Generations of Service to the Tsars                       17

throughout the eighteenth century, but their real break came about
toward the end of the century when Christoph Benckendorff mar¬
ried Julianna Schifling, the personal companion and childhood
friend of the Tsarina Maria Fedorovna, a German princess married
to the future Tsar Paul I. Maria Fedorovna took an active interest in
the children of her close friend and endeavored to advance their
careers in any way possible.

Of the three Benckendorff children, the most colorful was
Dorothea, better known by her married name of Princess Eleven.
At the age of sixteen she had been awarded the prestigious post of
lady-in-waiting to Maria Fedorovna. Soon after, she was married to
Prince Christoph Eleven, the offspring of yet another prominent
Baltic noble family. Although his background was in the military.
Prince Eleven decided to try his hand at diplomacy and in 1809 was
appointed ambassador to Berlin. Three years later he was trans¬
ferred to London, where he served for the next twenty-two years.
Prince Eleven turned out to be a mediocre diplomat at best, but his
term as ambassador was considered a great success, largely due to
the talent and energy of his wife. With her beauty, charm, and for¬
midable intelligence. Princess Lieven was able to navigate the
treacherous waters of regency court politics, winningthe friendship
and trust of individuals from the most disparate of factions. Among
her foremost achievements was her intimate friendship with Prince
Metternich of Austria during the period when he was at the height
of his power. Other friends included the Duke of Wellington,
Viscount Castlereagh, Earl Grey, and Talleyrand.

In 18 34, Prince Lieven was recalled to Russia and took a reluctant
Dorothea with him. But after a miserable year in which her two
youngest sons died of scarlet fever, she obtained permission to
return to Western Europe alone, ostensibly for health reasons. Set¬
tling in Paris, she soon reestablished many of her old connections
and started a lively salon. When her husband wrote from Italy in
1837 requesting that she join him, she refused on the grounds that
her health would not permit her to make the journey. The tsar, who
hated everything to do with France and had ordered Prince Lieven