Salome Andronikashvili (Tbilisi 1888 – London 1982). Salome and her cousin Tinatin Jorjadze went to St. Petersburg in 1906 to study at the “Bestuzhev Courses” at the Women’s High School. During her stay in St. Petersburg, she met Zinovy Peshkov, the adopted son of the writer Maxim Gorky, however, his charming appearance was not enough for Salome’s mother and she did not allow her daughter to marry him.
At the age of 18, Salome married a rich Russian landowner, Pavel Andreev, and the couple had a daughter, Irene. However, she soon divorced her 17-year-senior husband. With the money received after the divorce, Salome opened a salon, where famous Russian artists of that time gathered.
During the revolutions of 1917, she went to Georgia but due to the unrest, she was imprisoned on the way; however, with the help of her admirer Zinovy Peshkov, who worked as a diplomatic representative of France in Georgia, she returned to Tbilisi. “Father! Call Lenin, Trotsky, Karl Marx if you wish, but free Salome from the Kharkov prison,” wrote Zinovy Peshkov to Maxim Gorki.
Salome lived in Georgia in 1917-1920 and was an integral part of the cultural life of artistic Tbilisi, where many artists who had escaped from revolutionary Russia took refuge.
Before the approaching unrest in Georgia, Salome fled to France with Zinovy Peshkov. The couple lived together for two years. Then they separated but retained friendly relations.
Soon Salome married Alexander Galpern and started work in fashion magazine by the recommendation of her beloved Ilia Zdanevich. Through him she got acquainted with Jean Cocteau, Coco Chanel, Tristan Tzara ans others.
Before the Second World War Alexander Galpern worked in America and he ws well-informed about the danger awaiting Europe. He notified Salome about it and offered her to come to America with her daughter. Irine refused to leave, so Salome left for America with her grandson, Pilipe. Several years later Alexander Galpern was sent to England for his work and the couple settled in a luxurious old house in a prestigious district of London, Chelsea Park Gardens.
In London Salome contibued to live a lavish life, she met with artists, poets, actors, was on friendly terms with Winston Churchill’s widow, Clementine, with the famous actor and director Peter Ustinov, Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis. Her closest friend, Baroness Maria Budberg was always by her side. She enjoyed friendship with Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, artist who fled revolutionary Russia took refuge in her house.
On May 8, 1982, Salome Andronikashvili died in London.
“Georgian Women In Emigration”