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==Last years==
==Last years==
[[Image:Grand Duke Vladimir's family.jpg|right|thumb|170px|The Vladimirs, on the occasion of their silver wedding in 1899; from the left, Grand Duke Andrei, Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duchess Elena, Grand Duke Kirill, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, and Grand Duke Boris.<ref name = " Zeepvat 54">Zeepvat, ''The Camera and the Tsars'', p. 54</ref>]]
[[Image:Grand Duke Vladimir's family.jpg|right|thumb|170px|The Vladimirs, on the occasion of their silver wedding in 1899; from the left, Grand Duke Andrei, Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duchess Elena, Grand Duke Kirill, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, and Grand Duke Boris.<ref name = " Zeepvat 54">Zeepvat, ''The Camera and the Tsars'', p. 54</ref>]]On 9 January 1905, he gave orders to fire on the crowd gathered beneath the walls of the winter Palace when they came to deliver a petition to the Tsar. Altough he claimed no direct responsibility about that tragedy since he was way from the city, his reputation was tarnished.

Vladimir's eldest son and heir [[Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia|Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia ]] married 1905 his first cousin [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], daughter of Vladimir's sister [[Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia|Maria]]. This marriage was disapproved by Nicholas II and Kirill was stripped of his imperial titles.<ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 100">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 100</ref> The treatment of his son created a strife between Vladimir and the Emperor. In spite of Vladimir protestations and threats to resign to all his post, Nicholas II sent his cousin into exile. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref> Altough Nicholas II relented and forgave his cousins for marrying without his consent, he did not allow them to return to Russia. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref> The full pardon came only, after several deaths in the family, including Vladimir's own, put Kirill third in the line of succession to the Imperial Throne. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref>
Vladimir's eldest son and heir [[Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia|Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia ]] married 1905 his first cousin [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], daughter of Vladimir's sister [[Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia|Maria]]. This marriage was disapproved by Nicholas II and Kirill was stripped of his imperial titles.<ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 100">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 100</ref> The treatment of his son created a strife between Vladimir and the Emperor. In spite of Vladimir protestations and threats to resign to all his post, Nicholas II sent his cousin into exile. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref> Altough Nicholas II relented and forgave his cousins for marrying without his consent, he did not allow them to return to Russia. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref> The full pardon came only, after several deaths in the family, including Vladimir's own, put Kirill third in the line of succession to the Imperial Throne. <ref name = " Perry & Pleshakov 101">Perry & Pleshakov, ''The Flight of the Romanovs '', p. 101</ref>


The Assassination of his brother Grand Duke Sergei and the death of his other brother Grand Duke Alexei deeply affected him. His last years were marked by ill health. Grand Duke Vladimir died on 4/ 17 February 1909 after he suffered a major cerebral hemorrhage.
⚫
On 9 January 1905, he gave orders to fire on the crowd gathered beneath the walls of the winter Palace when they came to deliver a petition to the Tsar. Altough he claimed no direct responsibility about that tragedy since he was way from the city, his reputation was tarnished. The death of his siblings a Gran Duke Alexei and Grand Duke Sergei weakened his health. Vladimir died in 1909. After the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] Kirill was in 1924 proclaimed Emperor in Paris, in exile. Vladimir's line has thus received the headship of the Imperial House. Vladimir was the paternal grandfather and namesake of the future pretender claimant [[Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia]], born 1917. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich's great granddaughter, [[Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia|Grand Duchess Maria Valdimirovna]], is the current claimant..

⚫
After the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] Kirill was in 1924 proclaimed Emperor in Paris, in exile. Vladimir's line has thus received the headship of the Imperial House. Vladimir was the paternal grandfather and namesake of the future pretender claimant [[Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia]], born 1917. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich's great granddaughter, [[Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia|Grand Duchess Maria Valdimirovna]], is the current claimant..


==Ancestry==
==Ancestry==

Revision as of 23:25, 23 October 2011

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
Born(1847-04-22)22 April 1847
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died17 February 1909(1909-02-17) (aged 61)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Burial
Grand Ducal Mausoleum
SpouseMarie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
IssueGrand Duke Alexander Vladimirovich
Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia
Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich
Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna
HouseHouse of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
FatherAlexander II of Russia
MotherMarie of Hesse and by Rhine

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia ( Влади́мирович Александрович) ) (22 April 1847 – 17 February 1909) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was a brother of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and was the Senior Grand Duke of the House of Romanov during the reign of his nephew, Tsar Nicholas II.

