Joanna,
While putting together Anna's family tree I was surprised to discover that she was a descendant of Count Ivan Pavlovich Kutaisov (1759-1834). The Count was a controversial figure greatly despised during his life. He was accused of being a negative influence on Tsar Paul I. He was an unlikely aristocrat. Born in Turkey he was captured during the Russo-Turkish War while still in his early teens, taken to Russia, and presented as a gift to the future Tzar Paul I by Catherine II. He converted and was christened Ivan Pavlovich Kutaisov. A marriage was arranged between Ivan and a wealthy merchant's daughter Anna Rezvaya. The couple had several children including Anna Vyrubova's ancestor Countess Nadezhda Ivanovna Kutaisov, the Privy Councilor Count Paul Ivanovich Kutaisov, and the General Count Alexander Ivanovich Kutaisov. Initially Ivan was merely Paul's barber, however, Paul became deeply attached to Kutaisov and his influence grew accordingly. He was appointed Master of the Horse, made a Baron, and after Catherine II's death a Count. He was despised by the aristocracy who deeply resented the fact that an uneducated barber was acting as the Tsar's advisor. Kutaisov was accused of manipulating the Tsar for his own material gain. Just how greatly he manipulated Paul and was himself manipulated by others at court is hard to tell. He was certainly involved in several Court intrigues aligning himself with Procurator-General Obolianinov, Feodor Rostopchin and Alexei Arakcheev against the Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Tsar's mistress Ekaterina Nelidova. The Empress' doctor forbid her to have anymore children after the birth of Grand Duke Michael insisting that further pregnancies would endanger her life. It was widely believed that Kutaisov had bribed the doctor in order to alienate Paul from Maria Feodorovna. In any case Kutaisov quickly took advantage of the situation encouraging an affair between the middle-aged Tsar and sixteen year old Anna Lopukhina. Nelidova was tossed aside for Anna who entered into a marriage of convience at Paul's behest with the courtier Prince Gagarin. Anna was later given an apartment in the Mikhailovsky Palace above Paul's own. Kutaisov's influence at Court disappeared after Paul's murder. According to the memoirs of the French artist Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Kutaisov received advanced notice of the murder plot but failed to act: "To crown all, Kutaisoff, his faithful valet, the very day the murder was committed received a letter revealing the conspiracy; but this man had for some time been neglecting most of his duties, and did not open his letters punctually. Kutaisoff left the letter disclosing the conspiracy on the table. On opening the missive next day the unhappy man fell into such a desperate state that he nearly died of it."
Ivan's son General Count Alexander Kutaisov (1784-1812) was a war hero and is mentioned in Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace." He served with tremendous skill and bravery in the Napoleonic Wars becoming a General at the age of twenty-two. He was killed at the Battle of Borodino. The night before his final battle Alexander gave his men the following order: "Artillery must sacrifice itself; let the enemy capture you with cannons, but fire a last canister-shot pointblank."
ADC Count Konstantine Pavlovich Kutaisov who the Tsar had accompany the Grand Duke Dimitri into his Persian exile was another of Ivan's descendants. He returned to Russia after the February Revolution and was murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 at the Rehbinder estate Chebekino in Kharkov.
Line of descent:
Count Ivan P. Kutaisov m. Anna P. Rezvaya
Countess Nadezhda I. Kutaisov m Prince Alexander F. Golitsyn
Princess Alexandra A. Golitsyna m. Count Illarion N. Tolstoy
Countess Nadezhda I. Tolstaya m. Alexander S. Taneyev
Anna A. Taneyev n. Alexander Vyrubov
Link to a picture and biography of Count Alexander Kutaisov:
http://www.vor.ru/Events/1812_29.html Link to a picture and biography of Anna Lopukhina:
http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rossika/voille3.html
