Ekaterina Radzivill Polish writer, swindler. Country: Poland

1. Biography of Ekaterina Radziwill
2. A Controversial Writer
3. A Turbulent Personal Life
4. A Role in the History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
5. Legacy and Death

Biography of Ekaterina Radziwill

Ekaterina Adamovna Rzhevuskaya, also known as Ekaterina Radziwill, was a Polish writer and con artist. Born in 1858, she married Wilhelm Radziwill, a representative of the German branch of the Radziwill family, at the age of 15. Together with French writer Juliette Adam, she is considered one of the authors of a scandalous series of books about European society and royal courts published under the pseudonym Count Paul Vasili.

A Controversial Writer

In addition to her collaboration with Juliette Adam, Ekaterina Radziwill published numerous books under her own name, focusing on European monarchs, politicians, and other celebrities. Her books often had a negative tone, portraying many of the individuals she wrote about in a unfavorable light. Some of her works had a clear anti-Romanov and anti-Russian bias, while others, particularly those written for an American audience during World War I, displayed an anti-German and anti-Austrian sentiment.

A Turbulent Personal Life

In the 1890s, her husband divorced her and took custody of their children. Around 1900, Ekaterina Radziwill spent time in South Africa and developed a close relationship with Cecil Rhodes. However, a conflict arose between them, leading her to sue Rhodes for fraud. The court ruled against her, declaring the documents she presented with Rhodes' signature as forged. As a result, she spent approximately a year in prison. In 1906, Wilhelm Radziwill divorced her. She later remarried Swedish engineer and entrepreneur Karl Emile Kolb-Danvin and moved to the United States, but he passed away in 1917. For the remainder of her life, she resided in New York.

A Role in the History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Ekaterina Radziwill claimed to have played a significant role in the history of the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion. She asserted that the protocols were created by Russian journalists Matvei Golovinski and Manasevich-Manuilov on the orders of the Okhrana (the Tsarist secret police) in 1904 and then passed on to S. A. Nilus. However, this contradicts the timeline of events, as the protocols were published in Russia before Nilus, by P. Krushevan in the newspaper "Znamya" in 1903.

Legacy and Death

Ekaterina Radziwill passed away on May 12, 1941. Valentin Pikul dedicated a story called "The Lady from the Gothic Almanac" to her. Throughout her life, she authored numerous books, including "Behind the Veil at the Russian Court," "Russia's Decline and Fall: The Secret History of a Great Debacle," and "Nicholas II: The Last of the Tsars." Despite the controversies surrounding her, Ekaterina Radziwill left an indelible mark on the literary and historical landscape.