Grand Duke Vladimir followed a military career and occupied important military positions during the reigns of the last three Russian Emperors. Interested in artistic and intellectual pursuits, he was was appointed President of the Academy of Fine Arts, patron of many artist and sponsor of the Imperial ballet.[1]

During the reign of his father, Tsar Alexander II, he was made Adjutant-General, senator in 1868 and member of the Council of State in 1872. His brother, Alexander III also promoted his career. He was made member of the Council of ministers, Commander of the Imperial Guards Corps "[2] and Military Governor of Saint Petersburg. He tried to exert some influence over his nephew Tsar Nicholas II, but had to content himself with holding a rival court with his ambitious wife Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna at his lavish palace in Saint Petersburg. The events of bloody Sunday in 1905, while he was military governor of St Peterburg, tarnished his reputation. During the last years of his life, the rift between his family and that of Nicholas II widen. [3]He died after a stroke in 1909. His great granddaughter, Grand Duchess Maria Valdimirovna, is the current claimant to the headship of the Romanov family.

Early life

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich was born on April 22, 1847 at Tsarskoye Selo, some twenty miles (32 km) outside Saint Petersburg.[4] He was the fourth child and third son among the eight children of Alexander II of Russia and his wife Maria Alexandrovna, born Duchess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

He was eight years old when at the death of his grand father Nicholas I, his father became Russian Tsar. [4]Grand Duke Vladimir was well educated and through his life he was interested in literature and the arts. However, as all male members of the Romanov family he had to follow a military career. As only the third son in a numerous family, he was far from the succession to the Russian throne.[4] Nevertheless, in 1863, the early death of his eldest brother the Tsarevich Nicholas left Vladimir unexpectedly close to the throne as heir presumptive after his second brother Alexander.[4] Unlike Alexander, the new heir, Vladimir was witty and ambitious. Rumors circulated at the time, that Alexander II would have his eldest surviving son removed from the succession and placing Vladimir as his heir. Alexander himself would have preferred to step aside from the succession hoping to marry morganatically, but eventually he had to yield to family pressure and married a suitable bride.[5] Relations between the two brothers although cordial were never warm.

A Russian Grand Duke

Gran Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich was a notorious playboy in his youth [6]

In 1867 Grand Duke Vladimir was named honorary president of the Russian ethnographic society, the same year he accompanied his father and his brother Alexander to the World Fair in Paris, where his father was shot by a polish nationalist.[4] In 1871 he visited the Caucasus region, Georgia, Chechnya and Dagestan with his father and his brothers.[4] In 1872 he accompanied his father to Vienna at the reunion of the three emperors: Russia, Germany and Austria.[4]

In his youth Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich led a restless life of partying and drinking. A member of the European jet set of his time, he made frequent trips to Paris. At the French capital, he was nicknamed "The Grand Duke, bon vivant". His love for the good life let him to be portly at a young age, although later he slimmed down. He had a wide range of interest. He loved the arts; was a skillful painter himself and gathered an important book collection. Not as tall as his brothers, he was handsome with an imposing personalty but could not stand public criticism. He was known for his thunderous voice; was a keen hunter, and a well known gourmet. He gathered a collection of menus copied after meals with adding notations about his impressions about the food.

Marriage

Gran Duke Vladimir and his fiancee, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg Schwerin. Engagement photograph, spring 1874[7]

While traveling through Germany with his family in June 1871, Grand Duke Vladimir met Duchess Marie Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (14 May 1854 – 6 September 1920), daughter of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz.[8] She was seventeen years old and was already engage to a distant relative, Prince George Schwarzburg.[8] Grand Duke Vladimir was then twenty four. [8]They were smitten with each other. Maria was a great-granddaughter of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, herself a daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia. Therefore, Vladimir was a second cousin of Maria's father Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. However, in descent from Frederick William III of Prussia, the couple were second cousins. In order to marry Vladimir, Maria broke off her previous engagement, but she refused to yield to the necessary conversion to the Orthodox religion. [9]This delayed the couple's engagement for almost two years. Finally, Tsar Alexander II consented the marriage allowing Marie to keep her Lutheran faith and Vladimir would not lose his rights to the Russian throne. The engagement was announced in April 1874.[9]

The wedding took place in Saint Petersburg on 28 August 1874 at the Winter palace.[9] Vladimir's wife adopted the patronymic Pavlovna upon her marriage and was known as Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. Only decades later, after Vladimir's death, she converted to the Russian Orthodox confession, then, Emperor Nicholas II bestowed her the title "the Orthodox Grand Duchess". Grand Duke Vladimir and his wife were both both witty and ambitious. They enjoy entertaining and their residence in St. Petersburg became the heart of the Imperial capital social life. Well suited to each other, they had a long and happy marriage.[6] [10]

Vladimir's palace

By the time of his marriage, construction has already been completed in Vladimir's own residence and he moved there with his wife..[10] Named the Vladimir Palace, it was the last imperial palace to be constructed in Saint Petersburg. Grand Duke Vladimir appointed architect Aleksandr Rezanov responsible for the project because of his knowledge of ancient Russian architecture.[11] Rezanov was assisted by a team of architects: Vasily Kenel, Andrei Huhn, Ieronim Kitner and Vladimir Shreter. The foundation stone was laid on July 15, 1867. [12] Construction work lasted five years, from 1867 to 1872. The furniture was designed by architect Victor Shroeter.

