Rasputin told Vyrubova that she was a virgin. Anna Vyrubova: Great sinner or great martyr? Troubles don't go away
Anna Alexandrovna with her sister
“If you are reproached - bless, if you are persecuted - endure, if you are blasphemed - take comfort, if you are slandered - rejoice.” (Words by Father Seraphim of Sarov) - this is our path with you.
From a letter from the Empress
dated March 20, 1918 from Tobolsk
Anna Alexandrovna Taneyeva is the closest friend of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Born into the family of Alexander Sergeevich Taneyev, Secretary of State and Chief Administrator of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery, in addition, Alexander Sergeevich was a composer. Young Anna was appointed maid of honor to the court and the Empress immediately became imbued with warm feelings for Anna Alexandrovna: “I remember our first intimate conversations at the piano and sometimes before bed. I remember how little by little she opened her soul to me, telling how from the first days of her Arriving in Russia, she felt that she was not loved, and this was doubly hard for her, since she married the Tsar only because she loved him, and, loving the Tsar, she hoped that their mutual happiness would bring the hearts of their subjects closer to them My grandmother Tolstaya told me an incident conveyed to her by her relative, Baroness Anna Karlovna Pilar, lady-in-waiting of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna. During the Empress’s visit to Darmstadt in the seventies, Princess Alice of Hesse brought to show her all her children, bringing little Princess Alice (the future) in her arms. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna). Empress Maria Alexandrovna, turning to Baroness Pilar, said, pointing to the little princess Alice: “Baisez lui la main, elle sera votre future Imperatrice.” (Kiss the hand of this girl, she is your future Empress)"
Her marriage turned out to be unsuccessful, and the marriage was soon dissolved. But Anna Alexandrovna was more likely not a maid of honor, but a devoted friend of the Royal Family. A lot of dirt was poured on Anna Alexandrovna, of which she was accused: espionage, and such sins that it is shameful to even mention. She was simply spiritually close to the Royal Family. Anna Alexandrovna's position aroused the envy of many, many spread nasty rumors about her. She was with the Royal Family at magnificent celebrations, during joy-filled trips to the Finnish skerries or in the Crimea, she went with the Empress to work in the hospital, she would have gone to her death, but they didn’t let her in...
On January 2, 1915, a train accident occurred: “I left the Empress at 5 o’clock and went to the city with the 5.20 train. I got into the first carriage of the locomotive, first class; the sister of a Cuirassier officer, Mrs. Schiff, was sitting opposite me. There were a lot of people in the carriage Before reaching St. Petersburg 6 miles, suddenly there was a terrible roar, and I felt that I was falling headfirst and hitting the ground; my legs were probably tangled in the heating pipes, and I felt them break for a minute. I lost consciousness. When I came to my senses, there was silence and darkness all around. Then I heard the screams and groans of the wounded and dying, crushed under the ruins of the carriages."
Anna Alexandrovna was bedridden for a long time, Alexandra Fedorovna visited her every day: “The Empress, children and parents visited me every day. At first, the Emperor also came every day; these visits gave rise to a lot of envy: they envied me so much in those moments when I was lying dying !.. The Emperor, in order to reassure the good people, first began to go around the hospital, visiting the wounded, and only then came down to me.” Fortunately, Anna Alexandrovna began to recover and was able to walk. The railroad gave her 100,000 rubles for the injury. With this money she founded an infirmary for disabled soldiers, where they learned all kinds of crafts; started with 60 people, and then expanded to 100: “Having experienced how difficult it is to be a cripple, I wanted to make their life at least a little easier in the future. After all, upon arrival home, their families would begin to look at them as an extra mouth! A year later we released 200 artisans, shoemakers, and bookbinders."
After the February revolution, Anna Vyrubova was arrested, despite the fact that she was sick, she was taken to prison. the image of the Savior. I, in turn, was given two icons on a cord from the Sovereign and the Empress with their inscriptions on the reverse side. How I wanted to die at that moment!.. I turned to Commandant Korovichenko with a tearful request to allow me to say goodbye to the Empress. I saw through the window how he was coming from a walk, almost running, in a hurry, but Korovichenko (who died a terrible death during the Bolsheviks) and Kobylinsky took me to the room of E. Schneider, who, alas, greeted me with a smile and a smile. ... smiling, I went out. I tried not to notice or hear anything, but focused all my attention on my beloved Empress, who was being carried by valet Volkov in an armchair. She was accompanied by Tatyana Nikolaevna. From a distance I saw that the Empress and Tatyana Nikolaevna were shedding tears; good Volkov also cried. One long hug, we managed to exchange rings, and Tatyana Nikolaevna took my wedding ring. The Empress, through sobs, told me, pointing to the sky: “There and in God we are always together!” I hardly remember how they tore me away from her. Volkov kept repeating: “Anna Alexandrovna, no one is like God!”
Looking at the faces of our executioners, I saw that they were in tears. I was so weak that they almost carried me in their arms to the engine; a mass of palace servants and soldiers gathered at the entrance, and I was touched when I saw several faces among them." This was the last time she saw the Royal Family.
Interrogations, humiliations, and insults rained down on an innocent person there. In the end, she was found not guilty.
One day, while walking through the prison yard, a sentry approached her: “I,” he said, “want to ask you to forgive me for, without knowing, laughing at you and swearing at you. I went on vacation to the Saratov province. I enter my son-in-law’s hut and see your card on the wall under the icons. I gasped. How is it that you have Vyrubova, so and so... And he hit the table with his fist: “Be quiet,” he says, “you don’t know what you’re saying, she was my mother for two years,” and he began to praise and tell me that in your infirmary, as in the kingdom of heaven, and said that if I saw him, I would send him his regards; that he is praying and the whole family is praying for me.”
But with the advent of Bolshevik power, Anna Alexandrovna was arrested again. They were undoubtedly going to shoot her, but a real miracle happened: “We went through all the posts. Below, the little soldier said to the big one: “You shouldn’t go, I’ll take you alone; you see, she can barely walk, and in general, everything will soon be over.” Indeed, I could barely stand on my feet, bleeding. The young soldier happily ran away.
