The time of the Pugachev rebellion was darkened for Catherine II by another extremely unpleasant event. December 1773 - a person appeared in Germany who pretended to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and her secret husband Alexei Razumovsky. The impostor called herself the daughter of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and insisted that she had all the rights to the Russian throne.
As soon as Pugachev appeared in Russia, she assured her that he was her half-brother, who would help her in everything. The whole story of Princess Tarakanova is shrouded in such secrets, has given birth to so many fables and sewn with such white threads that there is no way to tell about her clearly. One thing is certain, after the first partition of Poland, Prince Karl Radziwill, the head of the Polish Confederates, seized on the idea of imposture and promised Tarakanova the support of both Poles and Turks. The heart of the princess longed for a storm, and she got it.
A. G. Brickner wrote: “The impostor, according to the testimony of all those who saw her, had a rather attractive appearance, was distinguished by a quick mind, was not devoid of some education, spoke German and French very fluently, and a little English and Italian. According to her, in 1775 she was 23 years old, but apparently she was older. Either she called herself Sultana Selina or Ali-Emete, now Princess of Vladimir, now Madame Frank, Schelle, Tremoul, etc. She appeared in Venice under the name of Countess Pinneberg. The English envoy in St. Petersburg claimed that she was the daughter of an innkeeper in Prague, the English ambassador in Livorno considered her the daughter of a Nuremberg baker.
She possessed unusual energy, constantly lived in debt, her irrepressible nature craved fame. Moving like mercury, she wandered around Europe with a retinue of fans, looking for influential people and means to help "her brother", assuring everyone that Pugachev, in turn, would help her. Indeed, not a single century, except the 18th, has given birth to so many brilliant, inventive and absolutely incredible adventurers.
Princess Tarakanova had three documents in her hands, which confirmed her rights to the Russian throne. All three documents were forged: the testament of Peter 1, “testoment” - the testament of Catherine 1 on the succession to the throne and the spiritual testament of Elizabeth. 1774 - after long and difficult wanderings, she appeared in Italy, in Venice, and then in Ragusa. She was surrounded by noble Poles. Here the legend arose that she was the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and Razumovsky, however, instead of Alexei (Elizabeth's unmarried husband), she got confused and called Cyril, his brother. However, she didn't care.
Rumors about the appearance of an impostor reached Catherine from Europe. She said with equanimity: “There is no need to pay attention to this vagrant,” but this matter could not be ignored. Alexei Orlov, meanwhile, was in Livorno and lived very broadly. His duties included solving all diplomatic and political affairs, money flowed from Russia like a river. Proud of his recent victory, he commissioned an Italian artist to paint a picture of the Battle of Chesme. At that time no one thought about abstractionism, and the real battle in the picture required a real reproduction of the action at sea. To please the artist, they fired cannons, broke the masts and chopped the rigging, and then, so that the artist understood, in the end, how everything really was, Orlov ordered to blow up a still usable ship and burn everything that was left of it. The artist understood what's what,the picture turned out to be excellent.
Orlov was informed about the strange "vagrant". And then suddenly, in August 1774, he received a message from the very impostor about whom the empress wrote to him. The message was accompanied by a manifesto, that is, a spiritual testament signed by Elizaveta Petrovna. You can explain what this woman was counting on. A month ago, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy peace was concluded with the Turks, this is so, but the war with Pugachev was still going on, and its outcome was not clear. In addition, a rumor about Grigory Orlov's disgrace reached Italy, so this could be followed by disgrace for the entire family of the former favorite. It was hoped that Alexei Orlov would agree to betray Catherine, and with the Russian fleet he could be very useful.
However, this did not even occur to Orlov. He immediately reported to Petersburg about the appearance of the impostor. 1774, September - he wrote to Catherine: “Whether there is such a thing in the world or not (the daughter of Elizabeth), I do not know; and if there is and wants something that does not belong to himself, then I would thrust a stone around her neck and into the water. I am attaching this letter, from which you will clearly see the desire …”. And then … all the same, tough, businesslike, Orlov sets out his plan: he has already sent a faithful person to the impostor - to talk and find a way to bring her to Livorno, and then lure her to the ship and take her to Russia.
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The letter from the "tramp" infuriated the empress. She immediately replied to Orlov - do not hesitate, in any way to lure out of Ragusa "this creature, so boldly riveted the name and nature", and in case of failure, "then you can throw a few bombs into the city."
No bombs were needed. Orlov decided to act in his own way. The operation to deliver the impostor has begun. He made acquaintance with Princess Tarakanova, offered her the help of the Russian squadron, rented a luxurious house for her in Pisa, paid all her debts, surrounded her with honor and began to play love. This is where the main question arises - was it a game or did Count Orlov really fall in love?
How much has been written on this topic, how many meters of film have been spent! Each author answers this question in his own way, but Princess Tarakanova herself believed Orlov recklessly. He was a handsome man (the scar on his cheek did not interfere), almost 2 meters tall, the winner at sea and the head of the Russian squadron - a hero and a knight in one person.
Then everything was simple. As planned, the princess was lured to the ship, there she and Orlov were betrothed or married - not the point, because the ceremony was performed by a sailor dressed in a priest's dress. After that, the princess was arrested. She was indignant, called "her husband", but she was told that Count Orlov was also arrested. What for? Maybe it was an act of mercy, the betrayal of fate is sometimes easier to endure than the betrayal of a lover.
