"Only a few remain free from smallpox and love." How Catherine II was vaccinated. Vaccination for the Empress Why did Sheremetyev's daughter die?

1760s

Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva(December 18 (29) - May 17 (28) - maid of honor, daughter of P. B. Sheremetev; the bride of the mentor of the Grand Duke Count N. I. Panin.

In her father’s house on the embankment of the Fontanka River, 34, home “noble” performances were played, in which Pavel Petrovich also took part, for example, on March 4, 1766, a comedy was presented in one act “Zeneida”, in which the Grand Duke, Countess took part Anna Petrovna in the role of a sorceress, and Countess Daria Petrovna and Natalya Petrovna Chernysheva, moreover, according to the recollections, diamonds worth 2 million rubles were worn on four persons participating in the performance. On July 22, 1766, Anna Petrovna "gloriously distinguished herself in the Roman quadrille" at the court carousel, and received gold medal with her name.

Around the same time, the tutor of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich S. A. Poroshin fell in love with Anna Sheremeteva. As they said, he even wooed her, the matter ended in a scandal and the removal of Poroshin from the court. It was said that Empress Catherine II planned that one of the richest brides in Russia, Anna Sheremeteva, would become the wife of one of the brothers of her favorite Grigory Orlov, but Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin wooed the countess.

The engagement of Countess Anna Pavlovna and Count Nikita Panin, chief chamberlain of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, an old friend and contemporary of her father, took place at the beginning of 1768 in St. Petersburg. And on May 23, 1768, a few days before the wedding, Anna Sheremeteva died of smallpox. It was rumored that an unknown rival put in a snuffbox, which Sheremeteva gave the groom, a piece of matter that had contact with a smallpox patient.

Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva, daughter of Count Peter Borisovich, bride of Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, maid of honor of the wise Monarchini, who passed away in the 24th year, 1768, May 17 days, was buried in this place, and instead of the marriage chamber, her body was betrayed to the bowels of the earth, and her immaculate soul returned to its immaculate source in the eternal life, to the eternal and living God.

And You, O God! heed the voice of the parent,
May his daughter be taken away by Fate,
Toliko in heaven is praiseworthy before You,
Koliko was laudably on the earth"

Interestingly, Count Nikolai Sheremetev bequeathed himself "to be buried in the same monastery, near the coffin of my late sister, Countess Mary Petrovna Sheremeteva, who in her life was called Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva.

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Notes

Links

• Russian portraits of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Ed. Vel. Book. Nikolai Mikhailovich. SPb. 1906. Vol. II, issue IV. No. 132.

An excerpt characterizing Sheremetev, Anna Petrovna

- My God! For what? ... - Nikolai shouted in despair.
The uncle's hunter, on the other hand, rode to cut the wolf, and his dogs again stopped the beast. Again he was surrounded.
Nikolay, his stirrup, his uncle and his hunter twirled over the beast, hooting, screaming, every minute about to get off when the wolf sat on his back and every time he started forward when the wolf shook himself and moved towards the notch, which was supposed to save him. Even at the beginning of this persecution, Danila, having heard hooting, jumped out to the edge of the forest. He saw how Karay took the wolf and stopped the horse, believing that the matter was over. But when the hunters did not get off, the wolf shook itself and again went to the duck. Danila released his brown not to the wolf, but in a straight line to the notch, just like Karay, to cut the beast. Thanks to this direction, he jumped to the wolf while the second time he was stopped by his uncle's dogs.
Danila galloped silently, holding the drawn dagger in his left hand and, like a flail of milk, with his rapnik along the pulled up sides of the brown.
Nikolai did not see or hear Danila until the brown one panted past him, breathing heavily, and he heard the sound of a body falling and saw that Danila was already lying in the middle of the dogs on the rear of the wolf, trying to catch him by the ears. It was obvious to the dogs, and to the hunters, and to the wolf that it was all over now. The beast, frightened, flattening its ears, tried to get up, but the dogs clung to it. Danila, getting up, took a falling step and with all his weight, as if lying down to rest, fell on the wolf, grabbing him by the ears. Nikolai wanted to stab, but Danila whispered: “No need, we’ll do it,” and changing position, he stepped on the wolf’s neck with his foot. They put a stick in the wolf's mouth, tied it up, as if bridling it with a pack, tied its legs, and Danila twice rolled over the wolf from one side to the other.
With happy, exhausted faces, a living, full-grown wolf was mounted on a shy and snorting horse and, accompanied by dogs squealing at him, was taken to the place where everyone was supposed to gather. The young ones were taken by the hounds and three by the greyhounds. The hunters gathered with their prey and stories, and they all came up to watch the hardened wolf, who, hanging his big-lobed head with a bitten stick in his mouth, looked with large, glassy eyes at this whole crowd of dogs and people surrounding him. When they touched him, he, trembling with his bandaged legs, wildly and at the same time simply looked at everyone. Count Ilya Andreich also rode up and touched the wolf.
“Oh, what a motherfucker,” he said. - Mother, huh? he asked Danila, who was standing beside him.
- Seasoned, your excellency, - Danila answered, hastily taking off his hat.
The count remembered his missing wolf and his encounter with Danila.
“However, brother, you are angry,” said the count. Danila said nothing and only smiled shyly, a childishly meek and pleasant smile.

