Maria Kalergis

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Maria Kalergis (CK Norwid)

Maria Kalergis , born Maria Countess of Nesselrode-Ehreshoven , (born August 7, 1822 in Warsaw , † May 22, 1874 ibid) was a Polish pianist and patron .

Life

Maria von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven was the daughter of the Russian hero of the Battle of Borodino General Friedrich Karl Reichsgraf von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven and niece of the Russian Chancellor Karl Robert von Nesselrode . Maria's Polish mother Tekla Nałęcz-Górska (1795–1848) was the sister of Chamberlain Józef Górsk at the court of Alexander I in St. Petersburg . After the divorce of her parents in 1823, Maria and her younger sister came to St. Petersburg to their uncle Karl Robert von Nesselrode in St. Petersburg, where she was adopted by her relative Jelena Dmitrijewna Swertschkowa, daughter of Count Dmitri Alexandrovich Gurjew , and given the surname Swertschkowa. Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky attributed a bright future to her.

In 1839 the 16-year-old Maria von Nesselrode-Ehrenhoven married the merchant of Greek origin and heir to a fortune of millions, Jan Kalergi (1814–1863), who gave his wife 600,000 gold rubles and the property with his mother's house in St. Petersburg at 12 Nevsky Prospect . After the birth of their daughter Marie Kalergi (1840–1877), the couple separated. Jan Kalergi went to Italy , and Maria Kalergis received a considerable fortune from him.

Kalergis lived in St. Petersburg, Paris , Warsaw and Baden-Baden . She took music lessons from Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt . She spoke Polish , French , German , English , Italian and Russian . Her salon in Paris' Rue d'Anjou was a meeting place for Parisian society. Her admirers included General Louis-Eugène Cavaignac , Foreign Minister Count Louis-Mathieu Molé , Alexandre Dumas the Elder , Alfred de Musset , Liszt, Chopin, Théophile Gautier , who dedicated the poem Symphonie en blanc majeur to her, Heinrich Heine , who dedicated her In 1851 he dedicated his poem The White Elephant , and Cyprian Kamil Norwid , who dedicated the three-act tragedy Pierścień Wielkiej Damy, czyli Ex-machina Durejko (The Ring of the Great Lady or Ex-Machina Durejko, 1872) to her. Eugène Sue immortalized her in his novel Le Juif errant (The Eternal Jew, 1844-1845) as the rich daughter Adrienne de Cardoville of Count de Rennepont.

Kalergis carried out secret orders from the Russian court. It played an important role in the rise of Louis Napoléon Bonaparte , as described by Victor Hugo in his essay Histoire d'un crime (story of a crime, 1877, 1878). She helped Stanisław Moniuszko to stage his opera Halka in 1858 at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw , and organized a benefit concert in his favor. She took over Richard Wagner's debts and financed his concerts in Paris and Brussels . She also supported other artists.

Kalergis settled in Warsaw in the late 1850s and lived a more modest life in her father's apartment. With others she founded the Warsaw Music Institute, which later became the Warsaw Conservatory . From 1857 to 1871 she appeared as a pianist. After the death of her husband in 1863 Kalergis married the hero of the defense of Sevastopol , police chief and director of the Warsaw theater Sergei Sergejewitsch Mukhanov (1833-1897). In the last years of her life she suffered from severe rheumatism and was cared for by her husband. Her letters to her daughter and others reflect the social life of her time.

Kalergis was buried in the Warsaw Powązki Cemetery. After the news of her death, Liszt performed a memorial concert in Weimar with a sonata specially composed for her .

In 1857 Kalergis' daughter Marie Kalergi married the diplomat Franz Karl Coudenhove (1825-1893) in Paris , with whom she had the son Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1859 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Sophie Drinker Institute: Kalergis, Kalergis-Muchanow, von Mouchanoff-Kalergis, Kalergi, Kalergy, Kalerchi, Mouchanoff, Muchnoff, Muchnov, Maria, Marie, geb. (Countess) Nesselrode (accessed on August 7, 2019).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Cyprian Kamil Norwid: Мария Калергис (Калержи) (accessed on August 7, 2019).
  3. ↑ FemBio: Maria Kalergis (accessed on August 7, 2019).
  4. ↑ П. А. Вяземский: Полное собрание сочинений. Т. 2 . St. Petersburg 1879, p. 15-16 .
  5. ↑ a b c Большие витрины - большие жильцы . In: Невское время (Санкт-Петербург) . No. 209 , November 24, 2007 ( spb.ru [PDF; accessed August 7, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Symphonie en blanc majeur (accessed August 7, 2019).
  7. ↑ The White Elephant (accessed August 7, 2019).
  8. ↑ Question on the poem "The White Elephant" (accessed on August 7, 2019).
  9. ^ Marie Lipsius (ed.): Marie von Mouchanoff-Kalergis born. Countess Nesselrode in letters to her daughter; a picture of life and character . Breitkopf & Härtel , Leipzig 1911.
personal data
SURNAME Kalergis, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nesselrode-Ehreshoven, Maria von (birth name); Muchanow-Kalergis, Maria (2nd marriage)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish pianist and patron
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1874
Place of death Warsaw