Countess, later
HSHHSH may refer to:* HSH Associates, Financial Publishers http://www.hsh.com* Her Space Holiday, American indie rock group* His Serene Highness or Her Serene Highness, two manners of address* HSH , Albania's national rail system...
Princess
Dorothea von Lieven , née
Benckendorff (17 December 1785 - 27 January 1857), a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n noblewoman and wife of Prince Khristofor Andreyevich Lieven, Russian ambassador to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, 1812 to 1834, was a political force in her own right.
Dorothea was born into Russia’s distinctive
Baltic nobilityThe Baltic nobility in Latvia and Estonia has existed continuously since the medieval days of the Teutonic Knight state. Most of the nobles were Baltic Germans, but Poles and Swedes joined as well, and Russians later under the Russian empire....
at
RigaThe Governorate of Livonia or Livland, also known as the Government of Livonia or Province of Livonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Estonia....
, now
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Her father, General Christopher von Benckendorff, served as military governor of Russia’s Baltic provinces; her mother, Anna Juliane née Schilling von Cannstatt, held a high position at the Romanov Court as senior lady-in-waiting and best friend of Empress
Maria FyodorovnaMaria Feodorovna was the second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia and mother of Tsar Alexander I and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.- Princess of Württemberg :...
.
Educated at St.
Countess, later
HSHHSH may refer to:* HSH Associates, Financial Publishers http://www.hsh.com* Her Space Holiday, American indie rock group* His Serene Highness or Her Serene Highness, two manners of address* HSH , Albania's national rail system...
Princess
Dorothea von Lieven , née
Benckendorff (17 December 1785 - 27 January 1857), a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n noblewoman and wife of Prince Khristofor Andreyevich Lieven, Russian ambassador to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, 1812 to 1834, was a political force in her own right.
Life
Dorothea was born into Russia’s distinctive
Baltic nobilityThe Baltic nobility in Latvia and Estonia has existed continuously since the medieval days of the Teutonic Knight state. Most of the nobles were Baltic Germans, but Poles and Swedes joined as well, and Russians later under the Russian empire....
at
RigaThe Governorate of Livonia or Livland, also known as the Government of Livonia or Province of Livonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Estonia....
, now
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Her father, General Christopher von Benckendorff, served as military governor of Russia’s Baltic provinces; her mother, Anna Juliane née Schilling von Cannstatt, held a high position at the Romanov Court as senior lady-in-waiting and best friend of Empress
Maria FyodorovnaMaria Feodorovna was the second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia and mother of Tsar Alexander I and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.- Princess of Württemberg :...
.
Educated at St. Petersburg’s exclusive Smolny Convent Institute, Dorothea was assigned as a maid of honour to Maria Fyodorovna. In 1800, at age fourteen, some months after finishing her studies, Dorothea married General Count (later Prince) Christopher Lieven. In 1810 he was appointed minister to Berlin. When Tsar Alexander I appointed Count Lieven ambassador to Great Britain in 1812, Dorothea used her intelligence, charisma, and social skills to make herself a leader of London’s politically-infused society, thereby contributing materially to the success of her husband’s embassy.
In London, Princess Lieven cultivated friendships with the foremost statesmen of her day. As well, she and Austrian Chancellor
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von MetternichKlemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich was a German-Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era. He was a major figure in the negotiations before and during the Congress of Vienna and is considered both a paradigm of foreign-policy management and a...
had a notorious liaison.
In England's vibrant political environment, the Princess discovered in herself a flair for politics. She also became a leader of society; invitations to her house were the most sought after and she was the first foreigner to be elected a patroness of
Almack'sAlmack's Assembly Rooms was a social club in London from 1765 to 1871 and one of the first to admit both men and women. It was one of a limited number of upper class mixed-sex public social venues in the British capital in an era when the most important venues for the hectic social season were the...
, London's most exclusive social club, where Dorothea introduced the waltz to England.
Dorothea Lieven's position as Russian ambassadress, her friendships, and her political acumen established her as a political force.
In 1825 Tsar Alexander entrusted Dorothea with a secret overture to the British government. “It is a pity Countess Lieven wears skirts”, the Tsar wrote to his foreign minister
Count NesselrodeBaltic-German Count Karl Robert Nesselrode, also known as Charles de Nesselrode, was a Russian diplomat and a leading European conservative statesman of the Holy Alliance. His autobiography was published posthumously in 1866.He was born in Lisbon, Portugal where his father Baltic-German Count Karl...
. “She would have made an excellent diplomat.”
The Tsar’s mission marked Dorothea Lieven’s debut as a diplomat in her own right. She at least equaled her husband in importance. During Prince Lieven’s ambassadorship in England, (1812-1834) the Princess played a key role in the birth of modern Greece, and made a notable contribution to the creation of today’s
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
.
