Yusupov who is by nationality. Biography. Fight against Tokhtamysh
History From the military commander, who was in the service of Tamerlane, and the sovereign Nogai prince (died at the beginning of the 15th century) Edigei Mangit, Musa-Murza was born in the third generation, whose son Yusuf-Murza (died in 1556) was the ancestor of the Yusupov family. He had two sons, Il-murza and Ibragim (Abrey), whom he sent to Moscow in 1565, and a daughter, the great Tatar queen Soembike; the murderer of their father, uncle Ishmael. Some of their descendants in the last years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich received St. baptism and were written by the princes Yusupov or Yusupovo-Knyazhevo until the end of the 18th century, and after that they began to be written simply by the princes Yusupov. The homeland of the Yusupovs is the city of Saraichik, now a village in the Atyrau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Two branches of the Yusupov princes descended from Il-Murza: the eldest, along the line of Suyush-Murza, which died out in the 18th century. with the death of his descendant in the fifth generation, Prince Semyon Ivanovich, and the second in the line of Chin-Murza (later the senior branch), direct descendants on the paternal side in the 19th generation remained faithful to Muslim traditions and still live in Tatarstan; from Ibrahim - one junior branch of the Yusupov princes. Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730), great-grandson of Il-Murza began to serve as a steward under Peter the Great; participated with him in the Azov campaigns; in the Northern War - fought with the Swedes near Narva, Poltava and Vyborg; under Catherine I, he was a senator, under Peter II - general-in-chief (1730), the first member of the state Military College and headed it from 1727 to 1730. Prince Nikolai Yusupov His son Boris Grigoryevich (1696-1759) in the reign of Anna Ioannovna and under John Antonovich was the Moscow governor, under Elizaveta Petrovna - a senator, president of the commerce college and chief director of the cadet corps. The son of Boris Grigorievich Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) from 1783 to 1789 was an envoy in Turin, then a senator; Emperor Paul I made him Minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-16), and Alexander I - a member of the State Council (since 1823). Director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-96), directed the Hermitage (1797). Owner and builder of the Arkhangelskoye estate, philanthropist. Had an art gallery and a library. His son, Boris Nikolaevich, a chamberlain, left the only heir. After the death of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827-1890), due to the suppression of male offspring in the Yusupov family, another imperial decree in 1891 transferred the Yusupov title to the counts Sumarokov-Elston. In 1882, having married Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, the son of Felix Nikolaevich Sumarkov-Elston, Felix Feliksovich (1856-1928), lieutenant general (1915), in 1915 the chief head of the Moscow Military District, since 1919 in exile. .. ... The highest is allowed to be called Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston to his son-in-law, guard lieutenant Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, so that the princely title and surname Yu will pass only to the eldest in the family from his descendants. The genus of princes Yu was recorded in the V part of the genealogical book of the provinces of Oryol, Kursk and St. Petersburg. The coat of arms is included in the III part of the General Armorial. With this decree, issued in 1891, he inherited the princely title of his wife and became known as: "Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarkov-Elston." Accordingly, their children also received the right to this double title. Felix Felixovich (1887-1957) (younger), son of Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and son of the first Yusupov-Sumarkov-Elston - Felix Felixovich, in jest with obvious overtones, he was called "Felix III", in 1914 he married the niece of Emperor Nicholas II Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna, further strengthening her blood relationship with the Romanov family. This F.F. Yusupov entered the history of Russia most of all because he was the organizer and active participant in the murder of G.E. Rasputin. From 1917 in exile. [edit] Notable representatives
The history of the Yusupov family
According to documents, the biography of the princely family is rooted in the Baghdad Caliphate of the 10th century, where the ancestors of the Yusupovs were emirs, sultans, supreme dignitaries and military leaders. In the XII century, the descendants of one of the powerful branches of this family moved to the shores of the Azov and Caspian Seas. Two centuries later, their descendant, the brave commander of Timur Edigei, founded the Nogai Horde. In the middle of the 16th century, under his great-great-grandson Khan Yusuf, the Nogai Horde reached its peak. Two sons of Yusuf appeared in Moscow in 1563 at the court of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In 1681, the great-grandson of Khan Yusuf received Orthodox baptism with the name Dmitry.
During the Streltsy rebellion of 1682, Prince Dmitry Yusupov led a military detachment of Tatars to the Trinity Lavra to protect the infant tsars John and Peter Alekseevich, for which he was granted lands in the Romanovsky district (now Yaroslavl region) into hereditary possession.
His son Gregory became an associate of Peter the Great and a brave warrior who participated in all Peter's battles. For military prowess and special merits, Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov received huge land holdings in the fertile provinces of Russia. The service to the imperial throne was continued by his son Boris Grigoryevich and grandson Nikolai Borisovich - the eldest.
