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literaturoved · 2 years

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Maurice Paléologue once did some idle arithmetic and calculated that, by blood, Tsar Nicholas II was only 1/128th Russian, while his son, the Tsarevich Alexis, was only 1/256th Russian. The habit Russian tsars had of marrying German and Danish wives was responsible for these startling fractions; they suggest better than anything else the extent to which the original Romanov blood had been diluted by the beginning of the twentieth century.

As head of the family, Nicholas II presided over an immense clan of Romanov cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. Although keenly jealous of name and rank, they were often casual about duties and obligations. By education, language and taste, they were part of the cosmopolitan aristocracy of Europe. They spoke French better than they spoke Russian, they traveled in private railway coaches from hotels at Biarritz to villas on the Riviera, they were more often seen as guests in English country houses or palaces in Rome than on their family estates beside the Volga or the Dnieper or the Don. Wealthy, sophisticated, charming and bored, most of the Romanovs considered “Nicky,” with his naïve fatalism, and “Alicky,” with her passionate religious fervor, to be pathetically quaint and obsolete.

Unfortunately, in the public mind, all the Romanovs were lumped together. If Nicholas’s inadequacies as tsar weakened the logic of autocracy, the family’s indifference to its reputation helped to corrode the prestige of the dynasty. Nicholas’s sister Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna recognized the family’s failure. Shortly before her death in 1960 she observed sorrowfully:

“It is certainly the last generation that helped to bring about the disintegration of the Empire.… All those critical years, the Romanovs, who should have been the staunchest supporters of the throne, did not live up to their standards or to the traditions of the family.… Too many of us Romanovs had … gone to live in a world of self-interest where little mattered except the unending gratification of personal desire and ambition. Nothing proved it better than the appalling marital mess in which the last generation of my family involved themselves. That chain of domestic scandals could not but shock the nation … but did any of them care for the impression they created? Never.”

The problem was divorce. By law, members of the Imperial family were forbidden to marry without the sovereign’s consent. They were also forbidden to marry commoners or persons who had been divorced. The Orthodox Church permits divorce in cases where adultery has been committed; indeed, in the eyes of the Church, the act of adultery itself dissolves a Christian marriage. But what is permitted is certainly not encouraged. In the Imperial family, whose private life was supposed to set an example, divorce was considered a stain and a disgrace.

Yet, scarcely was Nicholas II on the throne before the strict code began to crumble. First, his cousin Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich casually married a commoner and went to live in England. Next, the Montenegrin princess Grand Duchess Anastasia divorced her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg, to marry Grand Duke Nicholas, the tall soldier who commanded the Russian armies in World War I. Soon afterward, the Tsar’s youngest uncle, Grand Duke Paul, having been left a widower, married a commoner and a divorcée.

“I had a rather stern talk with Uncle Paul which ended by my warning him of all the consequences his proposed marriage would have for him,” Nicholas wrote to Marie on this occasion. “It had no effect.… How painful and distressing it all is and how ashamed one feels for the family before the world. What guarantee is there now that Cyril won’t start at the same sort of thing tomorrow, and Boris and Serge the day after? And in the end, I fear, a whole colony of members of the Russian Imperial family will be established in Paris with their semi-legitimate and illegitimate wives. God alone knows what times we are living in when undisguised selfishness stifles all feelings of conscience, duty, or even ordinary decency.”

- Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert K. Massie.

#Nicholas and Alexandra #Robert K. Massie #quotes

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imperial-russia · 3 years

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Here is a list of books you might want to read if you are interested in the Romanov dynasty and the country and society they goverened. I have read some, I own most and some may be of warying quality and reliability. Some include periods before and after the Russian Empire. Some could be fitted into more than one cathegory. A few are not available in English.I will try to update this list from time to time as I find new books or new books become published. Enjoy!

