Buffalo hunter Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich: biography Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich

Biography

Marine Chief cadet corps, the 5th Naval Crew, the Life Guards of the Moscow Regiment, the 37th Yekaterinburg Infantry Regiment, the 77th Tenginsky Infantry Regiment and the 17th East Siberian Rifle Regiment. Since 1890 he was an honorary member of the Berlin Orthodox St. Prince Vladimir Brotherhood.

He did not have great military abilities. His cousin - Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich - noted in his memoirs:

His death, which followed in Paris on November 1, 1908, was announced supreme manifesto. The body was taken by funeral train to the Nikolayevsky railway station. The transportation of the body from the Nikolaevsky railway station to the Peter and Paul Cathedral and burial took place on November 8 according to the highest approved ceremonial. Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) of St. Petersburg and Ladoga performed the Liturgy and funeral service; present were Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

He was the first to be buried in the newly built Tomb of members of the imperial family (the New Tomb at the Peter and Paul Cathedral).

Awards

The second significant woman in his life was Zinaida Dmitrievna Skobeleva, with whom he was close in 1880-99 until her death, despite the objections of her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. About a year after the death of Zinaida Dmitrievna from throat cancer, the Frenchwoman Eliza Balletta, invited to the French troupe of the Mikhailovsky Theater, became the new mistress of the Grand Duke for many years.

The Diary

In popular culture

The figure of Alexei Alexandrovich is somewhat popular with the authors of the genre of alternative history. In particular, he is the main character of Roman Zlotnikov's cycle "General-Admiral" (4 books as of September 2012, the cycle is completed), a significant place is occupied by his activities in Andrei Feliksovich Velichko's cycle "The Caucasian Prince" (6 books as of December 2011), as well as the cycle “Mr. from Tomorrow” by a team of domestic authors (A. Makhrov, B. Orlov, etc.). Mentioned in the story of V. Shukshin "Aliens". The attempt on Alexei is described in one of the stories in the collection "The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes" (English)Russian(The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes).

Grand Duke also featured in the 1994 film Maverick, played by Paul Smith.

Memory

see also

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Notes

Links

• / N. V. Skritsky // A - Questioning. - M. : Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - S. 465. - (Great Russian Encyclopedia: [in 35 volumes] / ch. ed. Yu. S. Osipov; 2004-, vol. 1). - ISBN 5-85270-329-X.
• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

An excerpt characterizing Alexey Alexandrovich

The wanderer calmed down and, brought back to conversation, then talked for a long time about Father Amphilochius, who was such a holy life that his hand smelled of his hand, and how the monks she knew on her last journey to Kyiv gave her the keys to the caves, and how she, taking crackers with her, spent two days in caves with saints. “I will pray to one, I will read, I will go to another. Pine, I’ll go and kiss again; and such, mother, silence, such grace that you don’t even want to go out into the light of God.
Pierre listened to her attentively and seriously. Prince Andrei left the room. And after him, leaving the people of God to finish their tea, Princess Mary led Pierre into the living room.
“You are very kind,” she told him.
“Ah, I really didn’t think to offend her, as I understand and highly appreciate these feelings!
Princess Mary looked at him silently and smiled tenderly. “After all, I have known you for a long time and love you like a brother,” she said. How did you find Andrew? she asked hastily, not giving him time to say anything in response to her kind words. “He worries me a lot. His health is better in winter, but last spring the wound opened, and the doctor said that he must go for treatment. And morally, I'm very afraid for him. He is not a character like us women to suffer and cry out his grief. He carries it inside himself. Today he is cheerful and lively; but it was your arrival that had such an effect on him: he is rarely like that. If you could persuade him to go abroad! He needs activity, and this smooth, quiet life is ruining him. Others do not notice, but I see.
At 10 o'clock the waiters rushed to the porch, hearing the bells of the old prince's carriage approaching. Prince Andrei and Pierre also went out onto the porch.
- Who is this? asked the old prince, getting out of the carriage and guessing Pierre.
– AI is very happy! kiss, - he said, having learned who the unfamiliar young man was.
The old prince was in a good spirit and kindly treated Pierre.
Before dinner, Prince Andrei, returning back to his father's study, found the old prince in a heated argument with Pierre.
Pierre argued that the time would come when there would be no more war. The old prince, teasing, but not angry, challenged him.
- Let the blood out of the veins, pour water, then there will be no war. Woman’s nonsense, woman’s nonsense, ”he said, but still affectionately patted Pierre on the shoulder, and went up to the table, at which Prince Andrei, apparently not wanting to enter into a conversation, was sorting through the papers brought by the prince from the city. The old prince approached him and began to talk about business.
- The leader, Count Rostov, did not deliver half of the people. He came to the city, decided to call for dinner, - I asked him such a dinner ... But look at this one ... Well, brother, - Prince Nikolai Andreevich turned to his son, clapping Pierre on the shoulder, - well done your friend, I fell in love with him! Fires me up. The other one speaks smart words, but I don’t want to listen, but he lies and inflames me, old man. Well, go, go, - he said, - maybe I will come, I will sit at your supper. I'll bet again. Love my fool, Princess Mary, ”he shouted to Pierre from the door.
Pierre now only, on his visit to the Bald Mountains, appreciated the full strength and charm of his friendship with Prince Andrei. This charm was expressed not so much in his relations with himself, but in relations with all relatives and household. Pierre, with the old, stern prince and with the meek and timid Princess Mary, despite the fact that he hardly knew them, immediately felt like an old friend. They all already loved him. Not only Princess Mary, bribed by his meek attitude towards wanderers, looked at him with the most radiant eyes; but the little, one-year-old Prince Nikolai, as his grandfather called him, smiled at Pierre and went into his arms. Mikhail Ivanovich, m lle Bourienne looked at him with joyful smiles when he talked with the old prince.
The old prince went out to supper: this was obvious to Pierre. He was with him both days of his stay in the Bald Mountains extremely affectionate, and ordered him to come to him.
When Pierre left and all the members of the family got together, they began to judge him, as it always happens after the departure of a new person, and, as rarely happens, everyone said one good thing about him.

