1912

Upon his arrival in Georgia, Nicholas the Second of Russia was introduced to many Georgian ladies.  Unable to conceal his admiration, the Emperor exclaimed, ‘What beauties!’ and then addressed one of them directly, ‘It is sinful to be so beautiful!’

These words were addressed to Meri Shervashidze, very soon to be the Emperer’s mother’s maid of honour.  As her father, the Major-General, Prokophy Shervashidze, was a member of the Russian State Duma (State Council), the family lived in Petersburg.

The maids of honour in the Emperor’s court were selected because of their special beauty and noble descent, but not everyone was granted such an honour as Meri had been.

At the funeral of the Emperor’s mother, Maria Fyodorovna, Nicholas the Second counted only three maids of honour when there should have been four. ‘Who is missing?’ he inquired and was told, ‘Meri Shervashidze!’ At that very moment Meri appeared and calmly took her place.  It was inconceivable that anyone would enter the hall after the Emperor.

This Georgian trait accompanied Meri until the end of her life.  She was always late but wherever she appeared - at parties, receptions or in church, she captured the attention of the community.  Everyone wanted to catch sight of her - so beautiful, sophisticated and majestic she was.

After Meri’s father died the family mainly lived in Kutaisi, although they used to visit Grigol Mkheidze, Meri’s grandfather at Senaki.  He had a big house and was so wealthy that he built a railroad from Poti to Senaki.

In 1918, Meri’s fiance, Gigusha Eristavi, aide-de-camp to Nicholas the Second came to Kutaisi from Petersburg.  They soon got married in Mtavarangelosi (Archangel) church.

Meri Shervashidze was a descendant of an Abkhazian prince, a spouse of the Eristavi and a former maid of honour. It is a paradox but, in 1921, at that most difficult time, unlike many others, she calmly and legally boarded a ship sailing from Batumi.  She was traveling to France, joining her husband in Constantinople, Turkey on the way.  It was here that Meri took part in a beauty contest and won.

And in Georgia... many such ships were seen off in Georgia.

And everything was forbidden... Everything that was a symbol of the Bagrationi blue blood, a noble family, a proud and noble descent, an image of a woman ‘frozen on the breeze of a lady’s fan’, sophistication and refinement were all forbidden, and, more importantly, the history of Georgia until 1921.

...And many ships left the shore taking many things away with them for so many years but they left something more essential behind, they left hope and great dreams behind...

‘You got married that night, Meri’...  Nobody knows precisely who this poem was dedicated to ...  Nobody really wants to know except scholars...
Every Georgian associates the image of Galaktion’s ‘Meri’ with Meri Shervashidze’s name.  This is strange though because she was neither a well-known public figure nor did she fervently attend the meetings of Georgian emigrants.  But she has become a token of lost Georgia, the ideal taken away from the soul and the beauty.  She has become a real image that the poems should have been dedicated to and poets should have dreamt of.

Alexander Dumas said, ‘A person’s descent is apparent in the hands, legs and hair; in our understanding aristocracy implies to a great extent refinement, education, spiritual balance and nobleness.’  Meri Shervashidze’s personality was the embodiment of all these character traits.  She is remembered as being tall, well-built with dark straw-coloured eyes and chestnut coloured hair, never laughing, only smiling.  She had a very narrow circle of friends but everyone who knew her noted her modesty, humbleness and gentleness.

In Paris, Meri Shervashidze settled down in the prestigious sixteenth district in the Rue de La Tour near Boulogne forest in a modest but comfortable apartment.
For a while the family endured hardships.  Meri’s mother, Nino Mkheidze and her twin sisters, Elene and Tamar lived together with Meri.  Nino began to work at one of the famous sewing workshops. After some time the family managed to open a saloon of their own. At this time Meri Shervashidze became the Coco Chanel model. The worldly Parisians particularly noted Meri’s style of dress as well as her ability to manifest the beauty bestowed on her by God. Meri’s portrait, painted by the famous artist Saveli Sorin, hangs in the palace of the Prince of Monaco (even though the painter had dedicated the picture to the Georgians).

Her face was also depicted on one of the frescoes in Guria after it had been restored.

The world famous artist, Man Ray, renown for his photography, took Meri’s portrait.  The photo was given to us from Man Ray’s album by Eka Japaridze, one of Meri’s descendants.

In 1935, in France, Galaktion Tabidze happened to see Meri Shervashidze by chance.  She was sitting in a park in front of the Louvre and was even more beautiful than ever.  After this, the poet dedicated a number of poems to ‘Meri’, for us - to Meri Shervashidze...

Time passed.... In the eighties the ‘Sukhishvili’ dance ensemble arrived in Paris.  One of the solo dancers was the daughter of Meri’s cousin, Marina Mkheidze.  A meeting was scheduled between them after the performance.

‘I came out on the stage from behind the scenes standing in a row together with other dancers and... the entire row was looking not towards the front, but at the audience.  I too looked in this direction and in the centre of the hall I saw Meri, late for the performance, seating herself...’ recalls Marina.

Then, as always, she was beautiful, elegant and majestic...

Gigusha Eristavi passed away at an early age, leaving Meri with no heirs so she raised her sister’s children, Constantine and Nino.  Unfortunately, ‘Kotsiko’ also died while Nino got married in Nice.

Meri Shervashidze spent the last years of her life in a nursing home.  There she had everything; a bright room, a telephone, a nurse who took care of her and even an admirer who presented her with flowers in the dining room every day.

Meri died at the age of 97, retaining her beauty, nobleness and stateliness until the last day of her life.

Everything beautiful is another sign of the manifestation of the Divine.  We, human beings, are in eternal search for beauty and ideals here, on earth.... And if you are a little more than a human being you may not have patience and start looking for it somewhere else, even if you have to throw yourself off the second floor to find it.
‘And yet, nowhere could I find you, Meri!’

Tea  Topuria