What does the name of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov tell you? Little. Meanwhile, his memoirs are one of the most interesting documents of the era. Because the author wrote what he saw with his own eyes, described what he knew firsthand. After all, he: - Was married to the daughter of Emperor Alexander III, my own sister Nicholas II; - was not only a relative, but also a close friend of the last Russian emperor; - was the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I; - became the founder of Russian aviation - he initiated the creation of the first aviation officer school near Sevastopol. His daughter married Prince Felix Yusupov. The same one who became the murderer of Grigory Rasputin, and supposedly it was to meet with her that the murderers invited the holy elder on the day of his tragic death. Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov managed to survive the whirlwind civil war, being at the very epicenter of the atrocities of the “revolutionary sailors” - in Crimea. At the same time, both he and the Dowager Empress, the mother of Nicholas II, were protected from them... by other “revolutionary sailors.” Whom he sent to guard the Romanovs in November 1917... Lenin personally! Facts, first-hand knowledge of the situation and a wonderful narration style - that’s what the memoirs of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov are.
Memoirs of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov
With a foreword by Nikolai Starikov
Great but unknown
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov can quite rightly be classified as one of those personalities in Russian history who are familiar only to historians and people deeply immersed “in the material.” Meanwhile, it was his memoirs that belong to his pen, which, undoubtedly, should be considered the most interesting document of that time.
But before we talk about the content of the Grand Duke’s memoirs, we need to say a few words about him. Then it will become clear what high positions he held, with whom he communicated, what he knew, what he wrote about, and what he only hinted at in his memoirs.
Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov (1866–1933) was the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich. Since the Romanov family tree has grown quite extensively during the 19th century, it is necessary to give a few more guidelines. Alexander Mikhailovich was both the cousin of the future Emperor Nicholas II and his childhood friend. But his closeness to our last king does not end there. On July 25, 1894, the Grand Duke married Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, daughter of Emperor Alexander III. In this marriage, which would later break up in emigration, seven children would be born. The eldest daughter Irina Alexandrovna will marry Count Felix Yusupov. Yes, yes, the same one - the future killer of Grigory Rasputin. And Irina Yusupova herself, according to the “official” version of the murder of the holy elder, acted as bait for Rasputin. True, in absentia and without knowing about the terrible plan of her husband and... British intelligence.
The luxurious wedding of Alexander Mikhailovich and Ksenia Alexandrovna took place in the Cathedral of the Great Peterhof Palace, and a few months later the sovereign died. Alexander Mikhailovich's "childhood friend" became king. The Grand Duke maintained fairly close relations with Nicholas II, but he was still not the closest friend of the last Russian Tsar. Being a specialist in shipbuilding, the Grand Duke headed the noble cause of rearmament of the fleet (taking the post of chairman of the Special Committee for strengthening the fleet using voluntary donations) after the tragic defeats for Russia at sea during Russo-Japanese War. But he made his main contribution to Russia’s defense capability in a completely different area. Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov actually became the founder of Russian aviation; he was the initiator of the creation of an aviation officer school near Sevastopol. Therefore, during the First World War, he was in charge of the aviation unit of the active army. Further fate the Grand Duke is inseparable from the fate of the reigning house. After the February Revolution, he was exiled to Crimea; after October, he and a number of other representatives of the Romanov family were settled under the protection of a whole detachment of revolutionary sailors, sent by Lenin himself (!), on the Dulber estate. And this detachment desperately defended the Romanovs from the encroachments of local “revolutionaries”, who really wanted to kill them. As a result, all the Romanovs were handed over alive and well into the hands of the Germans who entered Crimea in 1918.
Next - the British dreadnought and emigration to Europe after the end of the First World War. There, in exile, the Grand Duke died. The grave of his daughter Irina and her husband Felix Yusupov is located near Paris - on Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
Why are the memoirs of Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov so interesting? First of all, the style: it is written very captivatingly and talentedly. And the facts are presented very openly and without ambiguity. If he writes about the Russian-Turkish war, he directly says that Russia is not fighting with the Turks, but with England, which stands behind Istanbul. The father-in-law of the author of the memoirs, Emperor Alexander III, is also beautifully depicted. It was Alexander Mikhailovich who gave the full version of the famous statement of the peacemaker tsar: “In the whole world, we have only two faithful allies,” he liked to tell his ministers: our army and navy. All the rest, at the first opportunity, will take up arms against us.”
Alexander Mikhailovich accurately describes the country, which at that moment was the main geopolitical rival of Russia: “We owe the British government that Alexander III very soon expressed all the firmness of his foreign policy. Less than a year after the young Emperor ascended the throne, a serious incident occurred on the Russian-Afghan border. Under the influence of England, which looked with fear at the growth of Russian influence in Turkestan, the Afghans occupied Russian territory adjacent to the Kushka fortress.
The commander of the military district telegraphed the Emperor, asking for instructions. “Kick them out and teach them a lesson properly” was the laconic answer from Gatchina. The Afghans shamefully fled, and were pursued several dozen miles by our Cossacks, who wanted to capture the English instructors who were with the Afghan detachment. But they managed to escape."
Much can be found in the memoirs of the Grand Duke. For example, to learn that the famous disaster in Borki, when Alexander III's train derailed, was a terrorist act and not an accident. Make sure that Nicholas II did not want a war with Japan and did not even believe that it could start. There’s a whole sea of facts, plenty of food for thought. And all this is written very brightly and vividly. Even the roots of the modern crisis in Ukraine can be found in the memoirs of Alexander Mikhailovich:
"We demand an independent Ukraine." The last slogan - a masterstroke of the hetman's strategy - needs clarification. The concept of “Ukraine” covered the colossal territory of southwestern Russia, bordered in the west by Austria, the central provinces of Great Russia in the north and the Donetsk basin in the east. The capital of Ukraine was to be Kyiv, and Odessa was to be the main port that would export wheat and sugar. Four centuries ago, Ukraine was a territory in which the Poles and the free Cossacks, who called themselves “Ukrainians,” fought fiercely among themselves. In 1649, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, at the request of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, took Little Russia under “his high hand.” As part of the Russian Empire, Ukraine prospered, and Russian monarchs made every effort to develop it Agriculture and industry. 99% of the population of “Ukraine” spoke, read and wrote in Russian, and only a small group of fanatics, receiving material support from Galicia, conducted propaganda in Ukrainian in favor of the rejection of Ukraine.”
