The origin of the Yusupovs. The legendary Yusupovs and the secret of their origin. Litigation with Hollywood movie giant
What is it like for a mother to know that out of equally beloved children, only one will survive? Such is the curse of the family. Grandma's tales? Grandmothers, but not fairy tales ...
Enchanted by death
The old princess Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova firmly decided from a young age to explain to her granddaughters - Tatyana and her favorite Zinochka, named after her, what she herself learned too late. Their family is cursed, and this fact cannot be changed - everything happened too long ago, back in the days of Ivan the Terrible. The founder of the Yusupov family was Abdul-Murza, the son of Yusuf, the Khan of the great Nogai Horde, who instilled fear in Russia. On one black day for his descendants, he suddenly accepted and went into the service of the Russian autocrat, for which he was cursed in his homeland as a traitor for all eternity. Family tradition, with frighteningly mathematical accuracy, said: of all the Yusupovs born in one generation, only one child will live to be twenty-six years old, and this will continue until the clan completely disappears from the face of the Earth.
When young Zinochka Naryshkina married Boris Yusupov, no one bothered to tell her the terrible truth about the family she was entering. From the side of the Yusupovs, everything looked as good as possible: the second in nobility and wealth after the Emperor of All Russia himself. You won't find a better party. Zinaida was quite happy in marriage, gave birth to a son, then a beautiful daughter (plus two in favor of the Yusupovs), and then the Nogai curse came into force: the baby suddenly died (minus one). The servants whispered in the corners, and the legend finally reached the ears of the princess. Being a firm and resolute character, Zinaida announced to her husband that she was not going to "give birth to the dead" in the future, and if he did not work up, "let the yard girls belly," she would not mind. So they lived in love and harmony until the death of Yusupov.
The widow was not yet forty, but family and children were no longer in her plans, she was good-looking and owned innumerable riches that gave her freedom of action, unheard of for a woman of that era. Soon Yusupova was called none other than a la Balzac, for a whole string of dizzying ones. She seemed determined to die of voluptuousness, not of a hateful ancestral curse. The desire of the princess to cheat death over the years turned into a mania. Disregarding the opinion of high society, she ransomed her young lover - a Narodnaya Volya, a fighter against this very society - from prison, the impregnable and deadly damp Shlisselburg fortress, in fact, saved him from a slow death in captivity. And when he nevertheless died, she ordered to embalm his body in order to keep it forever in a secret room next to her bedchamber.
In her old age, my grandmother came up with another trick to get away from the blow of an ancient curse: she married the first Frenchman she met, left Russia and lived carelessly the rest of her days no longer Yusupova, but Madame de Chavot de Serres. Truly in Russian: I am not me, and the hut is not mine!
three minus two
The eldest in the Yusupov family could flirt with death as much as she liked, but her only son, Nikolai, had to live in much greater fear. However, as a highly educated person, vice-director of the St. Petersburg Public Library, writer and violinist, he did not believe in any prophecies covered with centuries of dust. He raised his three children (plus three) - Zinaida, Tatyana and Boris, as secular, prudent and crystal clear souls. There shouldn't have been any accounts with the ancient dark forces in their lives...
First, little Borenka died of scarlet fever - the only heir of the Yusupovs in the male line (minus one).
Then, during a horse ride, the eldest daughter Zinaida injured her leg. At first, the wound seemed trifling, but the very next day it began, and Botkin himself diagnosed it as blood poisoning. The then medicine was unable to help the young, flourishing girl, the unfortunate woman fell into a coma. Desperate Yusupov, threw away all his principles and called to bed the dying daughter of the priest John of Kronstadt, known for his miraculous healings of the hopelessly ill. By the power of prayer, the elder brought Zinaida back to life.
And thus doomed her sister to certain death - Tatyana soon burned down from typhus. She was 22 years old. The curse of the Yusupov family worked like a well-oiled mechanism - only one offspring was destined to overcome the 26-year milestone. Believe it or believe it doesn't matter.