The old count rode home; Natasha and Petya promised to come immediately. The hunt went on, as it was still early. In the middle of the day the hounds were let into a ravine overgrown with dense young forest. Nicholas, standing on the stubble, saw all his hunters.
Across from Nikolai there was greenery and there stood his hunter, alone in a hole behind a prominent hazel bush. The hounds had just been brought in, Nikolai heard the rare rut of the dog known to him - Voltorna; other dogs joined him, now falling silent, then again starting to drive. A minute later, a voice was heard from the island on the fox, and the whole flock, having fallen down, drove along the screwdriver, towards the greenery, away from Nikolai.
He saw galloping red-capped surfers along the edges of the overgrown ravine, he even saw dogs, and every second he expected a fox to appear on the other side, in the greenery.
The hunter, who was standing in the pit, set off and released the dogs, and Nikolai saw a red, low, strange fox, which, having fluffed out a pipe, hurriedly rushed through the greenery. The dogs began to sing to her. Here they approached, now the fox began to wag in circles between them, more and more often making these circles and circling around him with a fluffy pipe (tail); and then someone's white dog flew in, and after it a black one, and everything was mixed up, and the dogs, with their rears apart, slightly hesitant, became a star. Two hunters jumped up to the dogs: one in a red cap, the other, a stranger, in a green caftan.
"What it is? thought Nicholas. Where did this hunter come from? It's not uncle's."
The hunters fought off the fox and for a long time, slowly, stood on foot. Near them, horses with their protrusions of saddles, and dogs lay on poles. The hunters waved their hands and did something with the fox. From there the sound of a horn was heard - the agreed signal of a fight.
- This is the Ilaginsky hunter, something is rebelling with our Ivan, - said the aspirant Nikolai.
Nikolai sent a stirrup to call his sister and Petya to him, and at a pace went to the place where the hounds were gathering the hounds. Several hunters galloped to the scene of the fight.
Nikolai got off his horse, stopped near the hounds with Natasha and Petya, who had driven up, waiting for information about how the matter would end. A fighting hunter with a fox in toroks rode out from behind the edge of the forest and rode up to the young master. He took off his hat from a distance and tried to speak respectfully; but he was pale, breathless, and his face was vicious. One of his eyes was blackened, but he probably didn't know it.

Since 220 years ago, the English doctor Edward Jenner was the first in the world to vaccinate against smallpox, controversy has not subsided whether vaccinations are so dangerous and whether it is worth refusing them because of the risk of complications.

Catherine II, Fyodor Rokotov, 18th century

Koryavin, Ryabov, Ryabkov, Ryabtsev, Shadrin, Shcherbakov, Shchedrin, Shcherbin... Familiar names for everyone. However, not everyone knows that they came from the nicknames that were given to people who had had smallpox: pockmarked, generous, pockmarked ... You know, this smallpox is an unpleasant thing. fever, chills, headache, aches. And most importantly sores all over the body, which, if the sufferer survives, permanently disfigure the face.

They say that she came to the Europeans from the East. Either it was brought by the Arabs who conquered the Iberian Peninsula (VIII century), or the crusaders picked up this treasure in the Holy Land (XI century), or ... Although why guess? It is important that the disease has settled in Europe thoroughly, annually claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and mutilating people for nothing. Nobody knew what to do with her.

Prayers, spells, amulets, spells, potions and bloodletting did not help. The infection spared no one. In 1694 she killed her wife English king William II Mary, and in 1774 - the French monarch Louis XV. Yes, there is a long way to go. In 1730, Tsar Peter II died from her.

