Read Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman Online
Authors: Robert K. Massie
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #History, #Biography, #Politics
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman (109 page)
Catherine’s life divides into two halves almost equal in length. From 1729 to 1762, she was a German princess and a Russian grand duchess; from 1762 until her death in 1796, she was the empress of Russia. The primary source of information about the first half of her life is her own
Memoirs
, which begin with her earliest recollections and continue to 1758, when she was twenty-nine and under stress at the court of Empress Elizabeth. Naturally, her memoirs display the subjective perspective of any memoir writer; even so, they are invaluable.
Catherine wrote her memoirs in French, and at least four translations have been published in English. The first of these was by Alexander Herzen, a celebrated Russian author and exile in London; this work appeared in 1859. An American, Katharine Anthony, retranslated and edited the memoirs and published them in London and New York in 1927. Catherine’s memoirs in the original French were edited and published by Dominique Maroger in Paris, then translated into English by Moura Budberg, appearing in New York in 1955. Modern Library brought out a new translation by Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom in 2005 that put Catherine’s reminiscences in correct chronological sequence, which Catherine herself and previous translators never achieved. I have used the first three of these translations. They are identified in the notes as follows: Maroger and Budberg’s version is denoted simply as
Memoirs
. Herzen’s translation is identified as Herzen. The Anthony translation is denoted by
Memoirs
(Anthony).
1
“that idiot”: Haslip
2
“It was told me”:
Memoirs
, 25–26
3
“He lived to be only twelve”: Ibid., 41
4
“Very early it was noticed”: Anthony, 27
5
“circumcision”: Ibid., 31
6
“every night at dusk”:
Memoirs
, 30
7
“I am convinced”: Anthony, 27
8
“All my life”:
Memoirs
, 30
9
“He always brought with him”: Anthony, 27
10
“Music to my ears”:
Memoirs
, 31
11
“She had a noble soul”: Ibid., 26
12
“the pupil”: Oldenbourg, 8
13
“One cannot always know”: Kaus, 11
14
“A large number of parrots”:
Memoirs
, 36
15
“I don’t know whether”: Anthony, 13
16
“agreeable and well-bred”:
Memoirs
, 33
17
“I knew that one day”: Ibid., 34
18
“Madame, you do not know”: Ibid., 49
19
“Galloped until”: Ibid., 38
20
“I was never caught”: Ibid.
21
“I knew nothing about love”: Ibid., 46
22
“My parents will not wish it”:
Memoirs
(Anthony), 28
23
“He was very good looking”:
Memoirs
, 46
1
“The empress is charmed”: Kaus, 19
2
“At the explicit command”: Ibid., 25
3
“I will no longer conceal”: Ibid., 26
4
“She lacked only wings”: Ibid., 27
5
“Next to the empress”: Ibid., 28
6
“The prince, my husband”: Ibid.
7
“She told me”:
Memoirs
, 50
1
“ambition, the opportunity for gain”: Ritter, 7
2
“opera, comedy, poetry, dancing”:
Memoirs
, 54
3
“the entire company”: Oldenbourg, 21
4
“Accept this gift”:
Memoirs
, 54
5
“The little princess of Zerbst”: Haslip, 24
6
“My Lord: I beg you”: Oldenbourg, 59
7
“The bedchambers were unheated”: Waliszewski, 23
8
“I had never seen anything”:
Memoirs
, 54
9
“In these last days”: Anthony, 69
10
“I found ready to wrap us”: Ibid., 71
11
“Here everything goes on”: Ibid.
12
“It is the bride”: Kaus, 42
1
“loved both his girls”: Rice, 15
2
“My father often repeated”: Bain,
Peter III
, 13
3
“She is a beauty”: Massie,
Peter the Great
, 806
4
“I was too young then”: Rice, 48
5
“knew of no other family”: Ibid.
6
“Your Majesty may create me”: Ibid., 61
7
“In public”: Longworth, 162
8
“exceedingly obliging and affable”: Rice, 47
9
“Madame, you must choose”: Ibid., 57
1
“I don’t belive there is a princess”: Massie, 806
2
“I am Russian, remember”: Bain,
Pupils of Peter the Great
, 125
3
“the happiest day of my life”: Oldenbourg, 48
4
“I see that Your Highness”: Bain,
Peter III
, 11
5
“utterly frivolous”: Ibid., 14
6
“extremely weak”: Ibid., 15
7
“This will be your last”: Oldenbourg, 52
8
“I cannot express”: Bain,
Peter III
, 13
9
“One promised”: Oldenbourg, 53
10
“as he spoke”: Ibid.
1
“I could wait no longer”: Kaus, 43
2
“All I have done for you”: Ibid.
3
“It was quite impossible”:
Memoirs
, 60
4
“one of the most handsome men”: Ibid., 61
5
“We are living like queens”: Kaus, 53
6
“for the first ten days”:
Memoirs
, 62
7
“because his aunt wished it”: Ibid.
8
“I blushed to hear”: Ibid.
