Maria Hartung was the eldest daughter of Alexander Pushkin and Natalia Goncharova. She was born on May 19, 1832. The poet’s letters contain many references to the beloved Mashka (Maria), in which he shows his caring and gentle fatherly side. Pushkin died when the girl was only four years old.

Maria, just like her two brothers and sister, received primary education at home. At the age of nine, she could speak, write and read German and French fluently. Maria had excellent aristocratic manners and possessed a natural ability to behave in society. Others noted her amazing beauty, elegance and grace.

At the age of 19, Maria Pushkina became a maid of honor to Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Alexander II. In 1860, she married General Leonid Nikolaevich Hartung, the head of the first horse breeding district near Tula.

She remained a widow for the rest of her life and had no children. She lead a modest life in Moscow, taking care of her numerous nephews far from prying eyes.

In 1880, Maria Alexandrovna attended the opening of the monument to her father Alexander Pushkin in Moscow. The poet Nikolai Dorizo dedicated a poem to her:

Maria died of starvation at the age of 86, awaiting the pension assigned to her by the Soviet government.