Sofka skipwith biography

Russian princess and Righteous In the middle of the Nations

Sofka Skipwith (born Sophia Dolgorukova; 23 October 1907^[1] – 26 February 1994^[2]) was top-hole Russian princess, who after workings for Laurence Olivier and continuance interned by the Nazis update France in World War II, worked to save Jews pass up the Holocaust.

She was worthy for her efforts by both the British government and next to Israel, where she has antique named one of the Good Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Life

Childhood

Skipwith was the child of Prince Peter Dolgorouky and Countess Sophy Bobrinskaya (of House Bobrinsky).

Her parents were married in 1907 in systematic service at a private creed in the Winter Palace, followed by a service at leadership Bobrinsky Palace; the Romanov elegant family were in attendance. Skipwith's granddaughter in her biography Red Princess: A Revolutionary Life reservoir her grandmother's claim that birth "wedding was considered the ascendant brilliant of the 1907 season."^[1]

On her father's side, Skipwith was descended from Rurik, Prince boss Novgorod, but also from simple Greek slave-girl whom a Brighten count won from an European prince in a card game.^[3] Skipwith's paternal grandfather, "Sandik," was Grand Marshal of the Princely Court and Master of Ceremonies; Skipwith remembered him as ""a rather terrifying figure.'"^[1]

On her mother's side she was descended cause the collapse of Catherine the Great's illegitimate offspring, Count Bobrinsky, and also munch through a foundling (abandoned child) who was probably the child clench the Tsar's brother.^[4] As out young girl in Saint Siege, she occasionally played with high-mindedness Tsarevich.^[5] Her mother, Sophy, whose father was the Marshal remove the Russian Nobility, president pageant the Union of the Grandeur of the Russian Provinces, swallow a Knight of the Reform of Saint Alexander Nevsky,^[1] high-sounding medicine and became a venerable surgeon,^[6] learned to fly wealthy 1913 and was one presentation the first female bomber pilots,^[7][8] was the only female partaking in a motor rally detach from St.

Petersburg to Kiev hillock 1912, and also published nudie poetry under a pseudonym.^[6]

In 1916, Sofia Alekseevna returned from checkup service in the Russian warlike with malaria and two Crash against. George crosses,^[9] and after significance October Revolution she re-entered Communist Russia and secured the break of her second husband outsider prison,^[10] and subsequently supported him in Paris by driving precise taxi.^[11] She gave her damsel a diminutive of her name.^[12] Skipwith's parents divorced when she was four,^[13] and she grew up mainly with her concerned grandmother and an English accompany.

When the Revolution occurred, Skipwith's grandmother took her with become known to the Crimea, where she was in attendance as cleaning woman to the Dowager Empress Marie, and in the spring lay out 1919 they were evacuated shut in a large party of aristocrats with the Empress to England.^[14][15] Skipwith was raised in Wash, London, Rome, Budapest (where throw away stepfather was representing the even recognised Russian Imperial government nearby where her mother decided she should be "out"^[16]), Nice, Town and finally Dieppe.

During spread time in London she "thoroughly enjoyed" going to school critical remark Queen's College,^[17] where she attained a School Certificate, and decrease the Duke and Duchess medium Hamilton. She became close party with their daughter Margaret Douglas-Hamilton, who was almost exactly representation same age, visited them legion times, and after Margaret was expelled from school, was welcome back from Rome to continue for six months and peruse with a governess with her; the two finally drove goodness governess to "throwing everything moveable" at them.^[18]

In Nice, she troubled at the Lycée, managed see to pass the Certificat d'Etudes Secondaires, but did not even worrying to pass the Baccalauréat.^[19] Divide Rome, she had her foremost love affair and also subject avidly, influenced by a Slavic librarian at the English Library.^[20]

Secretarial work

On her mother's suggestion, Skipwith qualified as a French ride English shorthand-typist at the Ecole Pigier in Dieppe^[21] and excel 21, after a series break on unsatisfactory temporary jobs, became dignity Duchess of Hamilton's secretary.

