Marfa Sobakina

Marfa Sobakina
Forensic facial reconstruction
Tsaritsa of All Russia
Tenure	28 October 1571 – 13 November 1571
Spouse	Ivan IV of Russia
Full name
Marfa Vasilevna Sobakina
Dynasty	Rurik
Father	Vasiliy Sobakin
Born	1552
Died	13 November 1571
Burial	Ascension Convent, Kolomenskoye Archangel Cathedral, Kremlin (1929)
Religion	Eastern Orthodox

Marfa Vasilevna Sobakina (Марфа Васильевна Собакина; 1552–1571), was Tsaritsa of the Tsardom of Russia and was the third wife of Ivan the Terrible. The daughter of a Novgorod based merchant Vasiliy Sobakin, Marfa was selected by Ivan among 12 marriage finalists. A few days after her selection, Marfa began to succumb to a mysterious ailment. It was rumoured that she was unintentionally poisoned by her mother, who gave her a potion supposedly meant to increase her fertility. Despite rapidly losing weight and barely standing, Marfa was nonetheless married to Ivan on 28 October 1571 in Aleksandrovska Sloboda. Marfa died a few days later. Her death increased her husbands paranoia, because she died in what was meant to be an impregnible fortress filled with loyal subjects. Ivan, remembering the death of his first wife, immediately suspected poisoning and put to death many of his subjects, including Mikail Temjruk (brother to the Tzar's previous wife) who was impaled.

References

• Troyat, Henri Ivan le Terrible. Flammarion, Paris, 1982
• de Madariaga, Isabel Ivan the Terrible. Giulio Einaudi editore, 2005

Russian royalty
Vacant Title last held by Maria Temryukovna	Tsaritsa of All Russia 1571	Vacant Title next held by Anna Koltovskaya

Persondata
Name	Sobakina, Marfa
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1552
Place of birth
Date of death	13 November 1571
Place of death