“Apparently, the ‘allies’ are going to turn Russia into a British colony,” Trotsky wrote in one of his proclamations to the Red Army. And wasn’t he right this time? - but with this quote from the proposed memoirs, perhaps, it’s worth ending the preface.
After all, nothing has changed in the past hundred years...
Nikolay Starikov
- -On August 20, 2000, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, in the presence of the heads and representatives of all Orthodox Autocephalous Churches, the entire glorification of the Royal Family took place. The act of conciliar glorification of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian twentieth century reads: “Glorify as passion-bearers in the host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia Royal Family: Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. In the last Orthodox Russian monarch and members of his Family, we see people who sincerely sought to embody the commandments of the Gospel in their lives. In the suffering endured by the Royal Family in captivity with meekness, patience and humility, in their martyrdom in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 4 (17), 1918, the evil-conquering light of Christ’s faith was revealed, just as it shone in the life and death of millions of Orthodox Christians who suffered persecution for Christ in the twentieth century.”
Grounds for reviewing the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church(ROC) there are no, however, discussions in Russian society about whether to consider the last Emperor of the Russian Empire a saint continue to this day. Statements that the Russian Orthodox Church “made a mistake” in canonizing Nicholas II and his family are far from uncommon. The arguments of opponents of the holiness of the last Sovereign of the Russian Empire are based on typical myths, mostly created by Soviet historiography, and sometimes by outright antagonists of Orthodoxy and independent Russia as a great power.
No matter how many wonderful books and articles are published about Nicholas II and the Royal Family, which represent documented research by professional historians, no matter how many films are made documentaries and programs, many for some reason remain faithful to the negative assessment of both the personality of the Tsar and his government activities. Without heeding new scientific historical discoveries, such people stubbornly continue to attribute to Nicholas II a “weak, weak-willed character” and the inability to lead the state, blaming him for the tragedy of Bloody Sunday and the execution of workers, for the defeat in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. and the involvement of Russia in the First world war; It all ends with an accusation against the Church that it canonized the Royal Family, and a threat that it, the Russian Orthodox Church, “will regret this.”
Some accusations are frankly naive, if not ridiculous, for example: “during the reign of Nicholas II, so many people died and a war was fought” (are there periods in history when no one died? Or were wars fought only under the last Emperor? Why are there no comparisons of statistical indicators with other periods of Russian history?). Other accusations indicate the extreme ignorance of their authors, who build their conclusions on the basis of pulp literature such as books by A. Bushkov, pseudo-historical novels by E. Radzinsky, or in general some dubious Internet articles by unknown authors who consider themselves to be nugget historians. I would like to draw the attention of readers of the "Orthodox Messenger" to the need to be critical of this kind of literature, which is subscribed, if at all, by unknown people, with an incomprehensible profession, education, outlook, mental and especially spiritual health.
As for the Russian Orthodox Church, its leadership consists of people not only capable of thinking logically, but also with deep humanitarian and natural science knowledge, including professional secular diplomas in various specialties, so there is no need to rush into statements about “misconceptions” » ROC and see in the Orthodox hierarchs some kind of religious fanatics, “far from real life.”
This article presents a number of the most common myths that could be found in old textbooks of the Soviet period and which, despite their complete groundlessness, are still repeated in the mouths of some people due to their reluctance to get acquainted with new research modern science. After each myth, brief arguments for refutation are given, which it was decided, at the request of the editors, not to be burdened with numerous cumbersome references to historical documents, since the volume of the article is very limited, and the “Orthodox Messenger”, after all, does not belong to historical and scientific publications; however, an interested reader can easily find references to sources in any scientific work, especially since there are none Lately a huge amount comes out.
Myth 1
Tsar Nicholas II was a gentle and kind family man, an intellectual who received a good education, a skillful interlocutor, but an irresponsible and absolutely unsuitable person for such a high position. He was pushed around by his wife Alexandra Fedorovna, a German by nationality, and since 1907. Elder Grigory Rasputin, who exercised unlimited influence on the tsar, removing and appointing ministers and military leaders.
If you read the memoirs of Emperor Nicholas II’s contemporaries, Russians and foreigners, who, of course, were not published or translated into Russian during the years of Soviet power, then we come across a description of Nicholas II as a kind, generous man, but far from weak. For example, French President Emile Loubet (1899-1806) believed that under the apparent timidity the king had a strong soul and a courageous heart, as well as always well-thought-out plans, the implementation of which he slowly achieved. Nicholas II possessed the strength of character necessary for the difficult royal service; moreover, according to Metropolitan of Moscow (since 1943 - Patriarch) Sergius (1867-1944), through anointing on the Russian throne he was given an invisible power from above, acting to elevate his royal valor. Many circumstances and events of his life prove that the Emperor had a strong will, which made his contemporaries who knew him closely believe that “the Emperor had an iron hand, and many were only deceived by the velvet glove he wore.”
Nicholas II received a real military upbringing and education; all his life he felt like a military man, which affected his psychology and many things in his life. The Emperor, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, himself, without the influence of any “good geniuses,” made absolutely all the important decisions that contributed to victorious actions.
The opinion that the Russian army was led by Alekseev, and the Tsar was in the post of Commander-in-Chief for the sake of form, is completely unfounded, which is refuted by telegrams from Alekseev himself.
As for the relations of the Royal Family with Grigory Rasputin, then, without going into details here of the extremely ambiguous assessments of the latter’s activities, there is no reason to see in these relations signs of any dependence or spiritual charm of the Royal Family. Even the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry of the Provisional Government, which consisted of liberal lawyers who were sharply opposed to the Tsar, the dynasty and the monarchy as such, was forced to admit that G. Rasputin did not have any influence on the state life of the country.
Myth 2
Unsuccessful state and church policies of the Emperor. In defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It is the Emperor who is to blame for failing to ensure efficiency and combat effectiveness Russian army and the fleet. With his persistent reluctance to carry out the necessary economic and political reforms, as well as to conduct a dialogue with representatives of Russian citizens of all classes, the emperor “caused” the revolution of 1905-1907, which, in turn, led to severe destabilization Russian society and the state system. He also dragged Russia into the First World War, in which he was defeated.
In fact, under Nicholas II, Russia experienced an unprecedented period of material prosperity; on the eve of the First World War, its economy flourished and grew at the fastest pace in the world. For 1894-1914. The country's state budget increased by 5.5 times, gold reserves by 3.7 times, the Russian currency was one of the strongest in the world. At the same time, government revenues grew without the slightest increase in the tax burden. Overall growth Russian economy even during the difficult years of the First World War it was 21.5%. Edinburgh University professor Charles Sarolea, who visited Russia before and after the revolution, believed that the Russian monarchy was the most progressive government in Europe.