Love is more precious than gold
Zinaida became the only heiress of factories, manufactories and tenement houses in every major Russian city, mines, villages, estates, estates, forests and lands in every Russian province, palaces furnished with furniture of Queen Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour, and collections of jewelry, among which is the world-famous pearl "Pelegrin", which once belonged to Philip II and was considered the main decoration of the Spanish Crown. But what do all these fabulous riches mean in the face of Death? Dust and ashes! Both the grandmother and the father insisted on the speedy marriage of the surviving child, they were afraid to leave this world without waiting for confirmation of the continuation of the family - grandchildren. The family needed to grow, and not deplorably strive for zero.
There was no shortage of suitors. Not only was Zinaida the richest bride in Russia, she was divinely beautiful. As husbands, she was predicted to have a relative of the emperor, a pretender to the throne of Bulgaria. However, on the bride, the girl did not look into the eyes of the Bulgarian prince, but over his shoulder, behind him stood her true betrothed - a modest officer Felix Elston, one of the numerous retinue of a foreign groom. The next day, he appeared alone and proposed to her. Yusupov did not argue with his daughter: title, wealth, connections, beauty, education, intelligence, kindness - everything was already with his daughter, only love was required from her husband (we put an equal sign - children). The union of two hearts in love was consecrated by the sacrament of the wedding and brought two children, moreover, sons. The cursed seed of Khan Yusuf, for the first time in many generations, found the hope of gaining a foothold on Russian soil.
Two from the chest
In fact, Zinaida Nikolaevna gave birth to four children, two died in infancy, but the family preferred to remain silent about this bloody tribute to Nogaisky. They rejoiced at two sons, the two most precious stones in the family treasury, the two hopes of the Yusupov family. The eldest, Nikolai, outwardly the spitting image of his father, in his life hobbies was a copy of his mother and grandfather - he played music, painted, wrote stories, played in the theater, while brilliantly defending his law degree. It would not be easy for an extremely gifted young man to find a worthy mate for himself, but love itself overtook him. And she lost. Maria Heyden was already "given to another" and was not going to break the oath of allegiance, even for the sake of the offspring of the Yusupovs themselves. Second people after the king can do everything, but not everyone is given to marry for love. Maria's husband did not go into long explanations about this, challenged Nikolai to a duel and did not miss. Mathematics is a cruel science: the eldest son of Zinaida Yusupova was supposed to be twenty-six years old in six months.
The mother, distraught with grief, like a lioness, clung to her youngest son Felix, never letting go of herself, often getting confused and calling her Nikolenka, although the brothers are absolutely not alike. Felix got the angelic appearance of his mother, but in society he received a reputation as a fallen angel while still very young. Neither art, nor science, nor military affairs interested him at all. Why study, and even more so work, if you are almost a fairy-tale prince from birth, you own half of the kingdom, and not today or tomorrow the ghost of Yusuf's ancestor will come for you? You need to use every day of life allotted to you for pleasure.
Not the soul of the mother - Zinaida Nikolaevna, known throughout Russia for her kindness, mercy, charitable deeds, prevailed in him, but the blood of grandmother Zinaida Ivanovna boiled. The list of his love victories was truly Don Juan. However, he did not dare to argue with his mother, who demanded to stop carousing and get married. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were two recognized beauties in the Russian state: his mother and Irina Aleksandrovna Romanova. The choice is obvious, especially since Irina was a close relative of the reigning dynasty. On both sides, a boy was expected from the newlyweds, but, alas, a daughter was born, after which Felix no longer appeared in the matrimonial bedroom. Why produce children who inevitably face death? Or perhaps Yusupov Jr. was only covering up his overly modern inclinations with an ancient legend. It was rumored that the elder Rasputin, in whose murder he took an active part, came to the Yusupovs' house in order to reconcile Felix with his wife, who had learned about her husband's homosexual relationships. Felix, who remained the only descendant of Yusuf, considered that everything was allowed to him - adultery, perversion, murder.
After the revolution, the Yusupov family managed to emigrate not empty-handed. Of course, you can’t take palaces, factories and arable land with you to France, but his mother kept the family jewels, and there was real estate abroad. Felix squandered everything. His wife, daughter and, finally, he himself were buried in the grave of his mother, Zinaida - there was no money for separate places. The sudden death of his brother Nikolai gave him a chance for life and procreation, but the Nogai curse easily settled scores with him: if a person is weak in spirit, he is a complete zero in the fight against ancient forces.
