page_title: Natalya Golitsyna
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: Natalya Golitsyna / Later life
caption_attribution_description: Наталья Петровна Голицына, ур.Чернышова
context_page_description: Princess Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna, née Chernysheva or Chernyshyova, was a Russian lady-in-waiting, socialite and noble and Dame of the Order of St. Catherine's first degree.
  Born into the noble Chernyshyov family, Natalya Petrovna was the daughter of the diplomat Pyotr Chernyshyov, ambassador to Berlin at the time of her birth. She moved with the family to London, following her father's duties as ambassador to the royal courts of Europe, and returned to Russia for periods. Appointed one of Empress Catherine the Great's maids of honour in 1762, she married Prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn in 1766. Taking charge of the management of his estates, she greatly increased the family's fortunes, before the couple moved abroad with their family for their education. They settled in Paris, where Natalya became a darling of the French court, nicknamed the "Moscow Venus". Returning to Russia after the French Revolution, the family established itself in St Petersburg.
  Princess Golitsyna continued her socialising, establishing a popular salon that became an important focal point of the court.
context_section_description: Princess Golytsina continued her salon hosting duties into her old age, and it was considered a signal honour to attend on her. She received all guests while sitting in her chair, making an exception only for the emperor.  Near her chair stood one of her close relatives, who presented the guests, since her eyesight was poor. Depending on the rank or nobility of the guest, the princess would either incline her head, or say a few more or less private words. 
  On 18 January 1821 Konstantin Bulgakov wrote to his brother Alexander in Moscow, "yesterday I was at the house of old Golitsyna. In the morning I went to congratulate her and found the whole city there. The Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna also came. In the evening, the whole city was there again, although no one had been summoned. She turned 79 years old yesterday, and I admired her appetite and vigour ... There is no happier mother than old Golitsyna, you have to see how her children take care of her, and her children already have grandchildren." In her youth the princess was a famous beauty. In old age her facial hair became more prominent, leading to the nickname bestowed upon her by the "sharp tongues of the high-society wits" "Princess Moustache", rendered in either French as "Princesse Moustache", or Russian as "Княгиня Усатая" (Knyaginya Usataya) or "Княгиня Мусташ" (Knyagina Mustash), or by the androgynous "Princesse Woldemar".
caption: Princess Golytsina in later life, an 1810s portrait by Benoît-Charles Mitoire [ru]
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