Ekaterina Vasilievna Engelhardt, the niece of Prince Potemkin, in 1782 married the Count Pavel Martynovich Skavronsky, the grandson of Empress Catherine I. On the outside, it was an extremely elegant, elegant young man, brought up according to all the rules of court etiquette. But, however, he did not manage to make any career for himself, thanks to the irresistible passion for music, which eventually turned him into an extraordinary eccentric.
He devoted all his time to singing and composition, although in neither of them could not succeed. Vexed at the indifference of his compatriots to his talent and finding that he was not understood at home, he decided to leave Russia and went to Italy, the classical country of melody and sounds. But even there Skavronsky was considered an eccentric and looked without condescension at his musical whim. Surrendering to more and more musical passion, Skovronsky reached the point that the servant did not dare to talk to him except as a recitative. An Italian footman, prepared for the notes written by his master, gave a pleasant baritone to the count that the carriage was served. After five-year oddities in Italy, Skovronsky returned in 1781 to St. Petersburg.
Having married, he overcame his passion for music, exchanging it for a diplomatic career. In 1785 he was appointed Russian envoy in Naples… Of course, having married a niece of one of the highest dignitaries of the empire, Count Skavronsky could not afford to “convert her to his faith,” forcing him to communicate with him with a recitative. Moreover, when in 1785 the count received an appointment to Naples, he had to go there alone. His wife flatly refused to leave St. Petersburg. Only five years later, at last, she deigned to come to the capital of the Kingdom of Naples. Until that time, nothing prevented Count Skavronsky from indulging in his musical “amusements.” In 1792 Pavel Martynovich died. From the marriage with Catherine Vasilyevna Engelhardt he had two daughters – Catherine and Maria. As for his widow,
Returning in 1793 to St. Petersburg, she remarried – this time For the Italian Count Yu. P. Litt. Their marriage was happy, but the new spouse was also not deprived of eccentric features. Firstly, he had an amazing bass force, and this thunderous voice, which was given the name of “trumpet of the archangel at the second coming,” blocked not only all other voices, but even the sound of the orchestra. And secondly, Earl of Litta passionately loved ice cream, which he absorbed in huge quantities wherever he used to be.
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