Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova was not only the favorite maid of honor of the Empress, but also the closest friend of the august person. She knew many secrets of the court and was initiated into the details of the life of the royal family. This was the cause of envy, gossip and incredible rumors that poisoned her life and trailed even after death.
Childhood and youth
Anna Vyrubova was born into a noble family, where many ancestors became famous for their faithful service to the tsar and the fatherland. The maid of honor of the maid of honor is Taneeva. She was born in St. Petersburg in the summer of 1884. Anna's father, Alexander Sergeevich Taneyev, was a prominent official and for 20 years held the responsible post of Secretary of State and Chief Executive of the Imperial Chancellery.
It is noteworthy that the same post under the tsars, and was occupied by the grandfather and great-grandfather of Taneeva.
Anna Vyrubova's mother, Nadezhda Illarionovna Tolstaya, was the great-great-granddaughter of the field marshal himself. Her father, Illarion Tolstoy, was a participant in the Russian-Turkish war, and her grandfather, General Nikolai Tolstoy, managed the Nikolaev Chesme almshouse.
Anna Vyrubova spent her childhood in a family estate near Moscow, which was called Rozhdestveno. From a young age, the girl was instilled with good manners and a love of reading. In 1902, she passed the exam at the St. Petersburg educational district and received the right to work as a home teacher.
For six months the Taneyev family lived in St. Petersburg, and for six months in Rozhdestveno. Their neighbors were noble: the princes Golitsyn, with whom the Taneevs were related, and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. His wife, Elizaveta Feodorovna, was the sister of the Tsar's wife, Alexandra Feodorovna.
Family estate "Rozhdestveno" One day, when the Taneyevs came to Rozhdestveno again, Elizaveta Fyodorovna invited them to tea. There Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova, then still Taneeva, met Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who came to visit her older sister.
maid of honor of the empress
In 1903, when Anna was 19 years old, she received the so-called cipher: she was entrusted with the duties of a city maid of honor under the Empress, temporarily replacing the ill Sophia Dzhambakur-Orbeliani. From that moment on, Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova was among those chosen who wrote the history of Russia. The girl was obliged to be on duty at balls and other appearances in the light of the empress.
Soon the royal family went on vacation and took Taneeva with them. Together with Alexandra Fedorovna and the children, Anna picked mushrooms and berries, walked through the forest, and performed small tasks. They became attached to a pleasant and sensible girl. Later, in her memoirs, she writes that she also fell in love with the sovereign's family with all her heart.
The empress liked the smart, modest and well-mannered girl, who stood out sharply against the background of the conceited and self-serving nobility. But her kind attitude towards the new maid of honor immediately aroused the envy of the rest of the courtiers.
Envious and ill-wishers, of whom there were a great many around the queen, expressed open discontent, blaming the empress for her ignorance of etiquette. They said that only bearers of chosen surnames could approach the royal family, and the Taneevs were not included in this circle.
But Alexandra Feodorovna was in no hurry to give in, answering that she now knew that at least one person in her entourage served her disinterestedly, without demanding remuneration.
In 1907, Anna married naval lieutenant Alexander Vyrubov. The queen favored this marriage. It was she who found her beloved maid of honor, as it seemed to her, a worthy party. But a year later the marriage broke up.
After the divorce, Anna Vyrubova could no longer be an official maid of honor - only unmarried girls had the right to perform these duties. But the queen did not want to part with almost the only friend she trusted. Therefore, Vyrubova remained with her as an unofficial lady-in-waiting.
It often happened that the empress escorted her to her office through the servants' rooms in order to avoid meetings with full-time ladies-in-waiting. Women whiled away the time for needlework, reading and spiritual conversation. But this secrecy of meetings gave rise to malicious rumors and dirty gossip.
A failed marriage and malicious whispering behind her back pushed the religious Anna Vyrubova to even closer communion with the church. Pierre Gilliard, the tutor of the Tsarevich, wrote about this in his memoirs. He said that the girl was very religious, prone to mysticism and sentimental, but sincerely devoted to the imperial family.
Prince N. D. Zhevakhov, a close friend of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, agrees with him. In his memoirs, he wrote that the lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova turned out to be the only truly believing person in the empress's entourage.
The web of gossip began to weave even more actively when an old man appeared in the life of the imperial family. Rumor attributed his acquaintance with the tsarina to the mediation of Vyrubova. But the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova refute this. In them, the woman writes that she met Grigory Efimovich thanks to Grand Duchess Milica Nikolaevna. And the appearance of the Siberian wanderer in the royal chambers is the merit of the Grand Dukes and their wives, who heard about the miraculous properties of the amazing old man.
When the pendulum of history swung and the tsar abdicated, the former close associates of the Romanovs defiantly turned away from Nicholas II and his family to please the new authorities. Now they openly slandered the family and the elder, whom they bowed to only yesterday. Anna Vyrubova and Grigory Rasputin were linked together by rumor. Accusations of a vicious relationship rained down on them.
In the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova, it was said that the Grand Dukes and the aristocracy slandered the loudest, spreading rumors about the “rotten monarchy”, the imaginary vices of the imperial family, the depraved Rasputin and the cunning maid of honor.
After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government arrested Anna Vyrubova. Even her disability did not become an obstacle. After a terrible railway accident in which the maid of honor fell in 1915, she survived by a miracle. The woman could move only in a wheelchair or with the help of crutches.
Anna Vyrubova was accused of espionage and treachery and thrown into the Peter and Paul Fortress for several months. Investigator Nikolai Rudnev, who at that time was in charge of one of the departments of the Cheka (an emergency commission created by the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky), was assigned to investigate the cases of Rasputin and Vyrubova.
For this purpose, Rudnev arrived at the Peter and Paul Fortress to meet with Anna Alexandrovna. What he saw shocked the battered investigator. The emaciated woman was subjected to torture and incredible humiliation. She barely moved.
Rudnev demanded to replace the attending physician Serebrennikov, who encouraged bullying of the patient. Ivan Manukhin, who replaced him, having examined the former maid of honor of the Empress, was amazed: there was no living place on her body from constant beatings.
