- Anna Vyrubova
Infobox Person
name = Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova
image_size = 180px
caption = Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova.
birth_date = birth date|1884|7|16|mf=y
death_date = death date and age|1964|7|20|1884|7|16|mf=yAnna Alexandrovna Vyrubova, née Taneyeva ( _ru. Анна Александровна Вырубова, Танеева) (
16 July ,1884 —20 July 1964 ,Helsinki ), was alady-in-waiting , best friend and confidante toTsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna.Early life
Vyrubova was the daughter of
Aleksandr Taneyev , a noted composer. Her mother, Nadezhda néeTolstoy , descended from Field MarshalMikhail Kutuzov . Due to these connections she was attached to the imperial court at an early age. She had two younger siblings, Sergei, and Alexandra.She was a childhood playmate of
Felix Yussupov , the man who spearheaded the murder ofGrigori Rasputin . Yussupov found her unattractive: cquote|Anna the eldest Taneev girl, was tall and stout with a puffy, shiny face, and no charm whatsoever. Although she was not at all intelligent, she was extremely crafty and rather sly. It was quite a problem to find partners for her. No one could have foreseen that this unattractive girl would one day become the intimate friend and evil genius of the Tsarina. It was largely due to her that Rasputin owed his amazing rise to favour. [*Maylunas, Andrei, and Mironenko, Sergei, eds.; Galy, Darya, translator, "A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story," Doubleday, 1997 ISBN 0-385-48673-1, p. 418]Life at Court
. For a long time she served as a go-between for the royal family and Rasputin.
During World War I she trained as a
Red Cross nurse and nursed soldiers along with the Tsarina and the Tsarina's two older daughters,Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia andGrand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia . She was injured in a train accident in January 1915 and credited Rasputin with saving her with his prayers. cite web | author=Vyrubova, Anna | year= | title= "Memories of the Russian Court" | work= alexanderpalace.org| url=http://www.alexanderpalace.org/russiancourt2006/ | accessdate= February 11| accessyear=2007] Following the Russian Revolution, Anna Vyrubova underwent a medical examination to prove hervirginity . The provincial investigator concluded that she was too naive and unintelligent to have had any influence over the Tsarina. [Radzinsky, Edvard, The Rasputin File, Doubleday, 2000, ISBN 0-385-48909-9, p. 88] Vyrubova escaped theBolshevik revolution by fleeing toFinland .Exile
In Anna's own memoirs, she describes her perils in prison and her narrow escape from execution when, miraculously, she met several old friends of her father's on a St. Petersburg street who helped her escape her captor. She endured much hardship avoiding the Bolsheviks, and was only able to escape to Finland in December 1920. [Vyrubova, Anna, "Memories of the Russian Court"]
Before leaving
Russia , she became friends with the revolutionary writerMaxim Gorky who urged her to write her memoirs and she followed his advice. Her memories of life at court provided rare descriptions of the home life of the Tsar and his family. She spent the rest of her life first inViipuri and later inHelsinki . She took vows as a Russian Orthodox nun, but was permitted to live in a private home due to her physical disabilities. Her grave is located at the Orthodox section ofHietaniemi cemetery inHelsinki .Notes
References
*Maylunas, Andrei, and Mironenko, Sergei, eds.; Galy, Darya, translator, "A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story," Doubleday, 1997 ISBN 0-385-48673-1
*Radzinsky, Edvard, "The Rasputin File," Doubleday, 2000, ISBN 0-385-48909-9
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/russiancourt2006/ "Memories of the Russian Court"] by Anna VyrubovaExternal links
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/russiancourt2006/ "Memories of the Russian Court"] by Anna Vyrubova
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/2anna1.html Later Memoirs] by Anna Vyrubova
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/annainterview2.html 1917 Interview with Anna Vyrubova] by an American Reporter,Rheta Childe Dorr
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/taneevagrave.html Anna's Grave] in HelsinkiPersondata
NAME = Vyrubova, Anna Alexandrovna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Taneeva, Anna Alexandrovna
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Friend of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia; author of memoirs about the Romanovs.
DATE OF BIRTH = July 16, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH = Russia
DATE OF DEATH = July 20, 1964
PLACE OF DEATH = Helsinki, Finland
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