The Emperor did a lot to improve the country's defense capability, having learned the hard lessons of the Russo-Japanese War. One of his most significant acts was the revival of the Russian fleet, which occurred against the will of military officials, but saved the country at the beginning of the First World War. The most difficult and most forgotten feat of Emperor Nicholas II was that, under incredibly difficult conditions, he brought Russia to the threshold of victory in the First World War, however, his opponents did not allow it to cross this threshold. General N.A. Lokhvitsky wrote: “It took Peter the Great nine years to turn the Narva vanquished into the Poltava victors. The last Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army, Emperor Nicholas II, did the same great work in a year and a half, but his work was appreciated by his enemies, and between the Sovereign and his Army and victory “became a revolution.” The Sovereign's military talents were fully revealed at the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Russia definitely began to win the war when the triumphant year 1916 arrived Brusilovsky breakthrough, with the plan of which many military leaders did not agree, and on which it was the Emperor who insisted.
It should be noted that Nicholas II treated the duties of the monarch as his sacred duty and did everything in his power: he managed to suppress the terrible revolution of 1905 and delay the triumph of the “demons” for 12 years. Thanks to his personal efforts, a radical turning point was achieved in the course of the Russian-German confrontation. Being already a prisoner of the Bolsheviks, he refused to approve Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and thereby save your life. He lived with dignity and accepted death with dignity.
With regard to the Emperor’s church policy, it is necessary to take into account that it did not go beyond the traditional synodal system of governing the Church, and it was during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II that the church hierarchy, which had previously been officially silent for two centuries on the issue of convening a Council, received the opportunity not only to widely discuss, but and practically prepare the convening of the Local Council.
Myth 3
On the day of the Emperor’s coronation on May 18, 1896, during the distribution of gifts in a stampede on the Khodynka field, more than a thousand people died and more than a thousand were seriously injured, due to which Nicholas II received the nickname “Bloody.” On January 9, 1905, a peaceful demonstration of workers protesting against living and working conditions was shot at (96 people were killed, 330 were injured); On April 4, 1912, the Lena execution of workers protesting against the 15-hour working day took place (270 people were killed, 250 were injured). Conclusion: Nicholas II was a tyrant who destroyed the Russian people and especially hated workers.
The most important indicator of the effectiveness and morality of government and the well-being of the people is population growth. From 1897 to 1914, i.e. in just 17 years, it reached a fantastic figure of 50.5 million people. Since then, according to statistics, Russia has lost and continues to lose on average about 1 million deaths per year, plus those killed as a result of numerous government-organized actions, plus abortions, murdered children, the number of which in the 21st century has exceeded one and a half million per year. In 1913, a worker in Russia earned 20 gold rubles per month, with the cost of bread being 3-5 kopecks, 1 kg of beef - 30 kopecks, 1 kg of potatoes - 1.5 kopecks, and income tax - 1 ruble per year (the lowest in the world) , which made it possible to support a large family.
From 1894 to 1914, the public education budget increased by 628%. The number of schools increased: higher – by 180%, secondary – by 227%, girls’ gymnasiums – by 420%, public schools – by 96%. In Russia, 10,000 schools were opened annually. Russian empire was in its heyday cultural life. During the reign of Nicholas II, more newspapers and magazines were published in Russia than in the USSR in 1988.
The blame for the tragic events of Khodynka, Bloody Sunday and the Lena execution, of course, cannot be placed directly on the Emperor. The cause of the stampede on Khodynka Field was... greed. A rumor spread through the crowd that the bartenders were distributing gifts among “their own”, and therefore there were not enough gifts for everyone, as a result of which the people rushed to the temporary wooden buildings with such force that even 1,800 policemen, specially assigned to maintain order during the festivities, could not were able to hold back the onslaught.
According to recent research, the events of January 9, 1905 were a provocation organized by the Social Democrats in order to put certain political demands into the mouths of the workers and create the impression of popular protest against the existing government. On January 9, workers from the Putilov plant with icons, banners and royal portraits moved in procession to Palace Square, filled with joy and singing prayers to meet their Sovereign and bow to him. A meeting with him was promised to them by the socialist organizers, although the latter knew very well that the Tsar was not in St. Petersburg; on the evening of January 8, he left for Tsarskoe Selo.
People gathered in the square at the appointed hour and waited for the Tsar to come out to meet them. Time passed, the Emperor did not appear, and tension and unrest began to grow among the people. Suddenly, the provocateurs began shooting at the gendarmes from the attics of houses, gateways and other hiding places. The gendarmes returned fire, panic and a stampede arose among the people, as a result of which, according to various estimates, from 96 to 130 people were killed, and from 299 to 333 people were wounded. The Emperor was deeply shocked by the news of “Bloody Sunday.” He ordered the allocation of 50,000 rubles for benefits to the families of the victims, as well as the convening of a commission to determine the needs of the workers. Thus, the Tsar could not give the order to shoot civilians, as the Marxists accused him of, since he simply was not in St. Petersburg at that moment.
Historical data does not allow us to detect in the actions of the Sovereign any conscious evil will directed against the people and embodied in specific decisions and actions. History itself eloquently testifies to who really should be called “bloody” - the enemies of the Russian state and the Orthodox Tsar.
Now about the Lena execution: modern researchers associate the tragic events at the Lena mines with raiding - activities to establish control over the mines of two conflicting joint stock companies, during which representatives of the Russian management company Lenzoto provoked a strike in an attempt to prevent actual control over the mines by the board British company Lena Goldfields. The working conditions of the miners of the Lena Gold Mining Partnership were as follows: size wages was significantly higher (up to 55 rubles) than in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the working day according to the employment contract was 8-11 hours (depending on the shift schedule), although in reality it could actually last up to 16 hours, since at the end of the working day, prospecting work to find nuggets was allowed. The reason for the strike was the “meat story,” which is still ambiguously assessed by researchers, and the decision to open fire was made by the gendarmerie captain, and certainly not by Nicholas II.
Myth 4
Nicholas II easily agreed to the government's proposal to abdicate the throne, thereby violating his duty to the Fatherland and betraying Russia into the hands of the Bolsheviks. The abdication of the anointed king from the throne, moreover, should be considered as a church-canonical crime, similar to the refusal of a representative of the church hierarchy from the priesthood.