Peter II, 1730

So the heart of Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II) must have beaten at double speed when she received the news that her fiancé (the future sovereign Peter III) fell ill with smallpox. Still would.

She came to Russia from a provincial German town (in February 1744) in order to successfully marry. And here is such a disaster. Die Pyotr Fedorovich, and she will immediately be sent back to her native hole. And the chance to become the wife of the monarch, perhaps, will never fall again.

Catherine in her youth, Louis Caravaque, 1745

But God was merciful. Pyotr Fedorovich survived (although the marks, as usual, remained) and the wedding took place. And then - a well-known thing: after the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III ascended the throne, but 186 days later he was overthrown, and on July 9, 1762, a purebred German woman reigned in Russia under the name of Catherine II, who ruled the country for 34 years.

Ekaterina Alekseevna and Pyotr Fedorovich, A. R. Lischevskaya, 1756

But back to smallpox. In the East, after many centuries of suffering, they adapted to instill it. In a healthy person, a small incision was made on the arm and pus from the infected individual's mature pockmark was placed there (this procedure is called inoculation).

The disease transmitted in this way proceeded in a milder form and did not leave scars. It is reported that especially often vaccinations were given to girls doomed to a harem life. So success in the fight against this infection is on Muslim East to a certain extent was conditioned by lust.

Harem, Fernand Cormon, 1877

Europe was introduced to this method by the wife of the British ambassador in Ottoman Empire Mary Wortley Montagu in 1718.

Here, listen to what Voltaire writes about this in his Philosophical Letters: “In the reign of George the First, Madame Wortley-Montagu, one of the smartest English women, who also had great influence on the minds, during the embassy mission of her husband in Constantinople, she decided without any hesitation to instill smallpox in a child born by her in this country.

Her chaplain could tell her as much as he liked that this was not a Christian custom, bringing success only to the infidels - Madame Wortley's son felt great after the vaccination. On her return to London, this lady shared her experience with the Princess of Gaul, the current Queen...

From the moment when rumors reached her (the queen) about the inoculation, or introduction, of smallpox, she ordered to make an experiment on four criminals condemned to death: in this way she saved their lives doubly, for she not only saved them from the gallows, but and, by means of artificially inoculated smallpox, protected them from the possible disease of smallpox, from which they might die in the course of time.

The princess, convinced of the benefits of the experiment, ordered her children to be vaccinated with smallpox. England followed her example, and since that time at least ten thousand first-born children owe their lives to the Queen and Madame Wortley-Montagu, and as many daughters owe their beauty to them.

Mary Wortley Montagu by Charles Gervase, 1716

It is very remarkable that Voltaire talks about this with delight and admiration. But, in essence, we are dealing with a rabid violation of human rights.

Only after successful experiments, smallpox was inoculated into representatives of the royal family. Such were the manners.

And what about Catherine? This woman, reputed to be an enlightened monarch, was aware of all the advanced ideas of her time. And, of course, she had heard of inoculation.

The Great Empress really wanted to protect herself from a terrible disease that once almost destroyed her future and which was always somewhere nearby: for example, in May 1768, Countess Anna Sheremetyeva died from her.

Countess Anna Sheremetyeva, Ivan Argunov, 1768

The Russian ambassador in London was instructed to find out which of the local doctors was the most knowledgeable and experienced in this matter, and Dimsdale was recommended to him. Further negotiations were held and after some hesitation, the physician agreed. And in the summer of 1768 he arrived in St. Petersburg with his son Nathaniel.

It is reported that before subjecting the empress to the procedure, the doctor demonstrated his skills on several volunteers. And only after their recovery did he express his readiness to instill smallpox in the empress. Everything happened under the cover of secrecy. Realizing the degree of risk, Catherine ordered that mail horses be kept ready so that the English guests could immediately escape if something went wrong.

And the situation really could turn into a tragedy. Imagine, the Empress becomes ill, and a rumor instantly spreads around the city that she was killed by two foreign Herods, who probably worship the devil. Immediately people gather and commit reprisals against visitors ...

However, the fears were in vain. On October 23 (according to the old style - October 12), Catherine was inoculated. The material, that is, fresh smallpox, was kindly provided by the peasant boy Alexander Markov, for which he was granted the nobility.

The empress was filled with enthusiasm and issued a decree on mandatory inoculation. But, they say, this initiative did not have much success, because it is very difficult to force the Russian people to do something unusual and suspicious.