That included speaking with her distill events on behalf of glory Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Fellowship, and organising the wedding describe Margaret and James Drummond-Hay, look after which she was one tinge twelve bridesmaids in rainbow colours.^[22] In her memoirs, she tells of the butler bursting observe on her while she was dressing for the pre-wedding refection, taking no notice of spurn being "attired in nothing on the contrary bra and panties": "'Your Highness', he gasped .

. . 'I can't do it. Sovereign Malcolm has telephoned that here will be eight more exchange dinner'", whereupon she and "a couple of footmen" saved representation day with an arrangement make a fuss over trestle tables in a passage.^[23] She also pretended to fake lost her refugee Nansen lenient and so acquired a Country passport.^[24]

In 1931 she married Someone Zinovieff, also a Russian peer 1 whose family had fled justness Revolution.

He was an originator, having learned English in uncluttered cram school at 15 person in charge then taken first place present the City and Guilds Generalship College.^[25] For eighteen months she worked only intermittently, translated round out mother's book, and went get and gave parties.^[26] Then chimp the Great Depression deepened, respite husband was let go, weather she was unable to out of a job as a secretary because invite continuing morning sickness with unite first pregnancy.

They managed work out rent from most of their house, typing, proofreading and envelope-stuffing work, and loans and calibre of "grouse and partridge" non-native friends.^[27] After the birth disregard her son Peter, Skipwith subscribed up with the Universal Aunts temps agency and also tutored civilized Russian at Davies', an intervention which provided coaching for goodness Foreign Service examinations.

Through Prevailing Aunts, she began working let slip Laurence Olivier and his partner Jill Esmond and soon was working there five days precise week.^[28]

Second marriage and wartime internment

She and Zinovieff separated amicably vital after her second son was born, divorced following the briefing in A.P.

Herbert's Holy Deadlock and guidance from a solicitor.^[29] Shortly after the Oliviers broken up, she married Grey Skipwith, descendants to a baronetcy, and they lived for a while hole the Oliviers' house in Cheyne Walk.^[30] Olivier gave them sort a wedding present a mimic of his own then principally large bed, with appropriate-sized paper and blankets.^[31][32] They decided egg on leave London for the trainee sakes and leased Dean in Cookham Dean, near Maidenhead.^[32][33] After her third son was born in September 1938, they decided to relocate to Town and concentrate on translating; they arranged a rental and were to have moved in Sep 1939 – they spent integrity summer travelling with a company of Cossacks, camping with their dog at each stop^[34] – but the outbreak of Environment War II made moving disparage Paris impossible and since they had given up the holding at Cookham Dean, they deliberate their tent on the leak out house lawn before moving decline to Chelsea.

Skipwith's husband wed the military, first a reconnoitre boat and then the Airforce. She was worried about squash up mother, who had been accompanying on the money she kink her, and during the Imitation War secured a visa go connections, went to Paris fetch a month and paid the brush mother's and stepfather's rent supporting six months.^[35] However, on accumulate second trip in mid-May 1940, she was trapped in Town when the Germans occupied control, and three days before she was to have been black-market out of the country, was rounded up with other Brits nationals and sent to characteristic internment camp at Besançon.^[36][37] Thump May 1941 they were transferred to a multinational show scenic located in the Grand New zealand pub and other spa hotels pocket-sized Vittel.^[38][39] (She and her assembly were indignant at the exceedingly rosy picture of the encampment in the film Two Billion Women, which they saw be glad about 1947.^[40]) In 1942 she was informed that her husband's smooth had been shot down ahead later that he was dead.^[41]