Here we should probably start with the fact that modern historians generally cast great doubt on the very fact of the Tsar’s abdication of the throne. Stored in State Archives Russian Federation The document on the abdication of Nicholas II is a typed sheet of paper, at the bottom of which is the signature “Nicholas”, written in pencil and circled, apparently through a window glass, with a pen. The style of the text is completely different from that of other documents compiled by the Emperor.
The counter-signature (assurance) inscription of the Minister of the Imperial Household, Count Fredericks, on the abdication was also made in pencil and then circled with a pen. Thus, this document raises serious doubts about its authenticity and allows many historians to conclude that the Autocrat of the All-Russian Sovereign, Emperor Nicholas II, never composed a renunciation, wrote it by hand and did not sign it.
In any case, the renunciation of the kingship itself is not a crime against the Church, since the canonical status of the Orthodox sovereign anointed to the Kingdom was not defined in the church canons. And those spiritual motives for which the last Russian Sovereign, who did not want to shed the blood of his subjects, could abdicate the Throne in the name of internal peace in Russia, give his act a truly moral character.
Myth 5
The death of Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family was not a martyrdom for Christ, but... (further options): political repression; murder committed by the Bolsheviks; ritual murder committed by Jews, Freemasons, Satanists (to choose from); Lenin's blood revenge for the death of his brother; a consequence of a global conspiracy aimed at an anti-Christian coup. Another version: the Royal Family was not shot, but secretly transported abroad; The execution room in the Ipatiev House was a deliberate staging.
Actually, according to any of the listed versions of the death of the Royal Family (with the exception of the completely incredible one about its salvation), the indisputable fact remains that the circumstances of the death of the Royal Family were physical and moral suffering and death at the hands of opponents, that it was a murder associated with incredible human torment: long, long and savage.
In the “Act on the Conciliar Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian 20th Century” it is written: “Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich often likened his life to the trials of the sufferer Job, on whose church memorial day he was born. Having accepted his cross in the same way as the biblical righteous man, he endured all the trials sent down to him firmly, meekly and without a shadow of a murmur. It is this long-suffering that is revealed with particular clarity in the last days of the Emperor’s life.” Most witnesses to the last period of the life of the Royal Martyrs speak of the prisoners of the Tobolsk Governor's House and the Yekaterinburg Ipatiev House as people who suffered and, despite all the mockery and insults, led a pious life. Their true greatness stemmed not from their royal dignity, but from the amazing moral height to which they gradually rose.
Those who wish to carefully and impartially familiarize themselves with published materials about life and political activity Nicholas II, the investigation into the murder of the Royal Family, can look at the following works in different publications:
Robert Wilton " Last days Romanovs" 1920;
Mikhail Diterikhs “The Murder of the Royal Family and Members of the House of Romanov in the Urals” 1922;
Nikolai Sokolov “The Murder of the Royal Family”, 1925;
Pavel Paganuzzi “The Truth about the Murder of the Royal Family” 1981;
Nikolai Ross “The Death of the Royal Family” 1987;
Multatuli P.V. "Nicholas II. The Road to Golgotha. M., 2010;
Multatuli P.V. “Witnessing for Christ even to death,” 2008;
Multatuli P.V. "God bless my decision." Nicholas II and the conspiracy of the generals."
Yulia Komleva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of New and modern history Ural State University named after. Gorky
Yulia Komleva
Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova
Memoirs of the Last Empress
God and man. Faith and eternity
Without the blessing of God, without His sanctification of the marriage, all congratulations and good wishes of friends will be empty words. Without His daily blessing family life even the most tender and true love will not be able to give everything that a thirsty heart needs. Without Heaven's blessing, all the beauty, joy, and value of family life can be destroyed at any moment.
* * *We know that when He denies us our request, then fulfilling it would be to our harm; when He does not lead us along the path we have planned, He is right; when He punishes or corrects us, He does it with love. We know that He does everything for our highest good.
* * *An invisible Guardian Angel always hovers over each of us.
* * *There is grief that hurts even more than death. But God's love can turn any trial into a blessing.
Starlight hides behind the clouds,
After the downpour, the sun's ray shines,
God has no unloved creatures,
He sends goodness to all His creations!
* * *And so the life of a true home flows, sometimes in bright sunlight, sometimes in the dark. But in the light or in the darkness, she always teaches us to turn to Heaven as to the Great House, in which all our dreams and hopes are realized, where ties broken again on earth are united. In everything we have and do, we need God's blessing. No one except God will support us in times of great grief. Life is so fragile that any separation can be eternal. We can never be sure that we will still have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness for an evil word and be forgiven. Our love for each other can be sincere and deep on sunny days, but it is never as strong as in days of suffering and grief, when all its previously hidden riches are revealed.
* * *Christianity, like heavenly love, elevates the human soul. I am happy: the less hope, the stronger the faith. God knows what's best for us, but we don't. In constant humility I begin to find a source of constant strength. "Daily dying is the path to daily living"
* * *The closer the soul approaches the Divine and Eternal Source of Love, the more fully the obligations of sacred human love are revealed, and the sharper the reproaches of conscience for neglecting the least of them.
* * *We are closer to God when we consider ourselves the most unworthy (corrected by hand). And we are most pleasing to Him when we humble ourselves and repent to the point of dust and ashes.
* * *The more humble a person is, the more peace in his soul.
* * *We must be strong and pray to God that He will grant us patience to endure everything that He sends down to us. Temptations allowed by a wise and loving Father precede His mercies.
* * *Anyone who wants to ignite the hearts of other people with love for Christ must himself blaze with this love.
* * *The remembrance of past mercies will support faith in God in the trials to come.
* * *Learn to part with someone close and dear to you for the sake of the love of God.
* * *There are many people in whom God has instilled a thirst for perfection, who are not satisfied with themselves, are ashamed of themselves, tormented by desires that they cannot satisfy, by instincts that they cannot understand, by forces that they cannot use, by duties that they cannot fulfill, by confusion. which they cannot express to anyone. I would be glad of any change that would make them nobler, purer, more just, more loving, more sincere and reasonable, and when they think about death, their thought can be expressed in the words of the poet:
I strive towards life, not towards death,
I'm going to live brighter, more fully,
I'm not satisfied with a little.
These people can repeat the words of the Lord: “Be of good cheer, child!” (Matthew 9:2) God generously gifts people. If there is a thirst for the Divine, it will certainly be satisfied. If you strive to improve, you will. Just believe in your best feelings, don’t try to drown out this thirst for the holy within yourself, fight despite mistakes, blunders, even sins. For everyone for whom God asks you, even when He forgives, continue to fight, despite all disappointments. Blessed be those who thirst for truth! We were told: “Both the Spirit and the bride say: Come! And let him who hears say: Come! Let him who thirsts come, and let him who desires take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).
