Princess Maria Mikhailovna Golitzina (1834-1909), the Mistress of the Robe

I am interested in learning more about Princess Galitzine, the Mistress of the Robes. She was the elderly lady who carried Alexei to his Christening ceremony, with the child securely fastened to her so that he should not fall. I believe she not only carried Alexei to his Christening, but also other Imperial babies before him (including his sisters). As was mentioned, by the time of Alexei, she was an elderly lady and as such must have been doing this for quite a while. What are her dates of birth and death?

I am particularly curious to know just who she was to have such an important function? It certainly was an honor to carry those precious charges to their Christenings. What was the function of the Mistress of the Robes (besides this one) and why was she appointed to it?

Many thanks Sarai for this great question! :-)

I too read that the Princess Galitzine was the lady in waiting to previous tsars, and she apparently "by tradition" carried "all babies" to the font for baptism. (King's "Last Empress). By Alexei's christening she was indeed advanced in age, but what would be fascinating to find out more about is how she came to have this "tradition", how it was established.
Did she leave any reminiscences or such? As having lived through many tsars, and playing such an important role in Nicholas' family, she surely would have incredible interesting things to tell us

I've found the dates of other Golitsyns, but not her information yet. I know that she was christened Marie Golitsyn.

The Mistress of the Robes i know at least in the British monarchy, is a senior member of the Royal Household, probably the most senior. She has the responsibility of arranging the "rota" of the ladies in waiting. She attends State occasions, sometimes accompanies on State visits. Since the last couple of hundred years, the position became more of an honorary one, not what it once was, namely being in charge of the Queen's clothes and jewellery. She is someone usually always "titled" but never in permanent residence with the royal family.

Elisa,
Thank you for your explanation of the Mistress of the Robes position. I too would like to know how the Princess got involved in this tradition in the first place. I wonder if it was a tradition for all Mistresses of the Robe to do this or was it in particular for Princess Galitzine.

Welcome Sarai! :-)

A little information from Buxhoeveden's book "Princess Marie Mikhailovna Galitzine was a wonderful type of old Russia, belonging by birth and marriage to the greatest families of the country..."

Both she and Alexandra became greatly attached to one another. When the Princess died in 1910, Alexandra wrote to Princess Obolensky "J'ai perdu la plus grand amie que j'avais en Russie. Meme dans toute la famille, personne ne m'etait aussi proche". Perhaps someone who knows French can translate this properly? I can have a go but im not firm

It says in English that she was her greatest friend in Russia, who was so near to her. And also that the princess was like a family member.

Princess Marie was the third of the 4 daughters of Lieutenant-General Mikhail Vasilievich Pashkov (died1863) and his wife Maria nee Baranov(died 1887).Born on13 August 1836 she married SH Prince Vladimir Dimitrievitch Galitzin who died in 1888.He wasGeneral in the cavalry andadjutant-general to the emperor. The Princess died on 8 April 1910.Their is a picture of the sisters in Marvin Lyons "Russia :in original photographs 1860-1920" published in 1977 by Scribners in the USA and Routledge here in the UK

Serene Prince Vladimir Dmitievich Golitsyn (1815-1888)
General-Adjutant in 1864, General of Cavalry and Ober-Stalmeister in 1877 and Cavalier of the Order of Prince Saint Aleksander Nevsky in Diamonds in 1874. The couple had no sons and may not have had any children at all.

David

David,
I'm sure this is someplace else, but do you know the Russain and English  equivalent of Ober-Stalmeister?  I have been trying to understand the positions at Nicholas & Alexander's courts and still have no good chart of all the positions.
I could not find Ober-Stalmeister in my current info on the table of ranks.
Any help would be appreciated.
BobG

Ober-shal'meister = belonged to the second class in the Table of Ranks (Tabel o Rangah), but in the  Pridvornii (Court) rank it was accorded the first rank.

The person of course was in charge of the Stables. I do not know what the exact English equivalent may be, but perhaps Steward is appropriate?

The English spelling equates directly to the Russian form.

[Pridvornie]

These were the Pridvornie (Court) ranks as at 1913

Class 2 = Court Rank # 1

. Ober- kamerger,
. Ober- gofmarshal,
. Ober- gofmeister,
. Ober- shal'meister,
. Ober- yegermeister,
. Ober- shenk,
. Ober- tseremoniimeister,
. Ober- forshneider.

Class 3 = Court Rank # 2

. Gofmarshal,
. Shalmeister,
. Yegermeister,
. Gofmeister.

Class 4 vacant

Class 5 = Court Rank # 3

. Tseremoniimeister,
. Ober- Gofmeister attached to the Empress

Class 6 = Court Rank # 4

. Gofmeister attached to the Empress

[Ref: Svetskie Tseremoniali v Rossii, O. Zaharova, Moscow, 2003, pp 310-11]

The organization and titles were modified (reduced) from the original 1722 designations, which contained 10 Pridvornie classes.

[Ref: Tituli, Chini, Nagradi, G. Muraveev, St. P. 2003, p 98]

David,
I'm sure this is someplace else, but do you know the Russain and English  equivalent of Ober-Stalmeister?  I have been trying to understand the positions at Nicholas & Alexander's courts and still have no good chart of all the positions.
I could not find Ober-Stalmeister in my current info on the table of ranks.
Any help would be appreciated.
BobG

I believe that the English Court equivelent is Master of the Horse. Unlike Great Britain, this was a purely honorary title. It also was not an exclusive title as in GB. There was more than one Ober-Stalmeister at any given time.

David

There was more than one Ober-Stalmeister at any given time.

David

The Ober-shal'meister to Nikolai II was General Artur Alexandrovich von Grunwald, who served from 1897.

However there were a number of  Stal'meisteri.

Serene Prince Vladimir Dmitievich Golitsyn (1815-1888)
General-Adjutant in 1864, General of Cavalry and Ober-Stalmeister in 1877 and Cavalier of the Order of Prince Saint Aleksander Nevsky in Diamonds in 1874. The couple had no sons and may not have had any children at all.

According to www.vgd.ru/G/golicin.htm, the couple had a daughter Maria (St Petersburg 1865 - Paris 1933), who married Alexander Nikolaevich Voeykov (1865-1942) at St Petersburg in 1887.

In my book Maria's position is described as "Senior Mistress of Ceremonies of the Imperial Court and Lady-in-Waiting in attendance of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.".

Her sister Olga Buturlina was Director of the Pavlovski Institute for young girls. Her husband was Lt. Gen. Nikolai Nikolaevich Buturlin.

Her sister Alexandra Apraksina was the "Dame a portrait" of the Court, Mistress of the Court of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna. Her husband, Victor Vladimirovich Apraksin, was Grand Marshal of the Nobility of Orel.

Her sister Ekaterina Ozerova was married to Peter Ivanovich Ozerov, the Russian Minister (ambassador) at Darmstadt.