Tzar Ivan V and his family

[Svetabel]

Praskovia-younger (1694-1731), married secretly in 1723 (after her mother's death) Ivan Dmitriev-Mamonov (1680-1730).

[Romanov_fan]

thanks. I don't know much about this branch beyond reading the Five Empresses.

[Rebecca]

I remember reading somewhere that Praskovia Ivanovna (1694-1731) had scrofula. Can anyone confirm or refute this? 

[Svetabel]

I remember reading somewhere that Praskovia Ivanovna (1694-1731) had scrofula. Can anyone confirm or refute this? 

Somewhere I read such info, though I don't remember the source exactly.

[Yseult]

We have seen portraits of Anna Ivanovna and Praskovia Ivanovna, but finally I´ve found also a portrait of Ekaterina Ivanovna, the mother of Anna Leopoldovna, so the grand-mother of poor Ivan VI

[Svetabel]

The portarit is very flattering as Ekaterina was not a beauty at all according to her contemporaries.

[Yseult]

I remember reading somewhere that Praskovia Ivanovna (1694-1731) had scrofula. Can anyone confirm or refute this? 

Yes. In the late days, I´ve been reading "Terribles Tsarines", a book wrotte by Henri Troyat. He explains that, after the death of Peter II, the members of the Secret Privy Council looked at the three daughters of tsar Ivan V...Ekaterina, Anna and Praskovia. Ekaterina was a frivolous and capricious woman. Praskovia had scrofula and not a clever mind. Anna seemed to be the right one, because she had done her role of duchess of Courland very well.

[Romanov_fan]

Thanks for more information and the portrait. I think Ekaterina looks very Romanov, and a bit like Peter the Great's daughter, Anna? What do you think? They have the same dark hair and eyes, unless the portraits are simply from the same era, and perhaps the same painter? Some did call Anna frivolous, and she was in some ways. But it seems from your information, Yseult, that she was the best of the sisters. It isn't that surprising that she was.

[Svetabel]

Thanks for more information and the portrait. I think Ekaterina looks very Romanov, and a bit like Peter the Great's daughter, Anna? What do you think? They have the same dark hair and eyes, unless the portraits are simply from the same era, and perhaps the same painter? Some did call Anna frivolous, and she was in some ways. But it seems from your information, Yseult, that she was the best of the sisters. It isn't that surprising that she was.

Seems you are mixing up Anna Petrovna and Anna Ioannovna.

[Romanov_fan]

Anna Ivanovna was the one mentioned in Ysuelt's post I believe? I was just saying that Ekaterina I. looked very much like her cousin, Anna Petrovna, at least in my view. Of course, there could be reasons why they looked like alike, aside from actual similarity.

[Svetabel]

that Ekaterina I. looked very much like her cousin, Anna Petrovna, at least in my view.

I don't think so  . That portrait is very flattering to say the least, though the cousins all were indeed brunettes.

[Romanov_fan]

Well, perhaps not, then. They all had dark looks, certainly. I had never heard that Anna Petrovna was regarded as a beauty, unlike her famous sister. Judging from the portraits I have seen of her, she wasn't, although she was rather striking, and resembled her mother. I am sure the portrait of Ekaterina was flattering..

[Suzanne]

Natalia Pushkareva's work "Women in Russian history" contains a short biography of Tsarina Praskovia. p. 125-127. Here's the main events. She married Ivan V in 1684, observers described her as a very attractive woman - tall, full figured with long dark curls. She lived the traditional life in the terem until Peter the Great ascended to the throne, then she began dressing in the western manner and appearing at social events. She arranged for her daughters to have a western education and she became a great confidant of Peter the Great. In the 1690s, she began holding lavish receptions at her Moscow home and staged amateur theatricals. Peter thought so well of Praskovia that he overlooked her liason with the boyar Vassily Yushkov, which began after Ivan V's death. She moved to St. Petersburg in 1708. Peter I is said to have "esteemed her counsel" and Catherine I encouraged the friendship between them. She spent her last years raising her granddaughters, especially her favourite, Anna Leopoldovna - there exist an extensive correspondence between these two women. Praskovia died in 1723 and Peter gave her a lavish European style funeral.

[lexi4]

Praskovia-younger (1694-1731), married secretly in 1723 (after her mother's death) Ivan Dmitriev-Mamonov (1680-1730).

I am enjoying reading about all of this. I have a question, why was the marriage in secret?
Thank you,
Lexi

[Svetabel]

Praskovia-younger (1694-1731), married secretly in 1723 (after her mother's death) Ivan Dmitriev-Mamonov (1680-1730).

I am enjoying reading about all of this. I have a question, why was the marriage in secret?
Thank you,
Lexi

Well, Dmitriev-Mamonov was not considered an equal for Praskovia. After all she was a niece of the powerful Emperor Peter I and a possible spouse-to-be for a German Prince. Russian Tsarevnas did not marry officially common people those times.