* * *A soul that is more open to the spiritual than others, that knows God better, is more afraid of making mistakes before Him, and trembles more in the memory of the Last Judgment.
* * *We need to seek our salvation in the position in which Providence has placed us, and not build castles in the air, imagining how virtuous we would be in some other position. And then, we need to truly believe in God even in small things. Most people spend their lives groaning and lamenting about their habits, talking about how they need to be changed, making rules for their lives in the future that they are waiting for, but which they may be deprived of, and thus wasting time that should have been to spend on good deeds on the path to your salvation. We must strive for salvation every day and every hour. There is no better time for the one that the Lord in his mercy gives us now, and we do not know what tomorrow will bring us. Salvation is achieved not by our dreams alone, but by diligent diligence. Constant sobriety pleases God.
Even small things become great when they are according to the will of God. They are small in themselves, but they immediately become great when they are fulfilled for His sake, when they lead to Him and help to unite with Him forever. Remember how He said: “He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much” (Acts 16:10).
A soul that sincerely strives for God never looks at whether the matter is big or small; it is enough to know that He, for Whom this is being done, is infinitely great, that all His creatures must be completely devoted to Him, and this can be achieved only by fulfilling His will...
To suffer, but not to lose courage, this is the greatness... Wherever God leads us, everywhere we will find Him, both in the most exhausting work and in the calmest reflection...
What depresses us and hurts our pride is more beneficial than what excites and inspires.
* * *
The nature of God is Spirit. The name of God is Love. The relationship between God and man is that of Father and son.
* * *People saw thorns on the head of Jesus, and angels saw roses.
* * *When I wake up, I will need it again
All my devotion and all my love.
Then I will see Him as He is,
Who knows everything that was and what is.
Christ knows what is in a person's heart. When He looks at us, He sees not only what we are, but also what we can become. Christ looks at the young life standing before Him, and sees in it - under the external unattractiveness, magnificent maturity and calls for its embodiment.
Jesus always sees the best in a person. He saw the opportunity for good that lay hidden in the publican behind all the greed and dishonesty, and He called him to become one of His friends. In the fallen woman who lay at His feet, He wanted to see an immaculate soul and spoke to her words of mercy and hope that saved her. In everyone who appeared next to Him, He saw the opportunity to bring out something good.
We need to see the best in a person, and be able to find beauty and goodness in everyone's life, if we want to inspire people to develop their best qualities. God does not need help to open His buds and let His roses bloom. The buds should open and the roses should bloom naturally, the way that the Lord has determined, To force them to bloom ahead of time would mean to destroy them. We must be as careful as possible when trying to influence the spiritual lives of others, especially children. Violence can cause irreparable harm. The best thing we can do to develop the spiritual life of others is to give them an atmosphere of love and purity. A new friendship changes the entire future for many. It means a lot to each of us to know that someone is interested in us.
One of the first secrets of helping is the ability to encourage others. Encouragement inspires us; if it is not there, many noble opportunities are extinguished. You think that you can't achieve much in life, you can't do anything good, nothing beautiful. It seems to you that your friends think the same way, and you are overcome by a hopeless feeling of your own insignificance. Then someone comes along who sees your abilities, whose gaze catches precious glimpses of your soul, who sees possibilities in your life that you never knew existed and tells you about it. You understand what this means to you. Jesus' love for Simon and His encouragement were the beginning of a new life for him. Jesus believed in him, and this filled him with hope.
© TD Algorithm LLC, 2016
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Prologue
These women were assigned a modest role as maids of honor in the reigning families. They fulfilled it conscientiously, in awe of the august persons, realizing the degree of trust in themselves.
In Russia, maids of honor appeared in the Peter the Great era. Educated girls became maids of honor, with good manners, whose parents were famous at court.
Each royal family had several ladies-in-waiting, responsibilities between whom were strictly distributed. Some of them were in the retinue, others accompanied them to balls, and others were assigned to the children. All of them served faithfully to their sovereign and empress, trying to remember important events and actions of the reigning persons. Those of them who owned a pen, and there were many of them, left notes behind them so that descendants could learn first-hand about the era in which they lived, and above all about the sovereign and empress whom they served. Of course, they could not be impartial in their likes and dislikes, but historians often painted reality to please the existing regime.
These women did not take on any obligations, they simply kept records for themselves and their loved ones.
Readers already know the diaries of Vyrubova, the memoirs of Smirnova-Rosset and others.
This publication contains memoirs of little-known persons, whose records are not inferior to, and in many ways superior to, already published materials. Their destinies and relationships with the reigning persons developed differently, and in different ways they reproduced the events they witnessed. Basically, all the materials, excerpts from which we bring to the attention of readers, were published in magazines of the last century, such as “Russian Archive”, “Historical Bulletin”, and were not published as separate publications.
Varvara Golovina
1766–1821. Maid of Honor of the Highest Court
There comes a time in life when you begin to regret the lost moments of your first youth, when everything should satisfy us: the health of youth, the freshness of thoughts, the natural energy that excites us. Nothing seems impossible to us then; We use all these faculties only to enjoy ourselves in different ways; objects pass before our eyes, we look at them with more or less interest, some of them amaze us, but we are too fascinated by their variety to reflect. Imagination, sensitivity that fill the heart, the soul, which at times confuses us with its manifestations, as if warning us in advance that it is she who must triumph over us; all these sensations bother us, worry us, and we cannot understand them.
This is approximately what I experienced when I entered the world in my early youth.
I've met more roses than thorns life path. Their variety and richness seemed to multiply before me. I was happy. Frequent happiness drives away indifference and encourages us to be sympathetic to the happiness of others.
Misfortune casts a veil of sadness over the objects surrounding it, and constantly keeps our attention on our own suffering, until God, in His infinite mercy, opens a new path to our feelings and softens them.
"Portrait of Countess Varvara Golovina." Artist Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Varvara Nikolaevna Golovina, nee Princess Golitsyna (1766–1819) - memoirist and artist, beloved niece of I. I. Shuvalov, close associate of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna
At the age of sixteen I received the maid of honor code. There were twelve of them then. I was at court almost every day. On Sundays there was a meeting of the “great Hermitage”, to which the diplomatic corps and persons of the first two classes, men and women, were admitted. They gathered in the living room, where the Empress appeared and kept up the conversation. Then everyone followed her into the theater; there was no dinner. On Mondays there was a ball and dinner at the Grand Duke Paul. On Tuesdays I was on duty. My friend and I spent part of the evening in the diamond room, so named because the jewels were kept there and between them the crown, scepter and orb. The Empress played cards with old courtiers. Two ladies-in-waiting sat near the table, and the courtiers on duty occupied them.