The squadron under the command of Admiral Greig headed for Kronstadt, meanwhile Orlov went ashore. He preferred to get to his homeland by land. 1775, May 11 - the Russian squadron arrived in Kronstadt, and on May 25 Princess Tarakanova and her companions - two Poles, Domansky and Charnomsky - were imprisoned in the Alekseevsky Ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress. They began to conduct interrogations, they were conducted in French. The investigation was led by Prince Golitsyn, a gentle and gentle man, but his princess also managed to infuriate herself.
Bas-relief: Princess Tarakanova (Unknown sculptor of the 18th century)
The court, meanwhile, was in Moscow, he arrived there immediately after the execution of Pugachev, which took place on January 10, 1775. It seems that the empress was no longer in danger, and she could be merciful, but it was not. Catherine followed the course of the investigation with great attention, couriers with dispatches dangled between the two capitals like pendulums. Princess Tarakanova had to clearly answer two main questions: who she was and who could have made her think of an intrigue with an encroachment on the Russian throne.
“There is a likelihood,” wrote Catherine, “that no one would stand up for such an extravagant vagrant, of course, would they, but everyone would be ashamed secretly and clearly show that they had the slightest relation.
The investigation lasted 7 months, but the princess did not answer any of these questions. Tarakanova was not silent, she did not close her mouth, inventing, like Scheherazade, more and more new stories: she remembered her childhood in Persia … or in Siberia, or in Kiel - she was confused, talking about her romance with the Polish envoy in Paris Oginsky, or about the prince of Limburgsky, who "loved her passionately and promised to marry her." She sincerely assured that she had never called herself the daughter of Empress Elizabeth, all this was the intrigues of her enemies, and that important papers were found with her, only copies that were thrown at her by ill-wishers. No, she did not claim the throne, in Persia she has countless riches … At the same time, she signed all the questionnaires with the name Elizabeth, which indescribably irritated the empress.
Golitsyn was in despair:
- If you lived in Persia, then you know the Persian language. Please write something on it.
The princess readily wrote incomprehensible letters on a sheet of paper. Golitsyn called on scholars from the Academy of Sciences, they said that these signs had nothing to do with the Persian language and, in general, with any language.
- What does all this mean? Golitsyn asked the impostor.
“It means that you have ignorant people in your Academy,” the princess replied calmly.
Princess Tarakanova asked for one thing - a personal meeting with Catherine and even wrote letters to the Empress. She will explain everything to the empress herself, she can be useful to Russia! The empress's reply to Golitsyn: "The insolence of her letter to me surpasses, it seems, any hope, and I begin to think that she is not in full mind."
In prison, the princess gave birth to a child from Alexei Orlov. The child died. It is known that the impostor had a whole staff of servants in prison, the room in which she was kept had several rooms, and she received medical assistance. But the disease made itself felt. Consumption appeared at Princess Tarakanova's back in Venice, in the fortress she was already coughing up blood.
The Empress never honored the arrested woman with a meeting. Brickner writes: “In the fall of 1775 the impostor began to gradually weaken; painful seizures returned more often. The patient asked Golitsyn to send a priest to her. Golitsyn called the archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral, who spoke German. And in this last conversation with the priest, the adventurer did not say anything that could give at least some idea about her origin, about her accomplices, etc. On December 4, she died. The next day, the soldiers who stood with her all the time on the clock, deeply buried her body in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress."
Together with Tarakanova in Italy, her companions, the Poles Chernomsky and Domansky, her "court staff", were captured on the ship. They were also kept in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Domansky was in love with the impostor and dreamed of marrying her, in spite of the fact that they had to live their whole lives in prison. It didn't come to a wedding. After Tarakanova's death, Poles and servants were allowed to return to Europe, they even gave money for travel, but with a firm condition - never to come to Russia. Otherwise, they faced immediate arrest, and possibly the death penalty.
Princess Tarakanova died, and historians are still wondering - who was she? There are many versions here. The fate of the princess is connected with the mysterious story of Eldress Dosithea, who died in 1810 in the Moscow Ivanovsky monastery and was buried in the Novospassky monastery - the ancestral burial vault of the Romanovs. There is information that Dosifei, then still Augusta Alekseevna Tarakanova, was brought from abroad in 1785 and placed in a monastic monastery. They said that Augusta Tarakanova - the daughter of Elizabeth and Alexei Razumovsky, was brought up by her father's relatives - Daraganov, hence the surname Tarakanova.
There is information that Aleksey Orlov was burdened by the fact that he became the reason for the arrest, fortress and death of this woman. It can be understood. The public, as they would say now, also condemned him for this act. In this case, I call his colleagues "the public". In the collection of biographies of cavalry guards about Alexei Orlov, in addition to magnificent laudatory phrases, it is written that he sinned in eliminating Peter III, glorified himself with Chesmoy and disgraced himself with Tarakanova.
You can understand the compiler of Orlov's biography, I feel sorry for this adventurer, this fool who our historical literature called Princess Tarakanova. By the way, she never called herself that. This is what later researchers called it.
1775, December - Orlov-Chesmensky arrived in Russia and resigned from all posts due to illness. Decree of the Military Collegium of December 11, 1775: “In the personal decree, signed by her Imperial Majesty's own hand, the highest decree given to the Military Collegium this December 2 days, it is depicted: General Count Alexei Orlov-Chesmensky, exhausted in strength and health, us about his dismissal from service. We, having shown him our royal favor for such important works and deeds of him in the last war, with which he pleased us and glorified the fatherland, leading the forces of the sea, the most merciful condescend to this desire and request, dismissing him forever from any service, oh what you, Mr. General-in-Chief and Chevalier, have to be known. Next is the signature.
N. Sorotokina
