Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy
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Authors: Douglas Smith
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #History, #Biography
TO EMMA AND ANDREW
There is no more Russian nobility. There is no more Russian aristocracy . . . A future historian will describe in precise detail how this class died. You will read this account, and you will experience madness and horror . . .
—
The Red Newspaper
(Petrograd),
No. 10, January 14, 1922
CONTENTS
6. A Country of Mutinous Slaves
8. Expropriating the Expropriators
21. The Mouse, the Kerosene, and the Match
24. Poisonous Snakes and the Avenging Sword: Operation Former People
NOTE ON DATES AND SPELLING
Before February 1918, Russia followed the Julian (Old Style) calendar that in the twentieth century was thirteen days behind the Gregorian (New Style) calendar used in the West. In January, the Bolshevik government decreed that Russia would adopt the Gregorian calendar at the end of the month; thus January 31, 1918, was followed the next day by February 14. I have chosen to give Old Style dates for events in Russia before January 31, 1918, and New Style after that; wherever there is a chance for any confusion, I have added the notations “O.S.” or “N.S.” A number of documents used in
Former People
are impossible to date with precision since some Russians continued to use the Julian calendar for years after 1918, and it is not always possible to know which system of dating has been used.
There is no universal standard for transliterating Russian names into English. For the sake of simplicity I have chosen the masculine ending for all surnames (Dolgoruky, not Dolgorukaya), except when the feminine form is well established in English. Difficulty is presented by the various ways members of the same family anglicize their names.
appears with equal validity as “Golitsyn,” “Galitzine,” “Golitsin,” “Galitsin,” and “Golitzin.” In such instances I have opted to use the Library of Congress transliteration format but have not silently changed spellings used in quotations. Although such an approach assures the greatest fidelity to the documents upon which
Former People
draws, it makes for some inconsistency.
PRINCIPAL FIGURES
THE SHEREMETEVS
Count Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev—“Count Sergei,” “The count”
Countess Yekaterina Pavlovna Sheremetev (b. Vyazemsky), his wife—“Countess Yekaterina”
Their Children
Count Dmitry Sheremetev—“Dmitry”
Countess Irina Sheremetev (b. Vorontsov-Dashkov), his wife—“Ira”
Count Pavel Sheremetev—“Pavel”
Countess Praskovya Sheremetev (b. Obolensky), his wife—“Praskovya”
Count Boris Sheremetev—“Boris”
Countess Anna Sheremetev (m. Saburov)—“Anna”
Alexander Saburov, her husband—“Alik”
Count Pyotr Sheremetev—“Pyotr”
Countess Yelena Sheremetev (b. Meiendorff), his wife—“Lilya”
Count Sergei Sheremetev—“Sergei”
Countess Maria Sheremetev (m. Gudovich)—“Maria”
Count Alexander Gudovich, her husband—“Alexander”
Their Grandchildren
Children of Dmitry and Irina Sheremetev
Countess Yelizaveta Sheremetev (m. Vyazemsky)—“Lili”
Prince Boris Vyazemsky, her husband
Countess Irina—“Irina”
Count Sergei Sheremetev—“Sergei”
Countess Praskovya—“Praskovya”
Count Nikolai Sheremetev—“Nikolai”
Count Vasily Sheremetev—“Vasily”
Child of Pavel and Praskovya Sheremetev
Count Vasily Sheremetev—“Vasilik,” “Vasily”
Children of Anna and Alexander Saburov
Boris Saburov—“Boris”
Xenia Saburov—“Xenia”
Georgy Saburov—“Yuri”
Children of Pyotr and Yelena Sheremetev
Count Boris Sheremetev—“Boris”
Count Nikolai Sheremetev—“Nikolai”
