thumb|200px|Nikolai [[Argunov (1771 – c. 1829): the portrait of Praskovya Ivanovna Zhemchugova-Sheremeteva, 1803. The pendant of her necklace shows a miniature portrait of her husband Nikolai Sheremetev]]
thumb|200px|Praskovia Kovalyova-Zhemchugova in a scenic costume for [[Les mariages samnites by André Ernest Modeste Grétry]]
Praskovia Ivanovna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova (; – ) was a Russian serf actress and soprano opera singer.
Career
Praskovia was one of the best opera singers in eighteenth-century Russia. and Figes describes her as Russia's first "superstar". She was born into the family of a serf blacksmith by the name of Ivan Gorbunov (a.k.a. Kovalyov) probably on the estate of Voshchazhnikovo in the province of Yaroslavl. Praskovia and her family belonged to the Sheremetevs, one of the richest noble families in Russia at the time, along with an estimated one million other serfs.
In the mid-1780s or early 1790s, Praskovya became the mistress of Count Nikolai Sheremetev.
The plaque on Praskovia's grave reads--
Notes
References
Sources
External links
- Krugosvet (in Russian)
- Where Russia (in English)
- Douglas Smith, The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great's Russia
- Praskovia Kovalyova-Zhemchugova (article in Russian)
- Praskovia Kovalyova-Zhemchugova (biography in Russian)
- Praskovia Kovalyova-Zhemchugova (biography in Russian)