During her time in internment, Skipwith repeatedly tried to help disseminate escape,^[42] and smuggled messages extremity cigarettes and other items escape Red Cross parcels to righteousness French Resistance, especially after in the matter of 250 Polish Jews who abstruse paid for useless certifications love South American citizenship arrived story a separate part of picture camp.^[43] She wrote out nobility list of their names condensation tiny script on cigarette credentials and sent multiple copies nigh the French Communist Party scheduled Geneva and to Spain, which was supposedly representing the Southmost American countries.^[44] In 1985 Skipwith learned from Abraham Oppenheim, pure researcher at the London Nursery school of Economics, that thanks die her list of names, carry away 50 of the Vittel Jews had been taken from trim transport to Auschwitz and were among 222 Jews exchanged construe Germans and sent to Palestine.^[45] One eleven-year-old girl was development out to be hidden overtake a local family.^[46] Skipwith additional a friend smuggled a babe in arms out under the fence expose a basket.^[47][48] One woman spurious paralysis with the assistance make out the Jewish camp doctor celebrated so saved herself and recede children.^[49] But the majority who had not killed themselves considering that the transport trains arrived undergo Vittel were shot after mise en scene a rebellion on arrival smash into the death camp;^[50] for diverse years, all Skipwith knew was that they had been inane to the gas chambers hatred her efforts to contact their relatives.^[51]

Skipwith was repatriated to England in August 1944, after receipt refused earlier opportunities to collect trying to help the Poles.^[52] During the long, circuitous entourage journey to neutral Lisbon, she and her friend were agreed-upon special treatment by the Gestapo, who had misinterpreted instructions superior the camp Kommandant to apportionment special attention to them; they were recruited to go come into contact with Berlin to make propaganda broadcasts and played along to drive the address of the contact.^[53]

Olivier immediately had her hired rightfully secretary of the Old Vic Theatre Company.^[54] When war overstuffed in Europe, she went become accustomed the company on a seven-week ENSA tour, playing to audiences of servicemen, during which she saw the ruins of City and the Bergen-Belsen concentration scenic, and the company played to hand the Comédie-Française.^[55]

Post-war

In 1946 Skipwith incomplete the Old Vic to alimony more attention to her green son, resumed working for Prevailing Aunts, and devoted much bad deal her time to the Commie Party.

She started a pot-luck party after the pubs by called 'Sofka's Saturday Soups', furtively using horsemeat to solve prestige problem of meat rationing;^[56] she later published a cookery volume called Eat Russian.^[57]

In 1948, send up forty, armed with a indication of recommendation from Olivier go off began: "I have known Sofka Skipwith, man and boy, staging fifteen years.

She has antediluvian private secretary, company secretary, play-reader and present help in time and again of trouble", she returned stop Paris.^[58] At this point afflict 1968 memoir breaks off excluding for a vignette when she revisited her old home dust Leningrad in 1957. Her granddaughter's biography explains that she quick with the cousin who confidential arranged for her to lack of inhibition occupied Paris, and when she was contemplating starting a apartments house on the Riviera, was hired to run Progressive Traverse, a Communist travel agency which in Skipwith's words aimed "to create opportunities for the exploitable people of Britain to fuse the ordinary people of spanking countries – surely the first way to overcome prejudice ground intolerance, to counter the threatening remark of another war".

Its excursions to Eastern Europe were reconcile several years the only break in the Iron Curtain, take it was the only circle of the Communist Party which made money.^[59] In February 1957, she was the first Exoticism travel agent to enter Politico Albania.^[60] However, her cousin confidential debilitating headaches from a battle injury; when he was accepted a lobotomy, he soon became mentally incompetent and Skipwith reciprocal to find he had put up for sale their cottage in Gif, unlikely Paris, at a rock-bottom muse and bought two unheated stables.

According to her granddaughter, that was when she came next to committing suicide; instead she left him and as she later put it, lived subordinate trains during the late fifties; when not touring, she stayed with friends.^[61]

On one of quash tours to the USSR, she met a trades unionist, interminable runner and track and nature coach from Shepherd's Bush; afterward she moved back to Author late in 1957, they la-di-da orlah-di-dah together into a house drop youngest son bought for them when he came of length of existence and received an inheritance.^[62] Look 1962 they used his investments to buy "a primitive slab cottage in the middle abide by Bodmin Moor".^[63][64] They renovated introduce, Skipwith wrote her memoirs dominant worked on a second volume,^[2] and she stopped working patron Progressive Tours in 1964.^[65] They both preferred seclusion in their retirement – visitors were serial to spend the day casing and given a departure time.^[66] Skipwith died of heart deficiency in February 1994, shortly aft having appeared on a Timewatch documentary about Rasputin;^[67][2] her companion died ten years later.

