Porphyry Widow: What does this term mean?

How many of our contemporaries think about the question of a porphyry widow - what is it?

We think that few. And meanwhile once our ancestors-compatriots well understood the meaning of this expression.

Let's try and figure out what the porphyry widow means.

The linguistic meaning of the concept

In two explanatory dictionaries devoted to the study of the Russian language, one can find the expression "porphyry, porphyry".

In particular, a dictionary edited by a remarkable philologist, D.N. Ushakova tells us that the word "porphyry" is obsolete. It denotes a person clothed in porphyry, that is, endowed with royal status and grandeur.

With the same position, the new dictionary, published by T.F. Efremov. This dictionary defines the adjective "porphyry" as a synonym for the adjective "regal".

Expression and its use in Russian fiction

If you ask yourself what the porphyry widow means and how often this expression sounds in the literature, you can learn the following: in the scientific community, the authors note that the adjective "porphyry" is not so often used in Russian classical literature.

In fact, there are three main ways of using this adjective: the porphyry king, the porphyry parent and the porphyry widow.

Let's take a closer look at the third option.

Porphyry Widow - what is it in terms of vocabulary

From the point of view of lexical meaning, this expression means a female person who was once the wife of the emperor and wore a high title with him (that is, she was dressed in porphyry). However, as a result of the death of the emperor (king, king, etc.), this person became a widow.

Thus, her position is ambivalent: on the one hand, this lady has a high status in society, but on the other hand, together with her husband's death, she lost some of her power.

In fact, this expression froze in the language and became a phraseology, meaning a person who in the past was on a higher level of social respect, and now, externally retaining the former status, he is in the shadows.

The work of Pushkin and the glory of old Moscow

Many centuries the expression "porphyry widow" survived, the meaning of this phrase is directly connected with the name of Moscow.

The fact is that the great Pushkin in one of his works wrote, considering the new capital of Russia - St. Petersburg, created by Peter the Great, and old Moscow: "And before the young capital, old Moscow faded, like before the new tsarina a porphyry widow".

This beautiful expression for a long time was remembered both for the poet's contemporaries and for his descendants. Strict and majestic Moscow really looked like the widow of a great king, who is in high esteem, but in some oblivion. At the same time this expression did not offend the Muscovites, who considered in these lines respect for their ancient and great city.

Residents of St. Petersburg found that the poet very successfully compared the two capitals of Russia at that time.

The poem survived Pushkin and is now known to any schoolboy. Therefore, if you ask the children: "Porphyry Widow - what is this?", They will tell you that this is the city of Moscow.

Not everyone, however, will remember that these are lines from the poem The Bronze Horseman, but still Pushkin's authorship will not be forgotten.

How many porphyry widows were in Russia?

By the way, in the era of monarchism, the phrase "porphyry-bearing widow" - the meaning was significant enough. Although widowhood in Russia was considered a heavy burden.

The first woman, who became a porphyry widow in Russia, is considered to be the Empress Catherine - the wife of Peter the Great. It was Catherine after the death of her husband and became the empress. True, her reign did not last long.

Her namesake - the famous Russian empress Catherine the Great - did not want to be a porphyry widow. After the death of her husband, Catherine renounced the title of regent with a young son and began to rule herself (her son was waiting for his legal throne for about 33 years).

In the 19th century, being a porphyry widow was an honor, but this had little effect on the affairs of the state. So, the mother of Emperor Alexander, though she tried to interfere with the affairs of the government from time to time, did not succeed very much in this field.

Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich, had survived her husband very briefly.

But the wife of Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich - Maria Feodorovna - lived as a porphyry widow for many years, up to the terrible for Russia in 1917. This woman also became the last widowed empress in our country.

Her fate was sad: Maria Fyodorovna outlived not only her son George, who died of tuberculosis in tsarist Russia, but the whole family of his beloved Nicky (the Emperor Nicholas) and his son Mikhail, who for two days became a Russian tsar, abandoned the throne and subsequently shot by the Bolsheviks .

Thus, now the question of whether a porphyry widow - what it is, we should not arise. This beautiful concept is a thing of the past for many reasons: the state management system has changed, and the inheritance system itself. Marriage and widowhood is no longer the leading social indicator for women in our society. Now there are very different benchmarks.