Anna Labzina: Memoirs of a Russian Woman
Russian women regardless of class system often were faced with brutalities that were not documented, but occurred privately. These themes include submission to men, being respectable both in sexuality and morals, and watching their words so they weren’t see as uncivilized at home and in public. A lot can be learned from these women’s lives and even today how our society still puts women below men. In European countries during the eighteenth and nineteenth century women remained simply as dutiful wives whose husbands were the center of their world. Although times were changing and women were becoming leaders or obtaining more power, the majority were raised to be submissive housekeepers. In Russian history what is fascinating is the idea of noblewomen and their gender roles. The nobility in the eighteenth century begun to see an influx of women leaders like Catherine, Anna, and Elizabeth, but most of Russian women were involved in the class system and remained in the most simplified role as a wife. Anna Labzina, a noblewomen of the time wrote a memoir in 1810 which was not common of wives or anyone at the time. Although a noblewomen is an extremely high place in society, she still faced the cruelty of her husband and the patriarchy. Her memoir is an insight into the world of women, but more importantly noblewomen of the Russian empire at the time. Perhaps, we can learn from Labzina’s memoirs about the why she wrote the diary, religion and the impact of faith, gender roles in Russian noble society, and significantly what her everyday emotions were. Her words echo the voice of many others and carry out the struggles of noblewomen for many centuries.
Anna Labzina was born in November of 1758, when Russia was beginning its long journey to an Catherine and Alexander I ruled era. She grew up modestly and in a small village called Ekaterinburg where her family lived. Her father passed away when she was a small child and her mother lost her mind by secluding herself away from the family and claiming to see her husband who apparently told her not to see her children. Once, Labzina’s mother healed from her psychological trauma she raised her children very modest and well disciplined. Anna would often help her mother with feeding and healing prisoners and other impoverished peoples. She was also educated at home and learned the religious based education which is interesting because Catherine wanted to educate and Westernize girls. Her education and religion gave her an impression of the world that may have not been cohesive to individuals that were taught from a westernized education (K&M, 370). After growing up with her strict yet gentle mother she became a teenager and her mother had started to become ill. As her health was declining she married Anna who was thirteen off to a nobleman so she would not be an orphan and so her life would always be comfortable. She then married Alexander Karamyshev, a statesman and began her life as a dutiful wife and when her ideas of a godly husband failed her she was sent on a journey or navigating the world by being a pious noblewoman. After her first husband’s death she remarried Alexander Labzin, whom she was married to for the duration of his life. He was a prominent member of the Free Masons and the Enlightenment movement. She never had children and writes mostly of her first marriage and her husband’s vices. She was respected, cared for, and loved truly by many. Her journey, as told through her memoir is a collection of thoughtful and intuitive stories through her adolescence to adulthood. Her strength, demeanor, and thoughts are reflective of the thoughts and feelings occurring during the 19th century Russia.
Why she wrote it is probably the biggest question when faced with Labzina’s memoir. Trying to dissect her words and make sense of her agenda is complex and no one will ever fully know, but speculation can be made. What is clear though is that Anna needed an outlet to express herself. There are two reasonable thoughts of why she might have written the memoir, one being a way to get emotions out and another being that she wanted to emphasize her religion. It can be believed that she got inspiration from religion itself and wanted to embody this through her writings. She explains her suffering numerous times in her novel which could reflect on that of martyrs and other women who suffered under god’s name. Her husband was her main source of suffrage as well as family deaths and her memoir could superimpose the two themes of martyrdom and personal feelings. The other reason she could’ve wrote this biography is simply to relieve tensions and feelings she felt on daily basis. Maybe a diary would make her hold her words in more and be the woman she thought was appropriate at the time. What is interesting though is how she wrote a memoir which was almost not heard of for women and even mostly men of the time. There was little documentation in 1810 of women writing diaries and how it could viewed as contradictory to their reserved lifestyles. What proves to be even more interesting is how Labzina who later in life joined the Free Masons continued her diary because they were often for patriarchy and against strong women’s rights so a memoir would be even more revolutionary to write. We may not know the specific cause of her words or why she wrote, but what can be concluded is that she definitely needed an outlet for her feelings and emotions and the memoir gave her just that. We can also learn so much about noblewomen and their struggles based just on this one memoir. Although it is not clear of her intent it is clear that even a small sliver of her words gives us insight into how life was in Russia and what can be learned from these people whether they were prisoners, serfs, nannies, benefactors, and nobles.
Religion and faith for many Russians was a key component for living a worthy and bountiful life. Anna Labiza discusses this topic much in her memoir from the beginning of her childhood far into adulthood where religion affects her relationship with her husband who constantly denounces her faith and god. Anna mentions that much of her childhood was based on religious teachings and how god is always above us. This is important because as she grew into her marriage and as an adult, religion was always a large aspect of her life. This is an important theme in her memoir because it illustrates the importance of religion in Russia during this time and how dutiful noble wives also used faith as a basis of their morals. There are frequent times during her marriage where she confronts her husband for not being pious when making his decisions and time again how he scolds her, demanding that religion doesn’t matter. This tension in their marriage is very crucial to understanding the seriousness of religion and how living a pious lifestyle meant following guidelines of how to love and cherish god. Her husband’s words did not triumph those of god and even if he tried to sway her from the lord she did not listen. An example she gives her audience many times is that her husband was frequently philandering with other women and told her to find another lover as well and even though she was miserable she still stayed devoted. She stated, “You had your authority to deprive me of my property and peace of mind, but you can not take me away from my conscience and good name. God protects me, and he has guarded me from my mother’s womb until this very day” (Labzina, 84). Her memoir explains in detail her love for god and religion. Anna’s religion however made it easier for her to bear her husband’s bad taste and westernized views. Barbara Engel, a historian said her religion helped her expect nothing from life making day-to-day disappointments easy to endure (Engel, 16). We find this in her memoir to be true, she would suffer quietly in the name of the lord and place these burdens on her back. Her suffrage always related to how god would protect her and she was put in her situation for a reason.
