Maria Perekusikhina

Maria Perekusikhina

Maria Savvishna Perekusikhina (Russian: Марья Саввишна Перекусихина) (1739–1824), was a Russian memoirist, the Lady's maid of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. She was a close friend and confidant of Catherine and quite influential.

She was from a noble family, and was the Lady's maid of Catherine from the 1760s onward. Her brother Basil Perekusikhin received a good education and died a Senator (1724-1788). She was so trusted by Catherine that it was said that "all the favorites of the second half of last century were in the moral depending Perekusikhina". Her closeness to the monarch made her an unofficial channel for people who wanted something from Catherine. During her trip to the Crimea in 1787, Catherine reprimanded Grigory Potyomkin for not seeing to the comfort of Perekusikhina. She was present at the death of Catherine, and later wrote down her memories of her.

Sources

• This page is a translation of its Russian equivalent.

Persondata
Name	Perekusikhina, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1739
Place of birth
Date of death	1824
Place of death