Karl de Struve

Karl von Struve (1835-1907)(Alternate spelling in U.S.: de Struve) was a Russian nobleman and politician. He served as Russian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Tokyo (Japan), Washington, D.C. (the United States), and the Hague (The Netherlands) respectively [Official Congressional Record, 1882-1992; United States Congress] [Epoch, v.VII; 1892, Frank A. Munsey & Co.: pg. 266] .

Minister Struve and his wife were noted Washington society habitués, holding soirees and a Sunday salon for Washington’s diplomatic and political elite [Chapin, Elizabeth Moore. American Court Gossip; Or, Life in the National Capital. Chapin & Hartwell bros., 1887: pg. 59] . From 1882 to 1892, a variety of powerful men and women passed through the Struves’ door: Roosevelts, Adamses, Blaines, and many others. The Struves were also noted collectors, donating ethnological prints of Russians to the Smithsonian Institution [Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution, 1893] and a vast teapot collection (more than 900) to various European collectors.

Family

Karl (also, Charles, Carl, Kyrill, Cyrille) was the son of famed astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve and his second wife, Johanna H. F. Barthels. He was a half-brother of renowned astronomer Otto Wilhelm von Struve and politician Bernhard Vasilyevitch Struve, Imperial Privy Councillor and Governor of Perm and Astrakhan.

Karl von Struve married Maria Nicolaevna Annenkova, daughter of Russian Adjutant-General Nicholas Annenkov and sister of General Michael Nicolaivitch Annenkoff [White, Andrew Dickson. Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White. The Century Co., 1905, v.2 pg 43 ] , and had five children. Boris de Struve served as Russian attaché to Washington and married Maxine Slater, from a prominent New England family. Vera de Struve married Prince Peter N. Mestchersky and ran a prominent finishing school in Paris. She also served as a Russian Red Cross Trustee and managed a retirement home for White Russian exiles. Olga de Struve married champagne heir, Peter Arnold Hermann Gottlieb Mumm von Schwarzenstein. She was the mother of socialite Elena Mumm Thornton Wilson and Olga Mumm, racing manager for Whitney heiress Dorothy Paget. Helene de Struve married 1) Baron Hendrik, Steengracht von Moyland and 2) Count Orloff. Maria de Struve married D. Schevitch, a Russian diplomat.

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