Portrait by Pyotr Sokolov () Countess Sophie Vladimirovna Stroganova (), Golitsyna (; 11 November 1775,

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 ...

– 3 March 1845,

St 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 ...

), was a Russian noblewoman.

Early life

Sophie was born in

on 11 November 1775. She was a daughter of Prince

Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn Prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn (; – ) was a Russian statesman. Early life 21 June 1731. He was the son of Admiral Prince Boris Vasilevich Golitsyn (1705–1769) and his wife Ekaterina Ivanovna Strešneva (or Streshneva). His father was ...

and his wife Natalya Petrovna. Among her siblings were Prince Boris Vladimirovitch Golitsyn, Princess

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Apraksina Ekaterina Vladimirovna Apraksina (; []; 30 May 1770, Moscow - 14 March 1854) was a Russian noblewoman. Life The eldest daughter of prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn and his wife Princesse Moustache, Natalya, she was educated by her mother. ...

(who married

Stepan Stepanovich Apraksin Stepan Stepanovich Apraksin (, 24 June 1757, Riga – 20 February 1827) was a Russian military commander and aristocrat. He was the only son of Stepan Fedorovich Apraksin, likewise a famed military commander and a high-ranking military comman ...

), and Prince

Dmitry Golitsyn Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn (; 29 October 177127 March 1844, Paris) was an Imperial Russian cavalry general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars, statesman and military writer. Biography He was born in the Golitsyn family of Knyaz Vl ...

(who married Tatiana Vasilyevna Vasilchikova). Sophie received a wide education and spoke perfect French. After their return to Russia following the French Revolution, they lived in the city in winter and in summer they lived on Viaziomy Manor, 40 km to the west of Moscow.

Career

She translated

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'' into Russian and became a lady in waiting at court as well as a close friend to the German-born empress Elizabeth Alexeievna. She rebuilt and embellished Maryino Estate near Andrianovo and Saint Petersburg and had Alexandre Teplaoukhov design a park for it. After the deaths of her husband and only son, she inherited most of the

Stroganov The Stroganov family (Russian: Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы; French: Stroganoff) emerged as a preeminent Russian noble family renowned for their roles as merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. By the reign of Iv ...

residences and estates, which she rebuilt or embellished on advice from the architect , whose admission to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts she had ensured and whose studies she financed. She also founded a school for agriculture, landscape art and forestry in Saint Petersburg (1823–1844) and set up a pension fund for her servants and workers. She took part in the Scientific and Economic Society, known for its liberal ideals, and designed a gold medal for its competitions. A bust of her was installed in the society's main hall in 1837. She also rebuilt Maryino Castle in

Nizhny Novgorod Governorate Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, roughly corresponding to the Volga region, Upper and ...

and in 1824 rebuilt the whole riverfront section of the town of

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

with stone buildings and a grid plan designed by her - the town had belonged to the Stroganovs since the 17th century.

Personal life

On 6 May 1793, she married Count

Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov (; 18 June 1774 – 22 June 1817) was a Russian military commander and statesman, Lieutenant General, Adjutant General to Alexander I of Russia. He took part in the Privy Committee that outlined Government refor ...

, a son of

Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov Count Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov (Russian language, Russian: Александр Сергеевич Строганов; 3 January 1733 – 27 September 1811) was a Russian aristocrat and a member of the Stroganov family. He was an assistant to ...

and, his second wife, Princess Ekaterina Petrovna

Trubetskaya The House of Trubetskoy, (; ; ; Ruthenian: ''Trubetsky''; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a Russian gentry family of Ruthenian stock and Lithuanian origin, like many other princely houses of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later prominent in Russian history, science, ...

(daughter of Prince Peter Nikitich Trubetskoy). They had five children: * Alexandre Pavlovitch Stroganov (1794–1814), who was killed at the

Battle of Craonne The Battle of Craonne (7 March 1814) was a battle between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I opposing a combined army of Imperial Russians and Prussians led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The War ...

during the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

. * Natalia Pavlovna Stroganova (1796–1872), sole heir to the Stroganov estates; she married her cousin Count

Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganov Count Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganov (; 8 November 1794 – 22 March 1882) was a Russian nobleman, statesman, art historian, archaeologist, collector, and philanthropist. He was a member of the highly successful and prominent Stroganov family He ...

(1794–1882) in 1818. * Adelaïda Pavlovna Stroganova (1799–1882), who inherited Maryino Estate from her mother in 1845; she married Prince Vassili Sergueïevitch Golitsyn (1794–1836) in 1821. * Elizaveta Pavlovna Stroganova (1802–1863), who married Prince Ivan Dmitrievitch

Saltykov The House of Saltykov ( rus, Салтыков, p=səltɨˈkof) is the name of an old Russian noble family that can trace its ancestry back to 1240. In March 1730, the family was awarded the title of Count in Russia, granted to them by Empress An ...

(1797–1832). * Olga Pavlovna Stroganova (1808–1837), who married Count Pavel Karlovitch

Fersen The Fersen family, stylized as the von Fersen (), is a Baltic-German noble family grouped into several ennobled branches that settled in and around the kingdoms bordering the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. The most well-known holders of the surname ...

(1800–1884). She died on 3 March 1845 in

. On her death all her lands and the title of count passed to her eldest daughter Nathalie Pavlovna's husband

(1794–1882), an art collector and patron and son of Baron Grigori Stroganov (1770–1857).

References

Sources

*http://ru.rodovid.org/wk/Запись:175763 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stroganova, Sophie 1775 births 1845 deaths 18th-century women from the Russian Empire 18th-century nobility from the Russian Empire 19th-century nobility from the Russian Empire 19th-century women from the Russian Empire Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg) Golitsyn family Translators of Dante Alighieri Scholars from the Russian Empire Translators from Italian Translators to Russian