Diaries and correspondence of the Romanovs

The Memoirs of Catherine the Great

Love and Conquest: Personal Correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin

Chere Annette: Letters from St. Petersburg, 1820-1828: The Correspondence of the Empress Maria Feodorovna to Her Daughter the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna

A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story

Romanov Family Yearbook: On This Date in Their Own Words

The Letters of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Marie

The Correspondence Of The Empress Alexandra Of Russia With Ernst Ludwig And Eleonore, Grand Duke And Duchess Of Hesse

The Complete Wartime Correspondence of Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra: April 1914-March 1917

In the Steps of the Romanovs: Final Two Years of the Last Russian Imperial Family (1916-1918)

The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra

The Diary of Olga Romanov: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution

Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar

Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913–1918

Maria Romanov: Third Daughter of the Last Tsar, Diaries and Letters, 1908–1918

1913 Diary of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna: Complete Tercentennial Journal of the Third Daughter of the Last Tsar

Maria and Anastasia: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words

Correspondence of the Russian Grand Duchesses: Letters of the Daughters of the Last Tsar

Michael Romanov: Brother of the Last Tsar Diaries and Letters, 1916-1918

Diaries and correspondence of other people

Russian journal of Lady Londonderry, 1836-37

Letters from Russia

The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy

Letters from St Petersburg: A Siamese Prince at the Court of the Last Tsar

The Romanovs Under House Arrest: From the 1917 Diary of a Palace Priest

Private Diary of Mathilde Kschessinska

A Countess in Limbo: Diaries in War & Revolution; Russia 1914-1920, France 1939-1947

Memoirs by the Romanovs

Once a Grand Duke

Always a Grand Duke

25 Chapters of My Life

Education of a Princess

A Princess in Exile

A Romanov Diary: The Autobiography of H.I.& R.H. Grand Duchess George

My life in Russia's service--then and now

Memories In The Marble Palace

Memoirs by other people

The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova

Lost Splendor

Memories of the Russian Court

My Mission to Russia and Other Diplomatic Memories

An Ambassador's Memoirs

The Real Tsaritsa

Thirteen Years at the Russian Court

The False Anastasia

Six Years at the Russian Court

Before the Storm

The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna Empress of Russia

Left Behind

At the Court of the Last Tsar

Memories of Russia 1916-1919

The Emperor Nicholas II: As I Knew Him

The Sokolov Investigation of the Alleged Murder of the Russian Imperial Family

The Russia That I Loved

Dancing in Petersburg: The Memoirs of Kschessinska

On the Estate: Memoirs of a Russian Lady before the Revolution

Theater Street

The Other Russia: The Experience of Exile

Russia Through Women's Eyes: Autobiographies from Tsarist Russia

The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution

Tommorow Will Come

Fanny Lear: Love and Scandal in Tsarist Russia

The Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II

Days of the Russian Revolution: Memoirs from the right, 1905-1917

The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood

Under Three Tsars

Last days at Tsarskoe Selo

Last Years of the Court at Tsarskoe Selo

The Real Romanovs

Biographies of the Romanovs and general topics concerning them

The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias

The Romanovs: 1613-1918

The Romanovs

The Romanovs: Ruling Russia 1613-1917

Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia

The Tragic Dynasty: A History of the Romanovs

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia

Romanov Autumn: Stories from the Last Century of Imperial Russia

The Romanovs, 1818–1959: Alexander II of Russia and His Family

Alexis, Tsar of all the Russias

Sophia: Regent of Russia, 1657-1704

Peter the Great: His Life and World

Peter the Great

Terrible Tsarinas: Five Russian Women in Power

Elizabeth and Catherine: Empresses of All the Russias

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

Catherine the Great & Potemkin: the imperial love affair

Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power

Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia

The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia

Alexander I: The Tsar Who Defeated Napoleon

Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace

Alexander of Russia: Napoleon's Conqueror

Nicholas I and Official Nationality in Russia 1825 - 1855

Nicholas I: Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias

Becoming a Romanov. Grand Duchess Elena of Russia and her World

Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar

Katia: Wife Before God

Alexander III: His Life and Reign

Little Mother of Russia: A Biography of the Empress Marie Feodorovna

Nicholas II: Emperor of All the Russias

Nicholas II: Last of the Tsars

The Last of the Tsars : Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution

The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II

King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led The World To War

A Gathered Radiance: The Life of Alexandra Romanov, Russia's Last Empress

The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia

Alexandra

Alexandra: The Last Tsarina

Nicholas and Alexandra

Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina

The Last Tsar & Tsarina

The Four Graces: Queen Victoria's Hessian Granddaughters

The Imperial Tea Party: Family, Politics and Betrayal: the Ill-Fated British and Russian Royal Alliance