By the way, a medal was knocked out in memory of smallpox vaccination in Russia. On one side of it is a portrait of the Empress, and on the other - the temple of Aesculapius1, from which the healed Catherine and her heir (Paul) come out, and happy Russia with the kids runs towards them.

Well, the English doctor received a baronial title for his work, which was also granted to his son, the title of a life physician (court doctor) and a lifetime pension of 500 pounds a year. He was offered to stay at the Russian court, but he refused and returned to his homeland, where he opened his "smallpox vaccination house."

Anna Petrovna was born on December 18, 1744 in the family of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetyev (1713 - 1788) and Varvara Alekseevna (Cherkasskaya) (1711 - 1767).

In 1760, Anna Petrovna was granted the maid of honor of Elizabeth Petrovna, while she was allowed to live at home, and not in the palace, which was a rare exception at that time.
Due to her position, she was constantly at the Court, including in the company of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (1754 - 1801), with whom her brother Nikolai Petrovich (1751 - 1809) was brought up.

In her father’s house, home “noble” performances were staged, in which the Tsesarevich also participated, and at one of them, on February 21, 1766, a comedy in one act “Zeneida” was played, in which the characters were: Grand Duke, Countess Anna Petrovna, in the role of a sorceress, and Countess Daria (1739 -1802) and Natalia (1744 - 1837) Petrovna Chernysheva, moreover, four persons participating in it were wearing diamonds worth 2 million rubles.
The comedy "Zeneida" was written in 1750 by the French engraver Claude-Henri Vatelet (1718 - 1786) in collaboration with the playwright Louis de Boissy (1694 - 1758).

Earlier, on February 1, 1765, in the same place, in the presence of Catherine II, Anna Petrovna participated in the role of Melita in the production of the play of the same name (1626) by the French playwright Pierre Corneille (1606 - 1684).

On the court carousel, organized in St. Petersburg on July 11, 1766, Anna Petrovna "gloriously distinguished herself in the Roman quadrille" and received a gold medal with her name.

At about the same time, the tutor of the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, S. A. Poroshin (1741 - 1769), had the misfortune to fall in love with her. On this occasion, there was some kind of clash between them, “ein donkischotischer Streich” (Don Quixote prank), in the words of Academician I.I. Taubert (1717 - 17171), which served, if not as a reason, then at least as a public reason for the resignation of Poroshin from the grand ducal court. "M. Porochine est congedie de la Cour pour les impertinences qu "il a faites par rapport a Mlle Cheremeteff" (Poroshin was excommunicated from the Court because of his insolence towards Miss Sheremetyeva), wrote D. I. Fon-Vizin (1745 - 1792) in 1766.

Anna Petrovna shone in the light. Balls, carousels, receptions, home performances, artists painted her portraits, sculptor F.I. Shubin (1740 - 1805) created her marble bust (located in the museum-estate of Kuskovo). Contemporaries wrote about her: "a charming woman, had small black eyes, a swarthy, lively face, small, thin, beautiful hands, but her facial features were not good."

There were rumors that Catherine II intended Anna Petrovna, one of the richest brides in Russia, for one of the brothers of Grigory Orlov, but when Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718 - 1783) proposed to her, the Empress herself dictated to Grigory the refusal of her brother from her hand.
The engagement of Countess Anna Petrovna with Count N.I. Panin, chief chamberlain of the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, a friend and peer of her father, took place at the beginning of 1768, and on May 17 of the same year, a few days before the wedding, Anna Petrovna died of smallpox.

It was rumored that she became infected from smallpox matter, put out of revenge by an unknown rival in a snuff box with tobacco, presented to her by her fiancé.

“I’ll write you a pity: Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva died of inflammation, it was such a strong inflammation,” Countess E.M. Rumyantsev (1724 - 1779) to her husband on May 30, 1768, “father and groom in inconsolable grief. Mikita Ivanych was in all his illness the bride in Petersburg, lived with his brother and through third parties had news of what was happening with the bride. The illness of the bride of the chief chamberlain Tsesarevich put the Empress herself in the “great barn”, who was afraid of transferring her to the Grand Duke through Count N.I. Panin, "although he left Sheremetev's house for an hour the spots appeared."

Nikita Ivanovich was very upset by the loss, and subsequently did not marry.

