Mme Miloradovitch (Elisaveta Ivanovna, née Skoropadska)

Overview

A Poltava lady of the old hetman family Skoropadsky, mother of Gritz Miloradovitch and an old acquaintance of Marie's mother. Marie: «Elisaveta Ivanovna, Mme Miloradovitch, née Skoropatsky. Les Skoropatsky ont été hetmans de la Petite-Russie» (065.0007, 065/1876-08-17). The Mon Journal t.9 index has «Miloradovitch (Mme Lisaveta Ivanovna), née Skoropatsky».

She is very probably the Ukrainian philanthropist Yelyzaveta Ivanivna Myloradovych, née Skoropadska (1832–1890), who was born in Poltava Governorate, died in Poltava, belonged to the Ukrainian Hromada movement and was among the founders and benefactors of the Shevchenko Society in Lviv (Wikipedia, «Yelyzaveta Myloradovych») (0.85). Marie's own account matches the activist: she says Elisaveta Ivanovna led «un petit mouvement ayant pour but l'émancipation de la Petite-Russie», wore the old costume, spoke Ukrainian and was afterwards watched by the police (065.0007–065.0011). Marie gives her age as fifty in 1876 (065.0011); Wikipedia's birth date makes her forty-four.

Relevance to Marie

• 1873: Maman sends Marie to Vienna partly because «à Vienne sont Mme Miloradovitch et son fils» (006.0216, 006/1873-07-10), the first plan of a match with Gritz.
• About 1870 in Odessa «maman voyait souvent Mme Miloradovitch et Gritz venait tous les jours chez nous» (065.0152, 065/1876-08-21).
• 1876: Poltava gossip pairs her with the magistrate Yonina (065.0650, 065/1876-08-30; index «Yonina, magistrat (amant de Mme Miloradovitch)»), introduced through Mme Belli (065.0603, 065/1876-08-29). Marie calls on all Poltava except her (066.0250, 066/1876-09-15); Alexandre and Maman hold the omission responsible for Gritz staying away (067.0363–067.0364, 067/1876-10-29). A visit is decided on 29 October (067.0376), and on 4 November Alexandre still says «Lisaveta Ivanowna offensée de mon impolitesse a défendu à Gritz de venir» (067.0731).

References in Diary

• First mentioned: 1873-07-10 (006.0216)
• 1873-08-10 (007.0390); 1875-05-10 (032.0396, Marie trying the name «Mme Miloradovitch» on herself)
• 1876-08-17 (065.0007–0011), 08-21 (065.0152), 08-26 (065.0526), 08-29 (065.0603), 08-30 (065.0650, 065.0682), 09-05 (066.0037), 09-15 (066.0250), 10-29 (067.0363–0364), 10-30 (067.0376), 11-04 (067.0675, 067.0731)

Note: in 032.0396 («Mme Miloradovitch ça ne sonne pas trop bien») the name is Marie's own, imagined as Gritz's wife; tag this entry only where Gritz's mother is meant. In 007.0390 (Vienna, August 1873) a caller's eagerness makes Marie think «c'est Mme Miloradovitch» he is after, presumably the mother, then in Vienna (006.0216).

See also #Gritz_Miloradovitch, #Comte_Miloradovitch, #Maman.