countess irina skariatina

[ppatane]

I have been trying to find out what happened to the author, Countess Irina Skariatina.  I know that she married capt.  Victor F Blakeslee in 1926 and he died in 1947.  I also found that she had been a war correspondent and worked for colliers mag .  Does anyone know what happened to her after that and where or when she died? 

[Belochka]

You might be interested in reading her book: "First to go back" which she had published in 1933.

It offers her "impressions" after visiting the soviet union as a writer rather than as a private individual. The book contains one simple B/W drawing of her.

I understand that she wrote a second book but I lost interest after this one.

Margarita

[ppatane]

I've read that one but preferred her earlier account of her experiences during the revolution, A World Can End.  What I want to find out is what happened to her afterward.  In early 1970 I met someone at an Orthodox Convent in Boston.  She was introduced to me as Madame Irina and I was told that she was a Russian Countess.  I was young and don't remember anymore about it but now I wonder if it could be her? 

[BobG]

I have a copy of a NY Times Obituary of that has a hand written date of November 19, 1962 about Irina Skariatina.  It was in a second hand copy of her book "A World Can End."
She died on November 17 at the United States Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD.  Her husband was an aide to Admiral William Stanley when he was the United States Ambassador to Moscow.  The obituary also states she was an American war correspondent in Russia during WW II.
Other details of the obit claim that "her books and lectures contributed to the international climate that prompted President Franklin D.  Roosevelt to recognize the Communist regime in Moscow."

If the handwritten date is correct, it doesn't seem like it would have been the same Madame Irina in the 70's.

BobG

[ppatane]

Thank you so much for this information!  Everywhere else I've looked has come up a dead end.  Your obituary matches all that I know about her so you're right the woman I met had to be someone else. Thanks again! Pat

[ppatane]

Thanks to your information I was able to find the announcement of her death in the NY Times  and that she was buried in Arlington Cemetary.  Thanks again, Pat

[historylover]

Hello Belochka,

I'd be interested in why you lost interest?  Didn't you enjoy the book?

Best Regards,
Lisa

[wwwnyc]

She was Countess Keller.  Skariatin/a was her maiden name.  I have always found her books absolutely fascinating.  First was "World Can End", followed by: "First To Go Back",  "World Begins" and "Little Era in Old Russia".  She also translated Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard" which was directed/staged by Eva LeGallienne in the mid-1940s on Broadway. 

She was studying to be a doctor when the Revolution broke out.  She was persuaded to leave Russia in 1922 by high ranking officials of the American Relief Administration who even managed to get a Soviet passport for her!!  When she was working as a French tutor outside Chicago (?), someone, somehow managed to get her court dress to her which she sold for some much needed money.  Her books sold very well and she was very popular on the lecture circuit.

When Skariatina was one of my obsessions 10 years ago, I remember finding out that 2 boxes of her personal papers are in a Princeton University library. With some help from Priscilla Roosevelt and her contacts in Russia, I also tired to find out if Skariatina's ancestral country home, Troitskoye, in the Orel province still stood, but we only encountered cul-de-sacs.

WWW

[historylover]

She sounds fascinating and well-worth reading!  You were lucky to be able to research more about her.  Thank you so much for
all of the info.

Regards,
Lisa