Anna Petrovna was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Count N.P. Sheremetev bequeathed himself "to be buried in the same monastery, near the coffin of my late sister, Countess Maria Petrovna Sheremeteva, who in her life was called Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva."
On her grave is the inscription:
“The Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva, the daughter of Count Peter Borisovich, the bride of Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, the lady-in-waiting of the wise Monarchini, who introduced herself on the 24th year, 1768, May 17 days, was buried in this place, and instead of the marriage chamber, her body was betrayed to the bowels of the earth , and her immaculate soul returned to its immaculate source in the eternal life, to the eternal and living God.
And You, O God! heed the voice of the parent,
May his daughter be taken away by Fate,
Toliko in heaven is praiseworthy before You,
Koliko was most praiseworthy on earth.

Countess ANNA PETROVNA SHEREMETEVA, 1744-1768, the eldest daughter of the Chief Chamberlain Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713-1788) and Princess Varvara Alekseevna Cherkasskaya, was born on December 18, 1744. She grew and developed very favorably and was the favorite of her parents. According to contemporaries, she was "a charming woman; she had small black eyes, a swarthy, lively face, small, thin, beautiful hands, but her facial features were not good." Granted in 1760 to the maid of honor by Empress Elizabeth, she received permission to live at home, and not in the palace, which was a rare exception. This did not prevent her from being constantly at the Court and in the company of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, with whom her brother, Count Nikolai Petrovich, was brought up. In her father's house, there were home "noble" performances, in which the Tsesarevich also participated, and at one of them, on February 21, 1766, a comedy in 1 act "Zeneida" was played, in which the characters were: the Grand Duke, Countess Anna Petrovna, in the role of a sorceress, and Countess D.P. and N.P. Chernysheva, moreover, four persons participating in it were wearing diamonds worth 2 million rubles. On the court carousel, which was in St. Petersburg on July 11, 1766, gr. Sheremeteva "gloriously distinguished herself in the Roman quadrille" and received a gold medal with her name. Around the same time, the tutor of the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, SA Poroshin, had the misfortune to fall in love with her. On this occasion, there was some kind of clash between them, "ein donkischotischer Streich", in the words of Academician Taubert, which served, if not as a reason, then at least as a public reason for Poroshin's resignation from the Grand Duke's court. "M. Porochine est congedie de la Cour pour les impertinences qu" il a faites par rapport a Mlle Cheremeteff ", wrote D. I. Fon-Vizin in 1766.

It was said that Catherine II intended Countess Sheremeteva, one of the richest brides in Russia, for one of the brothers of Grigory Orlov, but that when Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin proposed to her, the Empress herself dictated to the eldest of the Orlovs a refusal for her brother from her hand. The engagement of Countess Anna Petrovna with Count N. I. Panin, Chief Chamberlain of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, a friend and peer of her father (born in 1718), took place at the beginning of 1768, and on May 17 of the same year, in a few days before the wedding, Countess A.P. Sheremeteva died of smallpox. It was said that she became infected from smallpox matter, put out of revenge by an unknown rival in a snuff box with tobacco, presented to her by her fiancé. “I’ll write pity to you: Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva died of a fever, it was so strong,” Countess E. M. Rumyantseva reported to her husband on May 30, 1768, “father and groom in inconsolable grief. from his brother and through third parties had news of what was happening to the bride. The illness of the bride of the chief chamberlain Tsesarevich put the Empress herself in the "great barn", fearing that she would be handed over to the Grand Duke through Count N.I. Panin, "although he left Sheremetev's house for an hour the spots appeared."

Countess Sheremeteva was buried at the Lazarev cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Interestingly, Count N.P. Sheremetev bequeathed himself "to be buried in the same monastery, near the coffin of my late sister, Countess Mapia Petrovna Sheremeteva, who in her life was called Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva." - On her grave there is an inscription: "The Countess Anna Petrovna Sheremeteva, the daughter of Count Peter Borisovich, the bride of Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, the maid of honor of the wise Monarchini, who introduced herself on the 24th year, 1768, May 17 days, and instead of the wedding chamber , her body was betrayed to the bowels of the earth, and her immaculate soul returned to its immaculate source in the eternal life, to the eternal and living God.

And You, O God! listen to the voice of the parent, May his daughter, taken away by Fate, Toliko in heaven be praised before You, Koliko be praised on earth.

(From a portrait belonging to Countess A. A. Komarovskaya, in St. Petersburg.)

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On October 12 (October 25, old style), 1768, that is, 243 years ago, Dr. Dimsdale inoculated Catherine II against smallpox. Unsafe was held after the death of smallpox 15-year-old Emperor Peter II. The vaccination was made from a seven-year-old boy Alexander Markov. In memory of the event, the child will be granted the nobility and a new surname - Ospenin.