From Splendor to Revolution: The Romanov Women, 1847-1928

Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria and The Romanovs: Sixty Years of Mutual Distrust

Queen Victoria's Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages that Shaped Europe

Imperial Requiem: Four Royal Women and the Fall of the Age of Empires

The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal

The Romanovs: Family of Faith and Charity

The Romanovs: The Final Chapter

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg

The Fate of the Romanovs

The Murder of the Romanovs

The House of Special Purpose

The Murder of the Tsar

Alexei: Russia's Last Imperial Heir: A Chronicle of Tragedy

A Guarded Secret : Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra and Tsarevich Alexei's Hemophilia

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra

The Grand Dukes

The Grand Dukes - Sons And Grandsons Of Russia's Tsars

The Other Grand Dukes: Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Grand Dukes

White Crow: The Life and Times of the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov, 1859-1919

The Grand Duchesses: Daughters & Granddaughters of Russia's Tsars

Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II

Michael and Natasha: The Life and Love of Michael II, the Last of the Romanov Tsars

The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna

Olga Romanov: Russia's Last Grand Duchess

Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr

Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Russia

Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia: New Martyr of the Communist Yoke

Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna

Princess Victoria Melita

A Fatal Passion: The Story of the Uncrowned Last Empress of Russia

Gilded Prism: The Konstantinovichi Grand Dukes & The Last Years Of The Romanov Dynasty

Death of a Romanov Prince

A Poet Among the Romanovs: Prince Vladimir Paley

Princesses on the Wards: Royal Women in Nursing through Wars and Revolutions

The Romanovs: The Way It Was

Behind the Veil at the Russian Court

The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga

Russia and Europe: Dynastic Ties

Biographies of other people

The Tsar's Doctor: The Life and Times of Sir James Wylie

The Romanovs & Mr Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar

An Englishman in the Court of the Tsar: The Spiritual Journey of Charles Syndney Gibbes

The Forgotten Tutor: John Epps and the Romanovs

The Rasputin File

Rasputin: The Untold Story

Rasputin: Rascal Master

Rasputin: The Biography

Rasputin: a Short Life

The Murder of Grigorii Rasputin: A Conspiracy That Brought Down the Russian Empire

The Man Who Killed Rasputin: Prince Felix Youssoupov and the Murder That Helped Bring Down the Russian Empire

The Princess of Siberia

Angel of Vengeance: The Girl Who Shot the Governor of St. Petersburg and Sparked the Age of Assassination

Imperial Dancer: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs

Diaghilev: A Life

Nijinsky: A Life of Genius and Madness

The Russian Album

Russian Blood

Tolstoy: A Russian Life

The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great's Russia

Katya and the Prince of Siam

The Defiant Life of Vera Figner: Surviving the Russian Revolution

Pushkin: A Biography

Photoalbums, cofee-table books

The Camera and the Tsars: The Romanov Family in Photographs

The Romanov Family Album

Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra

The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy

The Regalia of the Russian Empire

The Sunset of the Romanov Dynasty

The Summer Palaces of the Romanovs: Treasures from Tsarskoye Selo

Royal Russia: The Private Albums of the Russian Imperial Family

Russia: Art, Royalty and the Romanovs

Nicholas II: The Last Tsar

Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums

The Last Tsar

Romanovs Revisited

The Private World of the Last Tsar: In the Photographs and Notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe

The Jewel Album of Tsar Nicholas II: A Collection of Private Photographs of the Russian Imperial Family

Anastasia's Album

Lost Tales: Stories for the Tsar's Children

The Last Courts of Europe: Royal Family Album 1860-1914

Dear Ellen (Royal Europe Through the Photo Albums of Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna of Russia)

Royal Gatherings (Who is in the Picture? Volume 1: 1859-1914)

Jewels of the Tsars: The Romanovs and Imperial Russia

Jewels from Imperial St. Petersburg

Postcards from the Russian Revolution

Before the Revolution: A View of Russia Under the Last Czar

Twilight of the Romanovs: A Photographic Odyssey Across Imperial Russia

The Romanov Legacy: The Palaces of St. Petersburg

Moscow: Splendours of the Romanovs

Fabergé, Lost and Found: The Recently Discovered Jewelry Designs from the St. Petersburg Archives

Art of Fabergé

Faberge: Treasures of Imperial Russia

Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique

Russian Imperial Style

A Smolny Album: Glimpses into Life at the Imperial Educational Society of Noble Maidens

