M. Paskevitch

Research Status: Moderate Last Updated: 2025-01-24 Diary Coverage: Up to July 1881

M. Paskevitch is a Russian aristocrat and former diplomat who suffered a dramatic fall from wealth and social position. Marie encounters him in Warsaw in July 1881.

Key Diary References:

• July 23, 1881: Marie's father introduces M. Paskevitch at the Hôtel d'Europe in Warsaw
• Formerly married to the beautiful Mme Paskevitch whom Marie saw at Baden-Baden with Carlos Hamilton
• His wife divorced him to marry Carlos Hamilton (becoming Lady Hamilton)
• Former first secretary of embassy in Paris (20 years)
• Former millionaire
• Friend of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie
• Age: 55 years old in 1881
• Now has 1.5 million francs in debts
• Receives 30,000 francs annual pension from Lady Hamilton (his ex-wife)
• No longer able to walk properly ("plus de jambes")
• Has "un fanatisme sans bornes pour tout ce qui touche Paris"

Context:

• Representative of the dramatic reversals of fortune possible in aristocratic society
• His wife's affair with Carlos Hamilton and subsequent divorce led to his social and financial ruin
• Despite his reduced circumstances, maintains the manners of "l'homme du monde"
• Still nostalgic for his years in Parisian high society
• Dependent on his ex-wife's financial support

Research Notes:

• Full name and patronymic need research
• Connection to the Paskevich princely family possible
• His diplomatic career in Paris would have been during the Second Empire (1850s-1870)
• The divorce scandal appears to have cost him his diplomatic position and fortune