We went to Nevsky; the sun was shining, it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. We got on the tram. The audience looked at me sympathetically. Someone said: “Arrested woman, where are they taking her?” “To Moscow,” answered the soldier. “It can’t be - trains haven’t been going there since yesterday.” I recognized a young lady I knew next to me. I told her that they were probably taking me to be shot, and I gave her one bracelet, asking her to give it to my mother. We got off at Mikhailovskaya Square to change the tram, and here something happened that the reader can call whatever he wants, but what I call a miracle.
The tram we were supposed to transfer to was delayed somewhere, either the bridges were opened or for some other reason, but the tram was delayed, and a large crowd of people was waiting. I stood there with my soldier, but after a few minutes he got tired of waiting and, telling him to wait one minute while he looked where our tram was, he ran off to the right. At that moment, an officer of the Sapper Regiment, whom I had once helped, first approached me, asked if I recognized him and, taking out 500 rubles, put it in my hand, saying that the money might be useful to me. I took off the second bracelet and handed it to him, saying the same thing I told the young lady. At this time, one of the women with whom I often prayed together on Karpovka approached me with quick steps: she was one of Fr. John of Kronstadt. “Don’t give yourself into the hands of your enemies,” she said, “go, I pray.” Father Father John will save you." It was as if someone had pushed me; hobbling with my cane, I walked along Mikhailovskaya Street (my bundle was left with the soldier), straining my last strength and loudly crying out: “Lord, save me! Father John, save me!” I got to Nevsky - there are no trams. Should I run into the chapel? I don't dare. I crossed the street and walked along the Perinnaya Line, looking around. I see a soldier running after me. Well, I think it's over. I leaned against the house, waiting. The soldier, having reached it, turned onto the Catherine Canal. Whether it was this one or another, I don’t know. I walked along Chernyshev Lane. My strength began to weaken, it seemed to me that just a little more and I would fall. The hat fell off my head, my hair fell, passersby looked at me, probably mistaking me for crazy. I reached Zagorodny. There was a cab driver standing on the corner. I ran up to him, but he shook his head. "Busy". Then I showed him a 500-ruble note that I was holding in my left hand. “Sit down,” he shouted. I gave the address of friends outside Petrograd. I begged to go quickly, since my mother was dying, and I myself was from the hospital. After some time, which seemed like an eternity to me, we arrived at the gate of their house. I called and fell into a deep faint... When I came to my senses, the whole dear family was near me; I told in a nutshell what happened to me, begging her to let my mother know. Their janitor volunteered to bring a note from me that I was alive and well and saved, but that she should not look for me, since she would be followed.
Meanwhile, an ambush from Gorokhova immediately came to her, they arrested my poor mother, who was lying sick, they arrested her faithful maid and everyone who came to visit her. The ambush was kept for three weeks. There was a military engine waiting for me day and night, hoping that I would come. Our old Berchik, who served us for 45 years, fell ill from grief the last time I was taken and died. For more than a week, his body lay in his mother’s apartment, since it was impossible to obtain permission to bury him. It was a terrible time for my poor mother. From minute to minute she expected to receive news that I had been found. But in the Emergency Department they assumed that I would try to get to the White Army, and they sent my photo to all the stations. My good friends were afraid to leave me at their place for the night, and when it got dark, I went out into the street, not knowing whether those to whom I was going would accept me. It was raining, the few passers-by did not pay attention. I remember that I didn’t immediately find the house, I wandered along the street and dark staircases, looking for an apartment where several young female students, teachers and two students lived. For Christ's sake they accepted me, and I stayed with them for five days. One of them went to visit my mother and never returned, which proved to me that things were not going well with us.” Anna Alexandrovna’s mother was soon released, but she herself, like a hunted animal, hid first with some acquaintances, then with others for about a year, until I didn’t dare to leave Russia.
“In December, a letter arrived from my sister insisting on our departure: she paid a lot of money to save us, and we had to decide. But how to leave our homeland? I knew that God is so great that if He wants to save, then He will always His hand is above us everywhere. And why is there more safety abroad? God, what did this step cost me!..
We set off: I was barefoot, in a tattered coat. My mother and I met at the railway station and, after passing several stations, we got out... Darkness. We were ordered to follow a boy with a sack of potatoes, but we lost him in the darkness. We are standing in the middle of a village street: mother with a single bag, me with my stick. Shouldn't we go back? Suddenly a girl in a headscarf emerged from the darkness, explained that she was this boy’s sister, and ordered him to follow her into the hut. A clean room, a rich dinner on the table, and in the corner on the bed in the dark two figures of Finns in leather jackets. “They’ve come for you,” the hostess explained. We had dinner. One of the Finns, noticing that I was barefoot, gave me his woolen socks. We sat and waited; A fat lady with a child burst in and explained that she was also coming with us. The Finns hesitated, not daring to go, as a dance was taking place nearby. At 2 o'clock in the morning they whispered to us: get ready. They went out onto the porch without making any noise. A large Finnish sleigh was hidden in the yard; They also drove away silently. The owner of the hut ran in front of us, showing us the descent to the sea. The horse fell into deep snow. We moved out... The peasant remained on the shore. Almost all the time we walked along the bay at a pace: there was a thaw, and there were huge cracks in the ice. One of the Finns walked ahead, measuring with an iron stick. Every now and then they stopped, listening. Close to the left, the lights of Kronstadt seemed to flicker. Hearing a steady knock, they turned around with the words “chase,” but later we learned that this sound was made by the icebreaker “Ermak,” which was cutting through the ice behind us. We were the last to pass... Once the sleigh overturned, the poor mother and the child, by the way, an unbearable one, flew out, constantly asking: “Let's go back.” And the Finns assured us that because of him we would all get caught... It was almost light when we ran up to the Finnish coast and rushed along roundabout roads to the Finnish house, fearing here to fall into the hands of the Finnish police. Numb, tired, with little understanding, my mother and I came to quarantine, where all the Russian refugees were kept. The Finns treat them cordially and fairly, but, of course, they do not let everyone in, for fear of various undesirable types crossing the border. We were washed, fed and dressed little by little. What a strange feeling it was to put on boots...
