Date of death:

Biography

She was brought up with her cousins ​​Mikhail and Peter Chaadaev. A. Griboedov was in love with her, in 1817, her brother's colleagues in the Semyonovsky regiment, Ivan Dmitrievich Yakushkin and Dmitry Vasilyevich Naryshkin (1792-1831), wooed her at the same time. Both were rejected. Yakushkin was the first to receive it, unrequited love led him to thoughts of suicide. Natalya Dmitrievna herself kept him from a rash act, who deeply respected Yakushkin, but did not want to marry him.

D. V. Naryshkin stubbornly wooed Natalya Dmitrievna for more than a year. She refused him so as not to offend Yakushkin, but her father really wanted this marriage, because Naryshkin was rich, through him Prince Shcherbatov hoped to improve his financial situation. Natalya Dmitrievna had a low opinion of her fiancé:

but the dream of a "brilliant future" won out. A wedding was scheduled, which was postponed several times. Having no inclination towards Naryshkin, knowing that with this marriage she would “kill” Yakushkin, Natalya Dmitrievna was relieved to learn that Naryshkin had married in Paris the daughter of Count F. V. Rostopchin.

Children

• Dmitry (10.5.1821 - 29.10.1897, Serpukhov) was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovsky cemetery, guard lieutenant commander, Serpukhov district marshal of the nobility, married to Princess Natalya Borisovna Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya.
• Ivan (10/20/1826 - 7/3/1894), lieutenant general, commander of the guards corps, married to c. Ekaterina Svyatoslavovna Berzhinskaya, father of D. I. Shakhovsky.

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Literature

• Lubkova E. Ya. The life and fate of Prince Fyodor Petrovich Shakhovsky. - M .: Prometheus, 2005.
• Moleva N. M. Legends of merchant Moscow. - M .: Algorithm, 2008.
• Chernov G.I. Heroes 14 (fourteenth) December: Notes on the Decembrists-Vladimir. - Upper Volga book publishing house, 1973.

An excerpt characterizing Shakhovskaya, Natalya Dmitrievna

“Oh, I’m so happy,” she answered, smiled through her tears, leaned closer to him, thought for a second, as if asking herself if it was possible, and kissed him.
Prince Andrei held her hands, looked into her eyes, and did not find in his soul the former love for her. Something suddenly turned in his soul: there was no former poetic and mysterious charm of desire, but there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, there was fear of her devotion and gullibility, a heavy and at the same time joyful consciousness of the duty that forever connected him with her. The real feeling, although it was not as light and poetic as the former, was more serious and stronger.
“Did maman tell you that it couldn’t be before a year?” - said Prince Andrei, continuing to look into her eyes. “Is it really me, that child girl (everyone said so about me) thought Natasha, is it possible that from now on I am a wife, equal to this strange, sweet, intelligent person, respected even by my father. Is that really true! Is it really true that now it is no longer possible to joke with life, now I am big, now responsibility for all my deeds and words lies on me? Yes, what did he ask me?
“No,” she answered, but she did not understand what he was asking.
“Forgive me,” said Prince Andrei, “but you are so young, and I have already experienced so much life. I'm scared for you. You don't know yourself.
Natasha listened with concentrated attention, trying to understand the meaning of his words, but did not understand.
“No matter how hard this year will be for me, postponing my happiness,” continued Prince Andrei, “during this period you will believe yourself. I ask you to make my happiness in a year; but you are free: our engagement will remain a secret, and if you are convinced that you do not love me, or would love ... - said Prince Andrei with an unnatural smile.
Why are you saying this? Natasha interrupted him. “You know that from the very day you first came to Otradnoye, I fell in love with you,” she said, firmly convinced that she was telling the truth.
- In a year you will recognize yourself ...
- A whole year! - Natasha suddenly said, now only realizing that the wedding was postponed for a year. - Why is it a year? Why a year? ... - Prince Andrei began to explain to her the reasons for this delay. Natasha didn't listen to him.
- And it can not be otherwise? she asked. Prince Andrei did not answer, but his face expressed the impossibility of changing this decision.
- It's horrible! No, it's terrible, terrible! Natasha suddenly spoke up and sobbed again. “I’ll die waiting for a year: it’s impossible, it’s terrible. - She looked into the face of her fiancé and saw on him an expression of compassion and bewilderment.
“No, no, I’ll do everything,” she said, suddenly stopping her tears, “I’m so happy!” The father and mother entered the room and blessed the bride and groom.
From that day on, Prince Andrei began to go to the Rostovs as a groom.

There was no betrothal, and no one was announced about Bolkonsky's engagement to Natasha; Prince Andrew insisted on this. He said that since he was the cause of the delay, he must bear the full burden of it. He said that he had forever bound himself with his word, but that he did not want to bind Natasha and gave her complete freedom. If in six months she feels that she does not love him, she will be in her own right if she refuses him. It goes without saying that neither the parents nor Natasha wanted to hear about it; but Prince Andrei insisted on his own. Prince Andrei visited the Rostovs every day, but not like a groom treated Natasha: he told her you and only kissed her hand. Between Prince Andrei and Natasha, after the day of the proposal, completely different than before, close, simple relations were established. They didn't seem to know each other until now. Both he and she loved to remember how they looked at each other when they were still nothing, now they both felt like completely different beings: then pretended, now simple and sincere. At first, the family felt awkward in dealing with Prince Andrei; he seemed like a man from an alien world, and Natasha for a long time accustomed her family to Prince Andrei and proudly assured everyone that he only seemed so special, and that he was the same as everyone else, and that she was not afraid of him and that no one should be afraid his. After a few days, the family got used to him and did not hesitate to lead the old way of life with him, in which he took part. He knew how to talk about housekeeping with the count, and about outfits with the countess and Natasha, and about albums and canvases with Sonya. Sometimes the family Rostovs among themselves and under Prince Andrei were surprised at how all this happened and how obvious the omens of this were: both the arrival of Prince Andrei in Otradnoye, and their arrival in Petersburg, and the similarity between Natasha and Prince Andrei, which the nanny noticed on the first visit Prince Andrei, and the clash in 1805 between Andrei and Nikolai, and many other omens of what happened, were noticed at home.

