Overview
Countess Anna Ivanovna Tolstaya, née Princess Baryatinskaya (Анна Ивановна Толстая; December 5, 1774 - April 12, 1825) was the sister of prince Ivan Baryatinsky, wife of Marshal Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy (1765–1816), a close friend of the Empress Elizabeth Alexeyevna and memoirist Countess Varvara Golovina.
Biography
Daughter of Prince Ivan Baryatinsky, the Russian ambassador in Paris, and Princess Catherine Petrovna Holstein-Beck of Oldenburg, Princess Baryatinskaya held a high position in the world. To be invited to her house was considered a great honor. Wealth allowed her to live well and lush. The poet Ivan Dolgorukov was a frequent guest of Princess Baryatinskaya; he participated in performances at her home and took care of her daughter, Anna.
In 1787, Anna became the wife of Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy. At his appointment in May 1793 as the great chamberlain of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the future Alexander I of Russia, Anna was presented to the court.
Beautiful and cute, for withdrawal of his cousin Varvara Golovina, and the shy and silent Countess Tolstoy quickly became a member of the most intimate circle at Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich's court. From that time, she had a close friendship with the young Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexeievna, the former Louise of Baden, who affectionately called her la longue (long), as Anna was very tall.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).