() was sent by Peter I to France to study. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, he was appointed Moscow Governor-General, then Chief Director of the Ladoga Canal. Under Elizaveta Petrovna, he received the rank of real privy councilor and the post of president of the commerce college, for 9 years he headed the first land gentry cadet corps in Russia.
His son - Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov () - became one of the most prominent characters in the history of the Russian Empire in the period from Catherine the Great to Nicholas I.
He spent a decade and a half in Europe, traveling for educational purposes. At Leiden University, Prince Yusupov is taking a course in law, philosophy and history. In The Hague he meets Diderot, in London he meets Beaumarchais. In Paris, the 25-year-old Russian aristocrat is presented to the Court of Louis XVI and visits Voltaire himself.
In the Russian public service, he is the director of the Imperial Hermitage, the director of the Imperial Theatres, the glass and porcelain factories, the tapestry manufactory, since 1823 Prince Yusupov was a member of the State Council. An unprecedented fact in the history of the Russian Empire is associated with his name: as the supreme marshal of the coronation, Yusupov three times for 29 years led the coronation ceremony of three monarchs - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. In 1830 he was granted by Emperor Nicholas I the rarest distinction - epaulette studded with pearls and diamonds.
The prince's wife was Tatyana Vasilievna, nee Engelhardt. She remained in the memory of her contemporaries as an intelligent and hospitable hostess of an exquisite salon. Her chosen circle of friends included Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Krylov, Pushkin.
The representative of the next generation, Prince Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov () purchased a house on the embankment of the Moika River in 1830. During the seven years of perestroika, the mansion turned into a vast luxurious palace. transports to the new St. Petersburg house an invaluable art collection of paintings, marble, porcelain, collected by his father, the eldest.
The wife of Boris Nikolaevich, Princess Zinaida Ivanovna (), nee Naryshkina, who was called a "star of the first magnitude" by her contemporaries, became the wonderful mistress of the palace on the Moika. Among her enthusiastic admirers were crowned persons - the Russian Emperor Nicholas I and the French Emperor Napoleon III.
The son of Zinaida Ivanovna, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (), referred to in the genealogy as "the youngest" (in contrast to the legendary grandfather), became the full owner of the palace in the mid-1850s.
Having been educated at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, Yusupov Jr. began his career in the office of Emperor Nicholas I, to whom he was a godson. This was followed by a long stay in Europe, where he carried out the diplomatic missions of the Sovereign. Upon returning to Yusupov, the younger married Countess Tatiana Ribopierre. The Yusupovs had beautiful daughters Zinaida and Tatyana.
Nikolai Borisovich made a brilliant court and civil career. He devoted his free time to music and composition, having an outstanding talent in this area of art. He was an honorary member of the Paris Conservatory, the Roman Academy of Music, the Munich Art Society, sent a lot of money to charity and patronage, especially after the death of his wife and youngest daughter Tatyana.
The daughter of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr. Zinaida () with her rare beauty and high spiritual qualities stood out from the galaxy of famous beauties of the noble class.
Zinaida Nikolaevna was extremely generously gifted both by nature and fate. Representatives of the noblest families of Europe wooed the heiress of the fantastic wealth of their ancestors. The chosen one was Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, in whose veins, according to family legend, the blood of Field Marshal Kutuzov and the Prussian King Frederick William IV flowed. Having married in 1882 Princess Zinaida Yusupova, who after the death of her father became the only representative of the family, he received permission from the Emperor for himself and his wife to be called Princes Yusupov Counts Sumarokov-Elston.
By the beginning of the 20th century, while remaining the largest landowners in Russia, the Yusupovs became successful industrialists. They own brick, sawmills, textile and cardboard factories, mines. Among the wealth of the family, art collections of unprecedented value and palaces of unprecedented beauty stood out - Moscow in Kharitonevsky lane, near Moscow in Arkhangelsk, Korean in the Crimea and St. Petersburg on the Moika. Understanding the historical and artistic value of their treasures, the Prince and Princess Yusupovs in 1900 made a will in which they wrote: “in the event of a sudden cessation of our kind, all our movable and immovable property, consisting in collections of fine arts, rarities and jewelry .. ... bequeathed to the property of the state ... ". Fortunately, the oldest family did not die out, although the family suffered a sad loss. At the age of 25, Nikolai, the eldest son of the Yusupovs, died in a duel.