Both my mother and I had a soul full of inexplicable suffering: if it was hard in our dear Motherland, even now it is sometimes lonely and difficult without a home, without money... But we, with all the expelled and remaining sufferers, in the tenderness of our hearts, cried out to the merciful To God for the salvation of our dear Fatherland.
“The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man will do to me.”
In Finland, Anna Alexandrovna lived another long life, wrote memoirs, and after the death of her mother, she took monastic vows under the name of Mary. I must warn you that the so-called “Diary” of Anna Vyrubova is a Bolshevik fake, in the production of which even the Red Count Alexei Tolstoy had a hand.
“I am sure that in the future historical newspapers will research and write 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 life. The memories will remain with me forever." A.A. Vyrubova
A plot of land for development was allocated in 1780-1790. The house appeared on the plan of Tsarskoe Selo, marked 1797, without indicating its original purpose or ownership. Then it was established that it belonged to the Tsarskoye Selo palace government. The high status of the house, emphasized in the unusual material for the residential development of the settlement, indicates the likelihood that it was erected by the Office “for the residence” of a person of “highest rank” - the adjutant general and personal friend of Emperor Alexander I, Prince P.M. Volkonsky. 
The house is an architectural monument of the early 19th century, one of Pushkin’s memorable places and is located on Srednyaya Street 4, one of the oldest streets in Tsarskoe Selo. The street began to be built up under Catherine II in the twenties of the 18th century and was called “Second Street from the Palace.” 
This is a corner building, a small one-story mansion with a mezzanine, the architect of which is P.V. Neelov. In the building lived the teacher of music and singing of lyceum students L.V. Tepper de Fergusson, a talented musician and composer, a highly educated, artistic and charming person, in Russian simply Wilhelm Petrovich. He was born in Poland, but gained fame in Russia, where he arrived in the fall of 1797. He was a bandmaster at the Russian Court, a music teacher of the Grand Duchesses, the sisters of Emperor Alexander I. The young A.S. Pushkin and his friends, lyceum students, visited his house at musical evenings. 
From Tepper de Fergusson the house became the property of the historian N.P. Liprandi. Ivan Petrovich Liprandi is a historian, major general, who to a certain extent served as the prototype for the hero Silvio in Pushkin’s story “The Shot”. Then the house came into the possession of Countess E.I. Igelstrom. Subsequently it belonged to the widow of the writer B. M. Markevich.
In the 1900s, the Russian composer and pianist A.S. lived there. Taneev.
From 1907 to 1917, the maid of honor A.A. Taneeva (Vyrubova) lived in the house. 
“My father, Alexander Sergeevich Taneyev, held the prominent post of Secretary of State and Chief Administrator of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery for 20 years. The same post was held by his grandfather and father under Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II and Alexander III. Six months a year My family and I spent time on a family estate near Moscow. Our neighbors were the princes Golitsyn and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. From early childhood, we, children, adored Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (the elder sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna). The princess invited us to tea, when suddenly they announced that Empress Alexandra Feodorovna had arrived."
The origins of Anna Taneyeva (Vyrubova) alone determined her future fate. She was among those who “wrote history.” As a 19-year-old girl, in January 1903, Anna Taneyeva (Vyrubova) received a code - i.e. was appointed city maid of honor, temporarily replacing the ill maid of honor Sofya Dzhambakur-Orbeliani.
When Taneyeva turned 22, Empress Alexandra helped her friend choose what she thought was a worthy match - naval lieutenant Alexander Vasilyevich Vyrubov. Vyrubov was one of those who took part in the attempt to break through the blockaded harbor of Port Arthur. The battleship Petropavlovsk, on which Vyrubov and his comrades were, hit a mine and sank in a matter of seconds. Of the 750 crew members, only 83 managed to escape. Among the survivors was the future husband of Anna Taneyeva. In April 1907, the marriage of maid of honor Anna Alexandrovna and Alexander Vasilyevich took place. Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna were present at the wedding. They blessed the young people with an icon. From now on, Anna Alexandrovna could not be a maid of honor, since only unmarried girls could apply for this position. 
(Photo taken from https://pastvu.com/p/123240)
From the memoirs of A.A. Taneyeva (Vyrubova), 1907: “After our return to Petrograd, my husband became worse, and the doctors sent him to Switzerland. But his stay there did not help him, and I was more and more afraid of him... In the spring he received service on a ship. After After years of difficult experiences and humiliation, our unhappy marriage was dissolved. I remained living in a tiny house in Tsarskoe Selo, which my husband and I rented; the room was very cold, since there was no foundation and in winter the Empress gave me 6 chairs for the wedding. , with her own embroidery, watercolors and a lovely tea table. When Their Majesties came for tea in the evening, the Empress brought fruits and sweets in her pocket, Sovereign "Cherry brandy" We then sat with our feet on the chairs. Their Majesties were amused by the simple atmosphere. Sitting by the fireplace, they drank tea with dry bread, which was brought by my faithful servant Berchik, the valet of Tolstoy’s late grandfather, who served in the family for 45 years. I remember how the Emperor, laughing, said later that after tea. In my house he only warmed up in his bathroom.” 
“After I received a divorce, I did not have an official position. I lived with the Tsarina as an unofficial lady-in-waiting and was her personal friend. For the first two years, the Empress escorted me to her office through the servants’ room, as if it were contraband, so that I would not meet with her staff maids of honor and did not arouse their envy. We whiled away the time reading, handicrafts, and conversations. The secrecy of these meetings gave rise to even more gossip."
“A. Vyrubova’s house,” wrote the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, A.D. Protopopov, became a kind of “parlor of power.” Emperor Nicholas II, his wife, the Grand Duchesses, G.E. visited here. Rasputin. The building thus played a prominent role in the history of the last days of the monarchy.
On January 15, 1915, while leaving Tsarskoe Selo for Petrograd, Anna Vyrubova was involved in a train accident, receiving injuries of such severity (including head injuries) that doctors expected an imminent death. However, Vyrubova survived, although she remained crippled for life: after that she could only move in a wheelchair or on crutches; in later years - with a stick. Using monetary compensation for her injury, Anna Vyrubova organized a military hospital in Tsarskoe Selo. 