Returning this time from vacation, Rostov for the first time felt and learned to what extent his connection with Denisov and with the entire regiment was strong.
When Rostov drove up to the regiment, he experienced a feeling similar to the one he experienced when driving up to the Cook's House. When he saw the first hussar in the unbuttoned uniform of his regiment, when he recognized the red-haired Dementyev, he saw the hitching posts of the red horses, when Lavrushka joyfully shouted to his master: “The count has arrived!” and shaggy Denisov, who was sleeping on the bed, ran out of the dugout, hugged him, and the officers converged on the newcomer - Rostov experienced the same feeling as when his mother, father and sisters hugged him, and tears of joy that came to his throat prevented him from speaking . The regiment was also a home, and the home was invariably sweet and expensive, just like the parental home.
Appearing to the regimental commander, having received an assignment to the former squadron, going on duty and foraging, entering into all the small interests of the regiment and feeling deprived of freedom and chained in one narrow, unchanging frame, Rostov experienced the same calm, the same support and the same consciousness the fact that he was here at home, in his place, which he felt under his parents' roof. There was no all this disorder of the free world, in which he did not find a place for himself and made mistakes in the elections; there was no Sonya with whom it was necessary or not to explain. It was not possible to go there or not to go there; there were no those 24 hours of the day, which could be used in so many different ways; there was not this innumerable multitude of people, of whom none was closer, none was farther; there was no such obscure and indefinite monetary relationship with his father, there was no reminder of the terrible loss to Dolokhov! Here in the regiment everything was clear and simple. The whole world was divided into two uneven divisions. One is our Pavlograd regiment, and the other is everything else. And the rest didn't matter. Everything was known in the regiment: who was a lieutenant, who was a captain, who was a good man, who was a bad person, and most importantly, a comrade. The shopper believes in debt, the salary is a third; there is nothing to invent and choose, just do not do anything that is considered bad in the Pavlograd regiment; but they will send, do what is clear and distinct, determined and ordered: and everything will be fine.
Entering again into these certain conditions of regimental life, Rostov experienced joy and calmness, similar to those that a tired person feels when he lies down to rest. This regimental life was all the more gratifying in this campaign to Rostov that, after losing to Dolokhov (an act which, despite all the consolations of his relatives, he could not forgive himself), he decided to serve not as before, but in order to make amends for his guilt, to serve well and to be a completely excellent comrade and officer, that is, a wonderful person, which seemed so difficult in the world, and so possible in the regiment.
Rostov, since his loss, decided that he would pay this debt to his parents at the age of five. He was sent 10 thousand a year, but now he decided to take only two, and give the rest to his parents to pay the debt.

Our army, after repeated retreats, offensives and battles at Pultusk, at Preussisch Eylau, concentrated near Bartenstein. They were waiting for the arrival of the sovereign to the army and the start of a new campaign.
The Pavlograd regiment, which was in that part of the army that was on the campaign of 1805, being staffed in Russia, was late for the first actions of the campaign. He was neither near Pultusk, nor near Preussish Eylau, and in the second half of the campaign, having joined the army in the field, he was assigned to Platov's detachment.
Platov's detachment acted independently of the army. Several times the Pavlograders were part of the skirmishes with the enemy, captured prisoners and once repulsed even the crews of Marshal Oudinot. In the month of April, the inhabitants of Pavlograd stood for several weeks near the empty German village, completely ravaged to the ground, without moving.
It was growing, mud, cold, the rivers broke open, the roads became impassable; for several days they did not give food to either horses or people. Since the supply became impossible, people scattered around the abandoned deserted villages to look for potatoes, but even that was not enough. Everything was eaten, and all the inhabitants fled; those who remained were worse than beggars, and there was nothing to take away from them, and even little - compassionate soldiers often, instead of using them, gave them their last.
The Pavlograd regiment lost only two wounded in action; but from hunger and disease lost almost half of the people. In hospitals they died so surely that the soldiers, sick with fever and swelling, which came from bad food, preferred to carry out their service, dragging their legs in the front by force, than to go to the hospitals. With the opening of spring, the soldiers began to find a plant that looked like asparagus, which for some reason they called Mashkin's sweet root, which was showing up from the ground, and scattered over the meadows and fields, looking for this Mashkin's sweet root (which was very bitter), dug it up with sabers and ate, despite on orders not to eat this harmful plant.
In the spring, a new disease was discovered among the soldiers, a swelling of the hands, feet and face, the cause of which the doctors believed was the use of this root. But despite the prohibition, the Pavlograd soldiers of the Denisov squadron ate mainly Mashkin's sweet root, because for the second week they had been stretching the last crackers, they were giving out only half a pound per person, and the frozen and germinated potatoes were brought in the last parcel. The horses, too, for the second week fed on thatched roofs from the houses, were ugly thin and covered with tufts of winter hair that had strayed.
Despite such a disaster, the soldiers and officers lived exactly the same as always; so now, although with pale and swollen faces and in tattered uniforms, the hussars lined up for calculations, went to clean up, cleaned horses, ammunition, dragged straw from the roofs instead of food and went to dine at the boilers, from which they got up hungry, joking about with their vile food and their hunger. As always, in their free time, the soldiers burned fires, steamed naked by the fires, smoked, took away and baked sprouted, rotten potatoes and told and listened to stories about either the Potemkin and Suvorov campaigns, or tales about Alyosha the rogue, and about the priest's farm laborer Mikolka.
The officers, as usual, lived in twos and threes, in open half-ruined houses. The elders took care of acquiring straw and potatoes, in general, about the means of subsistence for people, the younger ones, as always, were engaged in cards (there was a lot of money, although there was no food), some innocent games - piles and towns. Little was said about the general course of affairs, partly because they did not know anything positive, partly because they vaguely felt that the general cause of the war was going badly.

