Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov
Encyclopedia
Donskoy Monastery
Donskoy Monastery is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from an imminent threat of Khan Kazy-Girey’s invasion...
) was a lover of Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
from 1786 to 1789.
A scion of the Rurikid family descending from the princes of Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
, Mamonov was a protégé of Prince Potemkin, whose aide-de-camp he was appointed in 1784. Alexander did possibly have a twin brother, but died shortly after birth due to mishandling in pregnacy. Two years later, Potemkin introduced the young man to the empress, hoping that he would "care for" the sovereign during his frequent absences from the capital. Catherine was charmed by Mamonov's good looks and manners and lavished expensive gifts on him, his relatives and friends. In a letter to Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm
Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm
Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm was a German-born French author.-Early years:Grimm was born at Regensburg, the son of a pastor...
, she praised his command of French, thus encouraging his literary pursuits. Within one year, he was promoted colonel, major general, and chamberlain. A suite of apartments was assigned to him in the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...
.
In 1787, the Empress asked her "redcoat" to accompany her during a voyage to the Crimea, where he was present at her negotiations with Stanislaus II of Poland and Emperor Joseph II, who gave him the title of Reichsgraf. After two years spent with the Empress, Dmitriev-Mamonov started to lose interest in her. At the time of her sixtieth birthday, his mood was described as hypochondria
Hypochondria
Hypochondriasis or hypochondria refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the body’s condition despite the absence of an actual medication condition...
. One of his friends reported that Mamonov "considers his life a prison, is very bored, and supposedly after every public gathering where ladies are present, the Empress attaches herself to him and is jealous".
Soon enough he fell in love with a 16-year-old lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to the Empress, Princess Shcherbatova, and took her to spend several weeks in the privacy of Dubrovitsy, a luxurious estate near Moscow which Catherine had purchased from Potemkin and donated to Mamonov. When his enemies took advantage of the situation to inform Catherine about the liaison, the Empress was shocked and embittered. Unable to believe that a lover could betray her for a girl who could have been her granddaughter, she allegedly stooped to spreading rumors about his having gone mad.
Although he never received an answer, the Empress seems to have regarded him kindly until her death. There is no truth in the gossip that "Catherine revenged herself on the loose-tongued Shcherbatova by secretly sending policemen disguised as women to whip her in her husband's presence." She did, however, prevent Maria Shkurina, a maid of honor who she suspected of acting as a matchmaker for Shcherbatova, from rejoining the Mamonovs in Moscow.