The Shakhovskys - Glebovs - Streshnevs - a famous Moscow noble family of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Evgenia Fedorovna von Brevern and Mikhail Valentinovich Shakhovskoy were married in 1862. Why did a triple surname form? In 1864, the emperor approved the rescript on the transfer of M.V. Shakhovsky, the surname of the childless uncle Evgenia Feodorovna, commanded to be called Prince Shakhovsky - Glebov - Streshnev. Together with the triple surname Shakhovskaya, he received a significant fortune for his wife, and also in 1866 a new coat of arms, which reflected the coats of arms of the Shakhovsky noble families (images of a bear with a golden ax, a bird of paradise on a cannon, a silver angel), Glebovs - Streshnevs (a golden cross on a horseshoe , two silver lilies, a flying silver arrow, a running deer).

Prince Shakhovsky-Glebov-Streshnev was transferred to the old house of the Glebovs in Moscow, on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, building 19, which belonged to the famous boyar family of the Glebovs since the 1760s. This manor house was completely rebuilt in the 1880s by the architect K.V. Tersky, a twenty-column hall appeared in it, apparently with the aim of adapting the building for theatrical performances. Today this house is occupied by the Moscow musical theater "Helikon-Opera". It is because of this house that the passions of Moscow local historians are now raging. The reconstruction of the building that has begun raises many questions among Muscovites.

Having acquired the neighboring house and the estate of the merchant - the theater-goer Zarubin (which is on the corner of Bolshaya Nikitskaya and M. Kislovsky lane), the Shakhovsky-Glebov-Streshnevs also built a number of buildings, which were later used for renting.

Built in 1886-1887. Russian-style theater building by architect K.V. Tersky and assistant architect, future famous architect F.O. Shekhtel, was leased to the entrepreneur G. Paradise. This building is known to our contemporaries under the names: Theater of Revolution, Moscow Theater named after V.V. Mayakovsky.

The couple also received the Pokrovskoye estate near Moscow - Streshnevo, today located on the territory of Moscow. In the 1880s, the main manor house was rebuilt according to the designs of architects A.I. Rezanov and K.V. Tersky: a medieval castle was created with elements of the Gothic and neo-Russian styles. The estate was conceived as a fairy-tale castle. After the October Revolution of 1917, the estate housed a sanatorium of the Central Committee, then - the rest house of textile workers. Then the buildings were transferred to the Rest House for Military Pilots, in 1970 - to the Research Institute of Civil Aviation. Now the buildings of the estate, the church are being restored. The park has been declared a conservation area. We can see part of the estate when we drive along the Volokolamsk highway.

Once Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo was bought by Rodion Matveyevich Streshnev. Since that time, the estate belonged to the Streshnev family for almost 250 years, the last owner was destined to be Evgenia Fedorovna Shakhovskaya-Glebova-Streshneva. The ensemble of the estate began to take shape as early as the 1750s - 1760s, when P.I. Streshnev rebuilt the church in the Baroque style and erected a stone manor house with a suite of 10 front rooms and a collection of paintings. The husband of his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna F.I. Glebov a verst from the estate, on the banks of the river. Khimka, built an elegant two-story house, called "Elizavetino". The historian Karamzin used to visit here, Empress Catherine the Great drank tea with the hosts. This real perfection of architecture perished during the artillery raid of fascist aircraft on the capital in 1942. Nearby, in the time of the Glebov-Streshnevs, there was a menagerie. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Petrovna built a new three-story Empire-style manor house, which was adjoined by ponds and greenhouses.

Evgenia Fedorovna was several years younger than her husband, born on December 24, 1841 (other sources indicate other dates - 1840, December 15 or 24, 1846). Her parents gave her the then rare name in Russia, Evgenia, in honor of Honore de Balzac's famous novel Eugene Grande. She was the great-granddaughter of Elizaveta Petrovna Streshneva, a well-known landowner of Catherine's times. It is a known fact that E.P. Streshneva was very proud of her kinship with Tsar Mikhail Romanov, and therefore forbade issuing passports for her grandchildren, whom she raised, assuring Emperor Alexander I that everyone already knows them. Children of Elizabeth Petrovna from marriage with Senator F.I. Glebov received the right to combine surnames, and since 1803 they were called Glebovs - Streshnevs.