The woman was hardly fed and was not allowed to walk. From the cold and dampness, she developed pneumonia. But the main thing is that several medical examinations carried out debunked the main and dirtiest myth about Anna Vyrubova: it turned out that she was a virgin. The intimate ties attributed to her with Rasputin, the tsar and the tsarina turned out to be slander.
Due to the lack of corpus delicti, the sick and barely alive woman was released. But she was too dangerous a witness. Therefore, the threat of a new arrest constantly hung over her. Anna Alexandrovna had to hide in the apartments and basements of the people she had once helped.
In 1920, she managed to illegally move to Finland with her mother. There, the former maid of honor Anna Vyrubova, accused of greed and allegedly received millions from the royal family, led an almost beggarly lifestyle. She had difficulty obtaining citizenship due to her lack of means of subsistence.
In exile, Taneeva-Vyrubova wrote a memoir entitled "Pages of My Life". In them, she told the truth about the royal family, Grigory Rasputin and herself.
Unfortunately, this woman is still being judged by another book - "Her Majesty's maid of honor Anna Vyrubova" or "Vyrubova's Diary". This essay appeared in 1920. Its authenticity has already been called into question. Publicly refuted the authenticity of the "Diary" and Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova herself.
In all likelihood, this vulgar libel was written to order by the new government by the Soviet writer and professor of history P. E. Shchegolev. In the same period, their joint play with a similar plot called "The Conspiracy of the Empress" was released.
Personal life
The 22-year-old maid of honor, the favorite of the Empress, was deeply unhappy in her personal life. Naval officer Alexander Vyrubov, whose wedding took place in Tsarskoye Selo, turned out to be a mentally ill person. Perhaps this happened because of the tragedy experienced. The battleship "Petropavlovsk", on which he served, was flooded during a breakthrough in the harbor of Port Arthur. Of the 750 crew members, only 83 survived. Vyrubov was among them.
It seemed to the Empress that with such a person her maid of honor would be happy. But the personal life of Anna Vyrubova cracked immediately after the marriage. Probably because of the shock experienced, the husband suffered from sexual impotence. In addition, according to Gilliard, he turned out to be a scoundrel and a drunkard.
Soon, Alexander showed signs of severe mental illness. Once, in a fit of rage, a drunken husband severely beat his wife. Vyrubov was declared mentally deranged and placed in a Swiss hospital. The marriage was annulled after a year.
Death
Anna Vyrubova lived in Finland for another 40 years. She took the tonsure and took the name Maria. Nun Maria spent the last years of her life in the Smolensk Skete of the Valaam Monastery.
Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova died in the summer of 1964 at the age of 80. She was buried in an Orthodox cemetery in the Lapinlahti district of Helsinki.
It is difficult to find a more odious name in Russian history than Grigory Rasputin. The memories of contemporaries about him are contradictory (where one voice out of a hundred - if not in justification, then defense on the facts and actions known to them personally), films and books of pickles and other "experts in history" showing the fiend
Recently, the film "Grigory Rasputin" was shown, compiled on the basis of "Memoirs" by Anna Vyrubova (Taneeva), the maid of honor of the Empress.
It shows a humanized appearance, where the eyes of an investigator from the Provisional Government unfold the life of this person with all the minuses and pluses. Naturally, I wanted to know how the above corresponds
reality from the "Memoirs" of a contemporary and his defender.
“Doctors said that they did not understand at all how this happened (stopping bleeding in an heir with hemophilia). But this is a fact. Having understood the state of mind of the parents, one can understand their attitude towards Rasputin.
As for money, Rasputin ... never received from them.
In general, money did not play a role in his life: if they gave him, he immediately
handed out. His family was left in complete poverty after his death.
In 1913, I remember, Minister of Finance Kokovtsev offered him 200,000 rubles so that he would leave St. Petersburg and not return.
He replied that if "Papa" and "Mama" want, he will, of course, leave, but why
to buy it. I know many cases when he helped during illnesses, but I also remember that he did not like being asked to pray for sick babies, saying:
"you will beg for life, but will you accept the sins that the child will do in life"
("Memoirs" M 1991, pp. 189-190)
What wisdom in the words of an illiterate man!
(once there was a documentary film where Hitler was shown in reverse scrolling, right down to a sick baby and a hand was not raised to kill this monster in the bud)
Without wasting time on reprinting, I quote further from the Internet the contents of "Memoirs"
FROM THE INTERNET
........................
Reflections on Rasputin
Anna Vyrubova
Personally, I have no experience that Rasputin allegedly had a special erotic attraction. Yes, it’s true, many women went to ask him for advice in their love affairs, taking him for a talisman that brings happiness, but usually Rasputin urged them to stop their love affairs.
I remember one girl, named Lena, who was one of the most zealous listeners of Rasputin's spiritual interpretations. Once Rasputin had a reason to advise the girl to stop her close acquaintance with a certain student. Lena took the advice as an unreasonable interference in her personal life, and she was outraged by this so much that she assured Bishop Feofan that Rasputin was pestering her. The incident was the cause for the first bad gossip about Rasputin. After that, church circles began to look at him suspiciously.
Rasputin in the first year of his stay in St. Petersburg was everywhere received with great interest. Once, being in the family of one engineer, I remember him sitting surrounded by seven bishops, educated and learned men, and answering deep religious and mystical questions affecting the Gospel. He, a completely uneducated Siberian monk, gave answers that deeply surprised others.
In the first two years of Rasputin's stay in the capital, many genuinely and openly approached him, like me, who was interested in spiritual issues, wanted guidance and support in spiritual improvement. Later, it became a habit to go to him when trying to win the favor of the Court Circle. Rasputin was considered a force that was supposedly lurking behind the Throne.
There was always the opinion that the Royal Couple made a gross mistake that they did not take care of sending Rasputin to the monastery, from where, if necessary, help could be received from him.
Rasputin really could stop the bouts of hemorrhage!
