Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova: biography, family and interesting facts

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov is one of those historical personalities whose contributions to Russian science can not be overestimated. The famous scientist has never sought to make his family life public, so there is very little evidence of his attitude towards his wife. Even less information can be found about the youngest of the daughters of the scientist, although the will of the fate of Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova became the only continuer of her kind.

Marriage of parents

If in 1711 the pomor fisherman Vasily Doromenevich Lomonosov was told that his newborn son, Mikhailo, would someday marry the daughter of a Marburg brewer and concurrently the city headman Heinrich Zilch, he most likely would not have believed it. However, a fateful meeting of young people did take place, when three students from Russia arrived in Germany for study.

The widow of Tsilha, Katharina Elizabeth, was cramped in funds and, in order to feed her son and daughter, decided to rent out part of the house. She sheltered MV. Lomonosov, D.I. Vinogradova and G.U. Raiser, and the young people soon became friends with her children. Over time, the woman noticed that the Russian student Mikhail and her daughter Elizabeth were in love with each other, and demanded either to stop the relationship or to marry. At the same time, Lomonosov found himself in a rather difficult situation, since he did not have the means to support the family. In addition, the obstacle was the belonging of lovers to different denominations. However, there was nowhere to retreat, since in November 1739 the couple had a daughter, Catherine Elizabeth, who was recorded as illegitimate in the documents. Anyway, in the summer of 1740 Mikhail Lomonosov married EK Tsilkh in the kirkh of the reforming community of Marburg, and a year later left for Russia, leaving his wife, pregnant with a second child, to care for her sick mother.

Brothers and sisters

In addition to Catherine Elizabeth, in 1841 in Germany, Lomonosov's son Ivan (Johann) was born in Germany. Elena Mikhailovna never saw her brother and sister, since both of them died before her birth. Ivan Lomonosov lived only a few months and was buried in Marburg, and Catherine Elizabeth died of illness in 1743 immediately after her arrival with her mother and uncle Johann Tsilch to St. Petersburg.

Childhood

Elena Lomonosova, whose parents at that time had already been able to formally formalize their relations in Russia, was born on February 21, 1749 in St. Petersburg, in the Bonovo House on the Vasilievsky Island, in an apartment given to her father by the Academy of Sciences. When the girl was 8 years old, her family finally got her own home on the Moika. In this house, built on a standard design specifically for Lomonosov, she spent most of her short life.

Apparently, an eternally busy father did not devote enough time to the formation of a single daughter. When Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova grew up a little, for a long time her mother was a teacher, who learned her German. At the same time, the girl grew up surrounded by her father's pupils who often visited their house, and communication with the most educated people of that time could not but have a beneficial effect on her.

Death of the father

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov died in 1765 from pneumonia. His wife, Elizaveta Andreevna, survived her husband only for a year with a little. After the death of her husband, the woman was extremely concerned about the fate of her only daughter. After all, Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova did not receive a rich inheritance from her father, and she had no influential relatives. Elizaveta Andreevna herself often ached and understood that her days were numbered. All her thoughts were about finding a worthy spouse for her daughter, but who did not want to be bound by marriage to a homeless woman.

Wedding

Unexpectedly for all in the summer of 1766, Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova (1749) learned from her mother that Alexey Alekseevich Konstantinov had asked her to marry her. The man was 20 years older than the girl, but Elizaveta Andreevna considered him a good party, since at that time he held the position of personal librarian Catherine II and enjoyed the special location of the empress.

Moreover, the state of health of EA Lomonosova deteriorated every day, so that on September 15, 1766, the couple was married. Thus, a month after the modest wedding, Elizaveta Andreevna quietly departed into another world, being sure that she had arranged the fate of her daughter in the best way.

Marriage

It is unlikely that the seventeen-year-old Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova-Konstantinova experienced a passionate passion for her husband. However, her short marriage was not unhappy, especially in a family with her parents, she was not accustomed to luxury and very rarely visited the palace. For the same reason, Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova was not burdened by the constant stay of her home due to subsequent pregnancies and cares for children.

Children

For 6 years of marriage Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova, whose biography is as short as her life, gave birth to four children. Her only son Alexey was born a year after the wedding and died at the age of 7 years. In addition, Elena became the mother of three daughters. Of these, Sophia was the most interesting fate. As for the other two, the Konstantinovs know nothing about Catherine (1771-1846) and Anna (1772-1864). The only thing that can be said about them with certainty is that women did not have offspring.

Children of Sofya Alekseevna

All the grandchildren of Elena Mikhailovna were children of the famous hero of the Patriotic War, General Raevsky, for whom in 1794 SA Konstantinova married. In all, she gave birth to two sons and five daughters:

• Alexander (1795-1868), who rose to the rank of colonel.
• Ekaterina (1797-1885, wife of the Decembrist MF Orlov, maid of honor).
• Nikolay (1801-1843, the founder of Novorossiysk and a number of fortresses in the North Caucasus).
• Sofia (about 1802), died several months old.
• Elena (1803-1852, lady-in-waiting at the court of Nicholas II).
• Maria (1805-1863, wife of S. G. Volkonsky).
• Sophia (1806-1883, the maid of honor).

Both Elena Lomonosova's grandson became military men and distinguished themselves during the Patriotic War. No less interesting fate awaited and great-granddaughter of the great scientist - Maria. She not only became one of the Muses of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, but also showed the world the pattern of unlimited adultery and devotion, following the penal servitude of his spouse - Sergei Volkonsky. By the way, her sister Ekaterina Nikolaevna was also married to one of the participants in the Decembrist Rebellion and spent the best years of her life in exile.

Now you know what kind of life Elena Mikhailovna Lomonosova lived. The family of the great scientist led a modest life, so little is known about her. However, it can not be denied that it was the reliable rear that was provided to him by Ekaterina Andreevna and Elena Mikhailovna, which enabled MV Lomonosov to become the greatest luminary of Russian science.