Georgian Nobility, Fashion Model. She was a Georgian aristocrat, who became a beautiful fashion model for Coco Chanel. Born Maria Prokofievna Shervashidze-Chachba, the daughter of Prince Prokof Shervashidze of the Georgian Royal Dynasty, her father became a member of the Imperial Duma, relocating the family to St. Petersburg, Russia. Meri, as she was called, became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. After her father's death, she returned to Georgia with her mother and younger twin sisters, Tamara and Anna. Since she and her sisters had their childhood in Russia, they learned the Russian culture and language instead of the Georgian language. While in court, she met and became engaged to Prince George Eristavi, the great-grandson of the Georgian king Heraclius II, who was a former aide-de-camp of Nicholas II. During this time, while she was in Tbilisi, portraitist Savely Sorin, painted her portrait in 23 days. After the Russian Revolution, she and Prince George were married on May 20, 1918 in Kutaisi. With the political climate in Russia being unstable, especially to the members of the Russian Royal court, the newly-weds decided to stay in Georgia after their wedding. On July 17, 1918 Nicholas II and his entire family was executed by Russian revolutionaries. In February of 1921, the Soviet Russian Army invaded the sovereign country of Georgia, taking command of the government. Along with hundreds of Georgians, she and her husband escaped through Constantinople to France along with her mother and sisters. In Paris, they resided at first in a fine hotel, but later all five were in a small apartment. Since there was no financial income in Paris, the family started a retail clothing store. After she became a model for Coco Chanel, the business was a great success. Suddenly, her husband died in 1946. The couple had no children. She never remarried, and as the years passed, she became a resident in a nursing home. After the 1964 death of Vadim Stephanovich Makaroff of Russia, she received an inheritance, which gave her means for a private nursing aide. From a far, Georgian poet, Galaktion Tabidze was infatuated with the beautiful "Meri." She was the inspiration for several of his poems. In 1915, he wrote a farewell poem to her. Sources state she never read his poetry as it was written in Georgian, yet much of his works was translated in Russian and other languages. Sources state that they never met while other claimed that they met by happenchance in the Louvre Museum in 1935. With Soviet Russia's travel restrictions, she never returned to her homeland before her death. She was buried next to her husband.