The fate of the youngest son Felix (), his actions, shocking the generally accepted secular rules, his reputation as a frivolous rake, Zinaida Nikolaevna was very worried. The desire of the son to settle down and marry was received by the parents with great joy. The princess of imperial blood, Irina Alexandrovna, was a brilliant match for a descendant of the ancient and noble family of the Yusupovs. The parents of the newlywed - the grandson of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and the daughter of Alexander III, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, contributed to the conclusion of this marriage. On March 21, 1915, Irina Feliksovna Yusupova was born in an old St. Petersburg house on the Moika. The godparents of the girl were Emperor Nicholas II and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The newborn princess became the last offspring of the Yusupov family, who was born on Russian soil.
After the murder of the royal favorite, Gregory was sent into exile to his estate Rakitnoye in the Kursk province (now Belgorod). At the end of March 1917, the family returned to Petrograd and, soon, both the Yusupovs, the eldest and the young, left the anxious capital to find refuge in their Crimean estates.
In the spring of 1919, the Red troops approached the Crimea. On April 13, 1919, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna and her relatives, among whom were the Yusupovs - Irina, Felix, their four-year-old daughter, Zinaida Nikolaevna, Felix Feliksovich - Sr., left their homeland. Long years of exile began, as Felix Yusupov would later write, "the vicissitudes and torments of our life in a foreign land."
Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich - the elder settled in Rome. Irina and Felix Yusupov first settled in London, two years later they moved to Paris, buying a small house in the Boulogne-sur-Seine area. The acquisition turned out to be part of the once vast possession of the magnificent Zinaida Ivanovna Princess Yusupova, Felix's great-grandmother.
In 1928, Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, Sr., died. He was buried in Rome. Zinaida Nikolaevna moved to her son in Paris. In 1938, the daughter of Felix and Irina married Count Nikolai Sheremetev. The young settled in Rome, where Nikolai's parents lived. There, in 1942, their daughter Xenia was born.
In 1941, the Yusupovs bought a modest house on Rue Pierre Guerin in central Paris. Here they arranged for themselves a small cozy dwelling, which is still owned by their granddaughter Ksenia.
In the early 1950s Felix Yusupov took up writing memoirs. His first book, The End of Rasputin, was published as early as 1927. Now he has written two volumes, Before the Exile. and "In Exile". Neither Zinaida Nikolaevna, nor Felix Feliksovich and Irina Alexandrovna, nor their daughter Irina survived until the end of the exile. All of them found rest in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
Granddaughter Ksenia first visited the homeland of her ancestors in 1991. In 2000, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sheremeteva, in the marriage of Sfiri, in response to her request, Russian citizenship was granted. In 2005, Felix's great-granddaughter Tatiana also visited the palace.
The Yusupov family is very ancient. Its history goes back to the Muslim Middle Ages, to the Baghdad Caliphate of the 10th century. This is evidenced not only by family traditions, but also by the ancient family document “The family tree of the Yusupov princes from Abubekir”. The chronicle is dated 1602 and is kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts in Moscow. The text is illegible, with losses. Perhaps that is why many historians called the legendary Abu Bakr (Abubekir) (572-634), the friend and father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, who was elected the first caliph of the Islamic state after his death, as the ancestor of the Yusupovs.
However, in 1866-67. prince N.B. Yusupov Jr. amended this version. AT
In his historical work “On the family of the Yusupov princes”, he wrote that his ancestor was the father-in-law of the same name Mohammed three centuries later, Abubekir ben Raiok, who also ruled over all Muslims. Caliph ar-Radi bi-l-lah (934-940) granted his supreme commander all power in the spiritual and secular sense, as well as the right to dispose of the treasury. The governor of Babylonia and the ancestor of the Yusupovs were treacherously killed while sleeping in 942.
family tree of the genus Yusupov
Twelve generations of Abu Bakr's descendants lived in the Middle East. They were sultans, emirs, caliphs throughout the space from Egypt to India.
One of them, the third son of Sultan Babatyukles, who ruled in Mecca, is Termes, in the 12th century. went with people devoted to him to the north and settled between the Don and the Volga, and then between the Volga and the Urals.
His offspring is legendary Edigey (1340s-1419), ally of Tamerlane and murderer of Tokhtamysh, founded at the beginning of the 15th century. Nogai Horde. The great-great-grandson of Edigei, Khan Yusuf (1480s-1555) lived for 20 years and corresponded with Ivan the Terrible. Under him, the Nogai Horde reached the peak of its power, the "Tsar of All Rus'" recognized its sovereignty and regularly bought hardy steppe horses from the Nogais - the main wealth of the nomads. However, having conquered Kazan, Ivan the Terrible captured the queen of the Kazan kingdom Syuyumbeka, the daughter of Khan Yusuf. Angry, the ruler of the Nogai Horde wanted to terminate the peace treaty with Russia. Yusuf's brother, Ishmael, prevented this. He killed the Khan, and Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov-Knyazhevo (? -1694) (Abdul-Murza), the great-grandson of the Nogai Khan Yusuf, who converted to Orthodoxy in 1681, sent his two sons, Il-Murza and Ibragim-Murza, to Moscow as a guarantee peace.
