Sophie spent many months on the run across Siberia, with other members of the royal household, including Gibbes and Gilliard. She was released by the Bolsheviks, unlike many of the other people in the family's entourage, most likely because they mistook her Danish name for Swedish The Bolsheviks did not imprison foreign nationals in fear of reprisals from other nations. She followed the family to exile in Siberia following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The fact she kept her negative opinion to herself was appreciated by the Empress, who knew Buxhoeveden would say nothing to discredit her.

Alexandra would have liked her to accept Rasputin as a holy man, but knew Buxhoeveden's opinion was not likely to be changed. She had no time for Rasputin, but witnessed his miracles first-hand and was baffled by his powers. She was nicknamed 'Isa' by the Tsarina and her four daughters and, during World War I, was often chosen by the Tsarina to accompany the four grand duchesses to official duties. Buxhoeveden was chosen as an honorary Lady in Waiting to the Tsarina in 1904, and became an official Lady in Waiting in 1913. In her youth, she was a part of the social life of St. Courtesy: Beinecke LibraryĪccording to her memoirs, Buxhoeveden's father, Karlos Buxhoeveden, was the Russian minister in Copenhagen, Denmark during World War I. As a child, Sophie shared picnics and mushroom hunts with other famous players in the tragic story such as Anna Vyrubova, Felix Yussoupov, Dmitri Pavlovich, and the sons of poet Konstantin Romanov.īaroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, right, with fellow lady in waiting Countess Anastasia Hendrikova, left, who was later shot by Bolsheviks in 1918.īaroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, far right, with, from left to right, the Grand Duchesses Anastasia, Tatiana, Maria, and Olga of Russia at an official event in 1915. In her book Before the Storm, Sophie describes a side of old Russia seldom seen elsewhere, a family in the old-fashioned provincial country life of the gentry in the years before the revolution. She was the author of three memoirs about the imperial family and about her own escape from Russia.

Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, also known as Sophia Karlovna Buxhoeveden (Russian: София Карловна Буксгевден, SeptemNovember 26, 1956), was a lady in waiting to Tsarina Alexandra of Russia.

Sophie buxhoeveden before the storm