Marie Vassiltchikov

Princess Marie Illarionovna Vassiltchikov (; 11 January 1917 – 12 August 1978) was a Russian princess who wrote Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945, which described the effects of the bombing of Berlin and events leading to the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler in the 20 July Plot. Early life Princess Marie ("Missie") Vassiltchikov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire on 11 January 1917. She was the fourth child of a member of the Fourth Duma, Prince Hilarion Vassiltchikov (1881–1969) and his wife, the former Princess Lidiya Vyazemskaya (1886–1946). Her family fled Russia in 1919, following the Bolshevik October Revolution by joining members of the Romanov family evacuated by the British fleet. Marie Vassiltchikov lived as a refugee, initially in the French Third Republic, then Weimar Republic Germany, and then Lithuania until just before the start of World War II.