Bashkirtseff
Orig | CZ

Saint-Pétersbourg (St. Petersburg)

Moderate Aktualizováno: 2025-12-07

Research Status: Moderate Last Updated: 2025-12-07 Diary Coverage: Books 00, 13

Saint-Pétersbourg (St. Petersburg) was the capital of the Russian Empire from 1712 to 1918. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, it was Russia's "window on Europe" - a planned city built in Western European style on the Baltic Sea.

19th Century Significance

  • Imperial capital and seat of the Tsar
  • Center of Russian government, culture, and high society
  • Home to the Winter Palace, Imperial Court, and major ministries
  • Hub for aristocratic and noble families from across the empire
  • Center of Russian arts, literature, and intellectual life

The 1862 Georges Crisis

According to Marie's 1884 preface, in 1862 her mother traveled to Petersburg with her sister and Georges (Marie's uncle):

"En 1862 elle avait fait un voyage à Pétersbourg avec sa sœur et Georges. Georges a dû se sauver de Pétersbourg déguisé en femme et maman en est revenue mourante."

(In 1862 she had made a trip to Petersburg with her sister and Georges. Georges had to escape from Petersburg disguised as a woman and mother returned from it dying.)

What This Reveals:

  • Georges committed some serious offense in Petersburg
  • Serious enough to require fleeing in disguise
  • Cross-dressing disguise suggests desperation or theatrical escape
  • The crisis nearly killed Marie's mother (emotionally/physically)
  • This occurred just a few years before Marie's birth
  • Part of the pattern of family crises caused by Georges

Later Diary Reference (1880)

In October 1880, Marie's cousin Alexandre goes to St. Petersburg to try to resolve the legal situation preventing Marie's mother from leaving Russia. The mother is bound as guarantor for 200,000 rubles in a lawsuit, and Alexandre attempts to get this requirement lifted by authorities in the capital.

Social Context

Abaza, an important Poltava nobleman whom Marie knew, had previously been "a big bigwig" in St. Petersburg (as well as Odessa) before his prominence in Poltava - indicating the social mobility of noble families between the provinces and the capital.

French Naming

The French called it "Pétersbourg" or "Saint-Pétersbourg." After 1914 it became Petrograd, and since 1924 it has been Leningrad (now St. Petersburg again since 1991).

Related Entries

%% 2025-12-07T13:10:00 RSR: Updated with 1862 Georges crisis details from Book 00 preface %%