Having no children of their own and possessing a lot of capital, the spouses Evgenia Fedorovna and Mikhail Valentinovich Shakhovskiy - Glebov - Streshnev were engaged in charity work: they were members of the boards of trustees of orphanages, donated funds for summer children's colonies, infirmaries and shelters for the elderly. Evgenia Fedorovna moved for her husband - a military man from one military district to another. And only at the beginning of 1880 they settled in Moscow. A little-known fact: the princess, while abroad, read in English magazines about the organization of recreation for schoolchildren with poor health. As a result, in 1884, near the Pokrovskoye - Streshnevo - Glebovo estate, she created the first country shelter and attracted benefactors. Gymnasium students with poor health were sent to him according to the testimony of a doctor. The shelter worked from mid-May to mid-August. A farm was maintained for the shelter, from where fresh milk was delivered. It reminds us of the pioneer camps of the Soviet era. The princess herself visited the buildings of the orphanage every morning. So it is known that in the summer of 1886 there were 31 girls from 9 to 17 years old in the orphanage.

Mikhail Valentinovich was born in 1836, his father was the owner of the estate in the village. Belaya Kolp Prince Valentin Mikhailovich Shakhovskoy. In 1855, Mikhail graduated from the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers, was released as a cornet in Her Majesty's Guards Cavalier Guard Regiment. In 1859 he graduated from the Academy of the General Staff, served in the chief officer ranks under the department of the General Staff. In 1869, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the Riga military district. Perhaps it was there that he met Evgenia Fedorovna, because her father, Fyodor Logginovich Brevern, was an Estonian landowner.

In 1870, Mikhail Valentinovich was promoted to major general, assigned to the Ministry of the Interior and appointed governor of Estonia. Then, five years later, he was transferred to Tambov to the post of governor. He was awarded the orders of St. Stanislaus I degree and St. Anna I degree. Since 1879, the prince switched to court service, in charge of charity, settled with his wife in Moscow, and was promoted to lieutenant general. He was a district judge of the peace, the Vowel of the City Duma. Until the end of his life (he died in 1892) he was the honorary guardian of the Moscow Presence of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

After the death of her husband, Evgenia Fedorovna Shakhovskaya - Glebova - Streshneva became a very rich woman: in addition to the named Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo estate and households on B. Nikitskaya, she owned the famous Demidov villa San - Donato on the French Riviera, a pleasure yacht on the Mediterranean Sea. She owned her own railway saloon car for trips to the south, as well as estates - Shakhovsky in the village. Aleksandrovskoe, Glebov-Streshnev in the village. Ramenye of the Volokolamsk district (have not survived to this day). However, she preferred to spend time on her estate in Pokrovsky - Streshnev (Pokrovsky - Glebov).

During the construction of the Moscow - Vindavskaya railway, a railway station was built near the Pokrovskoye - Streshnevo estate. By decision of the board of the Society for the Construction of the Road in 1901, in honor of Evgenia Fedorovna Shakhovskaya - Glebova-Streshneva, a railway station was named in the Volokolamsk district, near her land holdings.

Evgenia Fedorovna did a lot of charity work: she was a member of the Moscow Zemstvo Committee for Prisons, a trustee of the Alexander Asylum, and patronized the arts and the theater. During the Russo-Japanese War, she set up an infirmary for 25 wounded soldiers on her estate, giving a miracle house "Elizavetino" to her friend, the famous dressmaker Nadezhda Lamanova, for this purpose. Along with charity, the princess also possessed entrepreneurial abilities: she successfully rented out her numerous possessions, both for a theater and for summer cottages. Excellent education, state of ancestors, outstanding abilities, marriage to M.V. Shakhovsky, leading his family tree from Rurik, brought Yevgenia Fedorovna to the front row of Russian high society.

In November 1918, the possessions of Princess E.F. Shakhovskaya - Glebova - Streshneva were nationalized.

Evgenia Fedorovna was arrested on October 29, 1919 for political reasons, and on the same day she was sentenced to imprisonment by the MChK. At that moment, she lived at the address: Moscow, Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, building 19, apartment 10, that is, in her former possession. She was released two and a half years later - on February 9, 1922, and rehabilitated by the Moscow prosecutor's office in October 2003. After 1922, she went abroad. She lived in France, in Paris, on Boulevard Courcelles, 30. The date of her death is November 1924, Paris. Russkaya Gazeta dated November 14, 1924 posted a notice from relatives about the funeral of E.F. Shakhovskaya - Glebova - Streshneva. She is buried in the 17th arrondissement of Paris at the Batignolles cemetery. It is written on the tombstone that Princess Shakhovskaya - Glebova - Streshneva, nee Evgenia Brevern, 1840 - 1924, is buried here.

This was Evgenia Fedorovna Shakhovskaya - Glebova - Streshneva - a woman who gave her name to our native village.

Yaytsova T.A., director of the MBUK "Shakhov Museum"

Princess Natalya Shakhovskaya, the head of the famous community of sisters of mercy "Satisfy my sorrows", built a hospital, an orphanage, a medical assistant's school and an almshouse in Lefortovo. Why did a wealthy noblewoman choose the life of a cross sister? Why did the community build three temples at once on one patch? How did the sisters of mercy deal with professional burnout? Historian Nikita Brusilovsky answers these questions

Gate of the memorial building of the hospital

Merciful Sisters

Hospital square, house 2. City Clinical Hospital N29. Today it is known rather because one of the best maternity hospitals in Moscow is located on its territory. But even at the beginning of the 20th century, the famous community of sisters of mercy in the name of the icon of the Mother of God “Satisfy my sorrows” was located here. The territory of the hospital (large, with a park adjacent to it and a whole complex of outbuildings) seems to be the brainchild of the twentieth century. But among the typical hospital buildings of the seventies, several old buildings were lost - however, also typical for their time, as well as a small manor house and a temple. This part of the Lefortovo district was bought out for the community of sisters of mercy by Princess Natalya Borisovna Shakhovskaya.

