Mariya Mein- Tsvetaeva Mother of poetess Marina Tsvetaeva Country: Russia

Maria Meine-Tsvetaeva: A Biography of the Mother of Marina Tsvetaeva

Maria Alexandrovna Meine-Tsvetaeva was the second wife of Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev and the mother of Marina Tsvetaeva and Anastasia Tsvetaeva. Little is known about her, except for a few vivid episodes from Marina Tsvetaeva's memoirs and fragments from Anastasia's memoirs. This lack of information has created a vague and ambiguous image of Maria Meine-Tsvetaeva.

Maria Alexandrovna was born into a wealthy and generous family. She was the only daughter of Alexander Danilovich Meine and Maria Lukinichna Bernatskaya. Maria lost her mother at the age of three weeks. She was raised by her father and a beloved nanny, whom she affectionately called "Aunt". According to Anastasia Tsvetaeva, Maria learned music from Muromtseva, a favorite student of Nikolai Rubinstein, and painting from the artist Klodt.

Marina Tsvetaeva described her mother as having a "passion for music, immense talent in playing the piano and guitar, language skills, excellent memory, magnificent eloquence, and poetry in Russian and German." These words are confirmed by Maria Alexandrovna's diary, which is considered a remarkable document of her extraordinary soul, talented personality, and pure and sensitive nature.

At the age of seventeen, Maria Alexandrovna experienced her only love affair with a married man. The details of this relationship are unknown, but Alexander Danilovich soon discovered the "daring" romance and demanded that his daughter immediately end it. Although Maria reluctantly complied, she continued to love this man.

In one of her private letters in 1914, Marina Tsvetaeva wrote about her mother: "The ecstasy of music, immense talent (such playing on the piano and guitar, which I will probably never hear again!), language skills, splendid memory, excellent eloquence, poems in Russian and German, passion for painting." These words are also confirmed by Maria Alexandrovna's diary, which reveals her search for meaning in life, love for Russian literature, reflections on music and the books she read. These writings depict a complex world of her feelings and thoughts, in which tragic experiences and torments occupy a special place.

Maria Alexandrovna understood that she would have to get married at some point. Marina Tsvetaeva wrote that her grandfather had given Maria the choice between her beloved and her father, and she chose her father. She then got married to a much older widower with two children, Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev, who was deeply in love with his first wife. Marina described her mother's choice as the most difficult one, as she married a man twice her age with two children, still in love with his deceased wife.

Maria Alexandrovna and Ivan Vladimirovich got married in 1889, and two years later, their first daughter Marina was born. Marina described her mother as a devoted wife and assistant to her husband, who was a prominent scholar, art historian, and archaeologist. Maria Alexandrovna played a crucial role in Ivan Vladimirovich's work, managing his extensive correspondence and providing support in various matters. She also helped him realize his dream of establishing the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts.

Maria Alexandrovna did not spare herself in her dedication to her family and the museum. She accompanied her husband on trips to collect collections and building materials for the museum. Despite her declining health, she continued her efforts while seeking treatment abroad for her tuberculosis. Even though doctors advised her to stop playing the piano, she persisted, spending several hours a day at the instrument. Her talent was praised by an Italian doctor who called her playing "genius," but warned her that she risked burning herself and the entire pension if she continued playing that way.

Maria Alexandrovna's health deteriorated rapidly. She understood that she would not live to see the opening of the museum to which she had devoted so much of her energy. Her biggest regret was that doctors forbid her from playing the piano. She fought against this restriction, spending as much time as she could at the instrument. In 1906, she passed away in Tarusa, on the Oka River. Before her death, she whispered, "I will miss only music and the sun!" Her hands glided over the blanket, as if playing the keys of a piano.

Maria Alexandrovna's dream was for her eldest daughter, Musya (Marina), to become a pianist. However, Marina had a different calling - poetry. Marina spent her entire life passionately loving her mother and the memory of her, cultivating this feeling. She later said, "After having a mother like her, I had only one choice: to become a poet. To fulfill her gift to me, which would have either choked me or turned me into a criminal against all human laws."

Maria Alexandrovna may have been overshadowed by her daughter's literary genius, but her devotion to her family, her contributions to her husband's work, and her love for music and the arts make her an important figure in the Tsvetaev family's history.