Elena Mikhailovna Zavadovskaya is the daughter of the Polish nobleman Mikhail Fedorovich Vlodek (1780-1849) and Countess Alexandra Dmitrievna Tolstoy (1788-1847). Mikhail Fedorovich served as a cavalryman, participated in the War of the Third Coalition and the Russian-Turkish War, in which he was wounded.
Elena was born on December 2, 1807. Already at an early age she was distinguished by unusual beauty. At the age of seventeen she married Count Zavadovsky. Regarding the wedding, Vyazemsky wrote: “One of the northern flowers, and the most beautiful, was plucked yesterday by Zavadovsky.”
Unhappy marriage
Her husband, Count Vasily Petrovich, the youngest son of Peter Vasilyevich Zavadovsky and Vera Nikolaevna Apraksina, was very attractive and had a huge fortune. He rose high through the ranks and became an official of the State Ministry of the Interior. Often carried out special assignments for the authorities.
According to some reports, he had over 3 thousand subordinate peasants, and after his brother died, leaving him a large inheritance of half a million rubles, he became one of the richest and most respected people in St. Petersburg. Despite this,for quite a long time Elena ignored Vasily Petrovich, but nevertheless married him.
Their marriage was not very happy. They lived together without love and tried not to interfere with each other. Elena and Vasily were too different people. She loved social life, entertainment, balls and travel. The husband of Elena Zavadovskaya preferred to rest in solitude, was fond of reading, had a huge library. He enjoyed spending time in nature, while his wife did not like to go even to the surrounding parks. She did not agree to change her comfortable and luxurious life in a richly furnished apartment for a forest thicket full of flies, mosquitoes and frogs.
The only thing that kept them close was their son, Pyotr Vasilyevich Zavadovsky. He was born in 1828 and was named after his grandfather. Peter did not live long and died at the age of 14 from an illness. The boy from birth was not distinguished by good he alth. He often caught a cold, constantly complained of feeling unwell. The mother never fully recovered from the loss of her only son.
Recognized beauty
Elena Mikhailovna Zavadovskaya had a very bright appearance. Many people with different ranks offered her a hand and a heart, meeting with her at balls, but she was indifferent to everyone. Contemporaries claimed that it was impossible to convey the beauty of her face, the lightness of her gait, the graceful posture. Dolly Ficquelmont said that Elena Mikhailovna amazed everyone who saw her with her cold and regal charm.
Zavadovskaya receivedreputation as a beauty for a reason: she had an impeccable figure and tall stature, magnificent facial features. Many contemporaries described Elena as a smart and well-read beauty. She did not forget to devote time to education, she loved to learn new things.
Muse for a poet
In the late 1830s, she met Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and subsequently met with him quite often. The great poet wrote the poem "Beauty", in the image of the main character of which was Zavadovskaya. According to some versions, the prototype of Nina Voronskaya in the novel "Eugene Onegin" was Elena Mikhailovna Zavadovskaya.
The Russian beauty inspired the poet to create several more poems, which eventually became famous. Pushkin and Zavadovskaya Elena Mikhailovna treated each other with great respect and love.
Black stripe
After the wedding, Elena and her husband Vasily were considered one of the most beautiful, smart, rich and cultured couples in St. Petersburg. But suddenly bad days came. Vasily Petrovich began to drink, and the financial situation of the family deteriorated rather quickly. After some time, the count came to his senses, and together with Elena they went abroad. According to many, Elena was the most attractive woman at the Paris balls as well.
They returned to St. Petersburg with a large number of foreign things that surprised everyone in their rich home.
Death
Their huge apartment, sometimes even called the palace, was located on Nevsky Prospekt, 48. Housewas luxurious both outside and inside. His maintenance was not cheap, and the we alth began to dwindle again.
The only son Peter soon died, and his inheritance from one of his relatives was divided between Peter's parents and his father's brother.
At that time, the mental and financial condition of the family was terrible, they had to sell the estate. In 1855, Vasily Petrovich Zavadovsky died, and Elena became a widow. Even after all these bitter events and after so much time, according to the stories of Count Mikhail Buturlin, she looked no worse than thirty years ago.
Zavadovskaya died on March 22, 1874. They buried their entire family (Elena Mikhailovna, Vasily Petrovich and Pyotr Vasilyevich) in the Fedorovskaya tomb of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Contemporaries on Zavadovskaya
During her lifetime, Elena attracted the attention of many famous Russian poets. A poem about her was written by the blind poet Kozlov Ivan Ivanovich. Vyazemsky Pyotr Andreevich composed a whole romance, which was called "Countess E. M. Zavadovskaya".
Many famous people spoke about the beauty of Elena Mikhailovna. Count Mikhail Yuryevich Vielgorsky described Elena as a beautiful woman. He assured that not a single person could calmly contemplate such beauty.
Count Vladimir Alexandrovich Sollogub said that it was impossible to convey in words the elusive charm of her face, attractiveness and grace with which she could charm anyone, and these were the main qualities in her.
Russian commander Alexei Petrovich Yermolov claimed that the CountessZavadovskaya is undoubtedly very beautiful, although she does not surpass Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, the wife of A. S. Pushkin, in charm.
Beauty Captured for Ages
The artists also did not ignore the beautiful countess. Portraits of Zavadovskaya Elena Mikhailovna adorned the walls of the hall for ceremonial receptions. The guests admired the magnificent paintings with pleasure.
Artist Marya Fedorovna Kamenskaya noted that Zavadovskaya not only danced best at balls, but also attracted the attention of all the surrounding gentlemen.
Andrey Nikolaevich Karamzin said that abroad, especially in Paris, men often told her that she was the most luxurious lady they had ever seen.
Countess Dolly Ficquelmont said that Zavadovskaya fully justified her reputation as a femme fatale. In her opinion, Elena was an absolute and unique ideal, since it was extremely rare to find a woman with such graceful and delicate features as hers.
The biography of Elena Zavadovskaya is very tragic. She was beautiful and smart, her huge fortune could only be envied. She was distinguished by high moral and moral qualities, but fate was unfair to her. Elena had to endure many troubles. Nevertheless, she lived her life with dignity.
