She arrived in France in 1919 with her parents and older brother as refugees from the October Revolution, first in Marseille, then Paris.
At that time she was living with the painter Vladimir Barjansky [fr], a friend of Philippe de Rothschild.
[5] On her return to France in 1942, she developed ties with the Occupation authorities and black market figures, and was associated with various scandals under the name of Madame Garat.
As the mistress of Hans Leimer, an SS officer tasked with shipping requisitioned artwork and other goods to Germany,[5] she was arrested in July 1944 by the Gestapo, and her lover was sent to the Russian front.
On 5 June 1945, she was sentenced by the tribunal de la Seine to two years in prison and the confiscation of one third of her assets.