I remember one meeting with Professor Fedorov already at the beginning of the revolution. He treated the Heir from his very birth. We recalled cases when the medical methods used still could not stop the hemorrhage, and Rasputin, making only the sign of the cross over the sick Heir, stopped the bleeding. “The parents of a sick child must be understood,” Rasputin had a habit of speaking.
While in Petersburg, Rasputin lived in a small courtyard house on Gorokhovaya Street. Every day he had very different people - journalists, Jews, the poor, the sick - and he gradually began to be a kind of intermediary of requests between them and the Royal Couple. When he visited the Palace, his pockets were full of all kinds of requests, which he accepted. This irritated the Empress and, especially the Sovereign. They expected to hear from him either predictions or descriptions of mysterious phenomena. As a reward for their efforts and the delivery of requests to the place, some gave Rasputin money, which he never kept with him, but immediately distributed to the poor. When Rasputin was killed, not a penny of money was found with him.
Later, and especially during the war, those who wanted to denigrate the Throne went to Rasputin. There were always journalists and officers around him who drove him to taverns, drinking him, or organized drinking parties in his small apartment - in other words, they did everything possible to put Rasputin in a bad light to everyone's attention and in this way indirectly harm the Emperor and Empress.
Rasputin's name was soon blackened. Their Majesties still refused to believe the scandalous stories about Rasputin and said that he suffers for the truth, like a martyr. Only envy and ill will dictate misleading statements.
In addition to Their Majesties, also the highest spiritual circle showed interest in Rasputin at the beginning of the year. One of the members of this circle spoke of the deep impression Rasputin made on them at one of the evenings. Rasputin turned to one in their group, saying, "Why don't you confess your sins?" The man turned pale and turned his face away.
The Sovereign and Empress met Rasputin for the first time at the home of the Grand Dukes Peter and Nikolai Nikolaevich; their families considered Rasputin a prophet who gave them guidance in the spiritual life.
The second serious mistake made by Their Majesties - the main reason for gossip - was the secret conduct of Rasputin to the Palace. This was done at the request of the Empress almost always. The action was completely unreasonable and useless, literally the same as that, directly into the Palace, the entrance of which was guarded around the clock by the police and soldiers, no one could pass secretly.
In Livadia, the Empress, hearing that Rasputin had arrived in Yalta, often sent me with carriages to fetch him. Having driven away from the main gate, near which there were six or seven policemen, soldiers or Cossacks, I had to instruct them to lead Rasputin through a small entrance from the side of the garden, straight into the personal wing of the Sovereign and Empress. Naturally, all the guards noticed his arrival. Sometimes members of the Family did not want to shake hands with me at breakfast the next day, because, in their opinion, I was the main reason for Rasputin's arrival.
For the first two years of friendship between the Empress and me, the Empress also tried to secretly lead me to her working room through the rooms of the servants, not noticed by her ladies-in-waiting, so as not to arouse their envy of me. We spent our time reading or needlework, but the manner in which I was escorted to her gave rise to unpleasant and completely unreasonable gossip.
If Rasputin had been received from the very beginning through the Palace's main entrance and reported by the adjutant, like anyone asking for an audience, false rumors would hardly have arisen, in any case, they would hardly have been believed.
Gossip got its start in the Palace, among the entourage of the Empress and, precisely for this reason, they believed in them.
Rasputin was very thin, he had a piercing look. On his forehead, near the edge of his hair, there was a large bump from hitting his head on the floor during prayer. When the first gossip and talk about him began to circulate, he collected money from his friends and went on a year-long pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
After my flight from Russia, while in the Valaam Monastery, I met an old monk there. He told me that he met Rasputin in Jerusalem and saw him among the pilgrims at the shrine with holy relics.
The Grand Duchesses loved Rasputin and called him by the name "Our friend". Under the influence of Rasputin, the Grand Duchesses assumed that they would never marry if they had to renounce their Orthodox faith. Also, the little Heir was attached to Rasputin.
Walking into the Empress's room, a little after the news of the murder of Rasputin, I heard Alexei sobbing, hiding his head in the window blind: "Who will help me now, if "Our Friend" is dead?"
For the first time during the war, the attitude of the Sovereign towards Rasputin changed and became much colder. The reason was a telegram that Rasputin sent to Their Majesties from Siberia, where he was recovering from a wound inflicted on him by a certain woman. The Sovereign and Empress, in a telegram that I sent, asked Rasputin to pray for a victorious war for Russia. The answer was unexpected: "Keep the peace by any means, since war means death for Russia." Having received Rasputin's telegram, the Sovereign lost his self-control and tore it. The empress, despite this, did not stop respecting Rasputin and trusting him.
The third serious mistake that the Royal Couple made, especially the Empress, was the opinion that Rasputin had a gift to see who was a good person and who was a bad person. No one could shake their faith. "Our friend" said that said bad person or vice versa and that was enough. One person told me that he saw a faint smile on the lips of the Sovereign when the news came of the murder of Rasputin. Still, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the statement, since I later met the Sovereign, who was deeply shocked by what had happened.
One of Rasputin's relatives told me that he predicted that Felix Yusupov would kill him.
In Russia, German agents were everywhere - in factories, on the streets, even in lines for bread. Rumors began to spread that the Sovereign wanted to conclude a separate peace with Germany and that the Empress and Rasputin were behind the intention. If Rasputin had such an influence on the Sovereign, as is claimed, then why did the Sovereign not suspend the mobilization? The empress was against the war, as was said before. It is also clear from the foregoing that during the war, perhaps more than any other civilian, she tried to influence to bring the war to a decisive victory.
Rumors that a separate peace was being prepared with Germany even reached the British embassy.
All slander and rumors directed against the Royal Family, about the expected conclusion of peace with Germany, were brought to the attention of foreign embassies. Most of the Allies guessed to leave them to their own discretion, the only one who fell victim to both German and revolutionary gossip was the English ambassador, Sir George Buchanan. He entered into communion between the revolutionaries and the government.