John IV granted the descendants of Yusuf many villages and villages in the Romanov district (now the Tutaevsky district of the Yaroslavl region). Thus began the service of the Yusupovs in Russia.
The grandson of Il-Murza Abdul-Murza fought for his new homeland with the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. Under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, he during
During the Great Lent, out of ignorance, he fed Patriarch Joachim, who had come to visit, with a goose. The patriarch praised the "fish", after which Abdul-Murza boasted of his cook, who can cook a goose "for fish". Joachim and the king, when they found out about what had happened, were terribly angry. Abdul-Murza thought hard for three days and decided to accept Orthodoxy. During the ceremony, he received the name Dmitry and the title "Prince" instead of the Tatar "Murza", was forgiven and saved from ruin.
On the same night, according to family tradition, the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream and cursed the Yusupov family for apostasy. According to the curse, from now on, in each generation, only one man had to live to the age of 26 years. And so it happened.
During the Streltsy rebellion of 1682, Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov led a detachment of warriors and Tatars to the Trinity Lavra to protect the infant tsars John and Peter Alekseevich, for which he was granted estates in the Romanovsky district in hereditary possession.
His son - Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730) - one of the closest associates of Peter I. A brave warrior, he fought for his emperor in many battles:
Azov campaigns, the siege of Narva, the capture of the Nienschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva, the battle near the village of Lesnoy. Grigory Dmitrievich also participated in civil cases: he led the creation of a rowing flotilla in Nizhny Novgorod, controlled the supply and financial support of the Russian army, and conducted an investigation in the search commissions on abuses. When Peter I died, three people were the first to follow his coffin: His Serene Highness Prince A.D. Menshikov, Count F.M. Apraksin and Prince G.D. Yusupov.
Favored the prince and subsequent emperors. Catherine I awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. The grandson of Peter I - Peter II - granted Grigory Dmitrievich an old Moscow mansion in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky lane, elevated him to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment and approved him as a senator. Since 1727, Yusupov became a leading member of the Military Collegium, and shortly before his death, he was promoted to General-in-Chief by Empress Anna Ioannovna.
The largest land grants in the history of the family were made to Prince Grigory Dmitrievich. Under various rulers, he received estates in the Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Kursk, Kharkov, Voronezh and Yaroslavl provinces from the possessions of the disgraced princes Koltsov-Masalsky and Menshikov.
His son - Boris Grigorievich (1695-1759) - in 1717 among 20 Russian noblemen
sons was sent by Peter I to study in France - in the Toulon school of midshipmen. However, he did not inherit his father's warlike nature and preferred civilian service to military service. During the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, Boris Grigorievich was appointed Governor-General of Moscow (1740), and under Elizabeth Petrovna he received the status of a real privy councilor, served as chief director of the Ladoga Canal, president of the Commerce Collegium, director of Russia's first land gentry cadet corps - a privileged educational institution for noble children. In the performance of his service, Boris Grigorievich was noted for his initiative to connect the Ladoga Canal with the Volga and Oka, introduced improvements in the methods of production of Russian cloth in state-owned factories, and also contributed to the theatrical activities of students of the cadet corps. Among the latter then was A.P. Sumarokov, an outstanding playwright in the future. The stage experiences of noble children delighted Elizaveta Petrovna so much that in 1756 she issued a decree on the establishment of the first Russian public theater.
The son of Boris Grigorievich, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751-1831), was especially famous for his disposition to art, a brilliant nobleman of the “Golden Age
Catherine" and one of her many favorites, and perhaps for some time a lover. In any case, a picture hung in his office, in which he and Catherine II were depicted naked in the form of Apollo and Venus.
"The messenger of a young crowned wife," in Pushkin's words, was friends with Voltaire, Diderot and Beaumarchais. Beaumarchais dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. In Europe, Yusupov was received by all monarchs: Joseph II in Vienna, Frederick the Great in Berlin, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. The prince amassed a brilliant collection of Western European paintings and sculpture contemporary to him, comparable, according to the art critic and artist Alexander Benois, with similar departments of the Louvre and the Hermitage. He was in correspondence and friendship with the greatest masters of the French and Italian schools: J.-B. Grezom, J.-L. David, J. Vernet, G. Robert. The Russian aristocrat quickly earned a reputation as a "connoisseur of the arts." Catherine II took advantage of the prince's connections and entrusted him with the purchase of paintings for the recently created Hermitage, as well as the study of porcelain in Europe. Yusupov acquired the best works of art for Russia and at the same time for himself. For example, in Italy, he convinced Pope Pius VI to give permission for the complete copying of the famous loggias of Raphael. Later, he moved copies to St. Petersburg.