Cecilia Mansurov, his wife—“Cecilia”
Countess Yelena Sheremetev (m. Golitsyn)—“Yelena”
Prince Vladimir Golitsyn, her husband—“Vladimir”
Countess Natalya Sheremetev—“Natalya”
Count Pyotr Sheremetev—“Pyotr”
Countess Maria Sheremetev—“Maria”
Count Pavel Sheremetev—“Pavel”
Children of Maria and Alexander Gudovich
Countess Varvara Gudovich (m. Obolensky)—“Varvara,” “Varenka”
Prince Vladimir Obolensky, her husband—“Vladimir”
Count Dmitry Gudovich—“Dmitry”
Countess Maria Gudovich (m. Istomin, Lvov)—“Merinka”
Pyotr Istomin, her first husband—“Pyotr”
Sergei Lvov, her second husband—“Sergei”
Count Andrei Gudovich—“Andrei”
Count Alexander Dmitrievich Sheremetev—“Count Alexander”
Countess Maria Fyodorovna Sheremetev (b. Geiden), his wife—“Countess Maria”
Their Children
Countess Yelizaveta Sheremetev—“Yelizaveta”
Count Dmitry Sheremetev—“Dmitry”
Countess Alexandra Sheremetev—“Alexandra”
Count Georgy Sheremetev—“Georgy”
THE GOLITSYNS
Prince Vladimir Mikhailovich Golitsyn—“The mayor”
Princess Sofia Nikolaevna Golitsyn (b. Delianov), his wife—“Sofia”
Their Children
Prince Mikhail Golitsyn—“Mikhail”
Princess Anna Golitsyn (b. Lopukhin), his wife—“Anna”
Prince Nikolai Golitsyn—“Nikolai”
Princess Maria Golitsyn (b. Sverbeev), his wife
Princess Sofia Golitsyn (m. Lvov)—“Sonya”
Konstantin Lvov, her husband
Prince Alexander Golitsyn—“Alexander”
Princess Lyubov Golitsyn (b. Glebov), his wife—“Lyubov”
Princess Vera Golitsyn (m. Bobrinsky)—“Vera”
Count Lev Bobrinsky, her husband—“Lev”
Prince Vladimir Golitsyn—“Vladimir Vladimirovich”
Princess Tatiana Golitsyn (b. Govorov), his wife—“Tatiana”
Princess Yelizaveta Golitsyn (m. Trubetskoy)—“Yelizaveta,” “Eli”
Prince Vladimir Trubetskoy, her husband—“Vladimir”
Princess Tatiana Golitsyn—“Tatiana”
Pyotr Lopukhin, her husband
Their Grandchildren
Children of Mikhail and Anna Golitsyn
Princess Alexandra Golitsyn (m. Osorgin)—“Lina”
Georgy Osorgin, her husband—“Georgy”
Prince Vladimir Golitsyn—“Vladimir”
Countess Yelena Sheremetev, his wife—“Yelena”
Princess Sofia Golitsyn (m. Meyen)—“Sonya”
Viktor Meyen, her husband—“Viktor”
Prince Sergei Golitsyn—“Sergei”
Klavdia Bavykin, his wife—“Klavdia”
Princess Maria Golitsyn (m. Veselovsky)—“Masha”
Vsevolod Veselovsky, her husband—“Vsevolod”
Princess Yekaterina Golitsyn—“Katya”
Child of Nikolai and Maria Golitsyn
Prince Kirill Golitsyn—“Kirill”
Natalya Volkov, his wife—“Natalya”
Children of Alexander and Lyubov Golitsyn
Princess Olga Golitsyn—“Olga”
Princess Marina Golitsyn—“Marina”
Princess Natalya Golitsyn—“Natalya”
Prince Alexander Golitsyn—“Alexander”
Prince George Golitsyn—“George”
Children of Vera and Lev Bobrinsky
Countess Alexandra Bobrinsky (m. Baldwin)— “Alka”
Philip Baldwin, her husband
Countess Sofia Bobrinsky (m. Witter)—“Sonya”
Reginald Witter, her husband
Count Alexei Bobrinsky—“Alexei”
Countess Yelena Bobrinsky
Children of Vladimir Vladimirovich and Tatiana Golitsyn
Prince Alexander Golitsyn—“Alexander”
Darya Krotov, his wife—“Darya”
Princess Yelena Golitsyn—“Yelena”
Princess Olga Golitsyn (m. Urusov)—“Olga”
Prince Pyotr Urusov, her husband—“Pyotr”
Children of Yelizaveta (Eli) and Vladimir Trubetskoy
Prince Grigory Trubetskoy—“Grisha”
Princess Varvara Trubetskoy—“Varya”
Princess Alexandra Trubetskoy—“Tatya”
Prince Andrei Trubetskoy—“Andrei”
Princess Irina Trubetskoy—“Irina”
Prince Vladimir Trubetskoy—“Volodya”
Prince Sergei Trubetskoy—“Sergei”
Prince Georgy Trubetskoy—“Georgy”
Their Great-grandchildren
Children of Vladimir and Yelena Golitsyn (b. Sheremetev)
Yelena Golitsyn (m. Trubetskoy)—“Yelena”
Andrei Trubetskoy, her husband
Mikhail Golitsyn—“Mishka”
Illarion Golitsyn—“Lariusha”