Grand Duke, Admiral General, Adjutant General, fourth son of Emperor Alexander II. Genus. January 2, 1850 In 1871 he was appointed senior officer on the frigate Svetlana, on which he sailed to the North. America, rounded the cape ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Alexei Alexandrovich, Grand Duke, Admiral General, Adjutant General, fourth son of Emperor Alexander II, was born on January 2, 1850. In 1871 he was appointed senior officer on the frigate Svetlana, on which he sailed to the North ... ... Biographical Dictionary

- (1850 1908), Grand Duke, Admiral General (1883), Adjutant General (1880), son of Alexander II, brother of Alexander III. Member of a number of long sea voyages. Since 1881, a member of the State Council, in 1881 1905 the chief commander of the fleet and manager ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (2.1. 1850 1.11.1908) Grand Duke, 4th son of Alexander II, adjutant general (1880), general admiral (1883). He was educated at home, from the moment of birth he was in the Navy. During the Russian Turkish war 1877 78 was the head of ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Vel. prince, general admiral, gene. adjutant, fourth son of Emperor Alexander II. Genus. January 2, 1850 In 1871 he was appointed senior officer on the frigate Svetlana, on which he sailed to the North. America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

ALEKSEY ALEKSANDROVICH- (1850 1908), led. prince, naval activist, gen. adm. (1883). From 1860 under the hands of. educator adm. K.N. Posyet participated in the voyages to the military. ships, from 1873 he commanded Guards. crew, since 1874 at the same time commander of the frigate "Svetlana", member ... ... Encyclopedia of the Strategic Missile Forces

Aleksey Aleksandrovich- (1850 1910) led. book, 4th son of imp. Alexander II. From 1881 Gen. adm., Ch. chief of the fleet and Mor. departments, members State. advice. Repeatedly represented Russia in Europe and America. Under his command in Russian. fleet appeared: the world's first icebreaker, ... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic Dictionary

- ... Wikipedia

- ... Wikipedia

- ... Wikipedia

Books

• Alexey Zhabsky. Watercolor, Kisteneva S. V., Voronkov N. L., Zhabsky Alexey Alexandrovich. “I was lucky for forty-five years to be close to an extraordinary person and a talented artist. Alexey Alexandrovich may have seemed strange and withdrawn to many. And only ...
• Alexey Alexandrovich Kozlov, S. Askoldov. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Reproduced in the original author's spelling of the 1912 edition (Moscow publishing house ...

Emperor Alexander II was married twice. His first wife was Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. True, the mother of the Tsarevich was against marriage, suspecting that the princess was actually born from the chamberlain of the duke, but Nicholas I simply adored his daughter-in-law. In the marriage of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna, eight children were born. However, soon the relationship in the family went wrong and the emperor began to make himself a favorite.

So in 1866 he became close to the 18-year-old Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. She became the closest person to the king and moved to the Winter Palace. From Alexander II, she gave birth to four illegitimate children. After the death of the Empress, Alexander and Catherine got married, which legalized common children. Who were the descendants of the emperor - you will learn from our material.

Alexandra Alexandrovna

Alexandra was the first and long-awaited child of the grand ducal couple. She was born on August 30, 1842. The birth of a granddaughter was especially expected by Emperor Nicholas I. The next day, happy parents received congratulations. On the ninth day, the Grand Duchess was transferred to the chambers prepared for her and the child. Maria Alexandrovna expressed a desire to feed her daughter on her own, but the emperor forbade this.

On August 30, the girl was baptized in the Tsarskoye Selo Church. But unfortunately, the little Grand Duchess did not live long. She fell ill with meningitis and died suddenly on June 28, 1849, before she was 7 years old. Since then, girls in the imperial family were no longer called Alexandra. All the princesses with that name mysteriously died before reaching the age of 20.

Nikolai Alexandrovich

Tsarevich Nikolai was born on September 20, 1843 and was named after his grandfather. The emperor was so excited about the birth of the heir to the throne that he ordered his sons - Grand Dukes Konstantin and Michael - to kneel before the cradle and take an oath of allegiance to the future Russian emperor. But the Tsarevich was not destined to become a ruler.

Nikolai grew up as a universal favorite: his grandfather and grandmother doted on him, but Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna was most attached to him. Nicholas was well brought up, polite, courteous. He made friends with his second cousin, Princess of Oldenburg. There were even negotiations about their wedding, but in the end, the mother of the princess refused.

In 1864, the Tsarevich went abroad. There, on the day of his 21st birthday, he became engaged to Princess Dagmar, who would later become the wife of Alexander III. Everything was fine until, while traveling in Italy, the heir suddenly fell ill. He was treated in Nice, but in the spring of 1865 Nikolai's condition began to deteriorate.

On April 10, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Nice, and already on the night of the 12th, the Grand Duke died after a four-hour agony from tuberculous meningitis. The body of the heir was delivered to Russia on the Alexander Nevsky frigate. The mother was inconsolable and, it seems, she could not fully recover from the tragedy. Years later, Emperor Alexander III named his eldest son in honor of his brother, whom he "loved more than anything else."

Alexander Alexandrovich

Alexander III was two years younger than his older brother, and by the will of fate it was he who was destined to ascend the Russian throne. Since Nicholas was being prepared for the reign, Alexander did not receive an appropriate education, and after the death of his brother he had to take an additional course of science necessary for the ruler.

In 1866 he became engaged to Princess Dagmar. His ascension to the throne was also overshadowed by death - in 1881, Emperor Alexander II died as a result of a terrorist act. After this, the son did not support the liberal ideas of his father, his goal was to suppress the protests. Alexander followed a conservative policy. So, instead of the draft “Loris-Melikov constitution” supported by his father, the new emperor adopted the “Manifesto on the inviolability of autocracy”, compiled by Pobedonostsev, who had a great influence on the emperor.

Administrative pressure was increased, the beginnings of peasant and city self-government were eliminated, censorship was strengthened, military power was strengthened, it was not for nothing that the emperor said that "Russia has only two allies - the army and the navy." Indeed, during the reign of Alexander III there was a sharp decrease in protests, so characteristic of the second half of his father's reign. Terrorist activity also began to decline, and since 1887 there were no terrorist attacks in the country until the beginning of the 20th century.

Despite the build-up of military power, during the reign of Alexander III, Russia did not wage a single war, for maintaining peace he received the nickname Peacemaker. He bequeathed his ideals to the heir and the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Vladimir Alexandrovich

The Grand Duke was born in 1847 and devoted his life to a military career. He participated in the Russian-Turkish war, since 1884 he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. In 1881, his brother appointed him regent in case of his death before the age of Tsarevich Nicholas, or in the event of the latter's death.