Describing the history of our region (Rakityansky district of the Belgorod region), it is impossible to ignore the story of one of the influential princely families - the Yusupovs, who left an indelible mark on the history of Russia.
In the book of Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov "Before the exile 1887-1917" a brief biography of the Yusupov family is given:
“The family archive presents us the founder of the Yusupov family, Abubekir bin Rayok, who lived in the 6th century and was a descendant of the prophet Ali, the nephew of Mohammed. He was the supreme ruler and received the name of Emir al Omr - the prince of princes, the sultan of sultans and khans. His descendants also held prominent positions: they were kings in Egypt, Damascus, Antioch and Constantinople. Some of them ruled Mecca...
... Khan Yusuf among the murzas / murza - Tatar prince / was the most powerful and most educated "
Khan Yusuf was the ruler of the Nogai Horde.
“... Tsar Ivan the Terrible, to whom Khan Yusuf was devoted for twenty years, considered the Nogai Horde a sovereign state and addressed its head as an equal, calling his ally: “My friend. My brother."
Yusuf had eight sons and one daughter - Sumbeku, who became the queen of Kazan. The princess became famous for her beauty, intelligence, ardor and courage ...
Sumbeka ruled her kingdom with the world for several years. Soon she had a feud with Ivan the Terrible. The besieged Kazan capitulated to the more powerful Russian army, and Queen Sumbeka became a prisoner...
Sumbeka died as a captive at the thirty-seventh year of her life. But the memories did not let her name sink into eternity ...
... After the death of Yusuf, his descendants fought each other without a break until the end of the 17th century. His great-grandson Abdul-Murza converted to Orthodoxy, was named Dmitry, and under Tsar Fedor received the surname and title of Prince Yusupov ... ”Dmitry was married to the Russian princess Tatyana Fedorovna Korkodinova. Newly appeared Russian princes married representatives of the noblest families.
“... The son of Prince Dmitry Grigory Dmitrievich was one of the associates of Peter the Great. He participated in the creation of the fleet and took an active part in the battles, as well as in the government reforms of the great king. His mind and his character earned him the respect and friendship of the Sovereign ... "
Lieutenant-General Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov /1676-1730/ was a hero of the Battle of Poltava.
Under Peter II / reigned from 1727 to 1730, / the princes Yusupov were given large grants in the Kursk province, including the Rakitnaya settlement; the same emperor favors Grigory Dmitrievich in Moscow with the current Yusupov Palace.
“... The son of Grigory Yusupov Boris /1695-1759/ continued the work of his ancestors ... In the reign of Empress Anna, Prince Boris Grigoryevich received the rank of Governor-General of Moscow, and under Empress Elizabeth he was the director of the Shlyakhetsky Cadet Corps. He was very popular with his students, and they saw him as more of a friend than a boss. He chose the most gifted of them to create an amateur troupe of actors. They played classical plays, as well as works by their peers ... Empress Elizabeth heard the rumor about a troupe consisting exclusively of Russians, which was a novelty for that time. They were invited to the Winter Palace to give a performance. This made an impression on the empress, and subsequently she even found some charm in dressing the actors herself; she provided her best clothes and her jewelry to young people who played female roles. This prompted Prince Boris to ensure that Empress Elizabeth signed in 1756 an order to create the first public theater in St. Petersburg. The artistic activity of the prince did not distract him from state affairs ...
Prince Boris had two sons and four daughters…”
His daughters married Izmailov, Protasov, Golitsyn, Duke of Courland. Of all the children of Boris Grigoryevich Yusupov, the most significant person was his son Nikolai / 1751-1831 /.
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov writes about him like this: “Prince Nikolai is one of the most remarkable figures in our family. He lived the life of an intellectual and an original: a great traveler, an erudite who knew five languages, was a very famous person for his era. Nikolai Borisovich showed himself as a patron of science and art and was also an adviser and friend of Empress Catherine; lived in the reign of Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I ...
