Juliana Baroness von Krüdener

Krüdener, Barbara Juliane de Vietinghoff, baronne de (1764-1824). Novelist and mystic of Russian origin. She was deeply interested in Illuminism and for a time exerted an influence over Tsar Alexander I. Her literary reputation rests essentially on her novel Valérie (1803).

Krüdener, Barbara Juliane, Freiin von (Riga, 1764-1824, Karazubazar), née von Vietinghoff, was married in 1782 and divorced in 1796. In 1801 she was at Coppet with Madame de Staël. Under the influence of Pietists, including H. Jung-Stilling (see Jung, J. H.), she developed a mystical religious attitude. She is said, through her influence on Tsar Alexander I, to have contributed to the formation of the Holy Alliance (see Heilige Allianz). Her two-volume novel Valérie (1803), written in French, was translated into German in 1804. Maria Meyer, Mörike's ‘Peregrina’, is said to have been influenced by Frau von Krüdener's circle.