Mariya Volkonskaya
Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya (née Raevskaya; Russian: Мария Николаевна Волконская (Раевская); December 25, 1805 – August 10, 1863) was a Decembrist wife of Prince Sergey Volkonsky who followed her husband into Siberian exile after his trial.
[1] Mariya Volkonskaya was a Russian aristocrat and the youngest of five children to General Nikolai Raevsky and Sofia Raevskaya.
Born in 1799, Pushkin shared a relative closeness in age with Mariya and had a relationship with the family, spending months abroad with the Raevskys.
Although she had married into a noble, rich family, Mariya stated that she felt nervous about leaving home and her new life years after the marriage.
[10] Soon, Maryia became pregnant and, shortly after, became ill and went to visit her mother in Odessa, hoping the salty summer air would help.
He confessed to the arrest of his closest conspirator, Pestel, without sharing details of the reason and immediately took Maryia to her family's Kiev estate.
The Decembrist uprising attempted to overthrow the Tsar government in Modern Russia and establish a constitutional monarchy.
[18] Sergei did not reveal details of the arrest, but Mariya eventually became aware of his role in the Decembrist Revolt and followed her husband to St. Petersburg.
[16] Mariya’s entire family was worried about the new mother's health, citing the possible adverse physical and mental effects of Sergei’s arrest on her.
[26] Zenaida helped Mariya prepare for her trip and bid her a final fair well party filled with entertainment to make, what was possibly her last time in Moscow, a notable one.
Mariya received many documents and packages from relatives of the Decembrist Revolt participants during her time in Moscow including things like medicine, clothing, and letters to loved ones.
[29] After signing the document which outlined her and her family's new freedoms, Mariya left the last developed area she would see for years to come.
"[30] The next day, Mariya was met by two guards who escorted her to the mine to see her husband who had been working forced labor in shackles.
[32] The conditions surrounding communication between the prisoners and the outside world, including the wives present, were set by officials and enforced by guards.
Contact between Mariya and the outside world had no restrictions, allowing her to write family members of other Decembrist prisoners and request supplies on their behalf.
[34] Mariya eventually became aware that the chances of her being able to return home to her son would be impossible, not because she was restricted from moving by officials but to her realization that her husband would most likely not make it without her.
[36] Chita was a sort of staging area for the Decembrists, who were ordered to leave Blagodatsk due to insufficient living space.
Permission to live in the same quarters as their wives was granted by Nicholas I in 1829, a little over a year after the news of her son's death, which she could not bear to inform Sergei about.
One of the wives had built a house close to the prison grounds; Mariya had kept most of her belongings there and moved into these quarters with Sergei.
In a relatively short time after her arrival, Mariya had a house built close by; she had a maid and cook there but returned to her husband's cell every night to sleep with him.
[42] During their time in the Nerchinsk, Mariya and Sergei birthed another son, Mikhail (March 10, 1832), and a little over two years later, a daughter, Elena (September 28, 1834).
Volkonsky was approved to settle in a small village in the Irkutsk region and moved close to Urik in the Fall of 1837.
[45] For the whole family, as more Decembrists settled in Urik, the children benefited from private tutors in all important areas, such as mathematics and linguistics.
She opened a children's hospital and several schools and hosted many social events in their spacious home in the city center.
They remained state criminals in the eyes of the law, but her overwhelming favorability and influence enabled Mariya to live a life similar to that in St. Petersburg or Kiev.
[50] Mariya's daughter Elena Volkonsky Married Dmitri Vasilevich Molchanov, a graduate of the University of Kazan and a new official in Siberia.
When Alexander II took the throne in 1855, Elena Molchanov requested that her mother be allowed back into Russia to treat her condition.
[5] Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Nikolay Nekrasov's poem Russian Women, were dedicated to Volkonskaya.
Inside the memorial includes a recreated interior of the Volkonsky home using original pieces of furniture and musical instruments.