On Thursdays there was a meeting of the “small Hermitage” with a ball, performance and dinner; foreign ministers did not attend these meetings, but the rest of the visitors were the same as on Sundays, in addition, as a favor, some ladies were admitted. On Fridays I was on duty, on Saturdays the heir to the throne gave a magnificent holiday. They came straight to the theater, and when Their Imperial Highnesses appeared, the performance began; After the performance, a very lively ball continued until dinner, which was served in the theater hall; A large table was placed in the middle of the hall, and small ones in the boxes; Grand Duke and the Princess had dinner, walking between the guests and talking with them. After dinner the ball began again and ended very late. They drove away with torches, which produced a lovely effect on the beautiful Neva, bound by ice.
This era was the most brilliant in the life of the court and the capital: everything was in harmony. The Grand Duke saw the Empress Mother morning and evening. He participated in the Privy Council. The city was full of nobles. Every day you could meet thirty to forty people visiting Golitsyn 1
Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1718–1783) - Russian general field marshal from the Golitsyn-Mikhailovich family.
And Razumovsky 2
Count (since 1744) Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky (surname at birth - Rozum; 1728–1803) – last hetman of the Zaporozhye army (1750–1764), field marshal general (1764), president Russian Academy sciences for more than half a century (from 1746 to 1798). The founder of the count and princely family of Razumovsky.
At the First Minister Count Panin, where the Grand Duke and Princess often visited, at Count Chernyshev and at the Vice-Chancellor, Count Osterman. There were many foreigners there who came to look at Catherine the Great and marvel at her; the general tone of society was excellent.
I got married when I was nineteen; my husband was twenty-nine at that time. The wedding was celebrated on October 4 in the Winter Palace. Her Imperial Majesty put diamonds in my hair. The Empress, in addition to the usual jewelry, added a cornucopia. This did not escape the Baroness, who loved me, and she made a remark. Her Imperial Majesty replied that this decoration served her and she allocates it to those of the brides who she likes best. I blushed with pleasure and gratitude. The Empress noticed my joy and, tenderly raising my chin, said: “Look at me; You’re not bad at all.”
I got up; she took me to her bedroom, where there were images, and, taking one, ordered me to cross myself and kiss it. I threw myself on my knees to receive Her Majesty's blessing; she hugged me and said excitedly, “Be happy; I wish this for you, as a mother and empress, on whom you should always count.”
The Empress kept her word: her gracious attitude towards me continued, ever increasing, until her death.
The Empress sent Countess Shuvalova and Mr. Strekalov 3
Stepan Fedorovich Strekalov (1728–1805) – Secretary of State of Empress Catherine II, Privy Councilor, Senator.
To the court of the Margrave of Baden to ask both him and the Crown Prince that the latter’s daughter, Louise, come to Russia. She arrived on 31 October 1792 with her sister Frederica, later Queen Swedish Princess Louise was thirteen and a half years old, her sister a year younger. Their arrival created a great sensation. The ladies who visited the Hermitage were introduced to them individually. I was not one of them. I have just recovered from a very serious illness following the death of my second daughter, who lived only five months. I saw the princesses only two weeks after the other ladies.
I had the honor of being introduced to them in the palace, where they had apartments adjacent to the Hermitage. I was amazed by the charming beauty of Princess Louise. Everyone who saw her before me had the same impression. I became especially attached to the princess. Her youth and tenderness inspired me with a keen interest in her and something like fear for her, which I could not get rid of, knowing very well my relative, Countess Shuvalova, whose character, prone to intrigue and immoral, inspired me with fear. The Empress, by appointing me to the princess's staff, thereby seemed to allow me to show sincere zeal, which was far from official.
I quote here what Princess Louise, now Empress Elizabeth, herself told me about her arrival in St. Petersburg 4
This story is given in full according to the princess’s note, stored in the Imperial Library, by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich in his work “Empress Elizabeth” (St. Petersburg, 1908. Vol. I).
“We arrived, my sister, Princess Frederica, later Queen of Sweden, and I, between eight and nine o’clock in the evening. At Strelna, the last station before St. Petersburg, we met Chamberlain Saltykov, whom the Empress appointed as our duty officer and sent to meet us to congratulate us. Countess Shuvalova and Mr. Strekalov both got into our carriage, and all these preparations for the most interesting moment in my life and the full importance of which I already felt, filled my soul with excitement when, driving through the city gates, I heard them exclaim: “Here we are in St. Petersburg!”
Involuntarily, in the darkness, my sister and I held hands, and as we drove, we squeezed each other’s hands, and this silent speech told us what was happening inside us.
We stopped at the Shepelovsky Palace; I ran up the well-lit stairs; Countess Shuvalova and Strekalov, both with rather weak legs, remained far behind me. Saltykov was with me, but he remained in the hallway. I walked through all the rooms without stopping, and entered the bedroom, upholstered in crimson damask; there I saw two women and a man and immediately, with the speed of lightning, I next output: “I am in St. Petersburg with the Empress; there is nothing simpler that she meets me, therefore, it is she in front of me,” and I went up to kiss the hand of the one who most corresponded to the idea of the Empress, which I formed from the portraits I had seen. A few years later, with more social experience, I would probably have hesitated more. for a long time before you do so."
“She was with Prince Zubov 5
His Serene Highness Prince (since 1796) Platon Alexandrovich Zubov (1767–1822) is the last favorite of Catherine II, who gave him the Rundale Palace in Courland.
Then it was just Platon Zubov, and with Countess Branitskaya, the niece of Prince Potemkin. The Empress said that she was very pleased to meet me; I conveyed my mother's greetings to her. Meanwhile, my sister and Countess Shuvalova arrived. After several minutes of conversation, the Empress left, and I surrendered to the magical feeling evoked in me by everything that I saw around me. I have never seen anything make such a strong impression as the courtyard of Empress Catherine when you see it for the first time.”
“On the third day after our arrival, in the evening, we were to be introduced to the Grand Duke Father and the Grand Duchess. The whole day was spent combing our hair in court fashion and dressing us in Russian dresses. For the first time in my life I was wearing hosiery and had powdered hair. In the evening, at six or seven o'clock, we were taken to the Grand Duke Father, who received us very well. The Grand Duchess showered me with caresses; she talked to me about my mother, my family, and the regrets I must have felt leaving them. Such an appeal endeared me to her, and it is not my fault if this affection did not turn into true love daughters."
