Krüdener

Krüdener, BARBARA JULIANA VON (1766–1824), daughter of Baron von Vietinghoff, was born at Riga. Married to Baron von Krüdener, a Livonian nobleman who was Russian ambassador at Venice, she for years lived apart from him in Riga, St Petersburg, and Paris. In 1803 she published a novel, Valérie, edited by Sainte-Beuve in 1855, supposed to be partly autobiographical. Next her thoughts turned to religion. She came in contact with Jung-Stilling, and ultimately gave herself up to exaggerated religious mysticism. She appeared as the herald of a new religious era, and impressed the Emperor Alexander of Russia. Obligated to withdraw from France, she retired to her paternal estates near Riga. See Krug's Conversations with Madame von Krüdener (1818), and Lives by Eynard (1849), Lacroix (1880), and Clarence Ford (1893).