Returning to Russia, the prince occupies a number of responsible government posts. At various times, he served as director of the Hermitage, imperial theaters, glass and porcelain factories, tapestry manufactory, president of the Manufactory Collegium, minister of appanages, head of the Expedition of the Kremlin buildings and the Armory. Since 1823 N.B. Yusupov is a member of the State Council. The only one in history, he was the supreme marshal at the coronation of three Russian emperors - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. When this nobleman received all conceivable posts and awards, a precious pearl epaulette was established especially for him.
Having married a relative of the Most Serene Prince Grigory Potemkin, the prince leaves her and the children in St. Petersburg, and he himself moves to Moscow. Not the last role in the trip
played the famous womanly dignitary. This feature was noted by many contemporaries. In his estate hung 300 portraits of women, whose favor he enjoyed. All of Moscow was full of stories about the love affairs of the elderly prince. In addition to cohabitation with many of his serf actresses, Yusupov had another house opposite the palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky, surrounded by a high stone wall, where a seraglio with 15-20 of his most pretty courtyard girls was located. In addition, the prince openly supported the famous dancer Voronina-Ivanova, to whom he presented rare diamonds as a benefit performance.
Having moved to Moscow, Yusupov buys the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow from Prince Golitsyn and completes the creation of the “Russian Versailles” begun by the former owner. He transports here his huge collection of works of art, lays out a park, builds new buildings. The life of Nikolai Borisovich in his old age was a typical example of the life of a brilliant nobleman of Catherine's times. “Surrounded by marble, painted and living beauty,” according to Herzen, “the old skeptic and epicurean Yusupov ... magnificently went out for 80 years ...” A fish with golden earrings at the gills swam in the fountains of Arkhangelsk, and a hand-held eagle flew up to the spire after a certain period of time . It was rumored that Prince Yusupov, while in Paris, took the elixir of eternal youth, because he did not seem to age. At the age of 80, Nikolai Borisovich had an 18-year-old mistress from a serf theater troupe. The sybarite nobleman went into debt to maintain his pleasures and died quite suddenly from a cholera epidemic. Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, having visited Arkhangelsk, left the following characterization of Yusupov: “On the street, his eternal holiday, in the house, the eternal triumph of celebrations ... Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating.”
His son - Boris Nikolaevich (1794-1849) - is the complete opposite of his father.
He was distinguished by remarkable practical acumen, and showed indifference to the arts. The new owner of Arkhangelsk disbanded the theater troupe, rented out the porcelain factory and buildings, and moved the collection of paintings to St. Petersburg to the newly acquired mansion at 94 Moika Street. Herzen complained that the estate near Moscow was turning from "a beautiful flower into a garden plant." True, a garden plant, for all its non-aesthetics, brings practical benefits, unlike a beautiful flower. The “art connoisseur” Nikolai Borisovich left to his descendants not only “483 paintings and 21 marble statues”, but also almost two and a half million different debts, and the richest of the Yusupov estates were unprofitable by the time of his death. Having entered into inheritance rights, Boris Nikolayevich became the owner of about 250 thousand acres of land and over 40 thousand peasants. A straightforward, sincere, patriotic, religious, active and very practical man, he gave his yard boys to study crafts, not literacy, took care of their religious education, and considered learning dances and music superfluous. Under him, the profitability of Yusupov estates increased sharply.
The wife of Boris Nikolaevich, nee Naryshkina, was a very beautiful lady. 15 years younger than her husband, she led a secular salon life, and after his death she left
married a young French nobleman, accepted a new citizenship and settled in her own mansion in the middle of the royal park in Boulogne.
The son of Prince Boris, Nikolai, named after the legendary grandfather, is the last representative of the Yusupov family in the male line. Having been educated at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, he made a good court career - he was promoted to actual state councilors and granted to the chamberlains of the highest court. The prince devoted all his free time to his various hobbies. The artistically gifted and subtle nature of Nikolai Borisovich Jr. combined a passion for collecting, music, history and philosophy. The prince was a member of the Paris Conservatory, the Roman Academy of Music, and the Munich Art Society. In 1866-67. he published a two-volume historical work "On the family of the Yusupov princes." N.B. died. Yusupov Jr. in 1891 abroad, where he spent a considerable part of his life, carrying out diplomatic missions of the court.
The health of the last Yusupov, like the health of his wife, Tatyana Alexandrovna, nee Ribopierre, was rather fragile, in addition, the spouses were cousins to each other. They had two beautiful daughters. The youngest, Tatyana, died of typhus at the age of 22. In the light, it was rumored that from that time on, the Yusupov family curse extended to the female half.
