ebook img

The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great’s Russia PDF

360 Pages·2008·1.385 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great’s Russia

The Pearl This page intentionally left blank The Pearl (cid:1) A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great’s Russia Douglas Smith Yale University Press New Haven & London Copyright © 2008 by Douglas Smith. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Set in Caslon type by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smith, Douglas, 1962– The Pearl : a true tale of forbidden love in Catherine the Great’s Russia / Douglas Smith. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-300-12041-7 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-300-12041-9 (alk. paper) 1. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, P. I. (Praskovia Ivanovna) 2. Singers—Russia—Biography. 3. Opera—Russia— 18th century. 4. Sheremetev family. I. Title. ML420.K875S65 2008 782.1092—dc22 [B] 2007045563 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Stephanie Remember that what you are told is really threefold: shaped by the teller, reshaped by the listener, concealed from both by the dead man of the tale. —VLADIMIR NABOKOV, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight Contents Acknowledgments x Note on Style xiv Family Trees xv Prelude 1 I KUSKOVO ONE An Aristocratic Boyhood 13 TWO The Blacksmith’s Daughter 21 THREE Grand Tour 29 FOUR The Big House 37 FIVE First Meeting 42 SIX Praskovia’s Debut 48 SEVEN Early Success 53 EIGHT Serf Diva, Serf Mistress 61 NINE Entertaining Catherine 75 vii Contents TEN The Sheremetevs and Their Serfs 85 ELEVEN The Old Count’s Death 91 Interlude: Serf Theater 97 II OSTANKINO TWELVE “I intend to build . . .” 113 THIRTEEN Farewell to Kuskovo 121 FOURTEEN Ostankino’s Premier 130 FIFTEEN Training the Troupe 138 SIXTEEN Life in the Troupe 146 SEVENTEEN To St. Petersburg 154 EIGHTEEN Tsar Paul 160 Interlude: Serf Actress Stories 171 III THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE NINETEEN Freedom 181 TWENTY The Curtain Falls 188 TWENTY-ONE The Specter of Death 195 TWENTY-TWO Coronation 200 TWENTY-THREE Wedding 206 TWENTY-FOUR Newlyweds 217 TWENTY-FIVE Dmitry’s Birth 225 TWENTY-SIX Secrets Revealed 232 TWENTY-SEVEN Death 239 TWENTY-EIGHT Scandal 247 TWENTY-NINE Saint Praskovia 252 THIRTY Putrid Bones 261 viii Contents THIRTY-ONE Fatherly Advice 266 THIRTY-TWO Separate Fates 271 Coda 281 Notes 285 Bibliography 301 Index 321 ix Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to acknowledge the individuals and institutions without whose help this book could not have been written. Members of the Sheremetev family greeted me warmly when I told them of my plans to write a book on their ancestors. Kyra Cheremeteff, a direct descendant of Nicholas and Praskovia, responded with generosity to my inquiries. Her parents, Nikita and Maïko Cheremeteff, took me in on a cold December night and shared with me family lore, books, and a wonderful meal. I am both touched by their gracious hospitality and grateful for their help. Other family members have kindly responded to my requests for infor- mation: Catherine Davison, Xenia Cheremeteff Sfiri, Yevdokia Shereme- teva and her husband, Stepan. Varvara Pavlina and her brother Nikolai allowed me to visit them in Moscow on several occasions and spent hours answering my many questions. I am grateful to Emma Parry for all her enthusiasm, advice, and hard work and to everyone else at Fletcher and Parry, especially Kate Scherler and Melissa Chinchillo. Steven Hanson, Glennys Young, Dan Waugh, Michael Biggins, Simon Werrett, and Ben Schmidt at the University of Washington have welcomed me and my research and offered consider- able support. I wish to express my gratitude to the staffs of the Library of Congress, the University of Washington’s Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, the New York Public Library, the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA, and the University of Kansas Libraries. x

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.