This act of the princess in 1871 was not just an act of charity, but rather a necessity. Shakhovskaya, as the head of a large community of sisters of mercy, decided to expand her activities, which required an urgent move from Pokrovka Street - where the community had at its disposal a small mansion, once bought from the merchant Grigory Novichenkov. However, in order to appreciate the scale of the move, it is worth going back a little and saying a few words about the Russian sisters of mercy.

There are at least two opinions regarding the origins of the sisterhood in Russia. One argues that the sisterhood is a purely Russian phenomenon that appeared during the Crimean War, when there was a shortage of proper medical personnel. Women, wanting to prove themselves and contribute to the defense of the Crimea from the enemy, began to work on the battlefields as nurses, in fact, nurses. Subsequently, the idea was perceived and borrowed by the British.

According to the second opinion, the idea of ​​sisterhood, on the contrary, was borrowed from Europe, where it was popular among the Lutheran environment (communities of deaconesses), among Catholics (“daughters of mercy”). Slightly rethought, adapted to Russian reality, she quickly took root in Russia, and the number of merciful sisters began to grow sharply. But the truth is still in the middle.

The ideas of the sisterhood arose and developed autonomously. Long before the Crimean War, in the 1840s, several communities of sisters of mercy appeared first in St. Petersburg (the most famous Holy Trinity), then in Moscow (under the patronage of Dr. Haaz). In full force, they began to function precisely during the Crimean campaign, so until now the sisters of mercy evoke a strong association with caring for the wounded.

A distinctive feature of the Russian sisterhood was that the idea of ​​creating such communities was a purely private initiative, in contrast to Europe, where women were united within the church community. As a result, in Russia the sisters of mercy did not take monastic vows.

The main thing is that the idea of ​​the sisterhood came from the nobility. As early as the middle of the 19th century in Russia, women began to actively manifest themselves in social service, in works of mercy. Even the Ladies' Guardianship of the Poor was created. It saw its task in attracting women to care for those in need. The ladies' society, the ladies' committee formed the backbone of the future communities of sisters of mercy.

A rare portrait of Princess Natalya Borisovna Shakhovskaya in the form of a sister of mercy Image from pravmir.ru

Resentment, loneliness or personal example?

Princess Shakhovskaya. A brilliantly educated noblewoman who speaks several foreign languages, composes poetry and music. In her youth, she was the maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. And suddenly - a sister of mercy. Of course, as in many other cases, personal history played a significant role here.

Natalya Borisovna Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya married Prince Dmitry Shakhovsky for love. But their marriage was "almost childless", for those times, for sure. The couple had only one daughter, who, having matured a little, married a foreigner and left for Rome. There was no connection with her. Obviously, parting with her daughter was quite painful for Princess Shakhovskaya. Soon the marriage itself broke up. Formally, the princess and the prince remained husband and wife, but they lived separately, although they were not officially divorced. The princess was widowed in 1863, at the age of forty-three.

The unfortunate fate of women, loneliness - it is possible that this is the desire of the princess to actively express herself in the social field. Shakhovskaya was religious, by the way, her confessor was an outstanding Moscow preacher, Archpriest Valentin Amfiteatrov. She thought a lot about what to devote her life to. And the decision to devote himself to charity lay on the surface.

There was also a personal example. Her own sister, Nadezhda Borisovna Trubetskaya, created the Brotherly-loving Society for the Supply of the Poor with Apartments (built in Lefortovo), the Komissarov vocational school in Blagoveshchensky Lane (named after Osip Komissarov, who saved Emperor Alexander II during the assassination attempt by Karakozov in 1866), the Kseninsky children's shelter, and the Ladies' Committee for the Care of the Wounded (the future Russian Red Cross Society).

In a word, before the eyes of Natalya Borisovna there was a wonderful example of a woman in charity, which was possible to focus on.

An old friend, a family doctor, and most importantly, a mentor for Shakhovskaya was the “holy doctor” Haaz. The ideas of caring for the needy, which the doctor preached with his own life, could not help touching Shakhovskaya. Haaz was the very person who was not only actively involved in charity work (he created the Police Hospital, where he received everyone), but also stood at the origins of the sisterhood in Russia.

When, in 1808, Empress Maria Feodorovna demanded an improvement in the quality of patient care at the Pavlovsk hospital, it was Haaz, the chief physician of the hospital, who replaced retired soldiers in the hospital staff with female medical personnel. In his opinion, women not only take better care of the sick, but are also able to provide moral support to recovering patients. And when in 1848 a cholera epidemic raged in Moscow, Haaz created the Nikolskaya community of sisters of mercy. In 1863, the widowed princess joined it.

The princess worked hard at the Yauza hospital for laborers, lived and worked at the Police Hospital, and eventually led a group of thirty sisters in the Nikolsky community. At some point, she realized that it was time to act independently, especially since the means allowed.

In 1866, Shakhovskaya bought an outbuilding on Pokrovka, where the first branch of the community of sisters of mercy "Satisfy my sorrows" was opened, designed to work at hospitals: Yauzskaya, Policeskaya, Ekaterininskaya, as well as at the Military Hospital in Lefortovo. All expenses of the community were covered by the princess.