Anna Alexandrovna writes in her memoirs: “I received dirty anonymous letters every day, threatening to kill me, etc. The Empress, who understood these circumstances better than all of us, as I already wrote, immediately ordered me to move to the palace, and I sadly left my house, not knowing that I would never return there. By order of Their Majesties, from that day on, my every step was guarded. When I went to the infirmary, the orderly Zhuk always accompanied me; I was not even allowed to walk around the palace alone, and I was not allowed to attend the wedding. dear brother. Little by little, life in the Palace returned to normal."
But here is probably one of the most important memories concerning G. Rasputin, with whom part of her and the Royal family’s life was connected, written in her autobiographical book “Pages of My Life”: “For the sake of historical truth, I must say: Rasputin was a simple wanderer, like quite a few in Rus'. Their Majesties belonged to the category of people who believed in the power of the prayers of such “wanderers.” Rasputin visited Their Majesties once or twice a year. They used him as an excuse to destroy all previous foundations. He became a symbol of hatred for everyone: the poor and the rich. , wise and foolish. But the aristocracy and the Grand Dukes shouted loudest. They chopped off the branch on which they themselves sat."
After the February Revolution, she was arrested by the Provisional Government and spent several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress on suspicion of espionage and treason, after which “due to the lack of evidence of a crime” she was released. At the end of August 1917, the Provisional Government decided to deport her abroad; a message about this even appeared in the newspapers indicating the day and hour of her departure. But in Finland, at the Rihimäkki station, a crowd of soldiers took her off the train and she was taken through Helsingfors to the imperial yacht Polar Star, which headed to Sveaborg. A whole month was spent on efforts, and at the end of September N.I. Taneyeva (Vyrubova’s mother) achieved the release of her daughter through Trotsky. As a result, Anna Vyrubova from Sveaborg was taken to Smolny and released again. After the October Revolution, Vyrubova was repeatedly arrested and interrogated, and kept in prison. For more than a year she hid with acquaintances and friends. In December 1920, Vyrubova managed to illegally move to Finland with her mother, where she lived the remaining 40 years of her life (under her maiden name Taneyeva), taking monastic vows in 1923 with the name Maria in the Smolensk monastery of the Valaam Monastery. She was buried in the Orthodox cemetery (Ilyinsky) in Helsinki. Nun Maria died on July 20, 1964, she was 80 years old. According to relatives, mother remained “a very gentle person. Despite everything she had experienced, there was no hatred or bitterness in her at all.” In this sense, the phrase with which she ends her book is indicative: “The Lord is my Helper and I will not fear what man does to me.” 
In 1928, the Tepper/Vyrubova house was provided by the Soviet Government to the outstanding Russian and Soviet singer - opera actor and stage director, later People's Artist of the USSR, Doctor of Art History I. V. Ershov (1867-1943) in compensation for his house in the Novgorod region . Here he settled with his family with the main goal of improving the health of his young son, which was achieved. Under Ivan Vasilyevich, the house became a modern, comfortable home with central heating. 
Ershov was always burdened by the house: “Well, why do I need these mansions? I’ve never been a courtier, I don’t know how to settle down there.” In the end, Ershov handed it over to the Union of Composers in 1934, and he settled in an ordinary apartment. Before the Great Patriotic War, there was a dormitory in the house. 
During the Great Patriotic War, the building was significantly damaged: an enemy shell pierced the ceiling and brought down the ceiling. The reconstruction of the building was carried out in 1955, the interiors were only relatively close to the appearance of Pushkin’s time. The house, restored after the war, housed the regional children's library. Then, after some reconstruction and major repairs of the building, since May 1, 1969, the Civil Registry Office of the Pushkin District has been located in it. 
In January 2014, the house of Anna Alexandrovna Taneyeva was transferred to the St. Petersburg Serenades chapel. A museum dedicated to the Royal Family was opened in one of the premises. 
Information taken in part from
website of the project "Encyclopedia of Tsarskoe Selo"
At the end of 1920, her sister who lived abroad arranged for Anna and her mother to escape to Finland. They fled at night on a sleigh across the ice across the Gulf of Finland. The Finn guide, seeing Vyrubova's bare feet, gave her woolen socks.
Close to the king - close to honor. Close to the king - close to death.
Russian proverb
In April 1926, in Vyborg, the Soviet magazine “Prozhektor” fell into her hands. Among the life-affirming chronicles, cheerful poems and essays signed by unknown work reporters and rural correspondents, praising, seemingly in Russian, but with some scratchy, alien words, a new beautiful life, her photo was discovered.
“In the picture on the right is a portrait of the deceased Anna Vyrubova, a personal friend of Alexandra Fedorovna, one of the most ardent fans of Grigory Rasputin. The last, darkest years of tsarism are associated with the name of Vyrubova. She played a major role in the palace and ruled the state together with Rasputin. Protopopov was her protege, many appointments took place with her help,” Anna read her own obituary.
Who knows what she felt at this strange moment. Devastation? Once again the bitterness of resentment for lies and slander? Burning pain from the injustice of your beloved homeland? Or the sudden lightness that unfortunate Vyrubova, whom rumor had endowed with all possible vices and made the embodiment of evil, was finally buried by this rumor along with all the dirt that had smeared her name? Vyrubova died, and the magazine with her obituary on page thirty trembles slightly in the hands of Anna Alexandrovna Taneyeva, a faithful and devoted friend of the last Russian empress.
It would seem that the daughters of the court secretary of state and chief administrator of His Imperial Majesty in the office of Chief Chamberlain A.S. From birth, Taneyev was destined for a comfortable, comfortable and happy life. Father, a highly educated man, a wonderful composer, cousin of the composer S.I. Taneyev, who was friends with Chaliapin and Tchaikovsky, was deeply devoted to the royal family. After all, the duties that were entrusted to him at the court of Nicholas II were fulfilled with honor by his great-grandfather, grandfather and father since the reign of Alexander I.
On her mother's side, Anna was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, and on her mother’s family tree the branches of many old noble families of the Kutaisovs, Bibikovs and Tolstoys, who served for the benefit of Russia, are proudly intertwined.