Konstantin Makovsky: The Tsar’s Painter in America and Paris

Anna Pavlova: Twentieth Century Ballerina

Tamara Karsavina: Diaghilev's Ballerina

General history and specific events

Russian Chronicles

Russia's First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty

The Court of Russia in the Nineteenth Century; Volume 1

The Court of Russia in the Nineteenth Century; Volume 2

The Crimean War: A History

Internal Colonization: Russia's Imperial Experience

The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians

Red Fortress: History and Illusion in the Kremlin

Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia

St Petersburg: Three Centuries of Murderous Desire

The Shadow of the Winter Palace: Russia's Drift to Revolution 1825-1917

Society and lifestyle

Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia

Serfdom, Society, and the Arts in Imperial Russia: The Pleasure and the Power

Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century

A Bride for the Tsar: Bride-Shows and Marriage Politics in Early Modern Russia

Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia: The Eighteenth-Century Nobility

The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture

The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II

Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy, Vol. 1

Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy, Vol. 2

Pavlovsk : The Life of a Russian Palace

Entertaining Tsarist Russia: Tales, Songs, Plays, Movies, Jokes, Ads, and Images from Russian Urban Life, 1779-1917

A Social History of the Russian Empire, 1650-1825

Slavophile Empire: Imperial Russia's Illiberal Path

Russia at Play

Women In Russian History: From The Tenth To The Twentieth Century

St. Petersburg: A Cultural History

Russian Peasant Women

Romanov Riches: Russian Writers and Artists Under the Tsars

The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn

Family in Imperial Russia

Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia

Imperial Crimea: Estates, Enchantments and the Last of the Romanovs

Russia on the Eve of Modernity: Popular Religion and Traditional Culture Under the Last Tsars

The Martha-Mary Convent: and Rule of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr

The Way of a Pilgrim

Icon and Devotion: Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia

Valse Des Fleurs: A Day in St. Petersburg in 1868

Murder Most Russian: True Crime and Punishment in Late Imperial Russia

What Life Was Like in the Time of War and Peace: Imperial Russia, AD 1696-1917

When Miss Emmie Was in Russia: English Governesses Before, During and After the October Revolution

From Cradle to Crown: British Nannies and Governesses at the World's Royal Courts

What Became Peters Dream: Court Culture in the Reign of Nicholas II

Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire

Beauty in Exile: The Artists, Models, and Nobility who Fled the Russian Revolution and Influenced the World of Fashion

Revolution and its general aftermath

Spies and Commissars: The Early Years of the Russian Revolution

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924

Interpreting the Russian Revolution: The Language and Symbols of 1917

The Russian Court at Sea: The Voyage of HMS Marlborough

Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy

The Downfall of Russia

Doomsday 1917: The Destruction of Russia's Ruling Class

Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917

To Free the Romanovs: Royal Kinship and Betrayal in Europe 1917-1919

The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family

Students, Love, Cheka and Death

Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War, 1918-1921

Conspirator: Lenin in Exile

Hidden Treasures of the Romanovs

Romanoff Gold: The Lost Fortunes of the Tsars

Russia Abroad: Prague and the Russian Diaspora, 1918–1938

Bread of Exile

The Many Deaths of Tsar Nicholas II: Relics, Remains and the Romanovs

Saving The Tsars' Palaces

Catalogues

Kejserinde Dagmar

Nicholas And Alexandra: The Last Tsar And Tsarina

Russian Splendor: Sumptuous Fashions of the Russian Court

At The Russian Court: Palace And Protocol In The 19th Century

History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century

Collections of the Romanovs: European Arts from the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Magnificence of the Tsars: Ceremonial Men's Dress of the Russian Imperial Court, 1721-1917

Conspiracy and pretenders

Imperial Legend: The Mysterious Disappearance of Tsar Alexander I

The File on the Tsar

The Escape of Alexei, Son of Tsar Nicholas II: What Happened the Night the Romanov Family Was Executed

The Romanov Conspiracies

I am Anastasia; The Autobiography of the Grand Duchess of Russia.