“Everyone sat down; The Grand Duke sent for the young Grand Dukes and Duchesses. I can see them entering now. I looked at Grand Duke Alexander as carefully as decency allowed. I really liked him, but I didn’t think he was as beautiful as he was described to me. He did not come to me and looked at me with hostility. From the Grand Duke we went to the Empress, who was already sitting at her usual party of Boston in the diamond room. My sister and I were seated near a round table with Countess Shuvalova, the ladies-in-waiting on duty and the chamberlains. Two young Grand Dukes came soon after us. Grand Duke Alexander did not say a word to me the whole evening and did not come up, apparently avoiding me. But little by little he got used to me. Games in the Hermitage in a small society, evenings spent together at a round table, where we played secretaire or looked at engravings, gradually led to a rapprochement.”
“One evening, when we were drawing with the rest of the company at the round table in the diamond room, Grand Duke Alexander pushed me a letter with a declaration of love that he had just written. He said there that, Having his parents' permission to tell me that he loves me, he asks me if I am willing to accept and return his feelings and if he can hope that I will be happy by marrying him."
“I answered in the affirmative, also on a piece of paper, adding that I submit to the desire that my parents expressed by sending me here. From that time on, they began to look at us as a bride and groom. I was given teachers of the Russian language and the “Law of God.”
The day after the presentation of Princess Louise, the Empress gave an audience to the delegates of Poland, the counts Branicki, Rzewuski and Potocki, who stood at the head of the party that did not want succession to the throne in Poland. They came to ask Her Majesty to take Poland under her protection. This was the first ceremony in which Princess Louise participated. The Empress was on the throne in the throne room. The audience filled the room, and the crowd crowded around the hall of the cavalry guards. Count Branicki made a speech in Polish. Vice-Chancellor Osterman answered in Russian, standing near the steps of the throne. When the ceremony ended, the Empress returned to her apartment. Princess Louise followed her, but, walking around the throne, she got her foot caught in the threads and fringe of the velvet carpet and would have fallen if Platon Zubov had not supported her.
She was embarrassed and desperate about this incident, especially since it was her first time appearing in public. There were funny people who considered this a bad omen. It did not occur to them to compare one august person who, on this occasion, remembered Caesar, who had so happily extricated himself from a similar circumstance. Landing on the coast of Africa to follow the remnants of the Republican army, he fell and exclaimed: “Africa, I have you!”, thus turning to his advantage an opportunity that others might have misinterpreted.
I'm getting closer to myself interesting moment in my life.
A beautiful and new sight opened before my eyes: a majestic courtyard; the empress noticeably brought me closer to the one who was supposed to arouse unconditional affection in me. The more I had the honor of seeing Princess Louise, the more she inspired me with absolute devotion. Despite her youth, my concern for her did not escape her attention. I was happy to notice this. At the beginning of May the court left for Tsarskoe Selo. The day after leaving, Her Imperial Majesty ordered my husband that I should come there for the whole summer.
This order delighted me. I set off immediately to arrive before the evening at the Empress’s began. As soon as I finished the toilet, I immediately went to the palace to be introduced to her. She appeared at six and greeted me very graciously, saying: “I am very glad to see you among our number. Become Mrs. Tolstoy Marshal from today 6
We gave this nickname because my husband was a little fat. – Note auto
To have a more impressive appearance.”
I now want to give an idea of the persons who were allowed to stay in Tsarskoe Selo and who were admitted to her circle. But before drawing various portraits, I would like to give an image of the empress, who for thirty-four years made Russia happy.
Posterity will judge Catherine II with all the passion of people. The new philosophy, which unfortunately infected her and which was her main drawback, envelops her great and beautiful qualities as if with a thick veil. But it seemed right to me to trace her life from her youth before drowning out the echoes of her glory and indescribable kindness.
The Empress was brought up at the court of the Prince of Anhalt, her father, by an ignorant governess of low behavior, who could hardly teach her to read 7
The author is unfair to Mlle Gardel, a Frenchwoman, although not very learned, but to whom Catherine II, in any case, owes more than the ability to read. – Note comp.
Her parents never cared about her beliefs or her upbringing. She was brought to Russia at seventeen years old, she was beautiful, full of natural grace, talent, sensuality and wit, with a desire to learn and to please.
She was given in marriage to the Duke of Holstein, who was then the Grand Duke and heir of the Empress Elizabeth, her aunt. He was m-handsome, weak-willed, short, petty, a drunkard and a libertine. Elizabeth's court also presented a complete picture of depravity. Count Minich 8
Jean Ernest (son of the famous field marshal) was born in 1707, died in 1788. - Note author.
A smart man, he was the first to figure out Catherine and invited her to study. This proposal was hastily accepted. He gave her to begin with Bayle's dictionary, a work harmful, dangerous and seductive, especially for one who has not the slightest idea of divine truth striking down lies 9
I received all these details from my uncle Shuvalov, to whom the Empress told all this herself. – Note author.
Catherine read it three times in a row over several months. It ignited her imagination and then brought her into contact with all the sophists. Such were the inclinations of the princess, who became the wife of the Emperor, who had no other ambition than to become a corporal of Frederick II. Russia was under the yoke of weakness; Catherine suffered from this; her great and noble thoughts overcame the obstacles that opposed her rise. Her character was outraged by Peter's corruption and his contemptuous attitude towards his subjects. A general revolution was about to break out. They wanted a regency, and since the Empress had a ten-year-old son - later Paul I - it was decided that Peter III would be sent to Holstein. Prince Orlov and his brother, Count Alexei, who then enjoyed the favor of the Empress, were supposed to send him. They prepared ships in Kronstadt, and they wanted to send Peter and his battalions to Holstein. He was supposed to spend the night on the eve of departure in Ropshe, near Orienbaum.
I will not go into the details of this tragic event. They talked about him too much and distorted him; but, in promoting the truth, I consider it necessary to present here the authentic testimony that I heard from the minister Count Panin. His testimony is all the more undeniable since it is known that he was not particularly attached to the Empress. He was Paul's tutor, hoped that he would hold the reins of power during the regency of a woman, and was deceived in his expectations. The force with which Catherine seized power shattered all his ambitious plans and left an unfriendly feeling in his soul.
