Born: 22 November 1782, Russia
Died: 10 September 1857
Country most active: France
Also known as: Annie Sophie Soymonov, Sofia Petrovna Soymonova
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Anne Sophie Soymanov Swetchine (1782-1857) a Russian mystic and social leader, born at Moscow. She settled in Paris in 1816, where, until her death, she maintained a famous salon remarkable no less for its high courtesy and intellectual brilliance than for its religious atmosphere. Her husband, General Swetchine, was a quiet, inoffensive man, twenty-five years her senior; she herself was small and plain; yet she possessed a spiritual beauty and a charm of personality of altogether unusual kind, that won her the admiration and worship of a group of admiring friends. The Church had granted her the rare indulgence of a private chapel m her house, and from the play of intellect in the salon she passed easily to spiritual communion with God. Her letters and writings show subtle thought and elevation of tone.