Tsar
Nicholas INicholas I , , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometres.Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and...
recalled Prince Lieven (1834) to become Governor to
the TsarevitchAlexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor, or Czar, of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
; despite her residence in London, the Princess had already (1829) been appointed senior lady-in-waiting to the Empress Alexandra. Soon after the Lievens returned to Russia their two youngest sons died suddenly. This tragedy and her declining health caused the Princess to leave her native land and settle in Paris.
In a city where salons served a unique social and political purpose, Princess Lieven’s salon, known as “the listening/observation post of Europe”, empowered her to be an independent stateswoman. In 1837 she and
François GuizotFrançois Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, actively opposing as a liberal the reactionary King Charles X before his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830, then in government...
entered into a close personal partnership that lasted until the Princess's death.
During the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1854-1856) Princess Lieven acted as an informal and trusted conduit between the belligerents.
Dorothea Lieven died peacefully at her home, 2 rue Saint-Florentin, Paris. She was buried, according to her wish, at the Lieven family estate,
MežotneMežotne is a town in Latvia 10 km west of Bauska and 40 km south of the capital of Latvia, Riga. It lies in the historical region of Zemgale on the left bank of the Lielupe river near the Lithuanian border.- Mežotne Palace :...
(near
JelgavaJelgava is a city in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with 66,087 inhabitants . It is the largest town in Semigallia. Jelgava is known as the former capital of the Duchy of Courland, and was the capital of the Courland region until 1919.Jelgava is situated on a fertile plain...
) next to her two young sons who had died in St. Petersburg.
Legacy
Princess Lieven “succeeded in inspiring a confidence” with prominent men “until now unknown in the annals of England”, wrote Russian foreign minister Count Nesselrode. Her friendships with George IV, Prince Metternich, the
Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
,
George CanningGeorge Canning was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life:Canning was born at his parents' home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, London...
,
Count NesselrodeBaltic-German Count Karl Robert Nesselrode, also known as Charles de Nesselrode, was a Russian diplomat and a leading European conservative statesman of the Holy Alliance. His autobiography was published posthumously in 1866.He was born in Lisbon, Portugal where his father Baltic-German Count Karl...
, Lord Grey, and
François GuizotFrançois Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, actively opposing as a liberal the reactionary King Charles X before his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830, then in government...
gave Dorothea Lieven the opportunity to exercise authority in the diplomatic councils of Great Britain, France, and Russia. She was a political force, a position reached by no other contemporary female.
The Princess participated, either directly or indirectly, in every major diplomatic event between 1812-1857. She knew “everyone in the Courts and cabinets for thirty or forty years”; she “knew all the secret annals of diplomacy”, wrote a French diplomat.
Hence, Princess Lieven’s politically-focused correspondence with luminaries across Europe is primary source material for students of the period. Parts of the Princess’s diary, her correspondence with Lords Aberdeen and Grey,
François GuizotFrançois Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, actively opposing as a liberal the reactionary King Charles X before his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830, then in government...
, Prince Metternich, and her letters from London to her brother Count
Alexander von BenckendorffCount Alexander von Benckendorff, was a Russian Infantry General and statesman, Adjutant General of the Svita and a commander in the Patriotic War of 1812 best remembered for having established the Gendarmes in Russia.Alexander von Benckendorff was born to a Baltic German family in Reval...
, have been published. There is a vast trove of unpublished material in the British Library, and a scattering of unpublished correspondence in several Continental archives.
“She is a stateswoman”, said the Austrian ambassador to France, “and a great lady in all the vicissitudes of life.”
External links and references
- The noble family of Lieven
The Lievens are one of the oldest and noblest families of Baltic Germans. They claim descent from Caupo of Turaida , the Livonian quasi rex who converted to Christianity in 1186, when Bishop Meinhard attempted to Christianize the region...
- Alexander von Benckendorff
Count Alexander von Benckendorff, was a Russian Infantry General and statesman, Adjutant General of the Svita and a commander in the Patriotic War of 1812 best remembered for having established the Gendarmes in Russia.Alexander von Benckendorff was born to a Baltic German family in Reval...
- Konstantin von Benkendorff
- "Dorothea Lieven: A Russian Princess in London and Paris, 1785-1857" (McFarland, 2007) ISBN 0-7864-2651-9. By Judith Lissauer Cromwell
- Lieven, Daria Khristoforovna. Letters of Dorothea, Princess Lieven, during her Residence in London, 1812-1834. 2001: Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1-4212-1683-3
- Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (location of original portrait drawing by Sir Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA was a notable English painter, mostly of portraits.He was born in Bristol. His father was an innkeeper, first at Bristol and afterwards at Devizes, and at the age of six Lawrence was already being shown off to the guests of the Bear as an infant prodigy who could sketch...
)
- Tate Gallery, London (direct link to original portrait painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA was a notable English painter, mostly of portraits.He was born in Bristol. His father was an innkeeper, first at Bristol and afterwards at Devizes, and at the age of six Lawrence was already being shown off to the guests of the Bear as an infant prodigy who could sketch...
) Brief biography
- review
- Princess Lieven's page on Wellington's site Baltic nobility genealogy handbook Katharina Alexandra Dorothea von Benckendorff