Known for participating in the tragic events of January 1905, known as "Bloody Sunday". It was Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich who gave the order to Prince Vasilchikov to use force against the procession of workers and residents of the city, which was heading towards the Winter Palace.

He was forced to leave his post as Commander of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District after a high-profile scandal with his son's marriage. His eldest son Cyril married the former wife of the brother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess Victoria-Melite of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Highest permission was not given for the marriage, even despite the blessing of Kirill's mother Maria Pavlovna. Vladimir was a well-known philanthropist and was even the president of the Academy of Arts. In protest against his role in the execution of workers and townspeople, the artists Serov and Polenov left the Academy.

Aleksey Aleksandrovich

The fifth child in the grand-ducal family was already enrolled in military service- in the Guards crew and Life Guards regiments Preobrazhensky and Jaegersky. His fate was sealed.

In 1866, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was promoted to lieutenant of the fleet and lieutenant of the guard. Participated in the voyage of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky", which on the night of September 12-13, 1868 was wrecked in the Jutland Strait. The commander of the ship noted the courage and nobility of Alexei, who refused to be one of the first to leave the ship. Four days later he was promoted to staff captain and adjutant wing.

In 1871 he was a senior officer of the Svetlana frigate, on which he reached North America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and, having visited China and Japan, arrived in Vladivostok, from where he reached home by land through all of Siberia.

In 1881 he was appointed a member of the State Council, and in the summer of that year - Chief of the Fleet and the Naval Department with the rights of Admiral General and Chairman of the Admiralty Council. During the management of the fleet, he carried out a number of reforms, introduced a maritime qualification, increased the number of crew, arranged the ports of Sevastopol, Port Arthur and others, expanded the docks in Kronstadt and Vladivostok.

At the end Russo-Japanese War, after the Tsushima defeat, he resigned and was dismissed from all naval posts. He was considered one of the responsible for the defeat of Russia in the war. He died in Paris in 1908.

Maria Alexandrovna

Princess Maria was born in 1853. She grew up as a "weak" girl and suffered from worms as a child. Despite the prescriptions of the doctors, the father wanted to ride everywhere with her, he did not look for the soul in his daughter. In 1874 she married Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of the British Queen Victoria. Alexander gave her as a dowry the unimaginable sum of £100,000 and an annual allowance of £20,000.

Alexander insisted that in London his daughter should be addressed only as "Her Imperial Highness and that she should have precedence over the Princess of Wales. This infuriated Queen Victoria. However, after marriage, the requirements of the Russian emperor were met.

In 1893 her husband became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as his older brother Edward had renounced his claim to the throne. Mary became a duchess, retaining the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. However, tragedy befell their family.

Their son, Crown Prince Alfred, was engaged to Duchess Else of Württemberg. However, Alfred was convicted of extramarital affairs and in 1898 he began to show severe symptoms of syphilis. It is believed that the disease shook his mind.

In 1899, he shot himself with a revolver during a solemn family gathering on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his parents' marriage. On February 6, he died at the age of 24. A year later, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died of cancer. The Dowager Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Sergey Aleksandrovich

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich became the Moscow governor-general. On his initiative, the creation portrait gallery former governor generals. Under him, the Public Art Theater was opened, in order to take care of the students, he ordered the construction of a hostel at Moscow University. A gloomy episode of his reign was the tragedy on the Khodynka field. In the stampede, according to official figures, 1,389 people were killed and another 1,300 were seriously injured. The public found Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich guilty and nicknamed him "Prince Khodynsky".

Sergei Alexandrovich supported monarchist organizations and was a fighter against the revolutionary movement. He died in a terrorist attack in 1905. At the entrance to the Nikolaevskaya Tower, a bomb was thrown into his carriage, which tore the prince's carriage apart. He died on the spot, the coachman was mortally wounded.

The attack was carried out by Ivan Kalyaev from the "Combat Organization of the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries." He planned to make it two days earlier, but could not throw a bomb into the carriage in which the wife and nephews of the Governor General were. It is known that the widow of Prince Elizabeth visited her husband's killer in prison and forgave him on behalf of her husband.

Pavel Alexandrovich

Pavel Alexandrovich made military career, possessed not only Russian, but also foreign orders and honors. He was married twice. He entered into his first marriage in 1889 with his cousin, the Greek princess Alexandra Georgievna. She bore him two children - Maria and Dmitry. But the girl died at the age of 20 during premature birth. The children were given to be brought up in the family of their brother, Moscow Governor-General Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

10 years after the death of his wife, he married a second time, Olga Pistohlkors, she was ex-wife subordinate Prince Pavel Alexandrovich. Since the marriage was unequal, they could not return to Russia. In 1915, Olga Valerievna received for herself and the children of the prince the Russian title of princes Paley. They had three children: Vladimir, Irina and Natalya.

Soon after the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne, the Provisional Government took measures against the Romanovs. Vladimir Paley was exiled to the Urals in 1918 and then executed. Pavel Alexandrovich himself was arrested in August 1918 and sent to prison.

In January next year he, along with his cousins, Grand Dukes Dmitry Konstantinovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgy Mikhailovich, were shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress in response to the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany.

Georgy Alexandrovich

Georgy Alexandrovich was born out of wedlock in 1872, and after the wedding of Alexander II with Princess Dolgorukova, he received the title of His Serene Highness Prince and the surname Yuryevsky. The emperor wanted to equate illegitimate children with heirs from an alliance with Empress Maria Alexandrovna. After the assassination of his father-emperor, he left for France with his sisters and mother.

In 1891 he graduated from the Sorbonne with a bachelor's degree, then returned to Russia, where he continued his studies. Served in the Baltic Fleet, trained in the Dragoon Department of the Officers cavalry school. He was assigned to the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, in 1908 he retired. After 4 years, he died of jade in Magburg, German Empire. He was buried in Wiesbaden at the Russian cemetery. Goga had, as his father jokingly called him, brother Boris. But the boy did not live even a year, and was posthumously legalized as Yuryevsky.