Charity Center

In 1871, a new cholera epidemic raged in Moscow. She became a test of the strength of the sisters of mercy. The scale of the epidemic was monstrous - after all, as a result of the reforms carried out in the 60s, a huge number of liberated peasants flocked to Moscow in search of work.

The medical staff stopped coping with the situation, some even fled, but the merciful sisters were not afraid of the epidemic. This not only strengthened the position of the Satisfy My Sorrows community, but also attracted new members, as well as private philanthropists. One of them was Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.

In 1871, Shakhovskaya sold her estate near Serpukhov. With the proceeds (150 thousand rubles) he buys from the merchant Matveev a large plot with a house in Lefortovo.
Lefortovo, for Moscow at the end of the 19th century, is not at all the center of the city, so the land there is inexpensive. In addition, the oldest military hospital in Russia, created by Emperor Peter I, was located in Lefortovo.

If we recall that one of the goals of the sisterhood is to help the wounded on the battlefield, it becomes clear why Shakhovskaya chose to focus her activities in this particular area of ​​Moscow. Many sisters worked in parallel in two hospitals, many transferred to the community from the Military Hospital.

Initially, the purchased plot was small. On it in 1872-75 according to the project of architects M.D. Bykovsky and P.I. Ivanov, a rather modest, brick, three-story building in the pseudo-Russian style was erected. In many ways, the building was typical, comfortable and functional, with a two-tier house church that divided the building into two wings - male and female sections.

Entrance to the hospital. Dove flies through the arch

Mosaic icon "Assuage my sorrows" above the entrance

The hospital was designed for 200 patients, partially paid. It had a psychiatric department (on the third floor), which was headed by the famous doctor Korsakov. I must say that the psychiatric department was a fairly new phenomenon for Moscow. There were also therapeutic, surgical and gynecological departments. Severe patients were placed on the second floor; the sisters lived on the first floor and there was a day hospital. The conditions in the hospital were very good, and, as the newspapers of those years wrote, "the situation is close to home."

The main house church was consecrated in honor of the icon “Assuage My Sorrows”, and was richly decorated: an oak iconostasis, marble, carpets embroidered by sisters, stucco, and paintings. The wards for seriously ill patients adjoined the temple directly. Sliding glass partitions allowed them to listen to divine services without leaving their bed. The same idea was subsequently accepted in the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of the Sisters of Mercy.

The death rate in the hospital was quite high, so the issue of organizing an orphanage at the community was acute and immediate. The first shelter for the children of dead women and foundlings for 36 people was located in the building of the community on Pokrovka in 1872.

In 1873, 62 children of different ages were already kept in the orphanage at the personal expense of Princess Natalya Borisovna. Their upbringing was done by the Frenchman Movillon, who converted to Orthodoxy, and one of the sisters of mercy. Over time, an elementary school was organized in the orphanage, allowing children to arrange their lives in the future.

True, the department for boys did not last long, only nine years, because the princess decided to make the orphanage purely for women. In 1879, a four-year women's school was opened at the orphanage, where teachers were trained for urban and rural schools. Education, depending on the conditions, was paid and ranged from 50 to 200 rubles a year. In 1883, exactly half of the students (25 people) were already studying at the expense of the community. True, the orphanage and the school were merged due to financial difficulties.

In 1895, Shakhovskaya initiated the construction of a detached three-story building for an orphanage, where orphans' bedrooms, playrooms, and classrooms were located in spacious rooms. The children stayed here until they came of age. In the same building, a paramedic school was opened, in which junior medical staff and nurses were trained.

The courses worked for the whole city. Having finished them, the graduate could get a job in any of the medical institutions in Moscow, and not just in the community. Although, of course, many graduates of the orphanage and women's courses subsequently became members of the community of sisters of mercy "Satisfy my sorrows." In the same year, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna took the orphanage under her patronage.

Three churches for one community

In general, the community had many difficulties. It has developed, covering with its activities more and more people in need of help. So, for example, during the Serbian-Turkish war of 1876, the sisters were seconded to the Russian Red Cross Society, where up to 500 wounded received help from them daily.

During the Russian-Turkish war in 1877-78, Shakhovskaya built a temporary wooden hospital on the territory of the community, which allowed additional care for 200 wounded (later it was dismantled).

But the sisters helped not only on the battlefields, in peacetime their activities spread far beyond Moscow. The community quickly gained nationwide fame and had its offices in other cities of Russia, and the sisters of mercy traveled to establish activities even in the Asian part of Russia. In Yakutia, for example, in 1892 the community “Satisfy my Sorrows” opened a leper colony, which can be compared to a modern hospice.

Natalya Borisovna Shakhovskaya continually took out loans, mortgaged buildings so that the normal work of the community could be organized. In 1881, shortly before his death, Emperor Alexander II, as a token of the high merits of the princess, took the community under his personal protection. This partly helped to improve the situation. In the future, in all official documents, the community was called the Alexander Community of Sisters of Mercy.

I must say that the next ruler, Alexander III, did not bypass the attention of the sisters of mercy. When, in 1883, Shakhovskaya was unable to repay the debts on loans taken for development, the emperor covered all the expenses, outlining the way for state funding of the sisters of mercy.

Already after the tragic death of Alexander II, the lower tier of the house church was consecrated in honor of his heavenly patron, the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky. The consecration of the temple was not only a tribute to the memory of the emperor, but also an urgent need. It began to be used as a "mourning temple", where deceased patients were buried. Alas, the number of deaths only grew. And therefore, in 1902, in order to separate the relatives of the deceased and the patients being treated, it was decided to build a separate church in the courtyard of the community.

