Darya Tyutcheva

Daria Fedorovna Tyutcheva (1834 - 1903) was the second daughter of the poet Fyodor Tyutchev from his first marriage with Eleonor Bothmer. Biography Daria was born on 24 April 1838. She spent much of her childhood in Munich. Between 1845 and 1851, she was enrolled in the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens. After she graduated, she lived with her father's family. Daria became a Lady-in-waiting to Empress Maria Alexandrovna on 5 September 1858. It is known that she was treated in a clinic for the mentally ill for nervous shock caused by her unrequited love for Emperor Alexander II. Her sister Anna Tyutcheva mentions in her diary for 1858 painful seizures Daria suffered from, caused by gossip about her and the emperor. After Alexander's marriage to Catherine Dolgorukova, Daria fled the court and moved to her sister's in Moscow. Before leaving, she wrote an impudent letter to the emperor, in which he thanked him for the mercy shown to her and the preservation of all marital privleges, but asked him to promise her that under the new conditions, she would not be placed in a position that offended her feelings for the memory of the late Empress. This letter, according to Alexandra Tolstoya, destroyed any relations she had left with the palace:“Opinions are divided on her account. Some considered Tyutcheva a heroine, in her own way Joan of Arc, others simply ill-bred."Under the rule of Alexander III, Daria returned to court. On 15 May 1883, she was granted the Order of Saint Catherine. From 1891, she acted as a chamber maid of honour. She remained at court until her death in 1903, she never married.