Prince Nicholas was proud of his friendship with King Frederick the Great of Prussia and Emperor Joseph II of Austria. He knew Diderot, D'Alembert and Beaumarchais. The latter composed poems for him wishing him happiness. Voltaire, after the first meeting with the prince, wrote to Catherine II that he thanked her for the pleasure of meeting a very interesting person ... "
Nikolai Borisovich was also a relative and interlocutor of A.S. Pushkin. Among the highest awards of the empire, titles, stars and estates, the highest is the message to him by A.S. Pushkin, consisting of 106 poetic lines.
“In 1793, Prince Nikolai married Tatyana Vasilievna Engelhardt / 1767-1841 /, five years before that, the former wife of Prince Potemkin / we are talking about General Potemkin M.S. - a relative of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin / ...
After the death of Prince Nikolai Borisovich, all the estates passed to his son Boris Nikolayevich Yusupov / 1794-1849 /. He did not share his father's worldview. An independent nature, directness and frankness provided him with more enemies than friends. When he was elected leader of the St. Petersburg nobility, it was not his rank and status that played a decisive role, but kindness and decency ... "
Prince Boris was married twice. First, on Princess Praskovya Pavlovna Shcherbatova, who died of childbirth when she was 24 years old. Then on Zinaida Ivanovna Naryshkina /later Countess de Chevo/, from whom the son Nikolai Borisovich, the youngest, was born.
Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, Jr. /1827-1891/, writer, musician, philosopher-theologian, vice-director of the Imperial Library. The author of the two-volume edition "On the family of the Yusupov princes ...", 1866-67. From his marriage to Countess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribopierre /1828-1879/ he had three children. Unfortunately, son Boris died very early, daughter Tatyana - at 22. Thus, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna remained the heiress of a huge fortune. As a result of the fact that Nikolai Borisovich had no male heirs, it was on Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova that the direct lineage of the Nogai Murzas was cut short.
The elite magazine "Our Heritage" /5th issue, 1990/ published a portrait of her as a child, painted by an unknown artist. Even then, the girl promised to become a beauty and became her to the delight of her mother. L.N. Tolstoy in his “Autobiographical Notes” writes: “Zinaida Nikolaevna remains for all those who knew her the perfect type of a charming secular woman. It seemed that she set out to charm and charm everyone, and everyone who approached her involuntarily fell under her charm. A very pleasant face with charming light gray eyes, which she now squinted, then somehow especially opened, smiling at the same time with a charming little mouth. A slender figure and early graying hair later gave her the appearance of a powdered doll ... "
In 1887, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova married Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston. His father - Felix Nikolaevich Sumarokov -Elston / 1828-1877 / was the illegitimate son of the Hungarian countess Josephine Forgach and the Prussian king Frederick William IV. / Other authors call the father of Felix Nikolayevich Baron Karl Hugel or “one Viennese banker” / (Note of the site keeper: in the Yusupov family tradition, the mother of Felix Nikolayevich is recognized as Countess Katharina von Tizenhausen, granddaughter of His Serene Highness Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky). As a seven-year-old boy in 1827, for unknown reasons, he was transported to Russia by Countess Tizenhausen, nee Kutuzova. He was given the surname Elston - after the name of the hero of an English novel. Felix Nikolaevich Elston married in 1856 Countess Sumarokova and received the title of count.
And now, years later, his son Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov - Elston, thanks to his marriage to Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, was elevated to princely dignity with the condition that only his eldest son would inherit the princely title. The eldest son of Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich was Nikolai, but since at the age of 26 he was shot in a duel, the title, with the special permission of Nicholas II, passed to his younger brother Felix.
So, the last name of Prince Yusupov reads: Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston.
The last bearer of these high-profile titles is Felix Feliksovich Yusupov /1887-1967/, who graduated from Oxford University, major general of the retinue (Note from the site keeper: here the author of the article confused Prince Felix with his father Felix Yusupov Sr., it was he who was the adjutant general. His son did not have a general rank.), who married the Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova / niece of Tsar Nicholas II /, was remembered most of all by the Rakityan residents.
The Yusupov family inspired great works and great artists. One of these artists was the remarkable Russian painter Valentin Serov. His brush belongs to many paintings written from members of this family; portrait of Z.N. Yusupova, 1900-1902; portrait of F.F. Sumarokova-Elston, 1903; portrait of F.F. Yusupov, 1903, etc.
