“Memoirs of Catherine ‘the Great’ II of Russia” As Written in Her Own Hand – Ch. 3
Commonplace Book – Pages: 143-144
“Memoirs of Catherine the Great” – Chapter 3: Invitation au Voyage (1744)
- Jan 1, 1744: Her mother is invited by the Marshal of the Duke of Holstein’s Court, Brummer, on behalf of the Empress Elizabeth to come to Russia.
- At Court, the Count Bestujev wanted the Grand Duke to marry a Princess of Saxony, daughter of August III, King of Poland. Count Brummer, Count Lestocq, Marshall Rumiantsev, and several others, wanted the Grand Duke to marry one of the daughters of the King of France.
- They then go to Court, and Catherine spends much time, a surprise to everyone, talking to His Majesty at dinner.
- In Mitau, she and her mother meet M. Voejkou, a colonel commanding the Russian troops in Kurland. In Riga, they meet M. Naryshkine, Marshal Lascy and General Saltikov and his wife, Princess Anne of Mecklenburg. Then they go from Dorpat to Narva to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
- Vice Chancellor, Count Bestujev: “more feared than loved”; great intriguer; suspicious; firm; “intrepid in principles”; “occasionally tyrannical”; “an implacable enemy”; petty; loyal to his friends; Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs
- At Court, the Marquis de la Chetardie stood for France, Sweden and Prussia.
- Count Lestocq: “one of the principle actors in the revolution that brought Empress Elizabeth”; crafty; full of malice; “his heart is dark and evil”
- 7-8pm, Feb 9, 1744: They arrive at Annenhof Palace (burnt down in 1753, rebuilt in 6 weeks, burnt down again in 1771 during a plague.) She meets the Prince of Hesse-Homburg (A.D.C., Field-Marshal, Chief of Court)
- Empress Elizabeth: beautiful; majestic; large; stout; smooth and “not embarrassed” in her movements
- February 10: The Grand Duke’s birthday
- Count Rasumouski: Master of the Hunt; “handsome”; Elizabeth’s lover; nicknamed the “Night Emperor”
-Grand Duke: Lutheran; childish; was in love with one of the Empress’ ladies-in-waiting, Mme Lopukhin (she had been involved in a plot to dispose Elizabeth, therefore had her tongue cut out and banished to Siberia); imprudent
-13th day after arrival in Moscow: Catherine catches pleurisy. She shivers violently and goes unconscious with a high fever. Her mother refuses the doctors to bleed her. The Empress finally orders the bleeding. For 27 days she goes in and out and meanwhile is bled 16 times. The “abscess that had formed in my right side” had burst.
-April 21, 1744: Catherine’s birthday. Finally strong enough to appear in public.
