Sophie Swetchine

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Madame Swetchine
Sophie Swetchine

Anne Sophie Swetchine (

née Sofia Petrovna Soymonova; 22 November 1782 – 10 September 1857), known as Madame Swetchine, was a Russian mystic, born in Moscow, and famous for her salon
in Paris.

Biography

She was born Sofia Petrovna Soymonova (sometimes Soïmonov or Soymanof) on 22 November 1782 in Moscow, the daughter of Secretary of State Peter Alexandrovich Soimonov (1734–1801) and his wife, Catherine Boltin (1756–1790).

She spent her early years at the court of Empress Catherine the Great, as her father was one of the empress's closest advisors. She was given a good education, learned to speak several European languages and was popular at court. In 1797, she was made lady-in-waiting to Empress Maria Fedorovna. In 1799, Sophie married General Nicholas Sergeyevich Swetchine. Even though he was his wife's senior by 25 years, their relationship was described by contemporaries as a good one, though the couple did not have children, which is said to have caused her suffering.

It was perhaps also in part the reason for her turning to religion[

Jesuits. Russian law did not permit members of the Russian nobility who had converted from the Orthodox religion to continue living in Russia, and so Sophie was forced to live in exile, choosing Paris
as her new home. There she settled with her husband the following year and there she was to spend the rest of her life.

From 1826 until her death in 1857, she kept a salon at number 71,

Catholicism
.

Works

Her Life and Works (the best known of the latter being "Old Age" and "Resignation") were published by her friend

Falloux
(2 vols, 1860), as were her Letters (2 vols., 1861).

Quotes

Madame Swetchine is noted for the quotation: "How easy to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success." She was reported to have said that "Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives and the serious part of frivolous lives."

References

  • Sainte-Beuve, Nouveaux lundis, vol. i.
  • E Scherer
    , Etudes sur la littérature contemporaine, vol. i.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainBain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Swetchine, Madame". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 224.
    • Maturin M Ballou, "Travels Under the Southern Cross" Houghton Mifflin, NY, 1894
  • File:http://www.tocqueville.culture.fr/en/portraits/p_amis-swetchine.html

External links