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, due to his high origin, without making the slightest effort, was the heir to fabulous wealth, which, like from a cornucopia, rained down on him. He had weight in secular society, an impeccable reputation, high connections, in short, everything to live carefree.
Constantly traveling the world, Felix Yusupov did not forget to visit his family estates. Here is what he writes in the book Before the Exile.
“... Before leaving for the Crimea, where we spent the autumn, we stopped for hunting in Rakitnoye, in the Kursk province. This one of our most extensive estates included a sugar factory, numerous sawmills, brick and wool factories, and many cattle farms. The house of the manager and his subordinates was in the center of ownership. Each division - stables, kennels, sheepfolds, chicken coops, etc. - had a separate management. Horses from our factories won more than one victory at the hippodromes of St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Horses were my favorite sport, and at one time I was exclusively interested in dog hunting. I liked to gallop through the fields and forests, holding the greyhounds on a leash. Often the dogs noticed the game in front and made such jumps that I could hardly keep in the saddle. The rider held the reins on a strap over his shoulder, and squeezed the other end in his right hand: it was enough to open his hand to let the dogs go, but if he did not have a keen eye and a quick reaction, he risked being knocked out of the saddle.
My interest in hunting was short-lived. The cries of the hare, whom I wounded with a gun, were so painful that from that day on I refused to participate in a cruel game.
Our life in Rakitnoye did not leave me particularly pleasant memories. Ever since I've lost my taste for hunting, I've only seen it as a disgusting sight. Once I gave away all my weapons and refused to go with my parents to Rakitnoye ... "
But still, Felix Yusupov still had to visit his estate in Rakitnoe. After the assassination of Grigory Rasputin, initiated by the prince, he was exiled here ...
Tsar Nicholas II punishes the organizers and perpetrators of the murder: Purishkevich goes to the front, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich goes to Persia, and Prince Felix Yusupov is assigned the place of exile in the Kursk province - Rakitnoye.
From the book of F.F. Yusupov "Before the exile 1887-1917":
“... The journey was slow and without entertainment, but upon arrival I was glad to see my parents and Irina, who, warned by my father-in-law, immediately left the Crimea to me in Rakitnoe, leaving our little daughter with a nurse in Ai-Todor.
My arrival in Rakitnoye did not go unnoticed, but the curious came across orders not to let anyone in.
Our life in Rakitny flowed rather monotonously. Sleigh rides were the main entertainment. The winter was cold but wonderful. The sun was shining, and not the slightest breath of wind; we went out in an open sleigh at 30 degrees below zero and did not freeze. In the evening - read aloud ... "
The last years of Yusupov's life were spent in Paris. At 60, he looked dashing, dressed just as elegantly, just as in his youth / before and after marriage /, lightly painted his lips and cheeks, liked to take relaxed poses, while a long-learned ambiguous smile reigned on his face. All the decades separating him from the night of December 18, 1916, when he committed his most significant act, Felix Yusupov lived as the killer of Rasputin and no longer embarked on any political adventures. In Paris, London, New York, people whispered at his appearance, looked at him with exciting curiosity, and he took such signs of attention as his due.
By killing Rasputin, Yusupov probably dreamed of becoming the idol of all of Russia.
The first years of emigration, the Yusupovs did not live in poverty. Some part of the state ended up with them abroad. But the habit of luxury soon undermined this base.
In the Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve de Bois near Paris, under a Russian Orthodox cross, the following are buried: Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, her son Felix Felixovich Yusupov and daughter-in-law Princess Irina Alexandrovna, nee Grand Duchess Romanova (Note from the site keeper: Irina Alexandrovna did not bear the title of Grand Duchess, but , being the great-granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I by her father and the granddaughter of Emperor Alexander III by her mother, she had the title of Princess of Imperial Blood), the daughter of Felix and Irina - Countess Irina Feliksovna Sheremeteva and her husband Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev.
The Count and Countess Sheremetevs had a daughter, Xenia, in 1942. In 1965, in Athens, she married the Greek Ilia Sfiri, and in 1968 they had a daughter, Tatyana, the great-granddaughter of Felix and Irina Yusupov.
