Aurora Karamzina

Eva Aurora Charlotta Karamzin ( Stjernvall; 1 or 7 August 1808 – 13 May 1902) was a Finnish philanthropist and a lady-in-waiting in the Imperial Court of Russia. She is better known as Princess Aurora Demidova and Aurora Karamzina, titles that were acquired after her first and second marriages, to Pavel Nikolayevich Demidov and Andrei Karamzin, respectively.

Early life Karamzin was born on 1 August, 1808 at the in Ulvila, Finland, into a Swedish-speaking noble family. She was the daughter of lieutenant colonel and his wife, Baroness Eva Gustava von Willebrand, daughter of Baron Ernst Gustaf von Willebrand and his wife Wendla Gustava Wright. Through her mother, Karamzin was related to Adolf Fredrik Munck and Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. She had an older brother, Emil, and two younger sisters, Emilie and Alexandra (Aline). Emil later became the Finnish Minister of State and a Baron. Emilie married Count Vladimir ; one of her daughters was , who became one of the first Finnish female writers. Alexandra became the second wife of 1st Baron of Seisal José Maurício Correia Henriques, later 1st Viscount of Seisal and 1st Count of Seisal.

Karamzin's father Carl Johan Stjernvall was a high official in the Grand Duchy of Finland, becoming the First Governor of the Viipuri Province in 1812. He acted in that role for three years before his death in 1815. The following year, Karamzin's mother married Procurator (1781-1867), who had also succeeded Stjernvall as the Governor of the Viipuri Province.

Life Villa Hakasalmi manor house in the centre of Helsinki where Aurora Karamzin lived most of her life. Now a museum. Aurora was appointed as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Alexandra Fedorovna the elder (consort to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia), and a lady of the bedchamber of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna the younger and Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Her native language was Swedish and she was fluent in French and spoke also Russian and Finnish.

Karamzin's only child was Pavel Pavlovich Demidov (1839–1885). In 1870, Pavel succeeded his childless uncle, Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, as the 2nd Prince of San Donato.

Her granddaughter and namesake Princess Aurora Pavlovna Demidova married Arsen Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia and became the mother of the Yugoslav regent, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. Demidova's granddaughter is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, now living in Serbia, and the mother of Catherine and Christina Oxenberg.

She died aged 93 in Helsinki on 13 May 1902. Aurora Karamzin, by Alexis Joseph Perignon, 1853. The Collections of the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki.

Places named after Aurora Karamzin in the Helsinki metropolitan area Aurora Street (Helsinki, Töölö) Aurora Hospital (Helsinki) Aurora Hall, (Helsinki Deaconess Institute) Karamzinin Street (Helsinki, Töölö) Auroragate (street in Espoo, Järvenperä) Aurora Karamzin Park (Espoo) Aurora Kindegarden (Espoo) Aurora School (Espoo) Aurora House (Espoo) Aurora Chapell (Espoo) Aurora reception home (Espoo) Karamzin School (Espoo) Art House Little Aurora (Espoo)