This year marks the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of the first female balloonist and military pilot, Princess Shakhovskaya-Glebova-Streshneva, Evgenia Mikhailovna. Who is she? Brave heroine? A desperate adventurer? Her life could serve as a magnificent plot for an exciting novel. By the way, in some sources she appears as Princess Shakhovskaya Evgenia Fedorovna, that is, her exact middle name remains in question.
Secular balls and receptions
Evgenia Mikhailovna was born in 1889 in St. Petersburg in a merchant family. She received her title and surname when she married Prince Andrei Shakhovsky. Judging by the photo of Princess Shakhovskaya, she was an extraordinary beauty. Eugene received a good education. Exact sciences, languages, music - everything came easily to her. Nature rewarded her with a strong, beautiful voice with an extraordinary chest timbre. For two years she studied vocals in Italy. Life seemed to be predetermined: social balls and receptions, a bit of charity, reading ladies' novels and cross-stitch.
But the young lady was more attracted to non-female occupations. Princess Shakhovskaya-Streshneva took part in car races in Europe, she repaired cars, shot well, was a dashing rider and even engaged in boxing. With such hobbies, of course, the nascent ballooning completely captured her.
New dream
When she was 21 years old, she first saw the performance of pilot Popov at Aviation Week and, despite the terrible accident that happened to him, she decided to learn how to fly an airplane.
Shakhovskaya divorces her husband, shares property. Thanks to the children born in the marriage, she manages to maintain the title of Princess. And in a year she becomes an air route. One of the first three female pilots of the last century! Shakhovskaya goes to Germany, where at that time the best fleet was created. There she meets the handsome Odessa citizen Seva Abramovich. It was a well-known pilot and mechanical engineer throughout Europe. The meeting marked the beginning of a new sharp turn in the fate of Evgenia Mikhailovna.
The sad role of Felix Yusupov
Looking a little ahead, I want to talk about the mystical interweaving of fates in this whole story. The rapidly developing romance of Princess Shakhovskaya-Glebova and Abramovich was closely watched by Prince Felix Yusupov. A handsome aristocrat, a representative of one of the most notable and richest families of Russia, he is desperately in love with a spectacular pilot. At the same time, Yusupov hated Princess Shakhovskaya. It was she who stood between him and his love for Abramovich. As he hated Grigory Rasputin (who later played a key role in the fate of Yevgeny Mikhailovna) for his special proximity to the royal family.
A descendant of the oldest family, a graduate of Oxford, Yusupov despised these plebeians - Shakhovskaya and Rasputin. In his opinion, these two rootless had no right to be elevated that way. It was Yusupov who organized the murder of Rasputin in his own palace. With his direct participation, this terrible event occurred.
The death of a lover
The turbulent romance of the princess did not last long. April 24, 2013 a tragedy occurred. We performed a training flight. The airplane was piloted by Evgenia Mikhailovna, Vsevolod Mikhailovich insured. The device lost control and began to fall from a height of 60 meters. A more experienced pilot, Abramovich, being in the place of the second pilot, could not change anything. He died immediately, Eugene escaped with bruises. In this disaster, her heart broke into pieces, and it was impossible to restore it. Shakhovskaya accused herself of the death of a loved one and vowed never in her life to sit at the helm again.
On the same day at the same airfield exploded in the air and killed another Russian aviator - Ilya Dunets. Already in our days, it was proved that both of these deaths were not accidental. Germany was preparing for war with Russia, the German intelligence services carried out sabotage actions to destroy Russian pilots.
Meet the Great Healer
Friends, seeing the difficult mental and physical condition of Princess Shakhovskaya, recommended her to go to St. Petersburg for help to Grigory Rasputin. He was known for his healing abilities. So this fateful meeting took place for Evgenia Mikhailovna.
Shakhovskaya becomes a loyal supporter of Grigory Efimovich. She enjoys spending time in the company of an old man and disappears for days in his house on Gorokhovaya. He treats her with opium. The princess could not get rid of this dependence until the end of her life. Drugs and drunken sexual orgies gave her the opportunity to forget herself a bit, to dull the pain of loss.
Start of war
She kept her vow to no longer fly for exactly 12 months. In 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. The First World War began. Shakhovskaya petitioned Nicholas II, offering his services as a military aviator. They refuse her. Then Evgenia Mikhailovna enters the ambulance train as a sister of mercy, while continuing to send letters, convincing the tsar that her air-ticket skills are necessary at the front. Finally, Nicholas II satisfies her request (not without the participation of Grigory Rasputin). She is given the officer rank of ensign and sent to the squadron on the North-Western Front.
Military career
The pilot performed aerial reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery fire. But for a long time the princess did not serve. Her military career lasted only a month. It was unbearably difficult to fly in a cabin open to all winds in winter. During the month of military service, Shakhovskaya became more famous for her love affairs. Her career ended under very complicated circumstances.
In late December, Shakhovskaya was expelled from the detachment, soon arrested and charged with espionage in favor of Germany. She was remembered by everyone - both the death of Abramovich, and work at a German airfield. It is difficult to say just how much these charges were substantiated, but Princess Shakhovskaya was sentenced to death for treason. Grigory Rasputin intervened again, begging the tsar to replace the punishment with life imprisonment in a monastery prison. While in custody, Evgenia Mikhailovna gave birth to a son. Who was his father and what is the future fate of this child is unknown.
Sharp turn
Shakhovskaya was released by the Provisional Government in 1918 as a victim of the tsarist regime. She became an assistant to Count Zubov, who had just been appointed the first director of the Gatchina Palace Museum. But after the October Revolution, Zubov emigrated, and in the life of Evgenia Mikhailovna, a sharp turn takes place again.
She makes friends with the Bolshevik People’s Commissar Comrade Lunacharsky. With his direct participation and help, she becomes a security officer. Evgenia Mikhailovna is appointed investigator at the GUBCHK. Shakhovskaya hated her offenders and ruthlessly cracked down on those who stood in her way, prevented them from moving up the career ladder. The embittered princess was distinguished by extreme cruelty during interrogations with the defendants, which she conducted personally and with great pleasure. She also took part in executions. Its aggressiveness and cruelty were aggravated by alcohol and drugs.
Here she got into an ugly story with the sale abroad of property from the royal palace, the very one that she was entrusted with protecting. Lunacharsky’s friend was now difficult to save her from execution. Instead of arrest, he sends Evgeny Mikhailovna from Petrograd to the Kiev Cheka. She enthusiastically set to work in a new place. Executions, expropriations, alcohol and men are comrades in the struggle.
The drunken narcotic frenzy spun, increasing its speed, into a deadly funnel from which it was already impossible to get out. The tragic end came in the fall of 1920. Princess Shakhovskaya was shot dead during the conflict by her own colleague. According to one version, it was self-defense. The bullet hit her right in the heart. So simply ended such a difficult life of Princess Shakhovskaya. She was only 31 years old, and she still had the opportunity to change her fate, which, unfortunately, she did not take advantage of.