Alexandra Golitsyna

Princess Alexandra Petrovna Golitsyna (Russian: Александра Петровна Голицына, née Протасова; 1774—1842) 1774-1842) was a maid of honour and historian of the Russian noble Protasov family. Sister to Moscow aristocrat and writer Catherine Rostopchin and maid of honour and dame of the Order of Saint Catherine Vera Vasilchikova, she was the mother of five, including Peter Gallitzin, and the grandmother of the Roman Catholic missionary, Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin who published her writing posthumously.

Alexandra was the daughter of a senator, Lieutenant-General Pyotr Stepanovich Protasov (1730 - 1794), and his wife Anna Ivanovna (1750 - 1782). She and her four sisters were orphaned early in life and were raised by their aunt, Anna Protasov, a chambermaid of some note, and a personal friend of the Empress Catherine II, who was under the care of Madame de Pont. Protasov gave her nieces a great education by the standards of the time: the studies focused on foreign languages, including Latin, Greek, and Russian. They were also taught Russian history and religion. At the request of their aunt, the sisters, one still unmarried at the time of the Coronation of Alexander I of Russia, each received the title of Countess.

Alexandra's four sisters who were orphaned with her:

Alexandra's station in life was elevated to the maid of honour, and in 1791 married the master of the horse, a confidential councilor to Prince Alexei Golitsyn, 1767-1800. Their union was relatively short but produced five children. Nine years into the marriage Alexandra was widowed.

The countess officially converted to Catholicism from Russian Orthodoxy on 14 May 1818. Her conversion influenced her surviving daughter Yelizaveta, who became a nun, and two of her sons, who became missionaries. Alexandra also influenced a few others from the Russian nobility to convert to Catholicism. Golitsyna censured Madame Swetchine, who was known to be a mystic, only for the fact that she lived abroad, due to Golitsyna's belief that true religion was to serve at home in Russia.

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