MADAME

SWETCHINE (1782—1857)  , Russian mystic, whose maiden name was Soymanof, was born in Mpscow, 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 litterature contemporaine, vol. i .