# Princess Sophia Vasilievna — Resurrection character guide

> Princess Sophia Vasilievna in Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sophia Vasilievna, Sophia

**First appearance:** 0014-xi

## Snapshot

Nekhludoff's brisk, churchgoing aunt, whose cheerful commands and scrubbed floors frame the estate where his conscience first wakes.

## Who they are

She meets Nekhludoff in the anteroom fresh from communion, scolding him for dripping on the floor and calling for coffee in the same breath. Her practical piety and easy authority define the aunts' household, a place of order and small kindnesses. She matters because her world is the one Nekhludoff remembers as good, and the one his later guilt must measure itself against.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/ii)

One of the two maiden ladies; the younger sister who stood godmother to Katúsha and treated her kindly, dressing her and teaching her to read.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xii)

One of Nekhlúdoff's aunts, who fears he might marry Katúsha.

### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xiii)

Nekhlúdoff's mother, who is dismayed by his earlier idealism (giving land to peasants) but accepts his dissolute lifestyle, drawing on capital to cover his gambling debts.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xiv)

Nekhlúdoff's other aunt; not well, tired from church.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xxvi)

Recumbent hostess, receives Nekhlúdoff in her cabinet.

### [Chapter XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xxvii)

Affected and flattering; concerned about sunlight on her aged face; engages in superficial conversation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/characters/sophia_vasilievna
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/resurrection_se/characters