The site chosen for the palace was the Embankment near the Winter Palace in the center of St Petersburg.[11] It had been previously been occupied by the house of Count Vorontsov Dashkov which had been bought by the treasury. The lot was enlarge by purchasing the neighboring house of Madame Karatinga.[11] The total construction and furnishing cost of Vladimir palace was 820.00 rubles, a much modest amount than the one spent building previous palaces for other grand dukes a decade earlier.[11]

The Vladimir palace stands, like the Winter Palace and the Marble Palace, on the Neva at Dvostsovaya Embankment.[13] The façade, richly ornamented with stucco rustication, was patterned after Leon Battista Alberti's palazzi in Florence. The main porch is built of Bremen sandstone and adorned with griffins, coats-of-arms, and cast-iron lanterns. Other details are cast in portland cement.

The palace and its outbuildings contain some 360 rooms, all decorated in eclectic historic styles: Neo-Renaissance (reception room, parlor), Gothic Revival (dining room), Russian Revival (Oak Hall), Rococo (White Hall), Byzantine style (study), Louis XIV, various oriental styles, and so on. This interior ornamentation, further augmented by Maximilian Messmacher in 1881-1891, is considered a major monument to the 19th-century passion for historicism.[14] Grand Duke Vladimir decorated his apartments with his collection of Russian painting by the best artist of his time such as[13] : Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Feodor Bruni, Vasili Vereshchagin, Ivan Kramskoy, Mikhail Vrubel, Nicholas Sverchkov and Rudoplh Frenz.[15]

Children

Gran Duke Vladimir with his wife and children in 1884. The children are, from left to right, Boris, Elena, Kirill and Andrei.[16]

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his wife grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna had five children:

During three reigns

Grand Duke Vladimir occupied important military positions during three the reigns. He experienced the battle fields during the Russo-Turkish War of (1877–1878) attending the war's campaign with his father and brothers Alexander and Sergei.[17]However his military career interested him less than art and literature."[18] In 1880, his father appointed him President of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.[4] He was also and an agent of the Rumyantsev Museum.[1] Grand Duke Vladimir was in the Imperial capital when his father was killed and was succeeded by Alexander III in 1881. It fell upon Vladimir, who regained his composure more quickly than his brother, to announce their father's death to the public. [19]Vladimir had a large book collection that was arranged in three libraries at the Vladimir Palace. His books included the personal library of Alexander II, who Vladimir inherited at his father's assassination..[20] After the Russian revolution these books were sold off randomly by weight and currently form part of several American university collections.[20]

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, was a keen philanthropist. A talented painter himself, he became a famous patron of the arts. [1]He frequented many artists and gathered a valuable collection of paintings and old icons."[21] He later took a great interest in ballet. He financed the tour of Diaghilev Ballets Russes.[1] He chaired the building committee of the Cathedral of St. Saviour, built on the site of the assassination of his father, Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1883 - 1907).

Grand Duke Vladimir's brother, Emperor Alexander III, had three sons which pushed Vladimir and his own three sons farther away from the succession to the Russian throne. Nevertheless he was unexpectedly close to become Emperor in 1888 when Alexander III with his wife and all of their children were involved in a train accident at Borki. Vladimir and his wife were at the time in Paris and did not bother to come back to Russia. This annoyed Alexander III who commented that if he would have died with his children, Vladimir would have ruched to return to Russia to become Emperor.[22] At Alexander III's death in 1894 there were unfounded rumors that the army intended to proclaim Grand Duke Vladimir emperor in place of his nephew Nicholas II.[23] over which Vladimir tried to have an influence, particularly at the beginning of Nicholas II’s reign.[24]

Although the grand duke was conservative in his political views, he did not believe in human virtues. A little bit of a rascal himself, he preferred the company of amusing witty people regardless of their ideology or background.[14] The more liberal member of Russian society were invited to lavish parties at his residence. He look with contempt to people less intelligent that himself and considered that he would have made a better emperor than his less gifted brother Alexander III or his ineffectual nephew Nicholas II, Grand Duke Vladimir traveled extensively. Paris was a favorite destination. He became well known in the French capital for his boisterous personality and tremendous voice. He often intimidated people with his coarseness, rudeness and hot temper.[14] He usually complained about the food making a fuss about everything that he disliked, but ended typing generously.[25] Vladimir Alexandrovich was also a devoted family man. He was close to his children.