The second building of the hospital. Now the premises of the former temple are adapted for medical needs.

It was erected according to the project of the architect I.I. Pozdeev at the expense of the merchant I.A. Menshikov. The church is very simple, with brickwork, harmoniously fit into the hospital complex. It was distinguished only by an eight-pitched roof, as in the Novgorod temple tradition, and a bell tower adjoining on one side, and on the other, a hall for coffins with the dead. The temple was consecrated on October 10, 1903 in honor of the Resurrection of the Word and became the third temple of the community.

Church of the Resurrection of the Word was built in 1874. Refurbished from 2000 to 2005. In Soviet times, it was occupied by third-party organizations

Shelter for sisters

In the first years of the community's existence, Natalya Borisovna wrote the charter with her own hand. He was pretty harsh. The sisters made a whole series of vows, which, of course, were not monastic. A sister of mercy could leave the community at any time and start her own family.

Princess Natalya Shakhovskaya, head of the community of sisters of mercy in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Assuage my sorrows" Photo from histcenter.mephi.ru

But these conditions cannot be called easy either. Obedience, non-acquisitiveness, chastity, renunciation of worldly temptations “for the sake of the afflicted” - a vow given by applicants for the title of sister of mercy. But first, the subjects were sent to the most difficult sanitary work, and only if the women knew how to cope with them and did not lose heart, they were transferred to the category of sisters of mercy.

The sisters of mercy received medical education here in the community and could later become cross sisters - this was already the third category in the hierarchy of the sisterhood. Princess Shakhovskaya herself was ordained a sister of the cross in 1871. She received a pectoral cross in the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery from the hands of Patriarch Hierofei of Antioch. The cross sisters took a more strict vow. In all respects, their life can be called a real asceticism.

In general, according to Shakhovskaya, a woman who is ready to devote every minute of her life to the cause of mercy can be called a sister of mercy. The sisters worked without days off and for free, daily consoling and caring for people suffering from illnesses. The charter stipulated that in order to exclude idleness and for the benefit of the community, the sisters needed to do needlework. Shakhovskaya did not like laziness and believed that idleness was the mother of all vices. That is why the sisters of mercy had no leisure.

In order to switch and take a break from caring for the sick, in order to restore their physical and mental strength, the sisters embroidered icons and carpets, which contributed to the prosperity of the community. The icon of the Mother of God “Satisfy my Sorrows”, embroidered by the princess herself, has been preserved and is currently in the church of Peter and Paul on Soldatskaya Street.

Church of St. Ap. Peter and Paul across the street from the hospital

“The boss's house” was a building that was preserved from the previous owners and bought along with a piece of land. This small Empire mansion, according to legend, belonged to Count Orlov and was built either by Gilardi or Beauvais, but most likely by one of their students.

House of Princess Shakhovskaya; fragment of an ornamental frieze and architraves

The princess herself lived in this house, meetings of the board of trustees were held here and ceremonial meetings were held. But over time, it became obvious that the sisters themselves might need help, their life was very stressful, and the number only increased every day. If in 1872 there were 75 people in the community, then by the end of the century their number exceeded 400.

The princess gave one of the wings of her own house as an almshouse for the sisters of mercy. But already in 1895, the same architect Pozdeev built a separate hospital-orphanage, which, like an orphanage, was taken under her wing by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Charity empire

Many experts, not without reason, call the Alexander community of sisters of mercy a charitable empire. This term does not quite correspond to reality, however, it allows us to emphasize the scope of the community's activities and the role that it played in the domestic system of charity.

There was a hospital, an orphanage, an almshouse for sisters of mercy, paramedic courses, departments throughout Russia, and even an ambulance train equipped with everything necessary for conducting operations in the field, which traveled all over the front during the First World War. And all this was initiated by one woman who managed to rally like-minded people around her. When the princess died in 1906, probably half of Moscow came to bury her.

Among others, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna came to say goodbye and pay her debt to the memory of Shakhovskaya. Shakhovskaya was buried in a crypt under the temple of Alexander Nevsky. She did not leave a legacy that could provide the community in the future, so in 1907 the community was taken over by the city.

For some time after the revolution, during the Civil War, when typhus was raging in Moscow, the community functioned as a typhoid hospital. But the temples were liquidated, bricked up, the bell tower was demolished, the crypt was walled up and, apparently, ruined. When the community was officially disbanded in 1920, a hospital named after Bauman was organized on its territory. The temples were given over to the library and administrative premises. During the Great Patriotic War, an evacuation hospital was located here, later the territory became the City Clinical Hospital N 29. For historical memory, it is probably important that the leitmotif remained the same, the territory retained its original purpose, and even the nursing school - the first Soviet nursing school - for a long time she was here, on the Hospital Square.

