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RE‐CRAFTING THE PAST: LYDIE ROSTOPCHINA’S FAMILY CHRONICLE
1812 BETWEEN HISTORY, MEMORY, AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Laura SCHLOSBERG *
Napoleon said, “The history of mankind is only an image of the heart.” In my opinion,
[history] is the conscience of mankind. By adhering to this rule, I will tell about my recent
findings frankly, and then let the reader draw their own conclusions. 1
In The Family Chronicle 1812, Lydie Rostopchina (1823‐1915) wove together her memories and
historical research with fiction writing, family stories, and other relatives’ written works. Seeking the
truths hidden behind family‐imposed silences and stories mangled by those outside her family,
Rostopchina sought to correct historical narratives. The Family Chronicle thus represents both a
family story and a contribution to history. Published close to the centenary of Napoleon’s invasion of
Russia, the book can be considered a contribution to historical narratives of these events and to the
legacy of her grandfather, Count Feodor Rostopchin (1763‐1826), the General‐Governor of Moscow.
Rostopchina’s inclusion of the origins of her mother’s controversial poem “The Forced Marriage”
represented another attempt that shape history by correcting gossip surrounding the ballad’s
meaning. Drawing on private letters and family memories to balance popular opinions, Rostopchina
asserted that familial voices and emotions belonged in the construction of historical legacies.
Connecting emotional and personal experiences with a larger moral responsibility for presenting the
past truthfully, she expected readers to consider history with keen emotional sensitivity and
intellectual reasoning.
Known primarily as a fiction writer and translator, Rostopchina worked within an intricate web of
European, Russian, and familial writing traditions. In many ways the tapestry created in the Family
Chronicle reflected Bonnie G. Smith’s argument that in nineteenth‐century Europe, women were
excluded from the emerging scholarly developments occurring in university history programs.
Instead, the types of historical works women created, Smith contends, were “complex expression[s]
of the world.” Through non‐academic presentations such as living pictures, travel narratives, and
historical fiction, women contributed to history with a focus on “everyday life and their attendant
superficialities.” 2 While she does not include life narratives, the genre fits within Smith’s framework.
Modern historical writing in Russia followed two trajectories. Professional historians, some trained in
Europe, other in Russia – all men – equaled the rigor and quality of their European counterparts in
the nineteenth century. Since the eighteenth century, Russian tradition of historical writing also has
been bound up with literary and philosophical writings. 3
The tradition of Russian life narratives adds another layer of complexities. Beyond blurring the
boundaries of literature and history, Beth Holmgren noted that memoirs blended “individualized
expression and reliable reportage.” The memoirist as an eyewitness and narrator could share the
past through the author’s sensory perceptions and remembrances. 4 Scholars of autobiography have
identified three types of family history: filial narrations, intergenerational autobiographies, and
genealogical stories. Citing David Parker, Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson wrote that in family
histories there is “‘a complex sense of moral obligation’ about recasting the dominant narrative as an
ethical imperative.” 5
* Transdisciplinary Studies Program, Claremont Graduate University and Independent
Scholar .
Claremont, California, USA