Grown-up girls from noble families, whose parents served at court, usually received the title of honorary maid of honor to Her Majesty. And Anya, brought up in an atmosphere of reverence for the royal family, who had admired Empress Alexandra since childhood, was looking forward to this event. An ingenuous, open, beautiful girl with cornflower blue eyes on a simple-minded childish face could not even imagine that, once at court, she would become an object of ridicule, dirty gossip and disgusting insinuations that would haunt her all her life.
Anna Taneyeva was first introduced to the court in 1902, at her first ball. Very shy at first, but cheerful and lively by nature, seventeen-year-old Anna fell so in love with the atmosphere of the holiday that she quickly got used to it and danced at thirty-two balls in her first winter. For the body, apparently, this became a serious test, because a few months later she became seriously ill and barely survived, suffering from a severe form of typhoid fever, complicated by inflammation of the lungs and kidneys, meningitis and temporary hearing loss. Anya was burning with fever in oblivion when Father John of Kronstadt visited her parents’ house. Miraculously, he rescued the girl from the sticky clutches of the disease. Then there was treatment in Baden, a slow, blissful recovery in sunny Naples, but it was John of Kronstadt that she considered from that moment to be her savior and turned to him in her prayers every time despair overwhelmed her.
In January 1903, Anna received a “cipher” - initials decorated with diamonds, which gave her the right to be called an honorary maid of honor to Her Majesty. Soon one of the Empress’s personal ladies-in-waiting fell ill, and Taneyeva was invited to replace her. The replacement was temporary, but Alexandra became very attached to the new maid of honor, seeing in her a kindred spirit, which she so lacked in the palace teeming with gossip and intrigue.
Being happily married to the Russian autocrat, Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, meanwhile, did not come to court at the Romanov court. The St. Petersburg society received the wife of Nicholas II warily and unfriendly.
Palace etiquette ruled here. Pleasant appearance, impeccable manners, perfect French, the ability to behave in society - this is what the court nobility valued. The young empress made mistakes speaking French and often got confused in the subtleties of palace rules. She did not find a common language with her husband’s mother, the Dowager Empress, who was in no hurry to retire. The imperial family observed with disapproval and jealousy the extraordinary tenderness in the relationship between the sovereign and empress. And Alexandra Feodorovna’s natural shyness was mistaken in the palace for arrogance and arrogance. Artificial smiles, false respect and the hissing of gossip creeping from all the palace corners... For many years she yearned for simple human communication and was happy to suddenly feel a kindred spirit in the new maid of honor, who charmed her with her sincerity and cheerful disposition.
Sitting on the sofa in a small, bright office in the Lower Palace, telling a friend about your past life, showing photographs of relatives, leafing through your favorite books, reading out the underlined lines that sunk into your soul. Returning from a walk, drink tea for a long time and talk about important and unimportant things. Feel human warmth and friendly participation nearby. Simple but precious things that cannot be bought or received by the highest command. “God sent you to me, from now on I will never be lonely again!” - heard happy Anna on the last day of her first summer trip through the Finnish skerries with the royal family.
Anna Vyrubova with the royal children during a walk through the Finnish skerries on the yacht "Standart" The court, of course, could not forgive the young maid of honor for such a sudden rapprochement with the empress. Aristocratic peers were jealous of the attention that the queen paid to Anna, and did not skimp on sarcastic remarks. The empress's personal ladies-in-waiting were indignant at the constant presence of the insufficiently noble Taneyeva in the royal chambers, which was contrary to etiquette. The court circle hated the upstart, who in an unclear way had gained their trust and was probably pursuing his own secret goals. It was impossible for people who had achieved virtuosity in the art of weaving intrigues to admit that there were no secret goals here. Taneyeva sincerely admired Alexandra and wanted nothing more than to be with her selflessly beloved empress.
Her love was truly unselfish. Of course, the position of the ladies-in-waiting was very enviable. Each of them had their own housing in the palace, they received at their disposal a servant, a cab driver and a carriage with horses, and the empress’s personal ladies-in-waiting also received a large salary - 4,000 rubles a year. But all these benefits had nothing to do with Taneyeva. At first, she was an honorary maid of honor, and this was a title without financial support. She only had to be the official maid of honor of the Empress for a few months, and then Anna got married. Actually, this was another important advantage of the position of a maid of honor - the opportunity to get a profitable match. But for Anna Taneyeva, the marriage turned into a nightmare.
Naval officer A. Vyrubov, whom the empress considered a worthy match for her favorite, turned out to be a stranger and dangerous person for Anna. Having miraculously survived the destruction of the Russian squadron at Tsushima, he suffered from severe depression, and his psyche was tormented by an aggravated hereditary disease. A life-saving divorce was obtained only a year later. A whole year of constant fear.
After marriage and divorce, Anna Vyrubova no longer had the right to the title of maid of honor. But Alexandra Fedorovna, who became attached to her almost like a younger sister, did not want to part. And Anna remained at court as a friend of the empress. She was just always there. Nearby on anxious nights at the bedside of the sick heir and on summer days full of simple happiness in his beloved Livadia and Finland. Among the pain and groans in the military hospital, where he and the empress worked tirelessly, not afraid of the horrifying sight of wounds or blood. And for quiet embroidery, and for prayer, too. The royal family loved her dearly. For them she was dear Anya, Anya, darling. Alexandra called her “Big Baby”; “Little Baby” was Tsarevich Alexei.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna presents instruments during an operation. 4th from left - Anna Vyrubova Envy and hatred of the royal favorite among the courtiers grew like a snowball. Her simple-mindedness, lack of stiffness and desire to impress were interpreted as stupidity and narrow-mindedness. And at the same time, Anna was accused of cunning and deceit, and they slandered her enormous influence on the sovereign and empress. These rumors reached their apogee when Rasputin appeared at court. They splashed out on the pages of tabloid newspapers and were savored in aristocratic salons. Vyrubova was called an intriguer and a vile pimp, the concubine of an odious old man, the main culprit of his penetration into the palace. They chose not to remember that the royal family was introduced to Rasputin by their relative, passionate about mysticism and the occult, Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna.