On the territory of the hospital

Memorial plaque

In 1999, through the efforts of the parish of Peter and Paul, the Church of the Resurrection was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and again began to function as a house church at the hospital. Historic buildings have been restored and still remind us of the once thriving philanthropic empire. However, the original temple in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Satisfy my sorrows" has not been restored. It remains to wait…

The first tangible costs of financing the Community date back to the time when it existed on Pokrovka at the Police Hospital. Shakhovskaya, at her own expense, founded the aforementioned orphanage in the former Novichkov mansion. Natalya Borisovna also purchased the Matveev estate in Lefortovo with her own money, and the renovation of the palace building was financed by philanthropists. The first construction in the Lefortovo estate was carried out again at the princess's own expense - we are talking about a two-story extension to the palace that has not survived to this day, which originally housed an orphanage that moved from Pokrovka, and the economic services of the Community. The construction of the extension, which took place in 1872-1873, coincided with the sale by the princess to the merchant N.I. Gubonin for 35 thousand rubles of the Verzilovo estate of the Serpukhov district of the Moscow province, which she inherited from her husband. Other immovable property of N.B. Shakhovskaya was not there. Family correspondence, preserved in the Department of Written Sources of the State Historical Museum, testifies that in the letters sent to the name of the Shakhovsky princes, the addresses and surnames of the house owners put on the envelopes were repeatedly changed, i.e. The family did not have their own home in the capital. The dowry for Natalya Borisovna, nee Princess Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, received by the groom, was very modest, and the surviving correspondence shows that the Shakhovsky family expressed great displeasure about this. The personal funds of the princess were very limited, and in the future all the main buildings on the territory of the Community were financed mainly by benefactors. A clear confirmation of this is the list of persons awarded the highest awards in connection with the thirtieth anniversary of the Alexander community “Satisfy my sorrows”, cited in the book by S.A. Kel-tsev. The trustees of the Community, named in the list, were awarded "for the shown diligence", i.e. for many years of generous charity. Obviously, “zeal” was significant if one of the awarded was awarded the title of a real state councilor (civilian general), or a commerce adviser, many received the title of Honorary Citizens or were awarded the orders of Stanislav, Vladimir, etc. It is known, for example, that the Honorary Trustees of the Community G.M. Lianozov, E.I. Molchanova, P.A. Mukhanov made repeated multi-thousand contributions in favor of the Community. Donated not only money - G.M. Lianozov purchased a two-story mansion, standing on the territory immediately adjacent to the Community, and presented it in honor of the Sacred Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. You can also name such a gift as a dacha for orphanage children, located not far from the Pushkino station of the Northern Railway.
Annual reports on the activities of the Community, preserved in the archives of the Russian State Library and the Lefortov Museum, testify to a scrupulous accounting of all cash receipts. The donors are named by name and the amounts they contributed are indicated. The amounts received "for the compassionate service" of the sisters of mercy of the Community in several hospitals in Moscow and Yaroslavl, as well as in private homes are listed; separately listed are all contributions for paid patients, who were mainly people with mental disorders and terminally ill from wealthy families. Separately, the payment by name paid by the employees of the Community for meals is shown. Even the money extracted from church mugs and from the sale of kitchen scraps is counted! 60 The reports list all expenses in the same detail, and the number of items in this section of the report is staggering. Expenses are divided into sections. The first section contains all the amounts for the maintenance of the personnel of the Community: the cost of food, the salary of the cook, servants, award amounts - the list has many positions. Not even forgotten, for example, a bathhouse and soap for the servants: one visit to the bathhouse cost six kopecks, but there were 2016 baths in a year, and this already translates into the amount of 120 rubles and 96 kopecks. A separate line contains the salaries of doctors and their housing money. Detailed lists of expenses are given in the sections "Maintenance of the almshouse for the elderly sisters of mercy", "Maintenance of the orphanage". In the latter, significant sums were spent on paying teachers. The cost of maintaining the premises is shown in a separate section: heating, lighting, cleaning of premises, cleaning of the yard and adjacent streets, cleaning of chimneys, removal of sewage, etc. The details of the report are sometimes surprising. Thus, when calculating the cost of water supply, it is shown that, on average, about 10 buckets of water were consumed per person per day, and in the “laundry” section it is written in a separate line how much it cost to wash and iron the head of the Community. The expenses for the maintenance of horses, telephone subscriptions, stationery, insurance and taxes, gifts for children, for funerals are taken into account (72 rubles 50 kopecks were paid to the funeral home for the burial of two dead sisters of mercy), pensions for former employees, etc. are not forgotten. The annual maintenance of the Community was calculated in appreciable sums; for example, in 1902 the Community spent 83,967 rubles. 74 kop. At that time, the amount was quite significant!
One can only wonder how such a versatile, cumbersome and complex economy could be managed by Princess Shakhovskaya, who was brought up in the traditional conditions of a noble family and did not receive any financial education. Using today's terminology, we can say that Natalya Borisovna Shakhovskaya was a talented manager and, at the same time, a self-taught manager. How much talent, labor and soul her asceticism demanded! It seems that the most difficult area in the economic activity of the Community was the construction work: two three-story brick buildings were erected, which were properly equipped, three churches were founded, a blind brick fence and entrance gates were built around the Community, which had a “solid brick vault without the use of reinforced concrete beams and rails.
Of course, everything could not go smoothly, and one period in the life of N.B. Shakhovskoy and the Community created by her was very close to the tragic. In the 80s, having conceived the construction of a hospital-shelter, Natalya Borisovna pledged all her possessions in Lefortovo to the Moscow Credit Society for 120,000 rubles. However, it was not possible to pay off the debt on time, and a scandal erupted - all the property of the Community was described and had to "go under the hammer"! One of the circumstances that led to this critical situation was probably that by the end of the 19th century, the capital of poorly educated merchants began to be inherited by their children, who were already brilliantly educated, understood art and began to invest a lot of money in collecting: Morozov , Shchukin, Ryabushinsky, the list goes on. In addition, it has become fashionable to create charitable institutions in their own name: the psychiatric clinic of Varvara Khludova-Morozova, the obstetric clinic of the Nosovs, the clinic of eye diseases of the Alekseevs, etc. Charity as such has not declined (Savva Morozov finances the construction of the Moscow Art Theater building, Bakhrushin creates a theater museum, Maltsev allocates a lot of money to create today's Museum of Fine Arts, etc.). Great financial difficulties N.B. Shakhovskaya, fortunately, resolved safely; benefactors were found, albeit with some delay, and most importantly, the imperial family continued to patronize her. In 1887, by the highest permission, it was ordered to give her 100,000 rubles to pay off her debts. from funds held by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, Natalya Borisovna turned to the City Duma for help, and her request was heard. In his memoirs, a very respected scientist, Boris Nikolaevich Chicherin, probably not knowing all the details of the case, reading the high-profile press, allowed himself to write about Shakhovskaya the following words: ". Looking ahead, we will say that by the end of her life, Natalya Borisovna, remaining the head of the Community until her last day, transferred all the property of the Community to the possession of the city, leaving only the palace in her ownership, but she bequeathed it after her death to Moscow. In obituaries dedicated to her memory, the property transferred by the princess into the possession of the city was estimated at one and a half million rubles.

