You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Italian. (April 2024)Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Principessa Tarakanova]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|it|Principessa Tarakanova}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Russian. (June 2023)Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Княжна Тараканова]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|ru|Княжна Тараканова}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

Princess Tarakanova (c. 1745 – December 15 [O.S. December 4] 1775) was apretender to the Russian throne. She styled herself, among other names,Knyazhna Yelizaveta Vladimirskaya (Princess Elizabeth ofVladimir),Fräulein Frank, andMadame Trémouille. Tarakanova (tarakan is the Russian word for cockroach) is a later name, used only in entertainment (literature, theater, films, paintings), apparently on the basis of her relatives (from her father prince Razumovsky's side) being the owners of the estate Daraganovka (Tarakanovka) in Ukraine - the place where she (apparently) grew up. In her own time, she was not known by that name.

Tarakanova claimed to be the daughter ofAlexei Razumovsky and EmpressElizabeth of Russia, reared inSaint Petersburg. Even her place of birth, however, is not certain, and her real name is not known. She is known to have traveled to several cities in Western Europe, and to have become a mistress of CountPhilipp Ferdinand of Limburg Stirum, apparently in the hope that he would marry her.

She eventually was arrested inLivorno,Tuscany byAlexei Grigoryevich Orlov, who had been sent byEmpress Catherine II to retrieve her. Orlov seduced her, then lured her aboard a Russian ship and took her to Russia in February 1775. She was imprisoned in thePeter and Paul Fortress, where she died oftuberculosis that December. She was buried in the graveyard of the fortress.

A popular theory postulated that her death was faked and that she was secretly forced to take the veil under the name Dosifea. A mysterious nun of this name is recorded as having lived in theIvanovsky Convent from 1785 until her death in 1810.

• A play written byIppolit Shpazhinsky was the basis for the 1910 Russian filmPrincess Tarakanova.^[1]
• A 1930 French filmTarakanova in which she is played byÉdith Jéhanne.
• A 1938 French-Italian filmPrincess Tarakanova withAnnie Vernay as Princess Tarakanova andPierre Richard-Willm as Count Orlov.
• In 1950, a joint UK/Italian movie titledShadow of the Eagle (Italian-language versionThe Rival of the Empress) was produced about the seduction mission by Alexei Orlov of Princess Tarakanova, withValentina Cortese portraying Tarakanova andRichard Greene in the role of Count Orlov. In this story, Tarakanova is portrayed as a real princess who is a threat to Catherine the Great both politically and in royal lineage, not a pretender to the throne of Russia. The story portrays Orlov as a betrayer of Catherine the Great, in that he allies himself with Tarakanova while claiming false allegiance to Catherine. The events in the film follow history authentically until the meeting of Princess Tarakanova and Orlov takes place, and the ending alters actual real-life events, in that Orlov rescues Tarakanova from prison in Russia in a daring raid and they live happily ever after.
• In 1990, an award-winning Soviet film production titledThe Royal Hunt was released, directed byVitaly Melnikov, based on a play byLeonid Zorin of the same title. It told the story of the life and adventures around Europe of Princess Tarakanova and the operation by Alexei Orlov to trick and capture her.
• She appears inEkaterina TV series in Season 3: Impostors, portrayed by Angelina Strechina.

• Simon Sebag Montefiore,The Romanovs 1613–1918

• "Princess Tarakanova" - 1910 onYouTube

• 1740s births
• 1775 deaths
• Impostor pretenders
• 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis
• Russian people who died in prison custody
• Tuberculosis deaths in the Russian Empire
• Prisoners who died in Russian detention
• 18th-century women from the Russian Empire
• Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Biography articles needing translation from Italian Wikipedia
• Biography articles needing translation from Russian Wikipedia