How bizarre the interests and preferences of people sometimes change! An ordinary girl from an ordinary family gets married, learns to cook, writes a book about it, and then begins to consider herself no more, no less - the savior of Russia. These words fully refer to Elena Molokhovets, the author of the book "A Gift to Young Housewives or a Means to Reduce Household Costs", which was published in 1861, the year of the abolition of serfdom in Russia.
Elena was born in 1831 in Arkhangelsk, in the family of a Burman customs officer. Her parents died early, so she lived and studied at the Smolny Institute, where the girls were taught many sciences. Then Elena returned to Arkhangelsk and married Franz Molokhovets, an architect.
The author of the famous book
Soon she and her husband moved to Kursk, where Elena Ivanovna wrote her imperishable book "A Gift to Young Housewives …". Moreover, the epithet "incorruptible" was not applied by chance - this book is still being reprinted.
At that time, she also aroused great interest: the first circulation was small, there were not enough books for everyone, and the ladies began to demand a reprint. Since then, starting in 1866, the collection of recipes has been reprinted 26 times, with a circulation of 10 or 15 thousand copies. In total, about 300,000 copies have been published in Russia and abroad.
Elena Molokhovets even received a letter of compliment from Empress Maria Feodorovna - she praised the book. The author replied modestly: "I am glad that I can be of help." And she noted that thanks to her book, Russian ladies now do not hesitate to go into the kitchen.
The hostesses extolled Elena Ivanovna, jokers wrote couplets about her book. And she was not going to stop there: she wrote a French textbook, composed a polka, wrote recommendations on medicine.
By the way, the opinion about the cookbook is ambiguous: many say that if you eat according to these recipes, you can give your soul to God because of indigestion - all food is so unhealthy. However, critics note, the presence of these recipes in the house did not mean that they were cooking according to them - most likely, it was a sign of good form and a reason for conversation.
And for modern housewives to cook according to this book is completely expensive. Unless someone has a cook and a servant, and you want to surprise your guests with something exotic, from the old Russian cuisine.
Not just cooking
While still in St. Petersburg, Elena Ivanovna met Yevgenia Tyminskaya, who was famous for her religious fanaticism. She also assured that she communicates with the souls of the dead. Elena was imbued with the ideas of Tyminskaya, and decided to become a warrior of the Orthodox faith, to serve the salvation of Russia.
She sees dreams, which she considers prophetic, and lives according to these dreams. In a dream, she sometimes saves Russian soldiers from the Japanese, then travels with Alexander II.
These ideas led to the writing of other works: "A Brief History of the Economy of the Universe", "In Defense of the Orthodox Family", "Monarchism, Nationalism and Orthodoxy" and others. With her books, the brave woman even went to visit the religious philosopher Vasily Rozanov, but she did not get any understanding. He was surprised that the "woman-cook of all Russia" brought him philosophical works. Rozanov listened to the writer, but refused to accept the books.
Personal life
Elena Ivanovna's passion for religion may be due to troubles in family life: her husband died early, one son was in a psychiatric hospital, the other died in the war.
But she does not succumb to troubles - she seeks to devote all her knowledge and energy to the salvation of Russia through the writing of philosophical works.
Molokhovets had ten sons, eight of them died during her lifetime.
Two sons also leave Elena Ivanovna: Anatoly leaves for Siberia to work as an accountant, and Leonid serves in St. Petersburg and is promoted to general.
The grandchildren of Molokhovets are somehow connected with the navy: the granddaughter married a naval officer, and the grandson served on the yacht of Tsar Nicholas II.
Elena Molokhovets died at the age of 87 and was buried in Petrograd.
