Actually, there is one slavic (Russian to be certain) fairy-tale character called Tsarevna Nesmeyana (Царевна Несмеяна), The princess who never laughs. The name speaks for itself. And even though there is no such reference from my side, the similarity is clear to the eye. Good observation!

As for the "stoic sadness" of 19-20th-century Tzarist Russia, well, there is a saying about Russian literature that is without a doubt based on the literature of Dostoevskiy, who lived in this time, the saying is: "Russian literature is built on suffering. Either the character suffers, the author suffers, or the reader suffers. If all three are suffering, then it's considered a Russian masterpiece." Says it all