The assassination of Rasputin on December 16, 1916 was the starting shot of the revolution. Many believed that Felix Yusupov and Dmitry Pavlovich saved Russia with their heroic deed. But it happened quite differently.
The revolution began, the events of February 1917 caused Russia complete devastation. The abdication of the Sovereign from the throne was completely unreasonable. The sovereign was oppressed to such an extent that he wanted to step aside. It was threatened that if he did not give up the Crown, his entire Family would be killed. This he told me later at our meeting.
“Murder is not allowed to anyone,” the Sovereign wrote on the petition that the members of the Imperial family left to Him, asking that Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich and Felix Yusupov not be punished.
When I recall all the events of that time, it seems to me as if the Court and the high society were like a big madhouse, everything was so confusing and strange. The only impartial study of history on the basis of surviving historical documents will be able to clarify the lies, slander, betrayal, confusion, the victims of which, in the end, Their Majesties turned out to be.
Rasputin was killed on the night of December 16-17, 1916. On December 16, the Empress sent me to Grigory Efimovich to bring him an icon brought from Novgorod. I didn't particularly like going to his apartment, knowing that my trip would be falsely interpreted once again by slanderers. I stayed for about 15 minutes, hearing from him that he was going to go to Felix Yusupov late in the evening to get acquainted with his wife Irina Alexandrovna.
On the morning of December 17, one of Rasputin's daughters, who studied in Petrograd and lived with their father, called me, saying that their father had not returned home, having left late with Felix Yusupov. An hour or two later, the Palace received a call from the Minister of Internal Affairs, Protopopov, who reported that at night a policeman who was on duty at the Yusupovs' house, having heard a shot in the house, called. A drunken Purishkevich ran out to him and told him that Rasputin had been killed. The same policeman saw a military motor without lights pull away from the house shortly after the shots were fired.
There were terrible days. On the morning of the 19th, Protopopov signaled that Rasputin's body had been found. At first, Rasputin's galosh was found near the ice-hole on Krestovsky Island, and then the divers stumbled upon his body: his arms and legs were tangled with a rope; he probably freed his right hand when he was thrown into the water; fingers were crossed. The body was transported to the Chesme almshouse, where an autopsy was performed.
Despite numerous gunshot wounds and a huge wound on his left side, made with a knife or a spur, Grigory Efimovich was probably still alive when he was thrown into the hole, since his lungs were full of water.
When the people in the capital learned of the murder of Rasputin, everyone went crazy with joy; The jubilation of society knew no bounds, they congratulated each other. During these demonstrations about the murder of Rasputin, Protopopov asked Her Majesty's advice by phone on where to bury him. Subsequently, he hoped to send the body to Siberia, but he did not advise doing this right now, pointing out the possibility of unrest along the way. They decided to temporarily bury him in Tsarskoye Selo, and in the spring to transfer him to his homeland.
The burial service was held at the Chesme almshouse, and at 9 o'clock in the morning on the same day (December 21, I think), a sister of mercy brought Rasputin's coffin on a motor. He was buried near the park on the ground where I intended to build a shelter for the disabled. Their Majesties arrived with the Princesses, myself and two or three strangers. The coffin was already lowered into the grave when we arrived. The confessor of Their Majesties served a short requiem and began to fill up the grave. It was a foggy, cold morning and the whole situation was terribly difficult: they were not even buried in a cemetery. Immediately after a short memorial service, we left.
Rasputin's daughters, who were all alone at the funeral, placed on the chest of the murdered man the icon that the Empress had brought from Novgorod.
Here is the truth about Rasputin's funeral, about which so much has been said and written. The empress did not cry for hours over his body, and none of his fans were on duty at the coffin.
For the sake of historical truth, I must say how and why Rasputin had some influence in the life of the Sovereign and Empress.
Rasputin was not a monk, not a priest, but a simple "wanderer", of which there are many in Russia. Their Majesties belonged to the category of people who believed in the power of the prayer of such wanderers. The sovereign, like his ancestor, Alexander I, was always mystical; the Empress was equally mystical.
A month before my wedding, Her Majesty asked the Grand Duchess Milica Nikolaevna to introduce me to Rasputin. Grigory Efimovich entered, thin, with a pale, haggard face, in a black Siberian coat; His eyes, unusually penetrating, immediately struck me and reminded me of the eyes of Fr. John of Kronstadt.
“Ask him to pray for something in particular,” the Grand Duchess said in French. I asked him to pray that I could devote my whole life to the service of Their Majesties. “So be it,” he replied, and I went home. A month later I wrote to the Grand Duchess, asking her to ask Rasputin about my wedding. She answered me that Rasputin said that I would get married, but there would be no happiness in my life. I didn't pay much attention to this letter.
Rasputin was used as an excuse to destroy all the old foundations. He, as it were, personified in himself that which became hated by Russian society, which had lost all balance. He became a symbol of their hatred.
And everyone was caught on this bait: the wise, and the stupid, and the poor, and the rich. But the aristocracy and the Grand Dukes shouted loudest of all, and cut the branch on which they themselves sat. Russia, like France in the 18th century, went through a period of complete madness, and only now, through suffering and tears, is beginning to recover from her serious illness.
But the sooner everyone digs into his conscience and recognizes his guilt before God, the Tsar and Russia, the sooner the Lord will stretch out His strong hand and deliver us from severe trials.
Her Majesty trusted Rasputin, but twice she sent me and others to his homeland to see how he lives in his village of Pokrovsky. We were met by his wife - a pretty elderly woman, three children, two middle-aged working girls and a fisherman grandfather. All three nights we guests slept in a fairly large room upstairs, on mattresses that were spread out on the floor. In the corner there were several large icons, in front of which lamps glowed. Downstairs, in a long dark room with a large table and benches along the walls, they dined; there was a huge icon of the Kazan Mother of God, which was considered miraculous. In the evening, the whole family and the “brothers” (as four other male fishermen were called) gathered in front of her, all together they sang prayers and canons.
The peasants treated Rasputin's guests with curiosity, but they were indifferent to him, and the priests were hostile. There was an Assumption fast, milk and dairy this time were not eaten anywhere; Grigory Efimovich never ate meat or dairy.
