Alexandra Zhukovskaya


Alexandra Vasilievna Zhukovskaya, Baroness of Seggiano, was a Russian noblewoman and lady in waiting.

Biography

She was the daughter of Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky and his Baltic-German wife, Elizabeth von Reutern. Her father was the illegitimate son of a landowner named Afanasi Bunin and his Turkish housekeeper Salkha.
She was made lady-in-waiting of the empress, Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), at the Russian Imperial court.
At the age of twenty, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, the 4th son of Alexander II, according to the generally accepted opinion, secretly married Zhukovskaya, but the marriage was not approved by the emperor and dissolved by the Synod, since Alexandra was no match for him. According to other sources, the relationship between Alexandra Vasilyevna and the Grand Duke remained only an extramarital affair. At the time of the beginning of the novel, he was 19, and she was 27 years old.
In the memoirs of E.P. Letkova-Sultanova, the story, about which "all Petersburg" spoke at one time, was recorded from the words of Pavel Zhukovsky and contains an interesting detail: upon learning that his sister was pregnant, he came to the Grand Duke, demanded a duel, and when Alexander II forbade his son to accept the challenge, Zhukovsky openly protested against the emperor's decision. The Grand Duke wanted to marry, but Alexander II did not allow him and sent him on a voyage around the world for two years; Zhukovskaya was exiled abroad, followed by her brother. The State Archives of the Russian Federation has preserved a diary-collection of letters from the Grand Duke, which he kept in separation.
On 20 August 1871, Alexei Alexandrovich was sent on a round-the-world voyage, and on 26 November of the same year, Alexandra gave birth to a son in Salzburg from the Grand Duke, named after her father Alexei. The Grand Duke was at sea for 2 years, during which time Zhukovskaya was subjected to strong pressure from the imperial family and relations were interrupted on her initiative.
Alexandra and Alexei had one child, a son, Count Alexei Alexandrovich Belevsky-Zhukovsky, He received the title Count Belevsky on 21 March 1884 from his uncle, Emperor Alexander III. In 1901 he added his name of his grandfather on his mother's side.
The Grand Duke tried to get a title for her and her son. However, the Emperor, his father refused. He was however able to secure her a title by the Republic of San Marino. She was made on 24 March 1875 Baroness of Seggiano.
The same year, on 14 December 1875 she married Baron Christian Heinrich von Wöhrmann in Munich.
This marriage seem to prove that she did not marry the Grand Duke before. No proof of a divorce exists.

Descendants

  1. Count Alexei Alexandrovich Belevsky-Zhukovsky, married Princess Maria Petrovna Troubetskaya at Illinskoye manor, had issue. Married secondly Baroness Natalia von Schoeppingk, no issue.
  2. # Elizabeth Married first Peter Glinka-Perevozchikov, had issue. Married second Arthur Lurie, no issue.
  3. ## Maria Perevozchikova married Lucien Tessier.
  4. ### Alexi Tessier.
  5. ### Marie Beatrice Tessier.
  6. ## Dmitri Perevozchikov married Maria Ursova
  7. # Alexandra Married first Heinrich Lepp, no issue. Married second Georgy Flevitsky, no issue.
  8. # Maria. Married first Vladimir Sergeyevich Sverbeev, had issue. Married second to Vladmir Alexandrovich Yanushevsky, no issue.
  9. ## Elizabeth Sverbeeva. Married first Alexander Tsarsaide, no issue. Married second Charles Byron-Patrikades, no issue.
  10. # Count Sergei Alekseevich Belevsky-Zhukovsky, had issue.
  11. ## Elena Sergeevna, lives in France. Married first Nikolai Mozhaisky, had issue. Married second Count Kirill Mikhailovich Nieroth/Nirot, had issue.
  12. ### Alexi Mozhaisky-Nirot married Pamela Waldbauer had issue.
  13. #### Katherine Nirot.
  14. #### Christopher Nirot.
  15. ### Count Peter Nirot.
  16. ### Countess Elizabeth Nirot.