Seven years before his death, N.B. Yusupov Jr. petitioned the highest name for permission to transfer his name, title and coat of arms to his son-in-law - the husband of his eldest daughter. The chosen one of Zinaida Nikolaevna (1861-1939) was Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, a cornet of the Cavalry Guards Regiment and, according to rumor, a descendant of M.I. Kutuzov and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The count, a tall, stately brunette with an energetic gait, belonged to the highest military aristocracy: from 1911 he was the general of His Majesty's retinue, in 1914 he was appointed chief of the Moscow military district and governor-general of Moscow. Zinaida Nikolaevna chose him solely at the call of her heart, because at one time representatives of the most noble families of Europe, not excluding the reigning families, for example, two French infantes or the Bulgarian Crown Prince Batenberg, wooed her. At the end of the XIX century. The Yusupovs owned fabulous wealth and one of the largest landed estates in the country. In terms of capital, they occupied one of the first places in the empire; in 1900, the value of their real estate was 21.3 million rubles.
The more significant is the step taken by the Yusupovs in 1900. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich bequeathed all the artistic values of the family in the event of its sudden termination in favor of the state. These are extensive collections of art and jewelry, palaces in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Arkhangelsk, as well as a number of estates in Central Russia.
A large role in making this decision belonged to Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna.
A beauty, a subtle spiritualized woman, she possessed exceptional spiritual qualities, which was recognized by many contemporaries. During her reign, all the Yusupov estates were restored. Arkhangelskoe came back to life again, grand dukes began to visit there, and, as in the old days, famous artists and cultural figures used to visit here. The Moscow Palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky underwent artistic restoration and came to life after a long break. In 1912, at the expense of the family, the Roman Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts named after Emperor Alexander III in Moscow (now the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) was created. The artist Valentin Alexandrovich Serov, who painted only people he liked, created portraits of the Yusupovs and their two sons. He repeatedly visited Arkhangelsk and left the following opinion about Zinaida Nikolaevna: "a glorious princess ... there is something subtle, good in her ... she generally understands."
The fate of her children was dramatic and even tragic. The eldest son - Nikolai -
versatile gifted young man, as if once again confirming the family
the legend of the curse , was killed in a duel over a woman aged 25. During a duel with Count Meineifel, Nikolai deliberately fired twice into the air. As a sign of this tragic event, the Yusupovs order the architect Klein, the author of the Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka, a tomb church in Arkhangelskoye. The building has 26 pairs of columns - the fatal number of the genus.
The fate of the youngest son - Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston Jr. (1887-1967) - is full of ups and downs. A handsome man and a master of outrageousness, a reveler and a frivolous rake, he was one of the main scandalous heroes of the secular bohemia of the pre-war years. In 1914, Felix married the fragile princess of imperial blood "with a cameo profile" Irina Alexandrovna. For the young, a mansion in St. Petersburg was being completed, and soon a girl was born to them - Princess Irina Feliksovna. Further events are more like an action-packed detective story.
In November 1916, Felix Yusupov organizes the assassination of the royal favorite Grigory
Rasputin. In addition to him, the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, the famous politician V. Purishkevich, the front-line lieutenant A. Sukhotin and the military doctor S. Lazovert are participating in the conspiracy. Yusupov, under some pretext, brings the "old man" to the mansion on the Moika, after which he feeds him cakes with potassium cyanide. The murder turned out to be very bloody and difficult, as if marking the near future of the country. Rasputin does not die for a long time - he is repeatedly shot, beaten, and eventually thrown into the icy river. The Empress is furious - she demands the execution of Felix. But Nicholas II exiles him to the Rakitnoye estate in the Kursk province, where the mother and wife of the young prince immediately arrive. Here they learned about the February Revolution and the abdication of the sovereign.
Until the spring of 1919, the whole family lived in the Crimean estate of the Romanovs, Ai-Todor. Earlier on the peninsula, the Yusupovs owned a palace in Koreiz near Yalta, as well as an estate in Kokkozy. Now the Bolsheviks are in charge there - the time of the "Red Terror" has come. The situation is very unstable and resembles anarchy. Felix visits Petrograd and Moscow several times to hide part of the wealth. Together with the butler Grigory Buzhinsky, he makes several hiding places in the palaces on the Moika and Bolshoi Kharitonevsky. The Yusupovs hope to return. After the Bolsheviks tortured Buzhinsky, and all the treasures were found and expropriated. And in 1919, returning to the Crimea, Felix took out two of the best portraits by Rembrandt from his collection.
In April 1919, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna and her relatives, including the Yusupovs, left Russia. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich Sr. settled in Rome. Irina and Felix Yusupov settled first in London, then moved to Paris, buying a small house in Boulogne-sur-Seine.
