Elizaveta Alexandrovna Stroganova

Who was Elizaveta Alexandrovna Stroganova?

Baroness Elizaveta Alexandrovna Stroganova was a Russian aristocrat of the Stroganov family.

Aged 16, in September 1795 at Saint Petersburg, she married Count Nikolai Nikitich Demidov. They had two children - Pavel and Anatoly.

Nicolas became a diplomat and the couple set up home in Paris, becoming strong supporters of Napoleon I of France. However, mounting tensions between France and Russia forced Russia to recall Nicolas in 1805. The couple then set up home in Italy before returning to Russia in 1812 to settle in Moscow.

They were of completely different characters and often lived apart. She was beautiful, light and witty, and her husband more introspective, and so they soon grew bored with each other - after Anatole's birth in 1812, they separated and she returned to live in Paris, where she died in 1818 and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.