Meri Eristawi

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Meri Scharwaschidze as Court Lady (1912)

Meri Eristawi (Georgian მერი ერისთავი-შერვაშიძე; born Meri Sharwaschidze in Batumi in 1888 ; died on January 21, 1986 in Paris ) was a Georgian and Russian princess who became the beauty queen and one of Coco Chanel's first fashion models after emigrating .

Life

Meri's parents were the major general and Abkhazian prince Prokof Sharwaschidze (1840–1915, პროკოპი ლევანის ძე შარვაშიძე) and Nino Mkheidze (1864–1950). Since her father was a member of the Russian State Duma , she grew up in Saint Petersburg since 1906 . There Meri became the maiden of honor of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna . After the death of the father, the family lived mainly in Kutaisi , Georgia. There Sharwaschidze married her fiancé Prince Gigusha (Georg) Eristawi, an adjutant of Tsar Nicholas II, in 1918 .

In 1921 she was able to leave on one of the last ships. She met her husband in Constantinople , where she entered and won a beauty contest. The couple emigrated to Paris and settled in the expensive 16th arrondissement near the Bois de Boulogne . Meri's mother and sisters Elene (1891–1926) and Tamar (1896–1931) moved in with them. Her mother sewed in one of the Paris studios. The times of need were over when the family was able to open their own salon.

Meri Eristawi worked as a successful model for Coco Chanel during this time. She was painted by Savely Sorin (1878–1953) while her husband was portrayed by Tamara de Lempicka . Although Sorin's painting was dedicated to the Georgian people, it now hangs in the Monaco Palace. Her husband died young because the marriage had remained childless, and she raised two children from one sister.

After she met the Georgian poet Galaktion Tabidze in Paris in 1935, the poet dedicated a number of poems to her. Another poem by Tabidse, "You married that night, Meri", is associated with Meri Eristawi by many Georgians. She has always emphasized, however, that the poem was published for the first time three years before her marriage.

Meri Shervashidze spent the last few years of her life in a nursing home. She is buried in her husband's grave in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois .

Web links

Commons : Meri Eristawi  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Other and foreign language transcriptions: Scherwaschidze, Sharvashidze, Shervashidze
  2. ↑ Фрейлина и адъютант (Russian, with a picture of the Lempicka portrait; post of July 28, 2011)
personal data
SURNAME Eristawi, Meri
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sharwaschidze, Meri (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Georgian and Russian princess
DATE OF BIRTH 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Batumi
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1986
Place of death Paris