Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova

Darya Nikolayevna Ivanova was born on November 3, 1730, in the Russian Empire. Her parents, Nikolai Avtonomovich Ivanov and Anna Ivanovna Davydova, had connections with Davidovs, Musin-Pushkins, and Tolstoy’s family. Little is known about her early life. Russian aristocracy was undergoing rapid westernisation during this period with the changes Peter the Great brought about. Darya Nikolayevna Ivanova most probably grew up wearing clothes of contemporary European fashion and reading European texts.

Darya Nikolayevna Ivanova got married quite early by contemporary standards, to the noble Gleb Alexeyevich Saltykov, who was the uncle of Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov, a count, Russian Field Marshal and imperial courtier, and eventually prince of the Russian Empire. The Saltykovs were one of the most powerful and influential families in Russia. They had land, wealth, and a direct connection to the Russian throne.

The union produced two sons: Theodore (1750–1801) and Nicholas (d. 1775). Darya Saltykova lost her husband at the age of 26. She subsequently became the richest widow in Moscow. Following her husband’s death, she became the owner of the beautiful estate near Moscow called Troitskoe. She lived there with Theodore and Nicholas and also had about 600 serfs living in the property.

During her marriage, no one gave her any special attention beyond what the money and power of her husband’s family could garner. She appeared gloomy and reserved to most. A pious woman, she gave money to monasteries and churches on a regular basis

It was during this period that she became acquainted with a young and handsome man, Nikolay Tyutchev, who would eventually become the grandfather of the renowned Russian poet, Fyodor Tyutchev. She was progressively getting older and lonely, and the affair boosted her spirits significantly. It was driven by both desperation and passion.

The relationship came to a jarring halt after she discovered that Nikolay was also in a relationship with a young girl and had secretly married her in a church. It infuriated her beyond bearing. She tried to kill her unfaithful lover and nearly succeeded. Nikolay and his wife decided to run to his relatives’ estate in Moscow, and from there, they quickly journeyed out of the region. Darya Saltykova wanted to kill them both but opportunity was lost.

Following her lover’s escape, she poured out all her anger, fury, and bitterness in the treatment of her serfs. While the historians argue that there was no definite cause behind Darya Saltykova’s sudden turn to cruelty, it did start occurring after her erstwhile lover made his successful escape.

It began with incidents, which, in that world, were quite normal. She abused the serf girls and no one took any notice of that. Soon, she began hurling logs at them for various reasons, for instance, if they had failed to perform something like cleaning the house to her satisfaction.

The condition of the serfs soon further deteriorated. It was mostly the young girls and women who faced her wrath. She despised them all. For her, the younger the victims were, the better it was. All the serf women living in her property reminded her of the young woman for whom Nikolay had left her. She considered them her rivals. She tortured children and pregnant women by beating them, breaking their bones, and ordering them to be left out in the forest, naked. She was also known to pour boiling water over the bodies of her victims.

While she did kill men, those deaths were infrequent. Among the victims, only three were men. She sought to punish them by killing their loved ones: wives, mothers, and daughters. A sadist of the worst kind, she gained pleasure from the misery of her victims.

The serfs did not endure the violence silently. They reported the crimes diligently but to no effect. She used her connections in the royal court and the complaints were either ignored or the people who were reporting it suffered horrible consequences.