The royal couple were ready to do anything to ease the suffering of their hemophiliac heir. Inexplicably, Rasputin succeeded: he appeared, and the bleeding calmed down, the pain went away. For this reason, the parents were ready to endure the dirty lies of gossip about the relationship between the elder and the royal family. The slandered Anna also endured, not knowing that she would need an infinite amount of patience.
On January 2, 1915, the train that Anna Vyrubova was traveling from Tsarskoye Selo to Petrograd crashed. The consequences were dire. Vyrubova’s spine was damaged, both legs were seriously injured, her facial bone was broken with an iron beam, and her throat was bleeding. In a hopeless state, she was left to die. For four hours she lay without medical help in a small station gatehouse, praying to God only for death. When she was finally transported to the Tsarskoye Selo hospital, Rasputin was called, who, upon seeing Anna, said only: “She will live, but as a cripple.” To remain disabled at 31 years old, to move only in a wheelchair or with the help of crutches...
Having barely recovered from the disaster and having received large compensation from the railway - 80 thousand rubles, Vyrubova spent all this money on creating an infirmary in Tsarskoe Selo. Knowing from her own experience what it was like to be crippled, she also organized rehabilitation for the soldiers who remained disabled. In her Labor House, before they went home after treatment, they received a specialty that allowed them to earn a living without legs, arms, hearing or sight, and not become a burden to the family. She spent long hours in her infirmary, supporting the wounded, doing everything to alleviate their fate.
But Anna helped not only the wounded. Her pockets were always full of notes asking for help. People confident in her power asked for everything - from patronage in obtaining the governor's post to buying a student's overcoat. She was not omnipotent; on the contrary, with the hatred towards her reigning in the palace, such protection could only do harm. But Anna did not refuse anyone, trying to help everyone even in the most insignificant and insignificant matter. I worked hard, did what I could. And she was still known as an intriguer.
Despite all the malicious slander, Anna Vyrubova called the twelve years spent with the royal family the happiest. And she was with her friends until the end. She supported her royal friend at the hour when Nicholas, who had abdicated the throne, wrote bitter words in his diary: “There is treason, cowardice, and deception all around!” To the sound of the boots of the new government, walking through the halls and rooms of the palace, Alexandra helped nurse children seriously ill with measles. She was there until she herself, having become infected from the children, fell into unconsciousness.
They came for her on March 21, 1917. The Provisional Government, accusing Vyrubova of espionage and treason, imprisoned her in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Unrecovered from measles and having difficulty walking on crutches, she was thrown into a damp cell. They tore off all the decorations and icons, stripped me naked and put on a prison shirt. Twice a day they brought half a bowl of stew that stank of rotten fish, into which the guards “out of mischief” spat and sprinkled broken glass. At night, drunken soldiers burst into the cell. In the morning, getting out of bed, Anna fainted from weakness. She fell into a huge puddle that formed on the floor, and lay for hours unable to get up. The cold and dampness caused pneumonia. And the prison doctor became the main tormentor of the unfortunate woman. He tore off her shirt in front of the soldiers, saying: “This woman is the worst of all, she has become stupid from debauchery,” and asked cynical questions about “orgies” with the Tsar and Tsarina. In response to any complaints, he called her a pretender and hit her on the cheeks. Because she dared to get sick, she was deprived of walks and rare visits with loved ones. The commandant and the head of security, threatening to kill the prisoner, extorted large sums of money from her parents.
In this endless nightmare, she tried to grasp any manifestation of humanity in her captors. I repeated to myself “I don’t blame them” and was grateful for any kind word or gesture.
Five months passed before, after long interrogations and a humiliating medical examination, which showed that the “orgy participant” had never actually had an intimate relationship, Anna was released.
He was released, only to be arrested again a month later. This time she was sent abroad, to Finland, and imprisoned in the Sveaborg fortress. The newspapers were full of decisions of regimental and court committees sentencing Vyrubova to death. But in Helsingfors they hated Kerensky, who arrested her, so they treated the prisoner with compassion.
A month later, Trotsky ordered the release of prisoners of the Provisional Government. Vyrubova was taken to Petrograd, to Smolny, where the Kamenev spouses, imbued with sympathy for her, fed her lunch. The next day, the newspapers shouted that Vyrubova was sitting in Smolny, that she was friends with Kameneva, was riding with Kollontai and was sheltering Trotsky. From a “German spy,” rumor quickly turned her first into a “counter-revolutionary” and then into a “Bolshevik.”
During the winter of 1917-1918 and summer of 1918, Anna lived quietly with her mother in a small Petrograd apartment and made every effort to establish contact with the royal family that had been taken to Siberia. And when she succeeded, she sent letters and touching parcels to her friends full of love and anxiety. She was happy when the answer and modest gifts from the Tobolsk prisoners reached her. She met with Gorky several times, trying to advocate for the royal family.
Again arrest and imprisonment, ridiculous accusations, humiliation. Liberation and the grueling hungry winter of 1919, in which Anna and her sick mother barely survived.
She was arrested for the last time on September 22, 1919. White troops were advancing on Petrograd. They said that the Bolsheviks were nervous and would shoot all the prisoners. And then the day came when Anna Vyrubova was taken to be shot. She was extremely weak, she started bleeding at night, bleeding, she could barely move her legs. One soldier accompanied her. This terrible journey had to be made by tram, with a transfer. The bridges were opened, and the tram we were supposed to transfer to was delayed. The prisoner and her guard stood for a long time in a large crowd of people waiting. Soon the soldier got tired of waiting, and he ran away “for a minute.” At this time, an officer whom she had once helped approached Vyrubova and put 500 rubles in her hand. Immediately, a familiar woman from the household of Father John of Kronstadt appeared from the crowd and said: “Don’t give yourself into the hands of the enemies, go, I’m praying. Father John will save you." And Vyrubova, straining her last strength, went. I approached the cab driver standing on the corner, who shook his head. Then she handed him the money she had received from the officer and gave him the address of her friends outside Petrograd.
When the friends opened the door, Anna fell into a deep faint.