There is a photograph that represents Rasputin sitting in the form of an oracle among the aristocratic ladies of his "harem" and, as it were, confirms the enormous influence that he supposedly had in Court circles. But I think that no woman, even if she wanted to, could be carried away by him; neither I nor anyone who knew him intimately heard of one, although he was constantly accused of depravity.
When the Commission of Inquiry began to function after the revolution, there was not a single woman in Petrograd or in Russia who would come forward with accusations against him; information was drawn from the records of the "guards" who were assigned to him.
Despite the fact that he was an illiterate person, he knew all the Holy Scriptures, and his conversations were original, so that, I repeat, they attracted many educated and well-read people, such as, no doubt, Bishops Feofan and Hermogenes, Grand Duchess Milica Nikolaevna and others .
Remembering, once in the church a postal official approached him and asked him to pray for the patient. “Don’t ask me,” he replied, but pray to St. Xenia". The official, in fright and surprise, cried out: "How could you know that my wife's name is Xenia?" I could cite hundreds of similar cases, but they, perhaps, can be explained one way or another, but it is much more surprising that everything he said about the future came true ...
One of Rasputin's enemies, Iliodor, launched two assassination attempts on him. He succeeded first when a certain woman Gusev stabbed him in the stomach in Pokrovsky. This was in 1914, a few weeks before the start of the war.
The second assassination attempt was arranged by Minister Khvostov with the same Iliodor, but the latter sent his wife to Petrograd with all the documents and betrayed the plot. All these personalities like Khvostov looked at Rasputin as a tool for the realization of their cherished desires, imagining to receive certain favors through him. In case of failure, they became his enemies.
So it was with the Grand Dukes, Bishops Hermogenes, Feofan and others. The monk Iliodor, who at the end of all his adventures took off his cassock, got married and lived abroad, wrote one of the dirtiest books about the Royal Family. Before publishing it, he wrote to the Empress a written proposal - to buy this book for 60,000 rubles, threatening otherwise to publish it in America. The empress was indignant at this proposal, declaring that let Iliodor write what he wanted and wrote on paper: "Reject".
A judicial investigation by the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government proved that he was not involved in politics. Their Majesties always had conversations with him on abstract topics and about the health of the Heir.
I remember only one case when Grigory Efimovich really influenced foreign policy.
It was in 1912, when Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and his wife tried to persuade the Sovereign to take part in the Balkan War. Rasputin, almost on his knees before the Sovereign, begged him not to do this, saying that the enemies of Russia were only waiting for Russia to get involved in this war, and that inevitable misfortune would befall Russia.
The last time the Sovereign saw Rasputin was at my house, in Tsarskoye Selo, where, on the orders of Their Majesties, I summoned him. This was about a month before his assassination. Here I was convinced once again what an empty fiction was the notorious talk about the desire for a separate peace, about which the slanderers spread the rumor, pointing out that this was the desire of either the Empress or Rasputin.
The sovereign arrived preoccupied and, sitting down, said: “Well, Gregory, pray well; It seems to me that nature itself is going against us now.” Grigory Efimovich approved him, saying that the main thing was not to conclude peace, since that country would win, which would show more stamina and patience.
Then Grigory Efimovich pointed out that it was necessary to think about how to provide for all orphans and disabled people after the war, so that "no one would be left offended: after all, everyone gave You everything that he had most dear."
When Their Majesties got up to say goodbye to him, the Sovereign said, as always: "Gregory, cross us all." “Today you bless me,” Grigory Efimovich answered, which the Emperor did.
Whether Rasputin felt that he was seeing Them for the last time, I do not know; I cannot assert that he foresaw the events, although what he said came true. I personally describe only what I heard and how I saw him.
With his death, Rasputin associated great disasters for Their Majesties. In recent months, he had expected to be killed soon.
I testify to the suffering that I experienced, that in all the years I personally did not see or hear anything obscene about him, but, on the contrary, much of what was said during these conversations helped me to bear the cross of reproach and slander that the Lord placed on me.
Rasputin was considered and is considered a villain without evidence of his atrocities. He was killed without trial, despite the fact that the biggest criminals in all states are entitled to arrest and trial, and after the execution.
Vladimir Mikhailovich Rudnev, who conducted the investigation under the Provisional Government, was one of the few who tried to unravel the case of the "dark forces" and put Rasputin in a real light, but it was also difficult for him: Rasputin was killed, and Russian society was mentally upset, so few judged sanely and coolly. Rudnev was the only one who had the civil courage for the sake of truth to take the point of view of a sane person, without being infected by the herd opinion of Russian society in 1917.
The material was compiled by Lyudmila Khukhtiniemi based on the memoirs of Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva (nun Maria)
"Anna Vyrubova - maid of honor of the Empress". Edited by Irmeli Vikheryuuri. Aftermath. 1987 Helsinki. Translation from Finnish by L. Huhtiniemi.
A.A. Vyrubova. pages of my life. Good. Moscow. 2000.
From the Internet
An example of the strictest life was one of the closest admirers of Rasputin, a friend of the tsarina, Anna Vyrubova.
Vyrubova was fanatically devoted to Grigory, and until the end of his days he appeared to her in the form of a holy man, unmercenary and miracle worker.
Vyrubova did not have a personal life at all, devoting herself entirely to the service of her neighbors and the suffering. She took care of orphans, worked as a nurse.
Outwardly attractive, of noble birth, accepted as one of her own in the royal family, she turned out to be completely defenseless against newspaper slander.
For many years, numerous love affairs and the most vile debauchery were attributed to her. And the newspapermen spread these rumors and slander throughout Russia.
"History", which became a household name, was savored in secular salons at the court and in the tabloid press, in the State Duma and on the streets.
What was the disappointment of gossips when later a special medical commission of the Provisional Government found that Anna Vyrubova was virgin and innocent, and all the crimes attributed to her turned out to be fiction ...