After the revolution, Ksenia and her daughter Tatyana, the only ones from the Yusupov family, visited Russia, the homeland of their ancestors.
Such is the history of the kind of former owners and organizers of the Rakityan land.
According to astrologers, in the famous family of the Russian princes Yusupovs, everyone was born and died in strict accordance with the inevitable laws of the Cosmos and the Earth, which were in force at the moment when the Voice sounded, which put a curse on their family ...
Yusupov family coat of arms
deep roots
For a long time, according to some legend, it was believed that the Yusupov family originates from the famous prophet Ali, that is, from Muhammad himself. However, who thoroughly studied the roots of the surname N.B. Yusupov Jr. in 1866-1867 made significant adjustments. It turned out that its ancestor Bakr ibn Raik did not live in the time of Muhammad, but three centuries later and was the supreme commander of the Arab caliph Ar-Radi billah Abu-l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Jafar (907-940). Twelve generations of the descendants of the militant ibn Raik lived in the Middle East. They were sultans, emirs in Damascus, Egypt, Antioch, Medina, Constantinople, Mecca. But in the XIII century, the son of Sultan Termes, who ruled in Mecca, decided to move to the shores of Azov and the Caspian with a group of people devoted to him. His famous descendant Edigei (1352–1419) is considered the founder of the Crimean (Nogai) horde. Under Edigei's great-great-grandson, Khan Yusuf (1480s - 1555), the Nogai Khanate reached its peak.
Khan Yusuf in February 1555 was killed by his brother Ishmael. In order not to take on the soul the sin of killing the sons of Yusuf, Ishmael sent them to the court of Ivan the Terrible. The Russian Tsar graciously met the orphans - Il-Murza and Ibrahim-Murza, generously endowing them with lands.
The line of descendants of Ibrahim-Murza soon broke off. But Il-Murza left five sons after his death in 1611. One of them was Seyush-Murza Yusupov-Knyazhevo. He was a brave warrior, faithfully served the Russian throne both under Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov and under Alexei Mikhailovich. The estates and the title of the family were inherited by his son from his first wife Abdullah (Abdul-Murza). Just like his father, he bravely fought in military campaigns against the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate.
What have you done, you fried goose!
The baptism of this Russified descendant of Khan Yusuf took place under rather curious circumstances. Once Abdul-Murza hosted Patriarch Joachim and, out of the best of intentions, treated the Orthodox primate to a roast goose. And the dinner party was in Lent. The patriarch, not suspecting anything, tasted the quick, and praised more: you have a glorious fish, prince! Abdul-Murza remained silent in response. But there was a well-wisher who whispered to the patriarch what kind of fish the infidel Nogai had fed him. Joachim, mortally offended, complained to the king. The pious sovereign, angry, deprived Murza of almost all estates.
The descendant of Yusuf was in deep thought for a long time, and in the end he decided, having converted to Orthodoxy, to earn the forgiveness of the sovereign and return the seized lands. According to family tradition, he made this decision on the third day after the goose story, that is, on Easter itself. And that very night he had a vision, or maybe a prophetic dream. In short, he heard a voice: “From now on, your ancestors will have only one heir from all the children for betraying the faith. The rest will die before reaching the age of 26.”
In 1681, Abdul-Murza was baptized with the name Dmitry Seyushevich. And, as it was foretold, all his children did indeed die. Except for the youngest son Grigory Dmitrievich. He was five years old when his father changed his faith.
Portrait of Zinaida Yusupova with the Pelegrin family jewel.
Artist Francois Flameng. 1894
Whether the family legend is true or not, this story is reflected even in the interiors of the Yusupov palaces: the image of a goose is often present in the lush decorations of the outdoor decoration. True, the legend lives in two versions. According to the second, the clan was cursed by the Nogai sorceress after the Horde learned that the sons of Murza had converted to Christianity. It is interesting that the curse came true in almost every generation and also affected the fate of the bearers of the Yusupov surname and even illegitimate children born from representatives of the princely family.
