The event to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Aurora Pavlovna Demidoff, Princess of San Donato (1873-1904) took place on Thursday, 30 March 2023 in Turin, Italy. The event was organised by Michail Talalay and Alexandre Tissot Demidoff. Alexandre is a direct descendant of Aurora Pavlovna as is Count Luigi di Noghera, who also joined us in Turin, together with his charming wife, Sonia.
The series of events commenced in the late morning with a tour of Villa Bria that Aurora had purchased towards the end of 1896. Villa Bria is located in Gassino, Torinese, so on the outskirts of the city of Turin. Villa Bria, in fact, is an imposing palace with its many interior ceilings decorated with colourful frescos. The main entrance leads to the ‘Halls of the Foundations’ where one finds two mirroring stairways. The stairs lead to the main residence, which consists of three floors above ground. At the back of the Villa is a chapel consecrated to Saint Carlo Borromeo as well as two long, side galleries that run parallel to create an intimate and highly-refined courtyard. Its expansive grounds include a fountain and stone statues representing the four seasons. Villa Bria is situated on a plateau and surrounded by the rising, soft, rolling hills of the region. It is not difficult to imagine that the venue must have enchanted Aurora given its many similarities to the surroundings of Villa Demidoff in Tuscany where she grew up.
We were fortunate that our guide for the tour of Villa Bria was the mayor of Gassino Torinese, Paolo Cugini. The other members of the municipality of Gassino Torinese, who genorously supported our group and attended the series of commemorative events, were Rosetta Maria Tropea, the vice mayor, and Carlo Bosco, the historian.
Following our tour, our group returned to Turin to enjoy a leisurely lunch at Restaurant Birilli where we were served regional Piedmontese specialties. Following lunch, our group crossed the street to Chiesa Ortodossa russa di San Massimo, where Father Ambrogio Cassinasco, and members of his congregation, warmly welcomed us and where the presentation on the ‘Life of Aurora’ then took place.
We commenced by reading to our many guests the various messages received. These included greetings from the ‘Executive of the International Demidoff Foundation’, the ‘Director of the Tula Regional Museum’, and the president of ‘l’Associazione culturale Russkij Mir’, among others. A presentation on the ‘Life of Aurora’ then followed that made use of many rarely seen images of Aurora, her family, and extended family members. Kindly lending some of their proprietary images for the presentation were Bernard Loman, who shared images of his various photographs of Aurora, and Count Luigi di Noghera, who shared a photo of the Noghera children as well as of a painting of Aurora.
The presentation was in large based on the content of original manuscripts found in state, national archives in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Florence. Based on these primary sources, a series of little-known critical events in Aurora’s short, turbulent, and controversial adult life was able to be assembled and presented to the audience. Unfortunately, it was due to a skin puncture to her leg from a rose bush, that turned infectious, that caused Aurora to die, far too young, aged only 30, on 15 June 1904, and at Villa Bria.
Following the presentation on ‘Aurora’s Life’, Father Ambrogio Cassinasco led our group in a solemn, religious service in honour of Aurora.
I do believe that everyone who attended agrees with me that this was a most moving and successful commemorative event marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Aurora Pavlovna Demidoff.
By Alexandre Tissot Demidoff