The other theme that echoes through her memoir is the idea of submission and the gender roles of women both noble and not. It is important to discuss this because the relationship and gender roles between men and women are vastly different according to Labzina’s memoir. The men and women’s relationship and roles proved to complex during the time. The husband and wife relationship is where Anna explains the role of a woman and her duties. She repeatedly expresses a submissive nature toward her husband even through her deep seeded resentment and through his gambling, drinking, and philandering. Although she may tell him her feelings or when he crosses the line it is time after time that he continuously abuses her feelings and wishes. The women were expected to be submissive and subordinate in the household and endure whatever their husband’s wishes were. However, it is shown through her memoir that Anna had a lot of men help her through harsh times and sadness. Anna’s numerous closest confidants supported her as not only a divine woman, but importantly a human equal to men. Anna confided to the men of her life like governors and many benefactors who understood her. Although, she still held the beliefs that even if a wive if miserable she must not cheat or disobey the wishes of her husband. It illustrates further that religion was not the only factor of not cheating, but also her perception of a woman and a wife. She sometimes would show brave outbursts of contempt to her husband and scold him yet she always would come back to him in a submissive nature and dealt with whatever happened next even if it hurt her. There was a specific case when he had sexual relations with a ten year old girl and locked himself in a room with her and Anna found out and was in such disgust and grief she didn’t tell because frankly she did not know what to do. The time of the nineteenth century it was not ok to divorce your husband and a proper wife was meant to close their mouths and brace any of his burdens. Anna did exactly this showing her inherent nature to be submissive. The other relationship that shows a sense of gender roles or in better terms gender relationships is that of women’s relationship with each other. Anna often found confidants in other women where she could discuss her feelings and explain her hardships. Her mother along with Alexander’s mother were her best friends and where she could share her “weakness” and feelings with. After Alexander’s mother’s death she was torn and described herself even as a “mad women.” With no one to talk with she felt alone, but found other women and friends to express herself with. It is important to understand from her memoir that the patriarchy was the prominent societal hierarchy, but women’s relationship among each other show a sense of sisterhood and partnership. However, when Anna joined the Free Masons her perspective of women changed. She often thought of them as weaker or for the cause of many problems. She states, “I’ve never been led into trouble by a man, whereas women have trie to cast me down into the abyss, and men have saved me” (Labzina, 121). Although she had friendships with many women her ideals change and she blames women in a sense for suffering while her first husband was a cheater and deceptive for the duration of their marriage.
Feelings are a large part of any story, they echo the struggles of many and exemplify everyday life. Anna Labzina’s feelings are continuously placed in her writings mostly through sadness, tears, and small glimpses of hope and peace. Her writings conclude that for a majority of her early life she was not happy with her circumstances. Anna’s mother and mother-in-law died leaving her in a bubble of seclusion. She turned to writing to get out her woes and share her burdens. She would often say in her memoir that pain was not to be shared aloud because no one wanted to hear of it and as a women one should embrace suffering and pain. The majority of her pain however was caused by her marriage to Alexander. With his continuous vices and impulsive actions he would inflict pain onto her and her values. Her diary was an escape from his brutality and a way to express feelings. How ever much she may have suffered she also contradicted her feelings. Often, she would express her miserable experiences and how brutal her husband was, but on the other hand she would rebel against him then become submissive to his wishes. An example where this is evident is when her husband comes home drunk and orders her to not get up and be on the floor and when she does not behave he kicks her out of the house in the freezing cold. Her initial instinct was to leave him, but she is talked about of it and claims, “I will stay and live with him, even though I do not expect to be happy!” (Labzina, 115). Her engrained submission and religion aloud her rebellious feelings to only go so far before she returned to her dutiful role as a wife.
Historians can also learn a lot from her works and use it today for research and analysis. She is a primary source that wrote during essentially the beginning of Russia’s westernized and transition in a world power. Her words are important to understanding the role of noblewomen during Russia’s class system and gender roles and how the interact among each other. There is much to learn from someone’s words also like Anna’s biases and what she thought about life. Her words can also tell historians a lot about Orthodox Christianity in Russia and how engrained values can be. Also, one can learn about the times and the rulers like Catherine and Alexander I and how Russia changed over the period of Labzina’s life. Overall, there is a lot to be learned from Anna and historians can do vast amounts with her work to learn about class systems, women, marriage, religion, etc. Anna’s world can give us insight into our own world as well to see how values and traditions still carry over today and that even two hundred years later there are still similarities in the beginning of westernized countries as well as the present.
Anna Labzina was not an iconic historical figure, but more as a fragmented piece to the whole picture of what Russia was previously like being a noblewomen. Her words are finally being spoken through her memoir and give her the power she never had before. She was sensitive yet brave and endured the world the way she perceived it. Anna like many women of abusive relationships that are hard to escape is still relatable to the world today. Although women’s rights are headed in the right direction there are still individuals who suffer privately under the wrath of their husband’s and endure these unfortunate circumstances alone. Labzina, gives the world her inner most thoughts and feelings which can be used today to discover more about Russia, noblewomen, and how perviously generations perceived their world.