Agafya Grushetskaya
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{{Infobox royalty
| name = Agafya Grushetskaya
| image = File:Icon of Theodore and Agaphia (1681, GIM) by shakko-2013.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = 1663
| birth_place =
| death_date = 14 July {{death year and age|1681|1663}}
| death_place =
| full name = Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya
Polish: Agata Siemionowna Gruszecka
{{langx|ru|Агафья Семёновна Грушецкая}}
| succession = Tsaritsa consort of Russia
| reign = 18 July 1680 – 14 July 1681
| reign-type = Tenure
| house = Gruszecki
| spouse = {{marriage|Feodor III of Russia|1680}}
| father = Semyon Fyodorovich Grushetsky
| mother = Maria Ivanovna Zaborovska
| religion =
}}
Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya or Gruszecki (originally in Polish: Agata Siemionowna Gruszecka; {{langx|ru|Агафья Семёновна Грушецкая}}; 1663 – 14 July 1681) was Tsaritsa of Russia as the first spouse of Tsar Feodor III of Russia. She hailed from the Polish noble family Gruszecki.
Biography
She was a daughter of (voivode, and boyar) Semyon Fyodorovich Grushetsky (Gruszecki) and his spouse, Maria Ivanovna Zaborovska. She could play the harpsichord, speak and write Polish, French, and Latin, and was well informed about the Western European life style; overall, she was a well-educated person.{{Cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Roberta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NUpEAAAQBAJ&dq=agafya+grushetskaya&pg=PA261 |title=Gender and Diplomacy: Women and Men in European Embassies from the 15th to the 18th Century |last2=Santaliestra |first2=Laura Oliván |last3=Suner |first3=Suna |date=2021-04-16 |publisher=Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag |isbn=978-3-99012-835-0 |language=en}} She was described as beautiful as "an angel of heaven", with an easy going character.
From 1677 she lived with her uncle, Semyon Zaborovsky, who did not wish her to marry. In 1680, Feodor, the Russian tsar at the time, saw her during a religious procession: when she fainted after the sight of a witch in a religious theater play, he rushed forward to support her, and fell in love with her. Aware that her uncle did not wish her to marry, a traditional summon was proclaimed to all unmarried noble women to gather for Feodor to choose from, and he chose her.
On 18 July 1680, she married Feodor. Agafya shared the radical views of her spouse. She opposed the influence of the Miloslavsky party, led by her husband's mother and sister, and supported Likhachev. Her husband's relative Ivan Iljitj Miloslavskii exposed her to slander, which caused a conflict, and was punished by Feodor. Her sisters were married to princes and her cousins were raised in rank by Feodor. Agafya has been described as an angelic tsarina, merciful and loyal to Feodor and the public's welfare. She was the first to advocate beard-shaving and the adoption of Western clothes at the Russian court. She herself was the first tsarina to expose her hair and to wear a Western (Polish) dress.{{Cite book |last=Kenny |first=Peter Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-W4CwAAQBAJ&dq=Agafia+Grushevskaya&pg=PT703 |title=Monarchs |date=2016-02-25 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=978-1-5144-4375-0 |language=en}}
On 11 July 1681, the Tsarina gave birth to her son, Tsarevich Ilya Fyodorovich, the expected heir to the throne. Agafya died as a consequence of the childbirth three days later, on 14 July;{{Cite book |last=Gasiorowska |first=Xenia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CC9gAAAAMAAJ&q=agafya+grushetskaya |title=The Image of Peter the Great in Russian Fiction |date=1979 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-07690-0 |language=en}} and six days later, on 21 July, the nine-days-old Tsarevich also died.{{Cite book |last=DuVernet |first=M. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wi4QBgAAQBAJ&dq=agafya+wife+Feodor+iii&pg=PA62 |title=Pushkin's Ode to Liberty: The Life and Loves of Alexander Pushkin |date=2014-12-26 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=978-1-4990-5293-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Borrero |first=Mauricio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhm0cGdrTOIC&dq=Agafia+Feodor&pg=PA149 |title=Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7475-4 |language=en}} She was reportedly deeply mourned by Feodor.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Журнал «Наука и жизнь», No. 1 2007 г. — Вознесенский некропль Кремля. (Доктор исторических наук Т. Панова, Н. Синицина, реставратор).
- Л. Жданов. «Пётр и Софья» (роман).
- Биография.ру — биографическая энциклопедия (Феодор Алексеевич).
- Красницкий А. И. (псевдоним — А. Лавинцев). «Царица-полячка» (роман). 1902 г.
- Валерий Ярхо. «Друг царя, государственный преступник…»
- Сахаров А. "Пётр I (Династия Романовых)”
External links
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Category:17th-century Russian women
Category:17th-century Russian people
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