Barbara Doukhovskoy (nee Princess Galitzine). The Diary of a Russian Lady. 

1917

London: John Long, Limited. 543 pages, with two portraits. Good to good minus. Hardcover, good ex-library copy. Library binding. 

Barbara traveled all around the world, accompanying her spouse, General Doukhovskoy, and “unwittingly became the spectatrix of particularly interesting facts.” Her globetrotting started when she visited Tiflis – “One evening we went to see La Traviata sung in Armenian, which rather disagreed with Italian music.” Young Princess and her friend rushed out of the theatre because could contain themselves of laughing. In Tiflis, she met a young handsome general who later became her husband. When Russo-Turkish War started in 1877 he was promoted to Chief of staff of General Loris Melikoff, Commander of the army of the Caucasus. Barbara followed her husband through the entire campaign and lived in Alexandropol, Kars, and Ardahan, often staying with Armenian families. Especially valuable are her observation of daily life of Armenians in Erzeroum where she stayed for a few months while her husband was involved into delineating a new borderline between Russia (winner of the war) and Ottoman Turkey (loser). “The attitude of the Armenian inhabitants that we met on our way was most cordial and sympathetic toward us, but the Mussulmans showed open hostility by the glances full of hatred that they cast upon us.” (page 100). As an example of Turkish barbarism, she cited the following – “At Khnyss some Kurdes dug up the corpse of a Russian soldier and stripped him of his clothes and boots. As a punishment for their sacrilegious misdeed, Ibrahim Pasha obliged the Kurdes to eat these boots, chopped up into small bits.” (page 103). Another famous Armenian-Russian general Lazareff came to Erzeroum and excited Armenian population immensely - “The Armenians, dazed by their momentary success after the arrival of General Lazareff, are very rude toward the Turkish inhabitants. As to the sly Greeks, they assume entirely different behaviours, making themselves agreeable both to the Christians and Mussulmans.” (page 125). When general Doukhovskoy and his detachment were to leave Erzeroum, Armenians, fearing Turkish reprisal, cried and begged him to let them go with him to Russia.