Olga Alexandrovna

She was born a year after her older brother, and was also legalized as the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. It is interesting that the emperor chose the title for children not by chance. It was believed that the princely family of his second wife Dolgorukova took its origins from Rurik and had Prince Yuri Dolgoruky as an ancestor. In fact, this is not so. The ancestor of the Dolgorukovs was Prince Ivan Obolensky, who received the nickname Dolgoruky for his vindictiveness. It originated from the second cousin of Yuri Dolgoruky - Vsevolod Olgovich.

The Most Serene Princess in 1895 married the grandson of Alexander Pushkin - Count Georg-Nikolaus von Merenberg and became known as Countess von Merenberg. In marriage, she gave birth to her husband 12 children.

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

But the youngest daughter of Alexander II, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya, twice unsuccessfully married and became a singer in order to earn her bread. After the accession of Nicholas II, she returned to Russia with her mother, brother and sister. In 1901, Catherine married the richest prince Alexander Baryatinsky. She was smart and talented, but she was not lucky with her husband. He was a rather extravagant character, led a wild life and adored the beautiful Lina Cavalieri. The husband demanded that his wife also share his love for the favorite.

The Serene Princess, loving her husband, tried to win his attention. But it was all in vain. The three of them went everywhere - performances, operas, dinners, some even lived together in a hotel. But the triangle collapsed with the death of the prince, the inheritance went to Catherine's children - princes Andrei and Alexander. Since they were minors, the mother became their guardian.

After World War I, they moved from Bavaria to the Baryatinsky estate in Ivanovsky. Soon, Catherine met a young guards officer, Prince Sergei Obolensky, and jumped out to marry him. After the revolution, they lost everything and left on false documents to Kyiv, and then to Vienna and further to England. For the sake of earning money, the most serene princess began to sing in living rooms and at concerts. The death of her mother did not improve the financial situation of the princess.

In the same 1922, Obolensky left his wife for another wealthy lady, Miss Alice Astor, daughter of millionaire John Astor. Abandoned Catherine became a professional singer. For many years she lived on an allowance from Queen Mary, widow of George V, but after her death in 1953 she was left without a livelihood. She sold her property and died in 1959 in a nursing home on Hayling Island.

“In life one must experience everything” - such was the motto of Grand Duke Alexei.

The fourth son of Emperor Alexander II, brother of Emperor Alexander III, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was born on January 2, 1850. By the will of his grandfather, Emperor Nicholas I, on the day of his birth, the boy was enrolled “in the Guards crew, i.e. from birth ... intended for naval service.

At the age of 7 he already had the rank of midshipman, and at the age of ten he began to sail the seas and oceans under the guidance of his tutor, the famous admiral and navigator K. N. Posyet.

Konstantin Nikolaevich Posyet (1819-1899) - Russian admiral, navigator, Minister of Railways, prominent statesman.

The Grand Duke, despite his title, was taught hard - together with the rest of the sailors, he climbed the masts and yards, setting and removing the sails, scrubbed the deck and performed other ship service duties. At the age of 17, he already served as a watch officer - this was already his seventh “campaign”.

During his naval service, he showed determination and considerable courage. In 1868, the frigate Alexander Nevsky, on board of which Alexei was, fell into a severe storm while sailing in the North Sea, ran into a reef off the coast of Jutland and was wrecked. The Grand Duke in this situation behaved in the highest degree with dignity. On Posyet's proposal to be the first to leave the ship, he responded with a decisive refusal, until all the sailors were saved, he remained with the admiral on board until the last. Courage Alexei in his younger years was not to take. Even earlier, he saved on Lake Onega young man and his sister who fell out of the boat. For this feat, he received from the hands of his father gold medal"For courage", which he was proud of all his life.

A.P. Bogolyubov. Exit of the Grand Duke from the boat in breakers

A.P. Bogolyubov. Thanksgiving prayer in the evening after the wreck on the shore

In 1870, Alexei celebrated his 20th birthday, which was then considered the age of majority in Russia. Among the eldest sons of Alexander II, he was the largest and most beautiful. As a child, he was called Seichik. By the age of 12 he was fluent in German, French and English. Alexei grew up as a cheerful, truthful, trusting and affectionate young man. Playful Seichik was his father's favorite - he was allowed to do things that were not allowed to other children of his age. So, his cousin Marie of Battenberg wrote that seven-year-old Alexei was allowed to sit at the same table with adults, and this aroused childish envy in them.

Most of the childhood and youth of the Grand Duke, however, passed not at sea, but on land, in the summer residences of the Crimea, in the Winter Palace and travels around Europe, where numerous Romanov relatives were scattered. He was very friendly with his older brother Alexander (the future Emperor Alexander III) and his wife Maria Feodorovna, Minnie, as she was called at home. After the death of Alexander III in 1894, Minnie always patronized Alexei until his death, more than once saving his shattered reputation.

On the day of Alexei's twentieth birthday, a ceremony was held in the Winter Palace to take the oath of allegiance to the throne and the Fatherland. In the year of the oath, education officially ended, because since then it was believed that the most august children knew life and its laws. General N. A. Epanchin described the Grand Duke as follows: “Alexey Alexandrovich was ... a benevolent person, but there was little seriousness in life and work; there were strange gaps in his upbringing ... While sailing on the frigate Svetlana, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, upon arrival in New York, played cards with his colleagues ... after playing during the calculation, the Grand Duke, pointing to one of the coins, asked what it was . They answered him: "Piglet" ... copper five kopecks; then the Grand Duke ... looked at her with curiosity and said: “I see it for the first time.” Surely this was not a joke, but proof of how far he was kept from life." Note that in the future he not only did not count copper nickels, but even millions of gold rubles that disappeared in his bottomless pockets.

He suffered from fullness, not only natural, but also caused by gourmandism, bordering on gluttony. Despite this, Alexei was always exquisitely and elegantly dressed. Fullness at that time was not considered an obstacle to male charm. Therefore, he often caught the languid glances of high-society young ladies on himself, and then he himself fell in love with his mother's maid of honor, Sashenka Zhukovsky. Their romance was carefully hidden, because she was 27 years old, and he was 19.