The secret love of a beautiful great-grandmother
Zinaida Yusupova (nee Naryshkina, 1809–1893) after her marriage found out about the curse and bluntly told her husband, Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov (1794–1849), that she was not going to give birth to the dead, and therefore he was free to "satisfy his lust with yard girls." But nature cannot be deceived, and the young princess herself went into all serious trouble. All Petersburg was gossiping about her stormy novels. But they especially talked a lot about adultery with a young revolutionary-Narodnaya Volya. When her lover ended up in the casemate of the Shlisselburg fortress, Princess Zinaida did the almost impossible: using her connections at court, she made sure that the prisoner was released to her on parole.
How long this fantastic romance lasted is hard to say. Only years later, after three revolutions, looking for Yusupov's treasures, representatives of the Soviet authorities tapped all the walls, ransacked all the secluded places of the luxurious palace of Naryshkina-Yusupova on Liteiny Prospekt in Leningrad. Treasures were not found. But in a secret room connected with the princess's bedroom, the skeleton of a man wrapped in a shroud suddenly fell on the Chekists.
There were rumors among St. Petersburg old-timers that Yusupova managed to rescue her lover from captivity (perhaps she simply ransomed him). But the beautiful young man suffered from consumption and did not last long ...
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Jr. (1887–1967), in his memoirs, recalled that, after the death of his great-grandmother, he was sorting out old papers in her bedroom, he experienced inexplicable horror and immediately called the lackey, hoping that an evil force - a ghost or spirit - would not appear to the two of them . What was it? The energy of unburied and unburned ashes, forever hidden in a secret room?..
By the way, according to the Yusupov family traditions, the shadows of their deceased ancestors should have been invisibly present in their family nests. It is no coincidence that one of the bearers of an ancient surname, going to a ball or to a reception, left her caskets and caskets unlocked. She explained it this way: "Let our family spirits admire our family jewels."
Alexander Pronin
Continue reading in the February issue (No. 02, 2014) of the magazine "Miracles and Adventures"
Princes Yusupovs
Vladimir Polushko
In terms of nobility, they were not inferior to the Romanovs, and in terms of wealth they significantly exceeded them. The beginning of the Yusupov family was laid in 1563, when two sons of the sovereign prince of the Nogai Horde, Il-Murza and Ibrahim-Murza, arrived in Moscow.
Tsar Ivan IV received them favorably and endowed them with rich estates “according to the nobility of the family”. The line of descendants of Ibrahim-Murza ended early. The younger brother Il-Murza died in 1611, having bequeathed to his five sons to faithfully serve Russia. His grandson and heir Abdullah converted to Orthodoxy in 1631 and was named Dmitry Yusupov. Instead of the Tatar name "Murza", he received the title of prince and royal letters for hereditary possession of new estates. The first prince Yusupov was granted the stewardship, was appointed to the voivodship and embassy posts. He significantly increased his family wealth by marrying the wealthy widow Katerina Yakovlevna Sumarokova, the daughter of the courtier Khomutov, who was close to the royal court.
Their son Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676 - 1730) became the heir to most of these riches. He was a friend of the youthful games of Peter I, and in adulthood he became one of the closest associates of the reformer tsar. Prince Grigory participated in the implementation of all, as we would now say, “projects” of Peter I and, of course, hurried with him to the Neva banks to cut through a “window to Europe”. So the history of the St. Petersburg branch of the Yusupov family began simultaneously with the history of our city. Prince Grigory was the organizer of the Russian galley fleet, a member of the State Military Collegium. During the burial of Peter the Great, only the three state dignitaries closest to him followed immediately behind the coffin. These were A. D. Menshikov, F. M. Apraksin and G. D. Yusupov.
The "chick of Petrov's nest" can also be considered the heir of Grigory Yusupov, his son Boris Grigoryevich (1695 - 1759). Among a group of young noble offspring, he was sent by Peter to study in France, successfully graduated from the Toulon School of Midshipmen. During the reign of "Peter's daughter" Elizabeth, he held a number of high government posts: he was the director of the Ladoga Canal, the president of the Commerce Collegium.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750 - 1831) achieved even more notable successes in the public service. He was a member of the State Council, a diplomat of the highest rank, communicated with kings and emperors, met with Voltaire, Diderot, Beaumarchais. As the supreme marshal of the coronation, he led the wedding ceremony for the kingdom of three Russian emperors: Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. On behalf of Catherine II, Nikolai Borisovich collected art works from the best masters for the imperial collection throughout Europe. At the same time, he began to collect his own collection, which eventually became one of the best private collections of works of art not only in Russia, but throughout Europe. According to contemporaries, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was one of the most truly noble and cultured people of his time, without the slightest hint of stupid swagger. It was to him that A. S. Pushkin dedicated the poem “To the nobleman”.