"Assuage my sorrows"
E.P. Miklashevskaya
M.S. Tseplyaeva

Philosophy of health [Collection of articles] Medicine Team of authors --

Community of Sisters of Mercy "Assuage My Sorrows"

Princess Natalya Borisovna Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya received an excellent education, was highly moral and religious. By the way, her aunt was Vera Fedorovna Vyazemskaya, the mistress of the Russian Parnassus - Ostafieva.

In 1863, having lost her husband, 43-year-old Princess Natalya Borisovna Shakhovskaya became a sister of mercy. And she went to where it was the hardest - to the Police Hospital. Leaving the noble apartments, she settled right there, at the hospital, in order to devote most of her time to the sick.

Her choice was not accidental: the family doctor and friend of the Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskys was Pyotr Fedorovich Gaaz. It was he who was named by the princess as her spiritual mentor. It was under his guidance at the Police Hospital that she learned to care for the sick. A year later, Natalya Borisovna led a group of 30 sisters of mercy, and in 1864 she created the community "Satisfy my sorrows."

You can describe the history of the community, the construction of a hospital, an orphanage for girls, a church. But can you describe the sleepless nights spent next to the sick, can you tell how it is to look into the eyes of a dying person?.. During the cholera epidemic, hired servants ran away from the city hospitals, and then sisters of mercy came to their place, forgetting about the fear for their lives .

The sisters of the community traveled to Tver, Kursk, St. Petersburg, worked in the Irkutsk leper colony. On the Volga, not far from Nizhny, Natalya Borisovna set up a floating hospital to fight cholera that had risen once again. Neither the Serbian-Turkish (1876), nor the Russian-Turkish (1877), nor the First World War passed them by. For participation in the Serbian-Turkish war, N. B. Shakhovskaya was awarded the personal award of Princess Natalia Serbskaya. More than 100 sisters from the community worked on the Russian-Turkish front. Almost 60 received the wounded in Moscow; in a little over a year, 3,700 soldiers received help in the community hospital! Emperor Alexander II, for the merits of the sisters, took the community under his protection, and it became known as Alexandrovskaya.

To this day, a beautiful mansion stands on Hospital Square in Moscow, which for many years served as a home for the sisters of mercy. Here were the apartments of the princess, and the hall where everyone gathered on solemn occasions. Nearby are several rebuilt, but still erected Shakhovskaya hospital buildings. They still serve people: since 1922, these have been the buildings of the Moscow Clinical Hospital No. N. E. Bauman.

In the same 1922, the first Soviet school of nurses was established under her and until recently operated. During the Great Patriotic War, the 5002nd hospital worked here. In the first two weeks of the war in 1941 alone, he received about 1,000 wounded. This became possible not only thanks to the high professionalism of doctors and nurses, but also to the mercy and self-sacrifice that Princess Shakhovskaya and the sisters of her community filled these walls with. After the war, the hospital developed rapidly: wonderful practitioners worked here, weekly general hospital conferences were held, technical facilities were improved ... In the 60s, the hospital became a major scientific and practical center for doctors not only from hospitals and polyclinics of the region, but also from the whole city.

Gradually, the lost ones are being revived here: they are turning to the history of the “Assuage My Sorrows” community, creating a museum of the community and hospitals. The over-gate icon “Satisfy my Sorrows” has already been recreated, the Church of the Resurrection of the Word has been restored, the bell tower demolished in the 1920s has been restored. There is a dream to install a bust of the princess on a marble pedestal in the courtyard of the hospital. The issue of returning the historical name to the hospital - “Satisfy my sorrows” to them. N. B. Shakhovskoy.

In the 130th anniversary year, the International Day of the Nurse was celebrated here in a special way: in the assembly hall of the hospital, words of gratitude were expressed to 14 nurses who had worked within its walls for more than 30, 40 and even 50 years. Flowers, commemorative medals with a portrait of Princess Shakhovskaya and the words "For compassion and mercy", smiles, restrained happiness, attention - and gratitude.

The first medal "For Compassion and Mercy" was Maya Alexandrovna Shuvaeva: she is the longest - 58 years! - Worked in the 29th hospital. Medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of Moscow", the Order of the Patriotic War - these are just some of her awards.

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