Alexandra Zhukovskaya

They often met at the Anichkov Palace - the residence of his brother Alexander and Minnie, where both took part in home performances. This Zhukovskaya was the daughter famous poet, friend of A. S. Pushkin and educator of Alexander II. She answered him in kind. What was to be done? He was not allowed to marry the title, and she - the position of the maid of honor. Now, if they were ordinary people ... Knowing about the side families of his father and both uncles, Konstantin Nikolayevich and Nikolai Nikolayevich, as well as about the cupids of his aunt Maria Nikolaevna with Count Stroganov, Alexei decided to run away with his beloved abroad, marry her, and there let it be.

Realizing that they would not be allowed to marry in Russia anyway, they secretly fled to Italy. There they secretly got married, but their marriage in Russia was not recognized by the Synod, so formally Alexei continued to be considered single. By the way, Alexey was the only one from the Romanov dynasty who remained a bachelor. Due to lack of money, the lovers returned to their homeland. Alexandra Zhukovskaya asked the Empress to allow her to marry Alexei in Russia, but she did not receive permission

Alexei's parents did what they always did in such cases. They believed that the best cure for love is separation. Therefore, Sashenka Zhukovsky was urgently sent to Austria. At the same time, it turned out that she was also pregnant by Alexei! Time after time it doesn't get any easier! In 1871, she had a son, named Alexei - in honor of his father.

In 1884, Alexander III granted him the title of Count Belevsky-Zhukovsky. Sashenka Zhukovsky herself was given in marriage with a rich dowry to Baron Verman, who turned out to be a very decent person and caring husband. She lived permanently in Germany and died in 1899, while her son remained in Russia. His father helped him and patronized him in everything, like the entire imperial family - the grandson of Alexander II, nevertheless, albeit illegitimate. He served as adjutant to his uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, married, and had four children.

Wife Princess Maria Petrovna Trubetskaya (1872-1954), Count Alexei Alekseevich Belevsky-Zhukovsky

And then the revolution came. His wife and children managed to leave through Constantinople to Germany, while Alexei remained in Russia. Under Soviet rule, he became a prominent biologist, but died in the years Stalinist repressions in 1932 in Tbilisi.

Count Alexei Alekseevich Belevsky-Zhukovsky

Alexei's father sent him to America for such a rash act. Alexander II, then, just in time, received an invitation from US President Ulysses Simpson Grant to pay a state visit in gratitude for Russia's support of the northerners during civil war. So he ordered Alexei to go to America instead of himself. Nothing to do, Alexey agreed. In 1871, on the frigate "Svetlana" as a lieutenant, he went on a long voyage. By the way, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich was on the same ship.

Alexey and Konstantin K R

Suffering from the loss of love, Alexei in Marseilles with a company of officers made a riot in one "fun" establishment with ladies. The police arrested the Buyans, but the Grand Duke managed to be “dismissed” by presenting to the authorities another officer named Alekseev (he was the half-brother of Alexei, was the natural son of Emperor Alexander II.). Aleksey Alexandrovich sent mournful letters to his mother from distant seas - just a cry from the heart: “I feel that I do not belong to myself, that I cannot leave them (Zhukovskaya and the unborn child. -M. P.).There is a feeling in this world that nothing can overcome - this feeling is love ... Mom, for God's sake, don't ruin me, don't sacrifice your son, forgive me, love me, don't throw me into that abyss where I can't get out ... "Later he still writes: “I do not want to be the shame and shame of the family ... Do not ruin me for God's sake. Do not sacrifice me for the sake of some prejudices that will disintegrate themselves in a few years ... To love this woman more than anything in the world and to know that she is forgotten, abandoned by everyone, she suffers, waits for a birth from minute to minute ... And I must remain some a creature who is called the Grand Duke and who therefore must, and can be, in his position, a vile and nasty person, and no one dares to tell him this ... Help me, return honor and life to me, it is in your hands "

Apparently, his feeling for Zhukovskaya was actually serious. This feeling was also facilitated by the age of the Grand Duke - twenty years; at this age, love is especially strong, and if someone says that his beloved is not a couple, then this will be an insult for life. However, the parents stood their ground, the father was especially persistent, although he himself was not without sin in such matters. The brothers are another matter - they supported poor Alexei in everything and tried to help his grief. They spoke of his suffering to his parents; Alexander and Minnie tried to leave Zhukovskaya in Russia, and she was sent abroad to give birth. Useless. Vladimir then took matters into his own hands. He sent a letter to Zhukovskaya: “Dear Alexandra Vasilievna! I often talked a lot with the empress about everything that happened ... Neither she nor the sovereign agree to the wedding, this is their unchanging decision, neither time nor circumstances will change it, believe me. Now, dear Alexandra Vasilievna, let me, relying on our old friendship and your long-standing disposition towards me, turn directly to your heart ... Do you remember when I, having seen off my brother, stopped by to you. Saying goodbye to you, I took both your hands and, looking you straight in the eyes, I asked - do you really love your brother? You answered that you truly love him. I believed you, and how could I not believe? Now you know what position he is in. You also know the determined will of my parents. All this prompts me, if you definitely love your brother, to beg you on your knees, do not destroy him, but voluntarily, sincerely, give him up ... ”And Zhukovskaya, knowing that she and Alexei would never be united, heeded this request. They didn't meet again.

The collapse of all hopes, the loss of a beloved, the inability to start a full-fledged family broke Alexei's faith in justice and forced him to decide never to marry. Officially, the Grand Duke remained single, but in terms of the number of love affairs and novels, both in Russia and abroad, he was the undisputed champion. However, God did not give him repeated true love. Love failure broke him, changed everything that was good in him that had been laid down since childhood.

Let's get back to Alexei's trip to America. On August 20, 1871, the tsar himself accompanied his son to America on the frigate Svetlana, and already in November the ship anchored off the coast of Manhattan in New York. The distinguished guest was accommodated in the Claredon, the most luxurious hotel. There was a real stir about the visit of the distinguished Russian guest in America. Journalists tracked his every step and deed, and then scrupulously painted all this in the newspapers.

