.Moscow beauty: Sofya Urusova. Echo of Moscow. Московская красавица: Софья Урусова. Эхо Москвы.
28 October 2019. She served as maid of honour to the

empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

between 1827 and 1833, and was the reputed lover of the emperor during that period. In 1833 she married prince Leon Hieronim Radziwiłł. At one point she became an acquaintance of

Anne Lister Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian". Lister was from a minor landowning family at Shibden in Calderdale, West Riding of Yorkshir ...

References

Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire 1804 births 1889 deaths Russian royal favourites {{Russia-noble-stub