The beginning of the life of a beauty who conquered all famous people not only with her appearance, but also with a sharp mind like a blade, did not portend a bitter death with clouding of consciousness in senile dementia. Smirnova Alexandra was from a young age prone to bouts of melancholy, followed by gaps, during which she was both seductive and brilliant.
Childhood
Alexandra Smirnova, Osipovna by patronymic, was born in Odessa in 1809, in the family of Osip Ivanovich Rosset, a Frenchman from a noble family by origin. In the veins of the mother, German and Georgian blood was mixed. Alexandra was the eldest child, and four more brothers were born later. The family existed on the salary of his father, the commandant of the Odessa port. But when his daughter was five years old, he died during a plague epidemic. The mother, having remarried, gave the children to be raised by her grandmother. Alexandra Rosset's childhood passed on an estate in Little Russia. These were bright years that colored her adult life with wonderful memories and later brought her closer to N. V. Gogol in their common love for Ukraine. And she herself later considered herself a Ukrainian. When the children grew up, the boys were sent to receive education in the Corps of Pages, and Sashenka was sent to the Catherine Institute inPetersburg.
maid of honor
In 1826, after graduating from the institute, the noble dowry Alexandra Smirnova (then still Rosset) was assigned as a lady-in-waiting at court, first with the Empress Mother, and then, in 1828, with Alexandra Feodorovna, the august wife of Emperor Nicholas I.
The palace premises were in sharp contrast to the life of the ladies-in-waiting. They lived in the attics of the Winter Palace, where 80 steps led. Each of them was supposed to have a room divided by a gray wooden partition into two parts. The room served as both a bedroom and a living room. The maids lived in a smaller room, but nearby. On the day of duty, the maid of honor was dressed appropriately for her position and waited to be summoned. It was necessary to always be ready. In general, this was a high-ranking servant who was not always paid regularly. On off-duty days, each lady-in-waiting tried to run away from the Winter Palace in order to find herself in a friendly or family atmosphere.
That's how Alexandra, the lady-in-waiting of the young Empress, lived in Smirnov's palace. But her mind was appreciated by the crowned ruler of Russia, with whom she did not hesitate to communicate.
Extraordinary girl
With her beauty, courageous mind, ability to juggle thoughts with the slight grace of a magician, Alexander Smirnova attracted a lot of admirers. There is no photo of her, naturally, and the paintings, which depict portraits of a woman, show her young, striking beauty.
Her modest maid of honor room on the fourth floor has become a literary salon. She was also a member of the famous salon of E. A. Karamzina and was friends with her stepdaughter, Sofya Nikolaevna. All the celebrities of the 20-30s swirled around her: A. S. Pushkin, V. F. Odoevsky, P. A. Vyazemsky, V. A. Zhukovsky, M. Yu. Lermontov. "Black-eyed Rosseti" was written in the album by A. S. Pushkin, with whom she was friends and could analyze his new work. P. A. Vyazemsky was fascinated by the “southern eyes” of the northern maiden, tender and passionate. For her daring mind, he nicknamed her both Donna S alt and Donna Pepper.
Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky called her "Heavenly Devil". To the words of Vasily Tumansky (diplomat, secretary of state) “I loved blue eyes, now I love black ones …”, carried away by Rosset, a romance was written, performed to this day. Pushkin, already married to Natalya Goncharova, often hosted Alexandrin, who was only three years older than Natalya Nikolaevna, in a family way. He went down to the talking ladies and could read them new poems. Alexandra was still close to Sovereign Smirnov. So, through her, the tsar gave Pushkin an envelope with his notes on the manuscript of "Eugene Onegin".
Marriage
A. S. Pushkin was very happy when he learned about her engagement to Nikolai Mikhailovich Smirnov, whom he met in 1828. He made an excellent impression on the poet - an educated Russian man and at the same time a foreigner who even sat in the saddle in English.
He was a calm man, somewhat jealous, it is true, but also we althy and with a career going uphill. The wedding took place in the Winter Palace. It was attended by members of the imperial family. Alexandra Osipovna married by calculation. Her mother gave all her fortune to the children from her second marriage. Alexandra Osipovna was going to help her brothers, who were left without funds, except for official earnings.
Due to the difference in characters and the calculation of Smirnov, Alexandra could not make her marriage happy. She herself had an unstable character, prone to depression. And the husband, in turn, could not boast that he fully understood such an ambiguous woman. In addition, Herzen and Ogarev repeatedly criticized his bureaucratic inclinations, as well as the fact that he patronized thieving officials. But, one way or another, he gradually moved up the career ladder. The young settled in St. Petersburg. The pinnacle of Nikolai Pavlovich Smirnov's career was the post of governor of St. Petersburg, as well as the fact that he became a senator of the Russian Empire. But while they were young, A. S. Pushkin visited their house and was the first to read the history of the Pugachev rebellion to them. The actor Mikhail Shchepkin, the young but well-known critic Vissarion Belinsky, the poet and writer Alexei Tolstoy visited their salon.
Later M. Yu. Lermontov will come into this house, who will write unforgettable lines in the album, where feelings that the poet could notexpress in the presence of Alexandra. Her image was not forgotten by the poet, and he introduced it into the begun story "Lugin". There, Alexandra Smirnova will perform under the name of Minskaya, who appreciates both her beauty and her original look at things.
Smirnova Alexandra: children
The first child was stillborn at the end of 1832. Two years later, twin daughters are born - Alexandra (1834-1837) and Olga (1834-1893). There were rumors that these were the children of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich. But A. S. Pushkin did not pay attention to them. Then daughters Sofia (1836–1884), Nadezhda (1840–1899) will be born, and the last son Mikhail (1847–1892) will be born.
Relations with N. V. Gogol
They were introduced by A. S. Pushkin. Almost all the time, Rosset will correspond with Nikolai Vasilyevich, he will live with them in the Begichevo estate near Kaluga and in Spassky near Moscow, working on the second volume of Dead Souls. Repeatedly Alexandra Smirnova will meet him while living abroad in Rome. Moreover, in 1845 she would get an annual pension from the emperor for the writer, the amount of which would be 1000 rubles. Gogol valued her as a pearl among women.
Tender friendship
Sharp-tongued, caustic and mocking, Smirnova Alexandra, in Pushkin's words, who knew how to write white "jokes of the blackest anger", in 1844 was carried away by Nikolai Dmitrievich Kiselev, a diplomat by profession and a Don Juan by vocation.
Anna Olenina, who knew Alexandra Smirnova well, believed that on her part it was a strong and tender platonic feeling, veryunexpected for such an ironic person.
Old age
Unfortunately, Rosset's brilliant heredity was unfavorable. In her younger years, she was prone to depression, to "black melancholy." In 1846, this became very apparent, and she leans towards religious ritualism. Not in faith, but in the outward performance of rites, she found a certain calmness. She loses weight at this time, loses sleep. These intervals between light and dark periods accompany her all the years of her life. But by 1879, in Paris, the children were already petitioning for the establishment of guardianship over her and believe that the deterioration of her condition began three years ago, back in Moscow. Modern psychiatrists, analyzing her condition, talk about the manifestation of vascular senile dementia. Her closest relatives were no exception, almost all affected by psychiatric diseases - daughters Olga, Sophia, son Mikhail. Her three brothers also suffered from mental disorders.
In 1883 in Paris, having outlived her husband by 13 years and almost all of her friends, Alexandra Smirnova died. Biography, life and death were unusual, as was this personality itself, which worried many people along its path.
