Marianne Pistohlkors

Marianne Pistohlkors, born Marianna Erikovna von Pistohlkors, (June 30, 1890 - May 14, 1976), was a suspected co-conspirator in the murder of Grigori Rasputin,. The first wife of Count Nicholas von Zarnekau, she was known for many years as Countess Marianne von Zarnekau, became one of the first women of nobility to attend the Imperial School of Dramatic Arts, and appeared under the stage name Mariana Fiory in MGM's 1944 film Song of Russia.

Born at St. Petersburg, Russia, Marianne von Pistohlkors was the daughter of Olga Valerianovna Karnovich and Maj.-Gen. Erik Augustinovich von Pistohlkors. Her father was an adjutant to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, the Tsar's uncle.

As a child, Marianne had an older brother, Alexander Pistohlkors, and an older sister, Olga Erikovna Pistohlkors. When she was still a young girl, her mother divorced her father and began an affair with the widowed Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, causing a scandal in society.

The affair resulted in the birth of a son out of wedlock, Vladimir Paley, who later became a famous poet.

Olga Valerianovna von Pistohlkors finally married the Grand Duke Paul on 10 October 1902 at Livorno, Italy. Because the couple had deliberately disrespected the authority of Tsar Nicholas II by wedding without his permission, they were banished. They moved to France.

In 1904, Grand Duke Paul arranged through Prince Regent Leopold of Bavaria for his wife and her children to be granted titles of nobility. They were styled Counts and Countesses of Hohenfelsen and granted a coat of arms.

Only after much pleading by relatives did the Tsar finally relent in 1905 and allow them to return to St. Petersburg. Olga was then granted the Russian title Princess Paley, and her son, Vladimir, became Prince Paley. It should be noted that unlike morganatic wives of other Romanov Grand Dukes, Olga never bore the title "Princess Romanowsky," a name that would have associated her visibly with the Imperial Family. As was customary with morganatic Romanov marriages, moreover, neither Olga nor her children was ever considered a member of the Imperial House before the Revolution of 1917.

Marianne von Pistohlkors thus became, at age 15, a countess, and later the daughter of a princess. Upon the Grand Duke's return from France to St. Petersburg in 1905, Marianne also gained two siblings, children of her stepfather's first marriage, whom she had not previously known: a step-sister, the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, and a step-brother, the Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich of Russia.

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