Marie Cheremeteff Abernethy

1937 - 2023

Marie Cheremeteff Abernethy

Jaffrey, NH - Marie Cheremeteff Abernethy, daughter of Nikita Sergei Cheremeteff of St. Petersburg, Russia, and Katherine Vandoro of Yalta, died in Peterborough, New Hampshire on September 18, 2023, of complications due to brain cancer, according to her son Paul Grove. Marie was surrounded by her family in her final moments.

Marie's parents met in Greece after fleeing the Russian Revolution of 1917, and Marie was born in Athens on February 4, 1937. Her father was the great-great-grandson of Czar Nicholas I, of the Royal House of Stuart lineage. The family endured the Nazi occupation of that country during World War II, then fled to Cyprus and Britain.

A speaker of five languages, Marie was educated in England, France, and Switzerland, where she received a diploma in Literature and the History of Art from the International Lycee of La Chassotte in Fribourg, Switzerland.

In 1957, she married American diplomat Ambassador Brandon H. Grove, Jr. who was introduced to her by her aunt, Princess Sofie Dolgoruky. During his career, Marie lived in West Africa, India, and East and West Berlin. She and her husband had four children: John (Jack), Catherine, Paul and Mark. Throughout her postings and in Washington, D.C., Marie was an avid collector of art. In the 1970s, she was a student at the Corcoran School of Art studying under renowned artist Gene Davis, an American Color Field painter known especially for his paintings of vertical stripes. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1980.

In 1984, Marie married Robert G. Abernethy, a journalist with NBC News and PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and in 1985 they had a daughter, Elizabeth Abernethy. The family moved to Moscow in 1989, where he reported on the fall of communism and she organized exchanges in American and Russian art, supported Russian artists, and collected paintings. She and her son Jack founded the Cheremeteff Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts to showcase and sell the extensive collection of paintings and prints Marie gathered over the years.

Following her time in Russia, Marie settled in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, where she found peace and inspiration in the beauty of the countryside, particularly the grand view of Mount Monadnock from her home. The epitome of joie de vivre and a generous and devoted grandmother, she treasured the time spent with her family and five grandchildren: Aleksandra, Samuel, Evangeline, Eleanor, and Hale. Marie endeavored to leave the world in a more beautiful place than the turbulent one she was born into.

Marie is survived by her five children, five grandchildren, brother Serge Cheremeteff, and sister Alexandra Crotwell. Her husband Robert Abernethy and brother Vladimir Cheremeteff predeceased her.

A celebration of Marie's life will be held at a later date.