The Resurrection of the Romanovs: Anastasia, Anna Anderson, and the World's Greatest Royal Mystery

A Romanov Fantasy: Life at the Court of Anna Anderson

The Secret Plot to Save the Tsar: The Truth Behind the Romanov Mystery

The Quest for Anastasia: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Romanovs

#booklr #Russia #Romanov #book masterlist #Imperial Russia

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soldiersofthequeen · 2 years

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These were the two heads of the Russian Imperial Family on opposite sides, as of November, 2021: Maria Vladimirovna and Andrei Andreevich, who died on November, 28th. In general lines, Maria claims to be the Head of the dynasty because she is a Vladimirovich, a descendant from the 3rd in line to the throne in 1917, Grand Duke Cyril. However, Cyril raised debate when he defied Orthodoxy by marrying a first cousin, his mother wasn't Orthodox when he was born, and he broke his imperial oath by swearing allegiance to the Provisional Government. Besides, Maria is also a descendant from the Bagration dynasty of Georgia, by her mother. But the point of disagreement is the dynastic status of the Bagrations. Some genealogical experts say that they were assimilated to the Russian aristocracy after the annexation of Georgia in 1800 by Tsar Paul, accepting the Russian title of "knyaz" (prince). Therefore, her mother belonged to the Russian aristocracy, not royalty. Considering that Maria is from an unequal marriage as well, all the current Romanovs are in the same level. And considering that the succession must be carried by men, the rest of the dynasty considered the next male members in succession, in direct male line, as heads of the family. After Maria's father death, Vladimir, the succession was divided. By not recognizing female succession, the rest of the family regarded Maria as a Prussian Princess, as she married a great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1976, but divorced later. First Nicholas Romanovich, grandson of Grand Duke Pyotr Nikolayevich, from the Nikolaevich branch, assumed the parallel headship. He was succeded by his brother, Dmitri. When the latter died without offspring, the succession passed to the Mikhailovich branch. Andrei Andreevich, son of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, Nicholas II nephew, assumed. Today, his son, Alexis, is the pretender. The latter is widely recognized by the rest of the Romanov family, while Maria is recognized by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and some foreign royal families like the Spanish and the Bulgarian.