On November 24, 1871, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was received by US President Ulysses Grant at the White House, and then his long trip around the country began. He visited more than 20 cities in the US and Canada. Every state and every city aspired to excel each other in the honors accorded to the son of Russia. Balls and evenings were held, to which up to four thousand people were sometimes invited. Newspapermen greedily followed Alexei's every step, especially inventing rumors about his connections with women.

So, one of the newspapers wrote that Alexei likes women of small stature. Then all fashionistas and socialites abandoned shoes on high heels and high hair. In every hotel, young ladies strolled along the lobby in the hope of capturing the eyes of the Grand Duke. Rumors that he was sent on a trip to America for having a relationship with the woman he loved, who did not come to the Court, further inflamed the imagination of American women - everyone was ready to jump into his bed. Alexei was literally besieged everywhere by a crowd of enthusiastic admirers.

He visited Niagara Falls, the Naval Academy, West Point, the Admiralty, the weapons and shipbuilding factories, Harvard University and many other remarkable places, until January 1, 1872 he arrived in the Wild West in the city of Chicago. Just the day before, there was a huge fire that destroyed part of the city, and Alexei donated 5 thousand dollars to the victims of the fire, which aroused even greater sympathy for the Americans.

How could one surprise and entertain a distinguished guest here? Of course, hunting for buffalo and seeing wild Indians! General Sheridan, the hero of the Civil War, took up the organization of this entertainment. He instructed General Custer and the famous St. John's wort Buffalo Bill to organize a grand buffalo hunt.

George Custer and Alexei became so close that they fought, danced and sang songs like boys. A photograph of 1872 has been preserved, which depicts both of these characters in hunting suits. Near Fort McPherson, near the Red Willow Creek, "Aleksei's camp" of 40 tents was pitched. The dining tent was decorated with the flags of both states. The menu included the meat of a wide variety of animals and birds - the inhabitants of the prairies, there was no shortage of a wide variety of drinks. Alexei was followed everywhere by a bed designed for his tall stature and powerful body. The hunt has begun. Prince Alexei was given the fastest horse and the best gun. On his 22nd birthday, Alexey killed his first bison, which he proudly wrote to his father about.

Then the Indians were invited to the "camp of Alexei", ​​led by a leader named Spotted Tail. They performed their war dances before him and exercised their marksmanship against buffaloes. At a feast given in honor of the Indians, Alexei flirted with Spotted Tail's squaw, and it was so sweet that the ferocious leader of the redskins did not even think of ripping off the scalp from the pale-faced stranger.

There was even a Hollywood action film Maverick starring Mel Gibson and Judy Foster about the Grand Duke Alexei's hunt in the Wild West. True, he looks like a fool there, but still ... Americans are all Russian fools, this is already such a Hollywood standard. At the site of the royal hunt, local residents arrange a theatrical performance every year in memory of this event.

Buffalo Bill himself with the leader of the Sioux tribe.

The next point of stay of Alexei in the United States was the city of New Orleans. The choice of this city was not accidental. The fact is that back in New York, he met actress Lydia Thompson, a musical comedy star. The Russian prince was delighted with her game.

Alexei was especially worried about the song in her performance "If I stop loving." After the performance, he invited Lydia to dinner and begged her to sing this ballad again and again. Now that the hunting passions had cooled down, the Grand Duke remembered the pretty actress. When asked what other cities he would like to visit, Alexei did not hesitate to name New Orleans, it was there that the Lydia Thompson troupe went on tour.

In the city, in honor of Grand Duke Alexei, a grandiose music festival "Mardi Grae" was organized. Many high-ranking persons received an invitation to it; personally, Lydia Thomson sent him an invitation card, which the prince was much flattered by. Especially for Alexei, a platform was erected and a throne-like chair was placed on it, but he refused to sit on it, saying that he was only a lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Navy; that is how it should be perceived.

Admirers of Alexei were upset - they so wanted to see him on the throne! For the Americans, the arrival of the Russian Grand Duke was, of course, exotic; It was under this sauce that he was perceived. From a meeting with Alexei, they tried to make a show, but this time they did not succeed.

On the evening after the festival, he went to a variety show in which Lydia Thompson was performing, and was so fascinated by the prima that he extended his stay in New Orleans by four days. She gave him a night of love, for which Alexey awarded his little girlfriend with a diamond bracelet and pearls of unprecedented beauty, and then left this city forever. The day of his visit to New Orleans became an official holiday! It is not known how much Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich is remembered in Russia, but in this city he is always remembered. America has a poor history, and even the visits of distinguished guests are a holiday for them.

The American press created the myth of Alexei the heartthrob.In fact, he rightly wrote home: “Regarding my success with American women, which the newspapers rang about, I can honestly say that all this is nonsense. They looked at me the way people look at a crocodile in a cage or a huge monkey, but after examining me, they became indifferent. So indifferent! Alexei was cunning, oh cunning! He was pleased with the attention of American women, and the attention of Lydia Thompson ...

In February 1872, Alexey returned to his frigate Svetlana and headed for Havana. It was supposed to return home through Europe, but suddenly Alexander II ordered to turn this voyage into a round-the-world trip. He probably thought that three months was not enough for Alexei to recover from unhappy love. I had to follow the royal order. Having visited Cuba, Brazil, the Philippines, Japan and China, "Svetlana" moored in Vladivostok, from which Alexei returned by land, through Siberia, to St. Petersburg. Thus, his journey dragged on for two years. Upon returning to the capital in 1874, Alexei was appointed commander of the Guards crew and captain of the Svetlana, conferring the rank of captain of the 1st rank on him.

Alexander Karlovich Beggrov (1841-1914) On the deck of the frigate "Svetlana"

After he became the captain of the Svetlana, Alexei immediately set sail around Europe. In 1875-1876 he called at the ports of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. His next visit to the USA was interrupted Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, in which Alexei took an active part. Largely due to the actions of the sailors under his command, Russian troops successfully crossed the Danube, and then ensured stability on this vital waterway.

The crossing of the Russian army across the Danube at Zimnitsa on June 15, 1877., Nikolay Dmitrievich Dmitriev

For this campaign, Grand Duke Alexei was granted the rank of rear admiral, awarded the St. George Cross IV degree and the golden weapon "For Courage".