For a whole year she hid like a hunted animal. She sought and found shelter in the closets of the poor whom she had once helped. It was dangerous to stay more than five days in one place, she left, moved on, knocked on another door and asked: “I left prison - will you accept me?” She had to shave her hair, her shoes were worn out, and in December she walked barefoot.
At the end of 1920, Anna’s sister, who lived abroad, arranged for her and her mother to escape to Finland. They fled at night on a sleigh across the ice across the Gulf of Finland. The Finn guide, seeing Vyrubova's bare feet, gave her woolen socks. She remembered this strange feeling for the rest of her life - warmth on her exhausted legs that had long forgotten it.
The Finnish authorities, remembering the place Vyrubova occupied at court, treated her with respect. She was questioned by the criminal police. They asked about the attitude towards the Tsar, towards Rasputin, about the reasons for the Bolsheviks coming to power. And the last question is whether she intends to stay in Finland. “If the Finnish government allows it, I’m very tired...”
First, Anna and her mother settled in their dacha in Terijoki (Zelenogorsk), which preserved memories of happy days, then moved to Vyborg.
Life in Finland was not easy. Here there was no need to fear persecution, but how could one get used to a foreign way of life, an unfamiliar culture? How to understand it without knowing the language? It was difficult to make ends meet. Anna and her mother were denied citizenship, so they could not count on social assistance. Poverty, problems with completely compromised health, homesickness and beloved friends. In these hopeless days, Anna Alexandrovna begins to write “Pages of My Life.” A book of memories in which images of members of the royal family, happy and bitter moments of their lives, and tragic events of the recent past come to life.
This book is the last thing Anna could do for her beloved friend. To tell descendants what a wonderful person the slandered Empress Alexandra Feodorovna really was - merciful, persistent, who selflessly loved Russia.
The book was published in Paris in 1923 and caused a powerful outbreak of anger both in emigrant circles, many of whose representatives found themselves among the characters, and in Soviet Russia.
The country of the Soviets simply could not allow such a whitewashing of the royal family and the intriguer Vyrubova. And Anna was dealt another vile blow. Suddenly, a falsified “true diary of Vyrubova” appeared, in whose pages the problems of big politics alternated with the greasy details of the intimate life of the court, and the retelling of gossip and rumors with quotes from documents. The fake was of very high quality, because professionals worked on it - the famous literary critic and historian P.A. Shchegolev and the “red count” A.N. Tolstoy. Vyrubova publicly refuted this forgery, but only people who knew her closely understood that Anna Alexandrovna could not be the author of these lines, saturated with rudeness and cynicism.
Former compatriots avoided her, and she did not seek meetings with them. She had always been very religious, and now she increasingly preferred prayer to communicating with people. Disability did not allow her desire to serve God in the monastery to be realized. But in November 1923, with great difficulty, she reached Valaam, where in the Smolensk skete of the monastery she took monastic vows with the name Maria. The life of a secret nun began.
Nun Maria (Vyrubova) in the Smolensk skete of the Valaam Monastery with by his confessor, Hieroschemamonk Ephraim. 1937
In 1939, when war broke out between Soviet Russia and Finland, nun Maria and her companion Vera left Vyborg, fearing the city's capture by the Red Army and persecution by the Soviet authorities. They were given shelter by the Swedish Queen Louise, the niece of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Until the end of the war, Mother Maria lived with her friend in a small boarding house near Stockholm at the expense of the Swedish royal court. Queen Louise, with whom Anna was friends back in St. Petersburg, paid her a small pension after the war. This help made it possible for the nun Maria to arrange her modest life in Helsinki.
Anna Aleksandrovna Taneyeva (Vyrubova). Helsinki Another old acquaintance from St. Petersburg life at court, General of the Tsarist Army Baron Gustav Karlovich Mannerheim, also helped her. The most influential Finnish politician, Field Marshal Mannerheim, at the request of Anna Taneyeva, gave her a letter of recommendation, which actually served her as a safe-conduct from the hostility of the outside world.
With the help of this letter, she managed to get a small apartment on Topelius Street, where she lived with Vera until her death in 1964. She lived in poverty and seclusion. No one had been in her house, the light had never been turned on in the room. Outside the window of the apartment on the first floor there is a bus stop, which is always full of people. People were hurrying about their business, and two steps away from them, in the twilight of a cramped room, the days of the faithful and devoted friend of the last Russian empress passed in prayers and memories.
She is buried not far from this place, at the Ilyinsky Orthodox Cemetery in Helsinki. On the stone tombstone there is the inscription “Anna Alexandrovna Taneyeva (Mother Maria) July 16, 1884 - July 20, 1964.”
On the well-kept grave, pansies bloom and a wooden Orthodox cross rises. You will not immediately notice that a box with a sign “Book of Admirers” is attached to the cross. Underneath the cover, unexpected for such a sad place and dappled with summer flowers, is human pain and despair, desires and dreams. And on every page “Mother Mary, pray! Mariushka, help! Anna Taneyeva, mother Maria, continues to receive notes similar to those that filled the pockets of her maid of honor... She is not omnipotent, but she does not refuse anyone.
Today is the holiday of the image of “Unexpected Joy”, I have now started to always read it, and you, darling, do the same. It’s the anniversary of our last trip, remember how cozy it was. The good old woman also left, her image is always with me. Once I received a letter from Demidova from Siberia. Very poor. I really want to see Annushka, she will tell me a lot. Yesterday it was 9 months that they were locked. More than 4 that we live here. Was it the English sister who wrote to me? Or what? I’m surprised that Nini and the family did not receive the image that she sent them before we left... It’s a pity that kind Fedosya is not with you. Hello and thanks to my faithful, old Berchik and Nastya. This year I can’t give them anything under the tree, how sad. My dear, well done dear, Christ is with you. I hope we can unite in prayer. Thank you to Father Dosifei and Father John for not forgetting.