History carried the name of Anna Vyrubova through the years. The memory of her was preserved not only because she was close to the imperial family (Anna was the maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna), but also because her life was an example of selfless service to the fatherland and help to the suffering. This woman went through terrible torment, managed to avoid execution, gave all her money to charity, and at the end of her days devoted herself entirely to religious service.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Anna Alexandrovna (left)
The story of Anna Vyrubova is incredible, it seems that so many trials cannot befall one person. In her youth, she graduated from the courses of sisters of mercy and, together with the Empress, helped the wounded in the hospital at the beginning of the First World War. They, like everyone else, did hard work, helped the wounded, and were on duty during operations.
Portrait of Anna Vyrubova
After the execution of the imperial family, Vyrubova had a difficult time: the Bolsheviks put her in custody. As a conclusion, they chose cells with prostitutes or recidivists, where she had a very hard time. Anna also got it from the soldiers, they were ready to profit from her jewelry (although the maid of honor had only a chain with a cross and a few simple rings), they mocked and beat her in every possible way. Anna went to prison five times and each time she miraculously managed to free herself.
Anna Vyrubova walking in a wheelchair with Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, 1915-1916.
Death, it seemed, was following Anna Vyrubova on the heels: in the last conclusion, she was sentenced to death. The torturers wanted to humiliate the woman as much as possible and sent her on foot to the place of execution, accompanied by only one guard. It is still difficult to understand how the exhausted woman managed to escape from this soldier. Lost in the crowd, she, as if by the will of providence, met someone she knew, the man gave her money in gratitude for her bright heart and disappeared. With this money, Anna was able to hire a cab and get to her friends, so that after many months she would hide in the attics from her pursuers.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, her daughters Olga, Tatyana and Anna Alexandrovna (left) - sisters of mercy
Charity has always been Anna's real vocation: back in 1915, she opened a hospital for the rehabilitation of the wounded in the war. The money for this was found due to an accident: having got into an accident on a train, Anna received severe injuries, she herself remained an invalid. She gave the entire amount (80 thousand rubles!) of the paid insurance policy for the construction of a hospital, and the emperor donated another 20 thousand. After spending half a year chained to a bed, Anna realized very well how important it is to give disabled people the opportunity to feel needed again, to learn a trade that would help them occupy their free time and bring a minimal income.
Anna Vyrubova
Having escaped from prison, Anna wandered for a long time until she decided to become a nun. She took the tonsure on Valaam and lived a calm and blessed life. She passed away in 1964 and was buried in Helsinki.
Alexandra Feodorovna highly appreciated the merits of the maid of honor, calling her in her letters "her dear martyr."
Biography and episodes of life Anna Vyrubova. When born and died Anna Vyrubova, memorable places and dates of important events in her life. maid of honor quotes, Photo and video.
Years of life of Anna Vyrubova:
born July 16, 1884, died July 20, 1964
Epitaph
“Faithful to God, the Tsar and the Fatherland. Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva (Vyrubova) - nun Maria.
From the book of Anna Vyrubova "Pages of my life"
Biography
Once Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva received an invitation from Her Majesty Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova to accompany her on a family trip. It so happened that one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress fell ill, and therefore she needed a replacement. As a result, Anna Alexandrovna fell in love with the Empress and the entire royal family so much that their fates were no longer divided until her death. “I thank God that I have a friend,” Romanova recalled about her acquaintance with the maid of honor Anna.
Some time later, when Anna Alexandrovna finally gained a foothold at court, the empress decided to find a good match for her friend. The choice fell on naval officer Alexander Vyrubov, who distinguished himself in an attempt to break through the blocked harbor of Port Arthur. The young people got married, but the marriage broke up after a year and a half. It turned out that Vyrubov could not survive the horrors of the war and was sent to Switzerland for treatment with severe psychosis.
Further more. In 1915, a turning point occurred in Vyrubova's biography. Leaving Tsarskoye Selo for Petrograd, the girl got into a railway accident and only miraculously survived. From the resulting injuries, Anna lost the ability to move independently, and only a few years later she managed to start walking, leaning on a stick. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna carefully looked after the sick maid of honor all the time of her illness.
However, the real horrors in Vyrubova's life began with the February Revolution. One of the first tasks of the Provisional Government was to discredit the royal family in order to strengthen their own image. And to accomplish this task, the staff of a specially created emergency commission did not stop at nothing. In particular, the imperial family, including all courtiers, was subjected to unprecedented slander, accusations of debauchery, betrayal, etc. Anna Vyrubova was arrested and, despite her disability, imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. There is evidence that, while under arrest, the maid of honor was repeatedly subjected to bullying, up to and including physical beating. In the end, Vyrubova was released due to the lack of corpus delicti. But the persecution didn't end.
Finally, after three years of repression, Anna Vyrubova found a way to escape to Finland. There she fulfilled her long-standing promise before God, saying that if I manage to leave Russia, I will devote the rest of my life to serving the Lord. Vyrubova did take the tonsure, but she was never accepted into any monastery community for health reasons. The rest of the days Vyrubova lived as a lay nun, surrounding herself with harsh austerities.
Vyrubova's death occurred on July 20, 1964, which was a few days after her birthday. The last month of Vyrubova's life was spent in illness, but meanwhile the old lady-in-waiting managed to say goodbye to a few friends, confess and take communion. After the death of Anna Vyrubova, it turned out that she, the daughter of a noble family, the maid of honor of Her Majesty, hardly had enough money for a coffin. And yet, thanks to the efforts of well-wishers, the funeral of Anna Vyrubova took place at the Orthodox cemetery in Helsinki. The monument on the grave of Vyrubova was erected by the church community of the Helsingfort parish.
life line
July 16, 1884 Date of birth of Anna Vyrubova.