The grandson of the "enlightened nobleman", named after the legendary grandfather Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827 - 1891), at the age of 28 was the head of the coronation ceremony of Alexander II. But in addition to honorary duties and high titles, he inherited from his grandfather a creative nature, fine artistic taste, a passion for collecting and patronage. Nikolai Borisovich himself was no stranger to communicating with the muses. He was fond of music, studied composition. His sonatas, nocturnes and romances were performed not only in St. Petersburg halls, but also in music salons in other European cities. He also paid tribute to literary creativity: he wrote both novels and religious and philosophical treatises. The books of N. B. Yusupov are stored in the former Imperial Public Library, of which he was vice director for four years.
N. B. Yusupov Jr. became the last representative of the ancient family in the direct male line - he died without leaving male heirs. A few years before his death, he received the highest permission to transfer the surname, title and coat of arms to the husband of his eldest daughter Zinaida - Count F.F. Sumarokov-Elston, and then to their descendants. To the honor of the Yusupovs, it should be noted that back in 1900 (that is, long before the coming catastrophic upheavals), a will was drawn up, according to which, in the event of the suppression of the family, all artistic values become the property of the state and remain in Russia.
Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova (1861 - 1939) completes the series of spiritually beautiful women who have adorned the Yusupov family for centuries. We can judge their beauty from old portraits created by the best artists. The portrait of Zinaida Nikolaevna was painted by the great Valentin Serov, who managed to convey to us his admiration for the spiritual and physical beauty of this woman. Next to this portrait in the Russian Museum hangs a portrait of her son Felix, created in the same 1903.
Prince Felix Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (1887 - 1967) became the most famous of the Yusupov family, although he did not perform any feats of arms and did not distinguish himself in public service. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he was the idol of the golden youth of St. Petersburg, had the nickname Russian Dorian Gray and remained an admirer of Oscar Wilde for life. In 1914, Felix married Grand Duchess Irina (Note of the site keeper: Irina Alexandrovna wore the tutul of the Princess of Imperial Blood), the niece of the Tsar. The Yusupovs became related to the Romanovs three years before the collapse of the dynasty. In December 1916, Felix became the organizer of the monarchist conspiracy, as a result of which Grigory Rasputin was killed in the family mansion on the Moika. The conspirators were sure that they were acting to save the Russian Empire. In fact, the assassination of Rasputin only hastened the inevitable collapse of the three-hundred-year-old dynasty and the subsequent revolutionary upheavals.
In exile, the Yusupovs for the first time in the entire centuries-old history of the family learned what it means to earn a living. Felix worked as an artist, wrote and published memoirs. His wife opened a tailoring workshop and a fashion salon. During the Great Patriotic War, Felix Yusupov showed real courage and patriotism, decisively rejecting all offers of cooperation from the Nazis.
The Yusupovs left Russia in 1919 aboard the English dreadnought Marlboro, which was sent for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna by her august nephew, King George V. The exile dragged on for many decades. Only the granddaughter of Felix Feliksovich Ksenia, who was born in France in 1942, waited for the return. In 1991, for the first time, she crossed the threshold of the family mansion on the Moika, where the Leningrad Teacher's House was located.
On January 7, 1994, on the platform of the main staircase of the Yusupov Palace, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sfiri met the guests of the Christmas ball, which opened the "Petersburg Seasons". The author of these lines was among those invited. And I remember very well that, despite the proletarian skeptical attitude towards the noble-monarchist traditions (brought up by many years of experience in Soviet journalism), I experienced something similar to sacred awe. It was one of those rare moments when you visibly feel the cyclical nature of history and the fact that it moves, if not in a circle, then in a spiral for sure.