Last years

The Vladimirs, on the occasion of their silver wedding in 1899; from the left, Grand Duke Andrei, Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duchess Elena, Grand Duke Kirill, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, and Grand Duke Boris.[26]

On 9 January 1905, he gave orders to fire on the crowd gathered beneath the walls of the winter Palace when they came to deliver a petition to the Tsar. Altough he claimed no direct responsibility about that tragedy since he was way from the city, his reputation was tarnished.

Vladimir's eldest son and heir Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia married 1905 his first cousin Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, daughter of Vladimir's sister Maria. This marriage was disapproved by Nicholas II and Kirill was stripped of his imperial titles.[27] The treatment of his son created a strife between Vladimir and the Emperor. In spite of Vladimir protestations and threats to resign to all his post, Nicholas II sent his cousin into exile. [28] Altough Nicholas II relented and forgave his cousins for marrying without his consent, he did not allow them to return to Russia. [28] The full pardon came only, after several deaths in the family, including Vladimir's own, put Kirill third in the line of succession to the Imperial Throne. [28]

The Assassination of his brother Grand Duke Sergei and the death of his other brother Grand Duke Alexei deeply affected him. His last years were marked by ill health. Grand Duke Vladimir died on 4/ 17 February 1909 after he suffered a major cerebral hemorrhage.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 Kirill was in 1924 proclaimed Emperor in Paris, in exile. Vladimir's line has thus received the headship of the Imperial House. Vladimir was the paternal grandfather and namesake of the future pretender claimant Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia, born 1917. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich's great granddaughter, Grand Duchess Maria Valdimirovna, is the current claimant..

Ancestry

16. Peter III of Russia
8. Paul I of Russia
17. Catherine II of Russia
4. Nicholas I of Russia
18. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
9. Sophie Dorothea of Württemburg
19. Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
2. Alexander II of Russia
20. Frederick William II of Prussia
10. Frederick William III of Prussia
21. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt
5. Charlotte of Prussia
22. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
11. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
23. Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
1. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
24. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
12. Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse
25. Karoline of Zweibrücken
6. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
26. Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt
13. Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
27. Luise of Leiningen-Heidesheim
3. Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
28. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden
14. Charles Louis of Baden
29. Karoline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
7. Wilhelmine of Baden
30. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
15. Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
31. Karoline of Zweibrücken

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 35
  2. ^ Alexander, Once a Grand Duke, p. 139
  3. ^ Zeepvat, Romanov Autumn, p. 98
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Chavchavadze, The Grand Dukes, p. 103
  5. ^ Chavchavadze, The Grand Dukes, p. 105
  6. ^ a b Zeepvat, Romanov Autumn, p. 96
  7. ^ Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars, p. 45
  8. ^ a b c Zeepvat, Romanov Autumn, p. 94
  9. ^ a b c Zeepvat, Romanov Autumn, p. 95
  10. ^ a b Van der Kiste, The Romanovs 1818-1959, p. 68
  11. ^ a b c d Belyakova, The Romanov Legacy , p. 158
  12. ^ Belyakova, The Romanov Legacy , p. 160
  13. ^ a b Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 36
  14. ^ a b c Belyakova, The Romanov Legacy , p. 172
  15. ^ Belyakova, The Romanov Legacy , p. 162
  16. ^ Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars, p. 47
  17. ^ Van der Kiste, The Romanovs 1818-1959, p. 72
  18. ^ Alexander, Once a Grand Duke, p. 138
  19. ^ Van der Kiste, The Romanovs 1818-1959, p. 91
  20. ^ a b Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 37
  21. ^ Alexander, Once a Grand Duke, p. 137
  22. ^ Chavchavadze, The Grand Dukes, p. 104
  23. ^ Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 63
  24. ^ Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 67
  25. ^ Van der Kiste, The Romanovs 1818-1959, p. 1182
  26. ^ Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars, p. 54
  27. ^ Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 100
  28. ^ a b c Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p. 101

References

  • Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia, Once a Grand Duke. Cassell, London, 1932.
  • Belyakova, Zoia. The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg. Studio, ISBN 0-670-86339-4
  • Chavchavadze, David, The Grand Dukes. Atlantic, 1989, ISBN 0938311115
  • King, Greg The Court of the Last Tsar. Wiley, 2006, ISBN 978-0471727637.
  • Perry, John and Pleshakov, Constantine, The Flight of the Romanovs. Basic Books, 1999, ISBN 0465024629.
  • Van der Kiste, John, The Romanovs 1818–1959. Sutton Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-7509-2275-3.
  • Zeepvat, Charlotte, The Camera and the Tsars. Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3049-7.
  • Zeepvat, Charlotte, Romanov Autumn. Sutton Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-7509-2739-9

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