1902 The maid of honor takes the exam for the title of home teacher at the St. Petersburg educational district.
1904 Anna Vyrubova "receives the cipher" of the city's maid of honor and becomes a close friend of the imperial family.
1907 Anna marries officer Alexander Vyrubov, but their union soon breaks up.
1915 Vyrubova gets into a railway accident and, as a result, becomes a cripple.
1917 Anna Vyrubova is arrested by the Provisional Government on suspicion of espionage and treason.
1920 Anna Vyrubova illegally leaves Russia and flees to Finland, where she takes the veil as a nun.
1922 In Paris, the memoirs of the maid of honor "Pages from my life" are published, which have become the subject of gross falsifications by the Provisional Government.
July 20, 1964 Date of death of Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova.
Memorable places
1. The village of Rozhdestveno near Moscow, where Anna Vyrubova spent her childhood.
2. Tsarskoe Selo (now the city of Pushkin), where Anna Alexandrovna's dacha was located.
3. Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, where Vyrubova was kept under arrest.
4. The city of Terijoki, where Vyrubova's family dacha was located.
5. Vyrubova's house in Vyborg, where the maid of honor lived with her mother in the 1930s.
6. Orthodox cemetery in Helsinki, where Vyrubova is buried.
Episodes of life
Having moved to Finland, the maid of honor Anna set to work on her diaries. As a result, in 1922, the first edition of the memoirs "Pages from my life" was published in Paris. Since the topics about the life of the royal family were very hot and relevant at that time, Vyrubova even managed to make some money on the book. True, all the money went to the maintenance of herself and her old mother, who lived with Anna in Helsinki. After the release of the memoirs, even during Vyrubova's lifetime, attempts were made to make literary forgeries under her authorship. Until now, some of these fakes are in "scientific circulation".
While Anna Vyrubova was under arrest, the hot-tempered and scandalous Dr. Serebrennikov was appointed as her attending physician. He unconditionally encouraged all kinds of bullying of the prisoner and himself repeatedly took part in her beatings and humiliations. In front of the convoy, he could strip the maid of honor naked and, yelling that she had become stupefied with debauchery, whip her on the cheeks. Note that Vyrubova was accused of espionage, interaction with dark forces, orgies with Rasputin and the royal family. At the same time, the results of the medical examination repeatedly confirmed the chastity of the lady-in-waiting.
Testaments
“I am sure that in the future, historical newspapers will be researched and written a lot about the life of the Family of the Last Tsar - and I feel that it is my duty to describe and preserve for history those circumstances, among which, keeping pace with the life of the Royal Family, I had to fight for a life. The memories will stay with me forever."
“Both my mother and I had a soul full of inexplicable suffering: if it was hard in our dear Motherland, now it is sometimes lonely and difficult without a home, without money. But we, with all the exiled and remaining sufferers, in the tenderness of our hearts, appealed to the merciful God for the salvation of our dear Fatherland. The Lord is my Helper, and I will not be afraid of what man does to me.”
The plot about Anna Vyrubova from the series of programs "Women in Russian History"
condolences
“The life of A. A. Vyrubova was truly the life of a martyr, and one needs to know at least one page of this life in order to understand the psychology of her deep faith in God and why A. A. Vyrubova found the meaning and content of her deeply unhappy life. And when I hear the condemnation of A. A. Vyrubova from those who, not knowing her, repeat the vile slander created not even by her personal enemies, but by the enemies of Russia and Christianity, the best representative of which was A. A. Vyrubova, then I am surprised not so much to human malice, but to human thoughtlessness ... "
Nikolai Zhevakhov, statesman and religious figure
“An example of the most rigorous life was one of the closest admirers of Rasputin, a friend of the Empress Anna Vyrubova. She devoted her life to serving the royal family and Rasputin. She did not have a personal life. A healthy, beautiful woman completely obeyed the most stringent monastic requirements. In fact, she turned her life into a monastic ministry ... "
Oleg Platonov, historian
“Vyrubova is a gentle, kind person with a childlike soul, faithful to her empress, not only in joy, but also in grief, ready to link her fate with her forever. For that alone, she deserves full respect."
Elsa Brandstrom, writer
At the beginning of the 20th century, Anna Taneeva-Vyrubova, like Grigory Rasputin, found herself at the very center of the Masonic slanderous campaign to discredit the Russian monarchy, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsar Nicholas II. And after the revolution of 1917, the haters of the Tsarist power finally formed the slanderous myth about the “rotten monarchy”, “the debauchery of Rasputin” and his “selfish and loving girlfriend” Vyrubova, who allegedly also had a passion for power.
Writer Igor Evsin about the fate of the righteous nun Anna (Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva-Vyrubova).
However, today it is documented that several official medical examinations of Taneeva-Vyrubova were carried out by special commissions, which stated the same thing: Anna Aleksandrovna is a virgin. And already during her lifetime it became clear that the statement about her intimate relations with Rasputin was slander.
As for greed and imaginary millions accumulated by Vyrubova, the following must be said. Having fled from the Soviet authorities to Finland, she was refused the issuance of Finnish citizenship due to lack of sufficient means of subsistence. And having received citizenship, she lived in Finland very modestly, almost begging.
She did not have any accumulated millions allegedly received for her petitions for certain people before Tsar Nicholas II. This means that she did not have any influence driven by self-interest on Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.
This is how Anna Alexandrovna was described by Comrade Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod, Prince N.D. Zhevakhov: “Having entered the bosom of Orthodoxy, the Empress was imbued not only with the letter, but also with its spirit, and, being a believing Protestant, accustomed to respecting religion, she fulfilled her requirements differently from the people around her who loved only “to talk about God ”, but did not recognize any obligations imposed by religion. The only exception was Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova, whose unfortunate personal life early introduced her to those inhuman sufferings that forced her to seek help only from God.
Note that Zhevakhov here speaks of the suffering that Taneeva-Vyrubova endured after a terrible railway accident. This catastrophe practically killed her, and only the prayers of the elder Grigory Rasputin resurrected Anna Alexandrovna to life. Elder Gregory then performed a miracle that shocked all the eyewitnesses. However, Vyrubova forever remained an invalid and was forced to endure severe pain.
