Élisabeth de Demidoff

Birth Name:
Baroness Elizaveta Alexandrovna Stroganova
Birth Date:
December 1, 1776
Birth Place:
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Death Date:
March 27, 1818
Place of Death:
Paris, France
Age:
41
Cause of Death:
Unkown
Cemetery Name:
Cimetière du Père Lachaise
Claim to Fame:
The Odd and the Interesting
Baroness Elizaveta Alexandrovna Stroganova was a Russian aristocrat of the Stroganov family. By birth she belonged to the highest nobility of the capital. Elizabeth's father was the owner of the Taman and Kynovsky factories and more than half a million acres of land. Her mother Elizaveta Alexandrovna Zagryazhskaya was a lady in waiting and a famous beauty of Catherine II's court. At age 17 she married Count Nikolai Nikitich Demidov and they had two children - Pavel (Paul) (1798–1840) and Anatoly (Anatole) (1812–1869). They were of completely different characters and often lived apart. She was beautiful, light and witty, and her husband more introspective, and so they soon grew bored with each other and they separated and she returned to live in Paris, where she died in 1818 and was buried in the Père Lachaise where she rests in the cemetery's largest mausoleum.

Fun Fact:

Why is her tomb considered the most haunted of Père Lachaise?
According to legend, the Baroness did not want to be alone in her grave. She would die on April 8th, 1818, leaving a very strange will behind her. Her will allegedly read that, in order to inherit her fortune, a candidate should spend 365 days and 366 nights locked alone in her mausoleum (this is untrue).

Despite the unusual request, the fortune of Princess Demidoff was important enough to give it a try, and soon there were a few requests to attempt the quest! A few candidates agreed to be locked in the mausoleum, where they would be served food and be given a bucket that would be emptied daily for their own waste (this is also not true).

Not many survived the challenge for longer than a week, and they would usually be taken out after spending hours crying for help and knocking the doors, with a terrified look in their faces, often scratched and showing bruises (this is made up).

The witnesses declared that they felt how life abandoned them in the mausoleum. The body of Princess Demidoff had been placed in the centre of the mausoleum in a coffin made of crystal, and the room was said to be covered in mirrors, with intricate symbols surrounding the area. Some suggested that the Princess was a vampire, for her body didn’t show any signs of decomposition. Others that she was feeding on the energy of her visitors for when it was time to come back to life (again, completely false).

Be as it may, the mausoleum of Elisabeth Demidoff was locked by order of the city council after many incidents with those that attempted to inherit the fortune of the Princess, and her wealth remains unclaimed up to this day (a complete fabrication).

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Cimetière du Père Lachaise

16 Rue du Repos, 6ème division, Chemin Lesseps

Paris, , 75020

France

Europe

Map:

Map of Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris, France
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris, France

Grave Location:

Division 19

Grave Location Description

The spectacular tomb of Élisabeth Alexandrovna de Demidoff, the largest tomb in all of Cimetière du Père Lachaise, is located in the middle of Division 19 which is bordered by Chemin du Dragon (the top level of her grave) and Chemin des Chevres (the bottom level of her grave).

Grave Location GPS

48.859560, 2.395012

Visiting The Grave:

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

FAQ's

Élisabeth de Demidoff was born on December 1, 1776.

Élisabeth de Demidoff was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Élisabeth de Demidoff died on March 27, 1818.

Élisabeth de Demidoff died in Paris, France.

Élisabeth de Demidoff was 41.

The cause of death was Unkown.

Élisabeth de Demidoff's grave is in Cimetière du Père Lachaise

Read More About Élisabeth de Demidoff:

Videos Featuring Élisabeth de Demidoff:

Watch YouTube video titled The Mausoleum of Baroness Demidoff - A Portal of Nightmares
The Mausoleum of Baroness Demidoff - A Portal of Nightmares
Watch YouTube video titled Nice tour of Pere Lachaise
Nice tour of Pere Lachaise
Watch YouTube video titled Terrifying Ghost Footage Captured at Paris Cemetery!
Terrifying Ghost Footage Captured at Paris Cemetery!

See More:

Friederike Hauffe

popular name: Friederike Hauffe

date_of_death: August 25, 1829

age: 27

cause_of_death: Unknown - multiple health issues

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Friederike Hauffe was a German mystic and somnambulist. She suffered from convulsions, and fell into spontaneous trances. Frederike claimed to have communicated with spirits and experienced visions, and she was made famous by the physician Justinus Kerner who examined her at Weinsberg in 1826. Kerner recorded alleged instances of clairvoyance and prophetic dreams. She drew with tremendous speed perfect geometrical designs in the dark, used the divining rod with great skill, exhibited disturbances of a poltergeist character, and communicated extraordinary revelations from the spirit world.

Lawnchair Larry

popular name: Lawnchair Larry

date_of_death: October 6, 1993

age: 44

cause_of_death: Suicide - Gunshot to heart

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Lawnchair Larry was an American truck driver who made a 45-minute flight in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft, named 'Inspiration I', and with a couple of sandwiches, a bottle of Coke, a radio transmitter and a BB gun, rose to an altitude of over approximately 15,000 feet (4,600 m). Lawnchair Larry floated from the point of takeoff in San Pedro, California, into and violating controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. Armed with a couple of sandwiches, a bottle of Coke, a radio transmitter and a BB gun,During the landing, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to safely climb down. The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a later movie and imitators. Lawnchair Larry was awarded the title of "At-Risk Survivor" in the 1993 Darwin Awards.

Elizabeth Edwards

popular name: Elizabeth Edwards

date_of_death: December 7, 2010

age: 61

cause_of_death: Metastatic breast cancer

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: During a lifetime of idyllic successes and crushing reverses, Elizabeth Edwards was an accomplished lawyer, the mother of four children and the wife of a wealthy, handsome senator with sights on the White House. But their 16-year-old son was killed in a car crash, cancer struck her at age 55, the political dreams died and, within months, her husband admitted to having had an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer. The scandal over the affair faded after his disclosure in 2008. But in 2009, Mrs. Edwards resurrected it in a new book and interviews and television appearances, telling how her husband had misrepresented the infidelity to her, rocked their marriage and spurned her advice to abandon his run for the presidency. Eventually John Edwards admitted he had fathered a child with the staffer. Soon afterward, he and Mrs. Edwards separated legally. Her story and John Edwards subsequent charges of campaign finance violations involving his mistress to the tune of $900,000 was fodder for tabloids for the better part of a year. Elizabeth Edwards gravesite is one of the top most-visited memorials at historic Oakwood Cemetery.

Back to Top