I'm writing in bed in the morning and Jimmy sleeps right under my nose and prevents me from writing. Ortipo is on his feet, it makes them warmer. Think about it, good Makarov (commissar) sent me 2 months ago Saint Simeon of Verkhoturye, the Annunciation, from the “Mande” room and from the bedroom above the Madonna washstand; 4 small engravings above the “Mande” couch, 5 Kaulbach pastels from the large living room, he collected everything himself and took my head (Kaullbach). Your enlarged photo from Livadia, Tatiana and I, Alexey near the booth with a sentry, watercolors of Alexander III, Nicholas I. A small rug from the bedroom - my straw couch (it now stands in the bedroom between other pillows, the one from the roses from Side Mufti-Zade , who did the whole journey with us). Last night I took it from Tsarskoye Selo and slept on it on the train and on the ship - the wonderful smell pleased me. Have you heard from Gaham? Write to him and bow. Syroboyarsky visited him in the summer, do you remember him? He is now in Vladivostok.
22 degrees today, clear sun. I would like to send a photo, but I don’t dare by mail. Do you remember Claudia M. Bitner, a nurse at the Lianozovsky hospital, she gives lessons to children, such happiness. The days fly by, it’s Saturday again, all-night vigil at 9 o’clock. We settled comfortably with our icons and lamps in the corner of the hall, but this is not a church. During these 3.5 years, we got used to being at the infirmary near Znamenya almost every day - it’s sorely missed. I advise Zhilik to write. The pen has been filled again! I'm sending pasta, sausages, coffee - although it's fasting now. I always take the greens out of the soup so that I don’t eat the broth, and I don’t smoke. It’s all so easy for me to be without air, and often I hardly sleep, my body doesn’t bother me, my heart is better, since I live very calmly and without moving, I was terribly thin, now it’s less noticeable, although the dresses are like bags and without a corset even more skinny. Hair also turns gray quickly. All seven are in good spirits. The Lord is so close, you feel His support, you are often surprised that you endure things and separations that would have killed you before. Peaceful in your soul, although you suffer greatly, greatly for your Motherland and for You, but you know that in the end everything is for the better, but you absolutely don’t understand anything else - everyone has gone crazy. I love you endlessly and grieve for my “little daughter” - but I know that she has become big, experienced, a real warrior of Christ. Remember the Bride of Christ card? I know that you are drawn to the monastery (despite your new friend)! Yes, the Lord leads everything, we still want to believe that we will see another temple, the Intercession with its chapels in its place - with a large and small monastery. Where are sister Maria and Tatyana. General Orlov's mother wrote: You know, Ivan was killed in the war, and the bride killed herself out of despair, they are lying with their father. Alexey is in the South, I don’t know where. Hello to my dear lancers and Father John, I always pray for them all.
After the anniversary, in my opinion, the Lord will have mercy on the Motherland. I could write for hours, but I can’t. My joy, always burn the letters, in our troubled times it is better, I also have nothing left of the past, dear. We all kiss you tenderly and bless you. The Lord is great and will not leave His all-encompassing love... stay awake... I will especially remember on the Holiday, pray and hope that we will see each other when, where and how, only He knows, and we will surrender everything to Him, who knows everything better than us.
In the hospital with the wounded on the fronts of the Great (First World) War. On the left are Russia's first female surgeon, Princess Vera Gedroits (in a hat) and her nurses (in white headscarves) - Grand Duchess Tatiana, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Anna VYRUBOVA. Sitting is Grand Duchess Olga.
 Anna VYRUBOVA
, née Taneyeva (1884 - 1964) was the daughter of the Secretary of State and Chief Administrator of the Office of the Russian Emperor and the great-great-great-granddaughter of Field Marshal Kutuzov. Maid of honor and closest friend of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. She was considered one of the ardent admirers of Grigory Rasputin. For which, under the “democrats” of the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks, she was slandered many times.From the beginning of the Great (First World) War, she worked as a nurse in a hospital together with the Empress and her daughters. In 1915, after a train accident, she remained crippled for life, moving on crutches or in a wheelchair. Using monetary compensation for the injury, she organized a military hospital in Tsarskoye Selo. After the February Revolution of 1917, she was arrested by the “democrats” on suspicion of espionage and treason and was kept in the Peter and Paul Fortress. She was released due to lack of evidence with the help of Trotsky. A medical examination established that she was a virgin and could not have been the mistress of Grigory Rasputin. In his memoirs ("Pages of my life ", first edition, Paris, 1922) described the approaching catastrophe and death of the Russian Empire as follows: “It is difficult and disgusting to talk about Petrograd society, which, despite the war, had fun and reveled all day long. Restaurants and theaters flourished... |
In addition to revelry, the society entertained itself with a new and very interesting activity - spreading all kinds of gossip about Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.”
“In practice, high society princes and other representatives of high society led a frivolous lifestyle, did not pay attention to the people, who were at a low standard of living, and did not pay attention to their culture and education. Bolshevism arose through their fault. ... The death of Russia did not occur with the help of an outside force. We must also recognize the fact that the Russians themselves, those from the privileged classes, are to blame for its death.”
***
In January 1921, her relatives miraculously managed to transport her, a wheelchair user, across the ice of the bay to Finland. In 1923, in the Smolensk monastery of the Valaam Monastery, she was secretly tonsured a nun with the name Maria. Even in St. Petersburg, she made a vow that if she and her mother managed to escape to Finland, then she would devote the rest of her life to God. Hieroschemamonk Ephraim (Khrobostov) becomes her spiritual father.
In the fall of 1939, the Winter War began. Anna Vyrubova leaves Finland (Vyborg) for Sweden and lives near Stockholm in a small shelter with full support. Expenses were paid by the Swedish Court. Queen Louise of Sweden was the daughter of the sister of the Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Anna was familiar and friendly with Queen Louise.
At the request of Anna Vyrubova, Marshal Mannerheim, with whom she was personally acquainted, gave her the following recommendation in 1940: “For over thirty years I have known Mrs. Anna Taneyeva, her respected parents and many members of their family, and I ask this to all those “whoever finds himself in communication with Mrs. Taneyeva - who suffered a lot, and also became disabled after a train accident - treats her sympathetically and with understanding.” Anna Vyrubova was given a modest apartment in Helsinki.
Maid of honor of the last Russian Empressburied at the Ilyinsky Russian Cemetery in Helsinki. A modest but well-kept grave testifies that the memory of her and her martyrdom lives in the hearts of people.