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aw-laurendet · 7 years

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Mihailovichi Edit Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855) = Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798-1860) | +-- Grand Duke Michael Nicolaevich (1832-1909) = Princess Cecily of Baden (1839-1891) | +-- Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich (1859-1919) | +-- Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna (1860-1922) | = Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851-1897) | +-- Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich (1861-1929) | = Countess Sophie of Merenberg (1868-1927) cr Countess de Torby | | | +-- Countess Anastasia de Torby (1892-1977) | | = Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893-1973) | | | +-- Countess Nadejda de Torby (1896-1963) | | = George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven (1892-1938) | | | +-- Count Michael de Torby (1898-1959) | +-- Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (1863-1919) | = Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark (1876-1940) | | | +-- Princess Nina Georgievna (1901-1974) | | = Prince Paul Chavchavadze (1899-1971) | | | +-- Princess Xenia Georgievna (1903-1965) | = William Bateman Leeds (1902-1971) | = Herman Jud (1911-1981) | +-- Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (1866-1933) | = Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960) | | | +-- Princess Irina Alexandrovna (1895-1970) | | = Prince Felix Yussupov (1887-1967) | | | +-- Prince Andrei Alexandrovich (1897-1981) | | = Elisabetha Sasso-Ruffo (1886-1940) | | | | | +-- Princess Xenia Andreevna (1919-2000) | | | = Calhoun Ancrum (1915-1990) div. | | | = Geoffrey Tooth (1908-1998) | | | | | +-- Prince Michael Andreevich (1920-2008) | | | = Esther Murphy (b. 1921) div. | | | = Shirley Crammond (1916-1983) | | | = Giulia Gemma Crespi (b. 1930) | | | | | +-- Prince Andrew Andreevich (b. 1923) | | = Elena Dourneva (b. 1927) div | | | | | +-- Prince Alexis Andreevich (b. 1953) | | = Zoetta Leisy (b. 1956) | | | | = Kathleen Norris (1935-1967) | | | | | +-- Prince Peter Andreevich (b. 1961) | | | | | +-- Prince Andrew Andreevich (b. 1963) | | = Elisabeth Flores (b. 1964) | | | | | +-- Princess Natasha Andreevna (b. 1993) | | | | = Inez von Bachelin (b. 1933) | | = Nadine Sylvia Ada McDougall (1908-2000) | | | | | +-- Princess Olga Andreevna (b. 1950) | | = Thomas Mathew (b. 1945) | | | +-- Prince Feodor Alexandrovich (1898-1968) | | = Princess Irina Paley (1903-1990) div. | | | | | +-- Prince Michael Feodorovich (1924-2008) | | | = Helga Staufenberger (b. 1926) div. | | | | | | | +-- Prince Michael Mikhailovich (1959-2001) | | | ≈ Maria de las Mercedes Ustrell-Cabani (b. 1960) | | | | | | | +-- Tatiana Alexandra Romanoff (b. 1986) (born out of wedlock, adopted by her grandfather after her father's death) | | | | | | | | | = Maria de las Mercedes Ustrell-Cabani (b. 1960) | | | | | +-- Princess Irene Feodorvna (b. 1934) | | = Andre Jean Pelle (b. 1923) div. | | = Victor-Marcel Soulas (b. 1938) div. | | | +-- Prince Nikita Alexandrovich (1900-1974) | | = Countess Maria Vorontzova-Daschkova (1903-1997) | | | | | +-- Prince Nikita Nikitich (1923-2007) | | | = Jane Anna Schoenwald (b. 1933) | | | | | | | +-- Prince Feodor Nikitich (1974-2007) | | | | | +-- Prince Alexander Nikitich (1929-2002) | | = Maria Valguarnera di Niscemi (b. 1931) | | | +-- Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich (1901-80) | | = Countess Marina Golenistcheva-Koutouzova (1912-1969) div. | | | | | +-- Princess Nadeshda (1933-2002) | | = Anthony Brian Allen (b. 1931) | | = William Thomas Hall Clark (1924-1995) | | | | = Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (1898-1969) | | | +-- Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich (1902-1978) | | = Princess Alexandra Galitzine (1905-2006) div. | | | | | +-- Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich (1938-1999) | | = Stephena Verdel Cook (b. 1938) div. | | | | | +-- Princess Stephena Rostislavovna (b. 1963) | | | | = Christia Ipsen (b. 1949) | | | | | +-- Princess Alexandra Rostislavovna (b. 1983) | | | | | +-- Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich (b. 1985) | | | | | +-- Prince Nikita Rostislavovich (b. 1987) | | | | = Alice Eilken (1923-1996) div. | | | | | +-- Prince Nicholas Rostislavovich (1945-2000) | | = Pamela Kuzinowski (b. 1944) div. | | | | | +-- Prince Nicholas Nicolaevich (b. 1968) | | | = Lisa Marie Flowa (b. 1971) | | | | | | | +-- Cory Nicolaevich (1994-1998) (born out of wedlock, legitimized by parent's subsequent marriage but not accorded the title of Prince) | | | | | +-- Prince Daniel Nicolaevich (b. 1972) | | | | | +-- Princess Heather Nicolaievna (b. 1976) | | | | = Hedwig von Chappuis (1905-1997) | | | +-- Prince Vasili Alexandrovich (1907-1989) | = Princess Natalia Galitzine (1907-1989) | | | +-- Princess Marina (b. 1940) | = William Beadleston (b. 1938) div. | +-- Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (1869-1918) | +-- Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich (1875-1895)

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loiladadiani · 9 months

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Photographs: 1. Grand Duke Mikhail Nicholayevich and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Fyodorovna, with their two eldest children, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna; 2 and 3: Anastasia as a young girl; 4 and 5: Anastasia as a young woman. In one of the photos, she is wearing Russian court dress; 6. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich (Miche-Miche); 7. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich; 8. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovichl 9. Anastasia with her youngest brother, who died at twenty, Grand Duke Alexis Mikhailovich; 10. Anastasia with her brother Grand Duke Alexander "Sandro" Mikhailovich; 11. Anastasia with her niece Princess Irina Alexandrovna; 12 and 13; Two photos of Anastasia with her fiancee/husband Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; 14. Anastasia with her three children; 15 and 16: Two pictures of Anastasia; 17: Anastasia's three children and their spouses: From left to right: Her daughter Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with the future King Christian X of Denmark, Her son, Frederick Francis IV with Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland, and her daughter Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with Crown Prince Wilhelm; 18. Her illegitimate son Alexis Louis de Wenden; 19: Villa Wenden in Nice; 20. The formidable Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna.

