MADAME SWETCHINE (1782-1857), Russian mystic, whose maiden name was Soymanof, was born in Moscow, and under the influence of Joseph de Maistre became a member of the Roman Catholic Church in 1815. In the following year she settled in Paris where, until her death, she maintained a famous salon remarkable no less for its high courtesy and intellectual brilliance than for its religious atmosphere. Though not physically beautiful she had a personality of rare spiritual charm, nurtured in the private chapel of her house. Her husband, General Swetchine, was 25 years her senior. Her Life and Works (of which the best known are "Old Age" and "Resignation") were published by M. de Falloux (2 vols., 1860) and her Letters by the same editor (2 vols., 1861).
See Sainte-Beuve, Nouveaux lundis, vol. i.; and E. Scherer, Etudes sur la litte'rature contenzporaine, vol. i.