“The life of A. A. Vyrubova,” Prince Zhevakhov writes further, “was truly the life of a martyr, and you need to know at least one page of this life in order to understand the psychology of her deep faith in God and why only in communion with God A. A Vyrubova found the meaning and content of her deeply unhappy life. And when I hear the condemnation of A. A. Vyrubova from those who, not knowing her, repeat the vile slander created not even by her personal enemies, but by the enemies of Russia and Christianity, the best representative of which was A. A. Vyrubova, then I am surprised not so much to human malice, but to human thoughtlessness...
The Empress got acquainted with the spiritual image of A. A. Vyrubova when she found out with what courage she endured her sufferings, hiding them even from her parents. When I saw her lonely struggle with human malice and vice, then between Her and A. A. Vyrubova there arose that spiritual connection, which became the greater, the more A. A. Vyrubova stood out against the general background of a self-satisfied, prim, unbelieving know.
Infinitely kind, childishly trusting, pure, knowing neither cunning nor cunning, striking with her extreme sincerity, meekness and humility, suspecting intent nowhere and of nothing, considering herself obliged to meet every request, A. A. Vyrubova, like the Empress , divided her time between the Church and the exploits of love for her neighbor, far from the thought that she could become a victim of deceit and malice of bad people.
In fact, Prince Zhevakhov told us about the life of a righteous woman, a servant of God.
At one time, Investigator Nikolai Rudnev headed one of the departments of the Extraordinary Commission established by the Provisional Government of Kerensky. The department was called "Investigation of the activities of dark forces" and investigated, among others, the cases of Grigory Rasputin and Anna Vyrubova. Rudnev conducted the investigation honestly and without prejudice and came to the conclusion that the materials against Rasputin were slander. And about Anna Vyrubova, he wrote the following:
“Having heard a lot about the exceptional influence of Vyrubova at the Court and about her relations with Rasputin, information about which was placed in our press and circulated in society, I went to Vyrubova for interrogation in the Peter and Paul Fortress, frankly, hostile to her. This unfriendly feeling did not leave me in the office of the Peter and Paul Fortress, right up to the appearance of Vyrubova under the escort of two soldiers. When Mrs. Vyrubova entered, I was immediately struck by the special expression in her eyes: this expression was full of unearthly meekness. This first favorable impression was fully confirmed in my subsequent conversations with her.
My assumptions about the moral qualities of Mrs. Vyrubova, taken from lengthy conversations with her in the Peter and Paul Fortress, in the detention center, and, finally, in the Winter Palace, where she appeared on my calls, were fully confirmed by her manifestation of purely Christian forgiveness in relation to those from whom she had to endure a lot in the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress. And here it should be noted that I learned about these abuses of Mrs. Vyrubova by the fortress guards not from her, but from Mrs. Taneeva.
Only after this did Mrs. Vyrubova confirm everything her mother had said, declaring with surprising calmness and gentleness: "They are not to blame, they don't know what they're doing." In truth, these sad episodes of mockery of the personality of Vyrubova prison guards, expressed in the form of SPITTING IN THE FACE, REMOVING HER CLOTHES AND UNDERWEAR, ACCOMPANIED BY BEATING THE FACE AND OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY OF THE SICK WOMAN WHO BARBLY MOVED ON CRUTCHES, AND THE THREATS TO LIFE THE CONCUBE OF THE SOVEREIGN AND GRIGORY" prompted the commission of inquiry to transfer Mrs. Vyrubova to the detention facility at the former Provincial Gendarmerie Directorate."
Here we see the real Christian feat of the martyr Anna. A feat that repeats the feat of Christ Himself.
However, until now, Anna Taneeva-Vyrubova is judged according to her alleged book of memoirs "Her Majesty's maid of honor Anna Vyrubova." However, while it does contain most of the original text, the editorial has cut it in half! Moreover, it includes fictional paragraphs that Anna Aleksandrovna never wrote. Thus, in a Jesuit subtly, the work of discrediting the righteous martyr continues. The publishers did their best to distort the moral image of Vyrubova, to give the reader the impression of her as a person of a narrow-minded mind.
The forged diary "Anna Vyrubova's Diary" placed in the book is especially aimed at this. In fact, this is a continuation of the diabolical work to discredit both Anna Alexandrovna herself, and Grigory Rasputin and the holy Royal Family.
This vile fake was written by the famous Soviet writer A.N. Tolstoy and historian P. E. Shchegolev, a former member of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government. Alas, alas and alas, the texts of the book "Her Majesty's maid of honor Anna Vyrubova" and the fake diary placed in it are still reprinted in various reputable publications and passed off as originals.
However, archival documentary evidence about Vyrubova-Taneeva creates a true image of the righteous. Based on them, the modern historian Oleg Platonov writes: “One of the closest admirers of Rasputin, a friend of the Empress Anna Vyrubova, was a model of the most strict life.
She devoted her life to serving the royal family and Rasputin. She did not have a personal life. A healthy, beautiful woman completely obeyed the most stringent monastic requirements. In fact, she turned her life into a monastic ministry, while the slanderers in the left press published the most vile details about her supposedly depraved intimate life.
How great was the disappointment of these vulgar people when the medical commission of the Provisional Government established that Vyrubova had never been in an intimate relationship with any man. But she was credited with ... dozens of love affairs, including with the Tsar. And with Rasputin. After a happy escape from Russia, where she was threatened with imminent death, Vyrubova took the veil as a nun, observing the strictest rules and leading a lonely life. She died as a nun in Finland in 1964.”
The ascetic was buried at the Ilyinsky cemetery in Helsinki. The parishioners of the Intercession Church in Helsinki consider her a righteous woman and say: “Come to the Orthodox Ilyinsky cemetery to her grave, stand and pray. And you will feel how easy it is to pray here, how quiet and peaceful it becomes in the soul.
Here in Russia, the nun Anna (Taneeva-Vyrubova) is also considered a righteous martyr. Some priests even bless in every need to prayerfully turn to her for help.
Let us cry out in simplicity of heart - Lord, Jesus Christ, through the prayers of the Royal Martyrs, Martyr Gregory and Martyr Anna, save and have mercy on us sinners.