One evening, when we were with him, in the circle of his relatives and friends, he told us many interesting anecdotes and quietly approached the murder of Peter III. “I was,” he said, “in the Empress’s office when Prince Orlov came to inform her that it was all over. She stood in the middle of the room; the word “over” startled her. - “He left!” – she objected at first. But, having learned the sad truth, she fell unconscious. She suffered terrible convulsions, and for one minute they feared for her life. When she woke up from this difficult state, she burst into bitter tears, repeating: “My glory is lost, posterity will never forgive me for this involuntary crime.” Favor drowned out every other feeling in the Orlovs except excessive ambition. They thought that if they destroyed the Emperor, Prince Orlov would take his place and force the Empress to crown him."
It is difficult to describe the strength of character of the Empress in her concerns for the state. She was ambitious, but at the same time she covered Russia with glory; her maternal care extended to everyone, no matter how insignificant he was. It is difficult to imagine a sight more majestic than the appearance of the Empress during receptions. And it was impossible to be more generous, kind and condescending than she was in her close circle. As soon as she appeared, fear disappeared, being replaced by respect, full of tenderness. It was as if everyone was saying: “I see her, I’m happy, she’s our support, our mother.”
"Ekaterina after her arrival in Russia." Artist Louis Caravaque. 1745 Catherine II Alekseevna the Great (née Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, 1729–1796) – Empress of All Russia from 1762 to 1796
As she sat down to play cards, she glanced around the room to see if anyone needed anything. She brought her attention to the point that she ordered the curtains to be lowered if anyone was bothered by the sun. Her partners were the adjutant general on duty, Count Stroganov 10
Baron, then from 1761 Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov (1733–1811) - Russian statesman from the Stroganov family: senator, chief chamberlain (1797), actual privy councilor 1st class, since 1800 president of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The largest landowner and Ural mining company; collector and philanthropist. Since 1784, St. Petersburg provincial leader of the nobility.
And the old chamberlain Chertkov 11
Efrem Aleksandrovich Chertkov - Privy Councilor, one of her friends at the time of her accession to the throne.
Whom she loved very much. My uncle, Chief Chamberlain Shuvalov, also sometimes took part in the game, or at least was present. Platon Zubov too. The evening lasted until nine o'clock or half past nine.
I remember that once Chertkov, who was a bad player, was angry with the Empress for making him lose. Her Majesty was offended by the way he threw the cards. She didn't say anything and stopped playing. This happened just around the time when they usually separated. She stood up and said goodbye to us. Chertkov remained destroyed. The next day was Sunday. Usually on this day there was lunch for everyone in the administration. Grand Duke Pavel and Grand Duchess Maria came from Pavlovsk, the castle in which they lived, located four miles from Tsarskoye Selo. When they did not come, there was a dinner for selected persons under the colonnade. I had the honor of being admitted to these dinners. After the mass and reception, when the Empress retired to her chambers, the Marshal of the Court, Prince Baryatinsky, listed the persons who should have the honor of dining with her. Chertkov, who was admitted to all small meetings, stood in the corner, extremely upset by what had happened the day before. He almost did not dare to raise his eyes to the one who was about to pronounce judgment on him. But imagine his surprise when he heard his name. He didn't walk, but ran. We arrived at the lunch spot. Her Imperial Majesty sat at the end of the colonnade. She stood up, took Chertkov by the arm and silently walked around the colonnade with him. When she returned to her original place, she said to him in Russian: “Aren’t you ashamed to think that I’m angry with you? Have you forgotten that quarrels between friends remain without consequences? I have never seen a person in such excitement as this wig was; he burst into tears, constantly repeating: “Oh, mother, what can I tell you, how can I thank you for such mercies? Always ready to die for you!”
"The Romanovs", Igor Kurukin
The book is ideal for those who are just starting to get acquainted with. The author does not dump dry facts on the reader, but “draws” a whole gallery of portraits of representatives of the dynasty - from Mikhail Fedorovich to Nicholas II.
Alexei began to reign - but not to rule. How much did a 16-year-old boy know and be able to do, even though the people of the Middle Ages grew up earlier than our contemporaries? Of course, he completed the required “course” of science - he learned to read, mastered the liturgical texts of daily services and church chants. The tsar loved to sing and even composed church chants himself. But he wrote sloppily, “like a paw” - but he’s not a clerk
"Romanovs"
Igor Kurukin
"Nicholas and Alexandra", Robert Massey (Massey)
The history of the last Russian monarchs interested the American Pulitzer Prize winner when he learned about his son’s illness: like Tsarevich Alexei, the boy was diagnosed with hemophilia. They say “you can’t understand Russia with your mind,” but Massey seems to have succeeded: the book about Nikolai and Alexandra Fedorovna was filmed in Hollywood (the film received two Oscars), and is republished quite often here.
Sometimes in the rooms of the royal wing a melodic sound was heard, similar to a bird's trill. With this signal Nikolai called his wife to him. In the first years of marriage, hearing this call, Alexandra Fedorovna, blushing and abandoning everything, hurried to her husband. When the children grew up, the king called them to him in the same manner; this sound, similar to a bird whistle, was often heard in Alexander Park
"Nikolai and Alexandra"
Robert Massey
“Russian Imperial Family”, Yuri Kuzmin
What was Nicholas II's family nickname? How many illegitimate children were born to the kings from 1797 to 1917? Which foreign dynasties were related to the Romanovs? The 226 articles about monarchs and their relatives collected in this book will be especially interesting to read for those who are already a little “in the know” and want to learn more deeply about the history of the House of Romanov.
“The Romanovs. The history of a great dynasty", Evgeny Pchelov
Here we're talking about not only about the past, but also about the present of the Romanov dynasty - about the young heirs of the family, who after the revolution found themselves scattered all over the world. The main thing in the book is not the political vicissitudes, but the personal characteristics of the representatives of the royal family. “I set a goal in a popular form to describe the history of the entire Romanov family from the 17th century to the present day. It turned out to be a very interesting gallery, because among the Romanovs there were many remarkable figures who left their mark in a variety of fields - from poetry and theater to zoology and astronomy,” says Evgeny Pchelov himself.
The large Romanov family, which included more than 60 people on the eve of the revolution, fell apart. 18 of them died during the years of revolutionary terror, the rest managed to leave their homeland in different ways. Deep faith, inexhaustible optimism, self-esteem and impeccable upbringing helped many overcome all adversity. They mastered new professions and scattered all over the world - now the Romanovs and their descendants live in France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Great Britain, the USA, Canada, and Uruguay. But, no matter where they lived, they retained love for Russia in their hearts. Now many of them are returning home. Their story continues