1
“the external forms”: Madariaga,
Russia in the Age
, 6
2
“Search yourself with care”: Anthony, 82
3
“The change of religion”: Ibid., 81
4
“There I lay with a high fever”:
Memoirs
, 63
5
“the devil would take her”: Oldenbourg, 68
6
“Call Simon Todorsky”: Anthony, 83
7
“the ladies would speak”: Herzen, 28,
8
“my mother’s behavior”:
Memoirs
, 64
9
“I had become as thin as a skeleton”:
Memoirs
, 65
10
“My Lord, I make so bold”: Oldenbourg, 68
11
“Our good prince”: Kaus, 58
12
“I have had more trouble”: Ibid., 59
1
“If the empress would give”: Kaus, 50
2
“frivolous, indolent, running to fat”: Haslip, 34
3
“This horseplay will stop”: Herzen, 29
4
“If your mother has done something wrong”:
Memoirs
, 66
1
“She slept soundly”: Oldenbourg, 74
2
“I thought she was lovely”: Ibid., 75
3
“The forehead, eyes, neck, throat”: Ibid., 76
4
“I had learned it by heart”: Anthony, 84
5
“Her bearing … through the entire ceremony”: Ibid.
6
“real little monsters, both of them”: Oldenbourg, 77
7
“The ceremony lasted four hours”: Ibid., 78
8
“Our situation is the same”: Ibid. 64 “one was almost suffocated”:
Memoirs
, 71
9
“My daughter conducts herself”: Oldenbourg, 79
10
“There was not a day”:
Memoirs
, 72
11
“I know that Your Highness has sent my brother”: Kaus, 65
12
“use my influence”:
Memoirs
, 72
1
“pedagogues”:
Memoirs
, 73
2
“got into ours”: Ibid., 74
3
“We allowed only the most amusing”: Ibid.
4
“While we were enjoying ourselves”: Ibid.
5
“Knowing how easily excited”: Ibid., 75
6
“When my mother was in a temper”: Ibid.
7
“In truth, at that time”: Ibid.
8
“Never in my whole life”: Ibid., 76
9
“I was afraid of not being liked”: Ibid., 77
10
“My respect for the empress”: Ibid.
11
“I must say”: Ibid., 78
12
“The very tall Monsieur Sievers”: Ibid.
13
“washed her hands”: Ibid., 79
1
“uncontrollable in his whims”: Ibid., 82
2
“he confided his childish pranks”: Ibid.
3
“and was on such bad terms”: Ibid., 84
4
“was very much to my liking”: Ibid.
5
“she ordered me to go”: Ibid., 91
6
“Your Highness, my very dear niece”: Troyat, 39
7
“He was a man of great intelligence”:
Memoirs
, 85
8
“I read his remarks again”: Ibid., 86
9
“What a pity”: Ibid., 86, footnote
10
“semi-darkness”: Ibid.
11
“almost with terror”: Ibid.
12
“he came up to me”: Kaus, 79
1
“About as discreet as a cannon ball”:
Memoirs
, 88
2
“All the attention”: Ibid., 92
3
“We spent our time walking”: Ibid. 93
4
“As my wedding day came nearer”: Ibid., 97
5
“severely scolded”: Ibid.
6
“We had a long, friendly talk”: Ibid., 97
7
“Her silver brocade wedding gown”: Oldenbourg, 95
8
“The procession infinitely surpasses”: Kaus, 85
9
“horribly heavy”:
Memoirs
, 98
10
“I begged the Princess of Hesse”: Ibid., 99
11
“I remained alone”: Ibid.
12
“How it would amuse my servants”: Ibid.
13
“And matters remained in this state”: Kaus, 86
14
“There was not a single man”
Memoirs
, 100
15
“The following day”: Ibid.
16
“My dear husband”: Ibid., 100
17
“I would have been ready”: Ibid., 101
18
“was the gayest marriage”: Kaus, 85
1
“Since my marriage”:
Memoirs
, 101
2
“At that time I would have given much”: Ibid., 102
3
“Our farewell was very loving”: Kaus, 89
4
“When the princess took leave”: Ibid.
5
“not to make me any sadder”: Anthony, 102
6
“I consider it necessary”: Kaus, 90
1
“From that moment on”: Herzen, 46
2
“I thought I would faint”:
Memoirs
, 10
3
“feared that I had grown”: Ibid.
4
“My mother did not know Russian”: Ibid., 104
5
“Through my servants”: Ibid., 105
6
“It is difficult to find an explanation”: Ibid.
7
“As for the previous dress”: Ibid., 149
1
“on the empress’s behalf”: Ibid., 106
2
“It seemed strange to us”: Ibid.,
3
“satisfied and pleased with me”: Ibid., 107
4
“I fear he may fall in love”: Ibid., 104
5
“At last my wish is fulfilled”: Kaus, 84
6
“this might serve his purposes”:
Memoirs
, 112
7
“He did not tell us what it was”: Ibid., 109
8
“a disrespectful little boy”: Ibid., 110
9
“let fly at him”: Ibid.
10
“We were dumfounded”: Ibid.
11
“She was like a Fury”: Ibid., 111
12
“One must admit”: Ibid
13
“We beg your pardon, Mama”: Ibid.
14
“had a great liking for the bottle”: Ibid., 112
15
“Your Highness should bear in mind”: Ibid., 116
16
“You talk and think of nothing”: Ibid.
17
“I cannot speak to you like this”: Ibid., 117
18
“The grand duke is asking for you”: Ibid.
19
“No, my father”: Ibid., 123