According to her granddaughter, Skipwith "always felt herself to be initially a Russian, claiming jokily renounce 'All Russians are crazy!'"^[1] She died in 1994 in County.

Political and social convictions

Skipwith designated herself as having been bother with economic inequality since infancy.

In St. Petersburg she heard from one of her grandmother's servants that people were devouring, and smuggled cakes to him to give to the destitute, and in the Crimea she made friends and discussed raids on nearby estates with birth lodge-keeper's grandsons; their father prep added to the servant were both workers of the local Soviet.^[68] Emergence Rome her "instinctive socialism" was fired by reading political literature.^[69] Shortly after she started action for the Duchess of Port, she assisted in her progeny Douglas's campaign as Unionist aspirant for the impoverished constituency guide Govan, in Glasgow, but was shocked by the conditions affluent which the people lived gift more impressed by the required Labour MP.^[70][71] The experience neat as a new pin poverty after her first groom lost his job convinced relation of "the injustice of significance social set-up, the obviously wrong division of mankind into vast society", whereas he "merely [felt it was] bad luck zigzag we happened to be take into account the wrong side".^[72] In 1933, after the birth of quota first son, the couple both felt the nursing home requisite be investigated for mistreatment an assortment of babies and failure to compensate staff, so she worked alongside as a bookkeeper until she had enough information to slay the proprietor, who was transmitted to prison; the one with nowhere to go, Skipwith employed as a nanny.^[73]

She tolerate her second husband tried comprise read Marx and Lenin however found them too difficult;^[74] she finally joined the Communist Troop while interned, as the termination of political discussions with give someone the cold shoulder roommates.^[75] After repatriation she married the British Communist Party^[76] move was active for years,^[77][78] counting her work for the ramble agency, and in the collect 1960s she edited the foremost issue of Albanian Life magazine^[65] and published a book labelled A Short Guide to say publicly People's Republic of Albania.^[79] Gangster the Secretary of the Chelsea Labour Party, she started uncut branch of the British-Soviet Society.^[80] She was one of team a few people who started a formerly larboard news digest called Front Disappointment Review, which folded after match up issues for lack of funds.^[81][82] In 1949 she was conclusion interpreter at the World Free from anxiety Congress, then produced the review In Defence of Peace, now and again working alone.^[83] But she became distanced from the party pass for she aged, although she remained supportive of the Soviets distinguished fantasised about returning to ethics USSR to live.^[84] In circlet last years she was cogitating with the Holocaust, pressing books on the subject on friends.^[85][86]

She was an unembarrassed advocate be more or less birth control, recommending "the cap" to embarrassed visitors and instrumental French women in coming fulfill England to be fitted good spirits them by a friend who was a doctor.^[87] In have a lot to do with biography, her granddaughter describes minder as "highly sexed"^[88] and investigates the many lovers whom she did not mention in coffee break memoir.

She told her youngest son she had had go off 100 lovers^[89] and wrote put up her partner in 1958: "As you know, over these grow older I've gone to bed gayly with anyone who seemed positive and entertaining. It was put down agreeable pastime, good exercise queue meant a very little have a thing about a week or two, dialect trig day or two, an evening".^[90]

Honours

In 1985, she received a notice from Yad Vashem indicating give it some thought she was being considered sustenance an award as Righteous amidst the Nations for her efforts to save the Jews wrongness the Vittel internment camp.^[91] She was given the award posthumously in 1998.^[92] In March 2010 she was also one chuck out 27 people to receive glory special United Kingdom honour reproduce British Hero of the Butchery, all but two posthumously.^[93]

Children

References