The other Anastaisa

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna was born in 1860, the second child and only daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nicholaevich and Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (nee Princess Cecilie of Baden.) Anastasia was a granddaughter of Nicholas I. The better-known Anastasia (the daughter of Nicholas II) would be born a little over a half-century later, promising to be just as indomitable as her predecessor (she did not have the chance to fulfill that promise.)

Stasi (as her brothers called Anastasia Mikhailovna) was her father's favorite child. Her brothers worshipped her. Her mother was the disciplinarian of the house. The boys were allowed to see their sister only on Sundays.

Anastasia married Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, at 19. Frederick Francis was Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the Elder's brother. He had very poor health throughout his life; he had asthma and multiple allergies and rashes, and he needed to live during extended periods in the warmer climate of the Mediterranean rather than in Northern Europe; this was just fine with Anastasia, who would never adjust to her adoptive country or gain the affection of the people there. The couple established Villa Wenden in the South of France, and she would live in that area of the world most of her life. Frederick's homosexuality was known throughout Europe, but the couple seemed to have gotten along well. Anastasia spent lavishly at the casinos, and Frederick Francis was glad to provide her with the funds. When the Grand Duke died, she said: "On this day, I have lost my best friend."

They had three children, and all married very well:

Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879 –1952); married King Christian X of Denmark. They had two sons.

Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882 –1945), married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland. They had five children.

Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886 –1954.) She married Wilhelm, the German Crown Prince. They had six children.

Up to the death of her husband, Anastasia's life had transcurred without scandal. However, a few years later, she began an affair with Vladimir Alexandrovitch Paltov, her secretary. She soon became pregnant by him and attempted to hide that fact by claiming she was suffering from a tumor. She claimed to have chickenpox when she delivered the child. Her son, Alexis Louis de Wenden, was born in Nice in 1902. She was able to bring him up herself and wrote to him daily when he was away at school. After the scandal became public, she was advised never to live near her daughter, now the Crown Princess of Germany (she was given special permission to visit her daughter for the birth of her first grandson.)

After her father had a stroke, he went to live with Stasi in Villa Wenden. As the senior member of the Romanov clan, "Uncle Misha" received many visitors, including the Tsar. At least one of her brothers was in residence at Villa Wenden at any given time. When her father died in 1909, Anastasia inherited an enormous fortune. She continued to live as she wished, gambling heavily, going to the theater, and dancing.

World War I split the family apart. Her son was the reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her daughter was the German Emperor's daughter-in-law, she was a Russian Grand Duchess, and her Russian family was fighting on the opposite side. She settled in neutral Switzerland. The war cost her son and daughter their (prospective) crowns. After the war, she returned to Nice. There she founded a charity to help Russian exiles. Vladimir Paltov was the charity's president, perhaps indicating that the relationship continued. She lived in Villa Fantasia in Eze, which is near Cannes.

Anastasia died suddenly after suffering a stroke in 1922. She rests in Ludwigslust next to her husband. All of her children have living descendants today, including her illegitimate son. She certainly lived as she wished. Which is something that the other Anastasia would have probably done should she have been given the chance.

#russian history #imperial russia #romanov family #Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna #villa Wenden #Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich #Grand Duke Georgie Mikhailovich #Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich #Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich #Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich #Grand Duke Alexis Mikhailovich #Grand Duchess Olga Fyodorovna #Frederick Francis III Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin #Frederick Francis IV Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin #Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg Schwerin #Christian X of Denmark #Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany #Alexis Louis de Wenden

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loiladadiani · 11 months

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Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich in youth.

Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich (1850 - 1908)

Grand Duke Alexis was the fifth child and the fourth son of Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Alexis was Nicholas II's favorite uncle, as well as a favorite of Empress Maria Feodorovna (and a frequent dance partner of the Empress since Sacha did not like to dance. He also acted as a mediator between her and Sacha at the very beginning of their marriage, when they had differences.) He stood as one of Tsarevich Alexis' godparents.