In 1881, after the assassination of Alexander II, Alexei Alexandrovich headed the entire Navy Russia, taking the place of his uncle Konstantin Nikolaevich. However, in the most paradoxical way, it was from that moment that he completely ceased to be interested in the fleet. Having started swimming at the age of ten, Alexey Alexandrovich spent almost 20 years at sea. He became a real sailor. However, after 1881 he rarely went to sea. For the next 28 years, he clearly preferred land.

Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich.With Musee D'Orsay

In 1882, he was promoted to vice admiral, although Alexander III believed that his brother was indifferent. Why? Yes, because Alexei was already fed up with the seas and oceans with their long-distance voyages and found himself a hobby in another - communicating with the fair sex. Admiral I. A. Shestakov wrote in his diary: “It seems that my Grand Duke is indifferent not only to the fleet, but to everything, and does he care if Russia is well ...”

In 1883, Alexei received a promotion from the hands of his brother-emperor - now he has become an admiral general. But he didn't give a damn about it - he became indifferent to the maritime business. He fell out of love with the sea, he did not delve into the affairs of his department. His mind was frozen in the days of the sailing fleet, in the golden days of his campaigns on the Svetlana. Meanwhile, Russia had to build armadillos; another time has come - the time of steam, electricity and radio. And if, nevertheless, the Russian fleet was managed to be kept in a more or less decent condition, it was not thanks to, but in spite of, Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich.

Since then, the amorous adventures of the Grand Duke have become a constant topic of high-society gossip. In the late 1870s, the life of Alexei Alexandrovich lit up with love for his distant relative, Countess Zinaida Beauharnais. She was a married lady, the wife of his cousin Duke Eugene Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg (again those Leuchtenberg!). Recall that the Dukes of Leuchtenberg clung to the Romanov dynasty in 1839 as a result of the marriage union of Eugene Beaugrane, the son of Napoleon's stepson, and the daughter of Nicholas I, Maria Nikolaevna. They were worthless, arrogant and arrogant people.

Eugene of Leuchtenberg himself was married twice, and both times by morganatic, that is, unequal marriages. For the first time, Evgeny married Daria Opochinina, the great-granddaughter of Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. The second time he married Zinaida, the younger sister of the famous general M. D. Skobelev (it is clear that Yevgeny's lip was not a fool - both times he married relatives of famous military leaders). Characteristically, both wives of Eugene were given the title of Countess Beauharnais by the Emperor. It is also interesting that Zinaida Beauharnais was the cousin of Evgeny's first wife, Daria Opochinina, who died in 1870.

Daria Konstantinovna Opochinina

And if we add that Alexei was a cousin of the duke, then we get a close family tangle. From his first marriage, the duke had a daughter, Daria Beauharnais, or Dolly. The duke had no children from his second marriage.

Countess Daria Evgenievna Beauharnais

The Duke of Leuchtenberg married Zinaida Skobeleva in 1878. Zina Beauharnais, as they called her in the world, was famous for her amazing beauty; judging by the surviving portraits, she was a real Russian beauty, unlike her shabby husband, who had French roots.

Zinaida Skobelev

According to contemporaries, Duke Eugene of Leuchtenberg was a kind man, distinguished by poor health and led a dispersed lifestyle. He was constantly in the company of his cousins ​​Alexei and Vladimir Alexandrovich. He had a reputation as a drunkard and a cuckold, which, however, did not depress him very much. State Secretary A. A. Polovtsov described him as “a scoundrel devoid of any moral sense, working with his wife” and extracting a lot of money from Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich.

Evgeniy Maksimilianovich Leikhtenbergsky

According to General Yepanchin, “the duke was a kind person, not an intriguer, but he had every right to say“ my tongue is my enemy ”and was not always able to keep it in time.” The duke turned a blind eye to his wife’s romance with Grand Duke Alexei, and therefore, during a joint trip to Europe, the inseparable trinity was nicknamed “la menage Royale a trois” (royal love triangle). However, he was beaten more than once by the giant Alexei on the threshold of his own bedroom in the house on the English Embankment, where the Grand Duke got into the habit of going.

The cuckold husband tried in vain to complain to Alexander III about his wife-loving brother. All he could do was to sleep resignedly on the sofa in the office with an offended look, while Zinaida and Alexei made love. Judging by the photos that have come down to us, Alexei, a man of immense size and the same height, chose women to match himself - Zina was a plump, chubby lady. She rode with Alexei around St. Petersburg in an open carriage, openly demonstrated the diamonds given to her by her lover, and he paid the bills of Zina and her drunken husband in Europe and Russia.

Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich and Duchess of Leuchtenberg

Countess Beauharnais hosted receptions at the Alekseevsky Palace (built especially for him on the Moika embankment) and compiled lists of guests at her own discretion. For her sake, Alexei opened the doors of his palace to the capital's beau monde, where the beautiful Zinaida reigned, with royal grandeur ignoring all the rumors and gossip that spread because of her scandalous connection with the Grand Duke.

St. Petersburg Palace of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich,

According to the assurances of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, whom everyone called Sandro, who left rather frank and caustic memoirs, the Admiral General was ready to sacrifice everything Russian fleet for the sake of the seductive Zina and showered her with unthinkable gifts. Sandro wrote: “I am aware of the complete impossibility of describing physical qualities this amazing woman. I have never seen her like in all my travels in Europe, Asia, America and Australia, which is a great happiness, since such women should not often catch the eye.

Where did Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich get the money for all these escapades? He obviously would not have had enough of the Grand Duke's salary ... And he shamelessly stole from the amounts allocated for the shipbuilding program of the Russian fleet. At one time, scandals caused a lot of noise because of Alexei's attempts to maintain the Zina yacht, owned by the Duke of Leuchtenberg, at public expense.

The premature death of Zinaida Beauharnais in 1899 at the age of 44 was a heavy blow for Alexei. Until the end of his days, he kept her portraits and a marble bust. After the death of his wife, the Duke of Leuchtenberg lived either in Paris or in Alexei's palace on the Moika embankment, where his wife once hosted. In 1901, he was buried next to his unfaithful wife in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.