In 1892, Maria Klavdievna Nikolayeva married Prince Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Tenishev, a major industrialist, entrepreneur, scientist, and founder of the Tenishev Real School (a type of school similar to the gymnasium) in St. Petersburg.

In 1897, Vyacheslav Tenishev, at the suggestion of Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Minister of Finance, was appointed General Commissioner of the Russian Section of the World’s Fair, which was to take place in 1900 in Paris. In preparation for the exhibition, Tenishev and his assistants visited Moscow, Kyiv, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Warsaw, and Lodz.

Calls for exhibits were made in 42 cities. 3,500 entrepreneurs agreed to take part. The French took preparations for this large-scale event very seriously. The Eiffel Tower, Alexander III Bridge, new palaces, squares, and train stations were constructed for this event. Thirty-five states, including the Russian Empire, created national pavilions on the site of the exposition. The Russian pavilion, which included a replica of the Moscow Kremlin, among other exhibits, was particularly imposing.

Later, in his report on the exhibition, Tenishev wrote,

Prince Tenishev was awarded the title of “chamberlain of the court of His Imperial Majesty” by Emperor Nicholas II for his brilliant work, and the French government awarded Vyacheslav Tenishev the Order of the Legion of Honor of the 2nd class.