1. Maria Feodorovna sitting between Tsarevich Alexander and Grand Duke Alexis; 2. Grand Duke Alexis with his family, embracing his brother Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Alexey made a career in the Navy. Grand Duke Alexey rose through the ranks, holding many important posts. He was appointed General Admiral by his brother Alexander III as a reward for making a significant contribution to modernizing the equipment of the Russian navy. But his improvements might not have been enough. After the Russian defeat to the Japanese in the Battle of Tsushima, Alexey was relieved of his command for incompetence (he died just three years after this, at age 58.) It did not help that his expenses in jewelry for the beautiful women in his life had increased through the years, and he was suspected of corruption. He had acquired a reputation as a "man of fast women and slow ships." Of course, somebody had to pay for Russia's loss to Japan, and he was in the right place at the right time.

Admiral Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich

Was Alexey a hero or a rake? Neither, it seems. The following is the consensus of several authors and contemporaries who knew him well: He had a kind heart and would not intentionally hurt anybody. He was not a thief. He was not a plotter or acted against anybody for his own advancement, but he was, in fact, not very competent as an admiral and made a number of wrong decisions that had terrible consequences for the Russian naval forces.

Alexis was beloved by most of his family, although his cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, did not have anything good to say about him in his book "Once a Grand Duke;" Sandro paints Alexey as a hard-drinking, greedy, womanizing dilettante without any redeeming qualities. Sandro very much wanted Alexis' job and was well situated to get it; I don't know how objective he could be under those circumstances (Sandro's book is used as a source for much of what is written about the Romanovs, but inaccuracies and mistakes have been identified in the information it provides.)

Alexis suffered a broken heart early in his life. Although his affairs with beautiful women were notorious throughout his life, he is the only Grand Duke, son of a Tsar, who remained unmarried. His is a life of plenty but not a happy life.

Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich and Alexandra Zhurovskaya

Alexei fell in love with one of his mother's ladies-in-waiting at age twenty. Her name was Alexandra Zhukovskaya; she was the daughter of a poet (who had taught the Imperial children) and not an aristocrat. Alexandra became pregnant. Alexis’s father, Alexander II, opposed the affair violently and said no when Alexis asked permission to marry. The Emperor also refused his son's request to grant the mother and unborn child a title. Some historians believe Alexey married Alexandra, and the Russian Orthodox church annulled the marriage at the Emperor's behest.

Alexandra Zuhrovskaya

There are letters in which Alexis begs his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, to intercede so that he does not have to abandon Alexandra; they also declare his love for her. Alexander II sent Alexey on an extensive world tour (he was away from Russia for two years; his tour included a very successful visit to the United States.) Alexandra gave birth to their son while he was away. The Imperial family continued to put pressure on her until she terminated the relationship with Alexey. She was married off to Baron Christian-Henrich von Wohrmann and sent to live with him in Munich/Bavaria. Alexis never saw her again but did not abandon her and his son. He settled a large sum and a generous lifetime pension on Alexandra and made provisions for the future of the boy.

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich with General Custer - the photo commemorates their "buffalo hunt."

Before her child was born, Alexandra had secured the title of Baroness Seggiano from the Republic of San Marino, with the right to pass it to her son. After Alexander II died and Alexey's elder brother was crowned Alexander III, Alexey's son was given the Russian nobiliary title of Count Belevsky and a coat of arms.

Grand Duke Alexis' son: Count Alexey Alexeevich Belevskiy-Zhukovskiy (1871–1931)

Count Alexey Alexeevich Belevskiy-Zhukovskiy (1871–1931), the Grand Duke's son followed a military career like all Romanov males. His first marriage (he married twice) took place in Ilinskoye Manor, the state of his uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, near Moscow. The Count acted as his uncle's aide-de-camp for many years. He was well-accepted in Imperial circles. There are several candid photos of Sergei and his wife Ella, where he can be identified (he looks more like his uncle Sergei than his father.) As far as we know, he never met his father (although I doubt that Grand Duke Sergei did not, at some point, arrange a meeting between his brother and his nephew.) Several of the Count's descendants live in New York City.

It is interesting to note that the major source of relentless opposition to Alexey's marriage to Alexandra and to the legitimization of his son was Emperor Alexander II, the same man who would have children with his much younger mistress, establishing a second family while his first wife was still alive, and who would bring that second family to live in the Winter Palace where his first wife resided and where she died. He married his second wife barely a month after Alexey's mother's death.

#russian history #romanov dynasty #imperial russia #Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich #Alexander III #Alexander II #Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich #Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich #Count Alexey Alexeevich Belevskiy-Zhukovskiy #Alexandra Zhukovskaya

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