Traces of smallpox on the faces of famous people

Smallpox is a terrible disease that spared neither princes, nor beggars, nor philosophers, nor commoners. At one time, smallpox was ill British Queen Mary II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, King Louis I of Spain, young Russian emperor Peter II french king Louis XV. Ugly scars were on the faces of Mirabeau, Nikolai Gnedich, Wolfgang Mozart.

A distinctive feature of all portraits of the 18th century is the abundance of powder on radiant faces. It was not just a tribute to fashion, but also a vital necessity. Smallpox marks were visible on the faces of many famous people. There was no need to talk about commoners - people died by the thousands.

The Russian Empress Catherine II could not accept this state of affairs. Seeing how smallpox disfigured the faces of the Western aristocracy, she did not want a similar fate for herself or for her son. From a young age, she lived in fear of smallpox: “From childhood I was taught the horror of smallpox, at a more mature age I had to make great efforts to reduce this horror, in every insignificant painful attack I already saw smallpox,” Catherine wrote to the Prussian king Frederick II.

royal experiment

In the 18th century, Turkey turned to the ancient Chinese method of preventing smallpox - variolation. And after smallpox in Istanbul was extinguished in 1717 by variolation, it began to be used in England. The successful result of the so-called "royal" experiment also contributed to the success of variolation. First, the smallpox vaccine was given to criminals sentenced to death, and then to the children of the orphanage. In 1721-1722 smallpox was given to the king's children and other members of the royal family. Then the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna was well aware of this.

At the beginning of her reign, in 1763, Catherine established a medical college headed by Baron Cherkasov. It was he who raised the issue of the need for smallpox inoculation to protect the population of the empire. Indeed, despite the strict precautions taken to protect imperial family(sick smallpox was not allowed to the court, estates could be taken away for infection with smallpox), smallpox still penetrated the palaces.

An example of the terrible elusiveness of smallpox was the infection and death of Emperor Peter II. And in 1768, a terrible incident occurred at the court of Catherine. Smallpox, despite all the prohibitions, was able to again penetrate the court - Countess A.P. fell ill and soon died. Sheremetyeva, bride N.I. Panin, who was the mentor of the Grand Duke. The life of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich was in danger.

Catherine had to take the risk

Catherine II, seeing that the situation was becoming dangerous, was forced to take a risk. Having developed a grandiose plan, a whole ritual of smallpox inoculation, she first decided to instill smallpox for herself, then to transfer the "smallpox matter" for inoculation to her son-heir, and from him to all those close to her. Using the old belief that by giving her "pox-pox matter" to others, a person was in mortal danger, the empress presented herself in the form of a caring mother, sacrificing her life for the health of her son and all subjects. This symbolism was understandable and accepted by others.

On October 12, 1768, in the evening, the English doctor Dimsdale, with a child sick with smallpox, and an assistant son, were secretly taken to the chambers of the Empress. There she was vaccinated against smallpox. The next day, having moved to the Tsarskoye Selo Palace with her retinue, Catherine indulged in her usual activities. It is easy to imagine the horror of the ladies, maids of honor and gentlemen accompanying her on walks: they were forced to have a casual conversation at the dinner table, and in the evenings to play cards with the empress infected with smallpox. So 6 days passed. Finally, Catherine showed signs of smallpox, and she retired to her chambers until she fully recovered.

On behalf of the Holy Synod

By an unfortunate accident, Tsarevich Pavel fell ill with chickenpox just at the time when they wanted to instill smallpox from the Empress, but this did not violate her plan to instill smallpox throughout the court. There was no longer a shortage of those who wanted to get vaccinated - Catherine's close associates considered it a great favor to receive "smallpox matter." And it was generously distributed to those close to it, as titles, titles, awards, estates and villages were distributed. Only in St. Petersburg about 140 aristocrats were vaccinated against smallpox. And on November 10, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich was also vaccinated.

On behalf of the Holy Synod, Archbishop Gabriel congratulated the Empress and her son on the successful inoculation of smallpox, and on behalf of the Senate, Count K. G. Razumovsky. Catherine the Second answered this way: “My subject was my example to save from my many loyal subjects, who, not knowing the benefits of this method, fearing it, remained in danger. I fulfilled part of the duty of my title; for, according to the gospel, the good shepherd lays down his soul for the sheep."

November 21 was declared a public holiday and celebrated annually in Russian Empire as a day of victory over the fear of smallpox.