Felix Feliksovich Sr. died in 1928. His wife moved to his son in Paris. The well-known fashion salon IRFE gathered in Felix's house, here one could meet Kuprin, Bunin, Teffi, Vertinsky and many others. The owner of the salon, a tall, slender man "with an iconic face of Byzantine writing," was known as "the man who killed Rasputin." Rich American women did everything possible to get to know him. The prince himself missed Russia and wrote memoirs that ended up in Hollywood and became the basis for the film.
Since the late 1930s Yusupov repeatedly received Nazi offers of cooperation, which he rejected. They retaliated by not returning the wealth stored in the Berlin banks. After the war, the Yusupovs finally went bankrupt.
In 1967, at the age of 80, Felix Yusupov died in Paris. A few months before his death, he adopted an 18-year-old Mexican, Victor Contreras, who later became a famous sculptor and painter.
The daughter of Felix and Irina, the younger Irina, married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev. The newlyweds settled in Rome, where in 1942 their daughter Xenia was born. It was she who, after more than 70 years of emigration, managed to set foot on Russian soil. In the spring of 1991, she stepped over the threshold of the palace on the Moika, where five generations of her ancestors lived. Three years later, Princess Xenia attended the funeral liturgy in a dilapidated family church in the village of Spasskoye near Moscow - five burials of the Yusupovs were preserved here. The same number of graves of an ancient family are located in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the vicinity of Paris.
In 2000, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sheremeteva, married to Sfiri, in response to her request, Russian citizenship was granted. In 2004, in the family of Tatyana, the only daughter of the princess, the first-born was born - the girl Marilya. The ancient line continues.
The biography of this noble family is rooted in the history of the Arab Caliphate: the origin was from the legendary Abu Bakr, father-in-law and closest associate of the Prophet Muhammad. In the era of the fall of the Caliph's power, the ancestors of the future Yusupovs ruled Damascus, Antioch, Iraq, Persia and Egypt in different years. In the history of the family, legends about the close friendship of their ancestors with the great conqueror Tamerlane remained: the temnik of the Golden Horde Edigey, having organized a coup d'état in 1400, managed to raise international prestige and increase the political influence of the disintegrating Tatar-Mongolian state. The founder of the Yusupov family is Yusuf-Murza, the bey of the Nogai Horde (great-grandson of Edigey), a consistent opponent of the expansion of the Muscovite kingdom in the middle of the 16th century. His daughter, Syuyumbike, played an important role in the tragic story of the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, becoming the ruler of the khanate after the death of her husband, the only woman who ever held such an important post. By the way, her real name was Syuyuk, and Syuyumbike, which means "beloved lady", she was nicknamed by the locals for her special kindness and responsiveness to her subjects.
The Yusupov clan traces its origins to the Khan of the Nogai Horde
The legends associated with the biography of this woman say: once Ivan the Terrible, having learned about the extraordinary beauty of Queen Syuyumbike, sent his matchmakers to Kazan, however, she refused to obey the requirements of the Russian Tsar. Then the enraged Ivan decided to take the city by force - if Syuyumbike did not agree to marry him, he threatened to destroy Kazan. After the capture of the city by Russian troops, its ruler, in order not to surrender to the invaders, threw herself from the tower, which today bears her name. According to other sources, the Kazan ruler was captured and forcibly taken away with her son to the Moscow kingdom - it is from this moment that the official genealogy of the Yusupov family begins.
Modern image of Queen Syuyumbike
The next important stage in the formation of this noble family was the transition to Orthodoxy, the circumstances of which played a tragic role in the history of the dynasty. The great-grandson of Yusuf Bey Abdul-Murza (great-grandfather of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov) received Patriarch Joachim on his estate in Romanov (now the city of Tutaev, Yaroslavl region) and, not knowing the restrictions of Orthodox posts, fed him a goose, which he mistook for fish. However, the owner's mistake was revealed, and the angry church hierarch, returning to Moscow, complained to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, and the monarch deprived Abdul-Murza of all awards. In an effort to regain his former position, he decided to be baptized, taking the name Dmitry and the surname in memory of Yusuf's ancestor - Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov. So he earned royal forgiveness, while receiving the title of prince and returning all his fortune. However, the decision of Abdul Mirza cost dearly to his entire family: one night a prophecy was sent to him that from now on, for the betrayal of his true faith, in each generation there will be no more than one male heir, and if there are more, then no one will live longer than 26 years . This terrible curse haunted the Yusupov family to the very end.
Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov
The Yusupovs have always been at the center of the most dramatic events in the history of the Russian Empire. The ill-fated Murza Abdul-Dmitry took part in the Streltsy uprising, when, together with his Tatar warriors, he guarded the duumvirate of the juvenile heirs of Alexei Mikhailovich. His son, Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov, became famous in the Petrine campaigns, having gone through all the hardships of war near Azov, Narva and Lesnaya together with the future emperor. Already after the death of Peter, Catherine I noted his merits, awarding him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, and Tsar Peter II granted Grigory Dmitrievich an old Moscow mansion in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky Lane, elevated him to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and bestowed the position of senator, with estates in the Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan provinces.
According to legend, the Yusupov curse was associated with baptism into Orthodoxy
His son, Boris Grigoryevich, rose under Anna Ivanovna to the position of a real privy councilor, becoming the director of the first privileged educational institution in Russia for noble children - the Land Gentry Corps. By the way, Boris Grigorievich was known as a great theater-goer: Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, the founder of Russian dramaturgy and patron of the first domestic public stage, began his career in the educational theater organized under his supervision.
Boris Grigorievich Yusupov
The son of Boris Grigorievich - Nikolai Borisovich - was the famous Catherine's nobleman, at one time even being in the status of the empress's favorite (for a long time in his office there was a picture depicting him and Catherine in the image of naked Apollo and Venus). This representative of the Yusupov family actively corresponded with the enlighteners Voltaire and Diderot, and the playwright Beaumarchais even dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. Thanks to his noble origin and brilliant court position, Nikolai Borisovich managed to personally meet all the main arbiters of European history at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries: Joseph II, Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Napoleon. The prince was a passionate admirer of art and managed to collect in his luxurious palace an art collection that can be compared with the masterpieces of the Louvre or the Hermitage. When this venerable nobleman received all the posts and awards possible in the Russian Empire, a special type of award was established especially for him - a precious pearl epaulette. Nikolai Borisovich also became famous for his extraordinary female hunting: in the newly built Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow (which contemporaries called "Russian Versailles") hung 300 portraits of women who could boast of acquaintance with a prominent nobleman. Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, having visited Arkhangelskoye, left the following description of the owner of a luxurious estate: “On the street his eternal holiday, in the house an eternal triumph of celebrations ... Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating.”
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov
The memory of the birth curse did not fade away: the bride of the son of Nikolai Borisovich, Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova, flatly refused to "give birth to the dead", giving her husband full carte blanche - "let the yard girls be pregnant." In 1849, her husband dies, and the 40-year-old widow turns into a real socialite, about whose novels the entire St. Petersburg society gossiped. It came to a secret wedding with the captain of the French guard Louis Chauveau, who was 20 years younger than her. Escaping from the dissatisfaction of the imperial court with such a misalliance, Yusupova goes to Switzerland, where she acquires the title of Count Chauveau and Marquis de Serres for her husband.
Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova
The last representative of the female branch of the Yusupov family - Zinaida Nikolaevna - was one of the most beautiful women of her time. The heiress of a huge fortune was in her youth a very enviable bride, whose hands were asked even by the heirs of the European ruling dynasties, but the proud girl wanted to choose a husband according to her own taste. As a result, her choice fell on Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, who immediately after his marriage received the princely title and the post of commander of the Moscow Military District. The main activity that occupied Zinaida Nikolaevna was charity: under her patronage were numerous shelters, hospitals, gymnasiums, churches throughout the country.
The last descendant of the Yusupovs died in 1967 in Paris.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Yusupova was the head of a military hospital train right on the front line, and sanatoriums and hospitals for the wounded were organized in the palaces and estates of the family. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who knew Zinaida Nikolaevna from her youth, wrote: “A woman of rare beauty and deep spiritual culture, she courageously endured the hardships of her enormous fortune, donating millions to charity and trying to alleviate human need.” The life of the last Yusupovs was seriously overshadowed by the death of their eldest son, Nikolai: he died in a duel in 1908, competing with Count Arvid Manteuffel for the hand of the fatal beauty Marina Alexandrovna Heiden. Note that Nikolai Yusupov was supposed to be 26 years old in six months ...
Portrait of Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova by Valentin Serov
In the last years before the revolution, Zinaida Nikolaevna began to actively criticize Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for her fanatical passion for Rasputin, which led to a complete break in relations with the royal family, which had already worsened due to the recent family scandal. About their last meeting in the summer of 1916 and the “cold reception”, the son of Zinaida Nikolaevna, Felix, wrote: “... the queen, silently listening to her, got up and parted with her with the words: “I hope I will never see you again.” Shortly after the beginning of the February Revolution, the Yusupovs left Petersburg and settled in the Crimea. Before the capture of Crimea by the Bolsheviks, on April 13, 1919, they left Russia (together with the family of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich) on the British battleship Marlborough and emigrated to Italy.
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 Rakitnoye. 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.
