Princess Anna of Georgia, and her abduction...

[James_Davidov]

To anyone who can assist...

A while ago I was channel surfing one Sunday and found a documentry on the troubled history of the Caucus region.  It was largely covering the life of a famous turn of the century Islamic rebel leader who led a number of attacks against Russian cossak forces.  Anyway, the documentry noted, quite disturbingly, the story of a Princess Anne or Anna, who was apparently a 'Lady in waiting' to a Russian Empress.  Evidently she was abducted from her Georgian palace, by either the leader, or a rebel, and either heavily pregnant, or with a young child in her arms, suffered its loss as the kidnapper rode with the princess on his saddle through Georgias mountainous regions.  

This story sounded so upsetting, and since then i have been at an end to find anything on the subject.
They did include of photograph of the princess in the documentry, and the period could have been anywhere from Alexander II to Nicholas II.

They also noted the dramatic story became popular with English readers, a best selling account titled 'The kidnapping of the Princess or something'

Anyway,
anyone with any info, I'd realli appreciate it!

James    

[Mike]

In September 1854, the Caucasian revolt leader Shamil attacked the Alazan Valley in Georgia and captured, in her estate Tsinandali [size=10][familiar to many in the former USSR due to an excellent white wine of that name][/size], Princess Anna Chavchavadze and her sister Princess Varvara Orbeliani. Both were granddaughters of the last Georgian king Georgiy XII and very close to the imperial court.

The mishap immediately became known all across Europe and caused much embarassment in Petersburg. The prisoners were released in March 1855 in exchange for 40 thousand roubles and the release of Shamil's son Jamal who had been held hostage since 1839.

[James_Davidov]

Thanks Mike,

I've been trying to find this information for ages...

Was Anna or her sister a Lady in Waiting?  Or were they just court members?

also, was a baby involved??

Does anyone have a photo of the georgian royals?

Its the house of Bagration or something, isn't it?

[James_Davidov]

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/Photos/georgia27.jpg

here is her palace...it looks nice and countryish.

James

[Mike]

Prior to her marriage to Prince David Chavchavadze, the Serene Princess Anna Gruzinskaya ["of Georgia"], like her sister Varvara, was the empress' lady-in-waiting. Anna was captured with all her six children, including 4-month old Lydia. During the pursuit by Russian troops and a local Georgian militia set by Prince David, Lydia fell from her mother's horseback and was fatally wounded.

The whole story is dealt with quite in detail in the book Imam Shamil by Shapi Kaziev, published in Moscow in 2001.

By the way, Shamil's son wasn't exactly a hostage. He was educated at a cadet corps, spoke fluent Russian, French and German, and by 1855 served as a lancers lieutenant. When offered and even asked to return to his father, Jamal did it reluctantly.

[James_Davidov]

This is great, Mike, any pics?

James

btw: which empress was it?

[Mike]

which empress was it?

Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I (who died a few days before the princesses were released by Shamil).

[Konstant22]

You might be interested in Verderevskii's "Captivity of Two Russian Princesses in the Caucasus, including a seven-month's residence in Shamil's seraglio," 1857, translated into English by H.S. Edwards, now available on Kindle.