RASPUTIN MARIA: (1898-1977) Lot n° 1024

RASPUTIN MARIA: (1898-1977) born Matryona Grigorievna Rasputina. Daughter of Grigori Rasputin. Maria wrote three memoirs about her father, dealing with Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and his 1916 murder. The first The Real Rasputin (1929), the second Rasputin my Father (1932), and the third one The Man Behind the Myth, was published in 1977. The veracity of her works have been questioned, as she painted an almost saintly picture of her father, insisting that most of the negative stories were based on slander and the misinterpretation of facts by his enemies. An interesting T.L.S., ` M. Raspoutine´, one page, 4to, Paris, 6th November 1933, to Maurice Verne, in French. Maria refers to the article published by her correspondent in L´Intransigeant, explains that there has been a misunderstanding and asks for an amendment to be publishes, saying in part ` Je viens seulement de lire l´article que vous avez consacré à mon père, il y a une huitaine de jours, et où vous me mettez en cause. Je crains qu´il n´y ait eu un malentendu, probablement est-il du à ma façon de parler le Français... Je n´ai jamais dit que le Dr. Badmaffev était un familier de notre maison à Saint Petersbourg, j´ai dit que mon père l´avait rencontré et que Badmaffev était venu quelques fois à la maison, comme sont venus des milliers de personnes...´ (Translation: (" I have only just read the article that you devoted to my father, about a week ago, and where you implicate me. I fear that there was a misunderstanding, probably due to the way I speak French... I never said that Dr. Badmaffev was a friend of our house in Saint Petersburg, I I said that my father had met him and that Badmaffev had come to the house a few times, as thousands of people had come...") Further, Maria Raspoutin also refers to the Royal family and most of all about the Tsarevich, saying ` Jamais à ma connaissance Badmaffev n´a soigné un des membres de la famille impériale et, en tout cas, jamais mon père n´a eu affaire à lui et n´a conseillé son intervention pour le cas du Tsarevitch...´ (Translation: " To my knowledge, Badmaffev never treated one of the members of the Imperial family and, in any case, my father never had to deal with him and never recommended his intervention in the Tsarevich's case...") Signed in bold blue ink at the base. Overall creasing, age wear and toning to the lower part and a small crease to fold left edge. F to G After Felix Yusupov published his memoir in 1928, detailing the death of Rasputin, Maria sued Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia in a Paris court for damages of $800,000. She condemned both men as murderers and said any decent person would be disgusted by the ferocity of Rasputin's killing. Maria's claim was dismissed. The French court ruled that it had no jurisdiction over a political killing that took place in Russia. After leaving Russia and going into exile, Maria took dancing lessons in Berlin in 1929. Later in Paris, Maria was offered a job as a cabaret dancer because of her name. She took more dancing lessons to support their two young daughters and would later work with several different Circus Companies from 1929 to 1935, where she had to dance as she said "the tragedy of my father's life and death, and be brought face-to-face on the stage with actors who were impersonating him and his murderers. Every time I have to confront my father on the stage a pang of poignant memory shoots through my heart, and I could break down and weep". One of her last circus tours was billing Maria "the daughter of the famous mad monk whose feats in Russia astonished the world".