Marianne Pistohlkors

Marianne Pistohlkors, born Marianna Erikovna von Pistohlkors, (June 30, 1890 - May 14, 1976), was a suspected co-conspirator in the murder of Grigori Rasputin.^[1]

Early life

Pistohlkors was the daughter of Olga Valerianovna Paley and her first husband Erik Augustinovich von Pistohlkors. Her mother divorced her father when she was a small child, causing a scandal in society, and began an affair with the widowed Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia. Her mother married the grand duke some years later without the permission of Tsar Nicholas II. Her stepbrother through her mother's second marriage was Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich of Russia, another suspected co-conspirator in Rasputin's murder.^[2] Her older brother, Alexander Erikovich Pistohlkors, was married to Alexandra Taneyeva, a supporter of Grigori Rasputin and sister of the Tsarina's lady in waiting and Rasputin supporter Anna Vyrubova.

Murder of Rasputin

Pistohlkors was allegedly one of two women and several men present in the palace belonging to Felix Yussupov on the night that Rasputin was lured there in December 1916. "Malanya's also taking part," Yussupov wrote to his wife Princess Irina of Russia in the weeks before the murder. Pistohlkors' nickname was Malanya.^[3]

She, like Grand Duke Dimitri, was later arrested by the Tsar's secret police following the murder. However, the Tsar later ordered her release Sympathies were on Pistohlkors' side, according to her mother's memoirs, Memories of Russia 1916-1919. "When we arrived at 8 Theatre Square, where Marianne lived, we were stopped by two soldiers who let us through only after taking down our names. All the highest society was at Marianne's! Some ladies she barely knew arrived in order to express sympathy with her. Officers came up to kiss her hand." According to one author, the Tsar did not want to more public displays of sympathy for the murderers of Rasputin. He also knew that his sickly uncle Grand Duke Paul was taking Dimitri's involvement in the murder and punishment of exile to the Persian front badly and did not want to add to the grand duke's suffering by also charging his stepdaughter.^[4] None of the male co-conspirators ever publicly identified Pistohlkors or the other woman, ballerina and film star Vera Karalli.^[4]

Exile

Pistohlkors escaped to the west following the Russian Revolution of 1917. She later married Count Nikolai de Zarnekau. She had previously been married to a man named Derfelden. Her marriage to Count Zarnekau later ended in divorce 1930.

Notes

1. ^ Radzinsky, Edvard, The Rasputin File, Doubleday, 2000, pp. 476-477
2. ^ Radzinsky, pp. 476-477, 482
3. ^ Radzinsky, pp. 441, 476-477
4. ^ ^{a b} Radzinsky, pp. 476-477

External links

• Genealogisches Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften Teil 1,2: Livland, Lfg. 9-15, Görlitz 1929

Persondata
Name	Pistohlkors, Marianne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 30, 1890
Place of birth	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Date of death	May 14, 1976
Place of death	New York City, New York