Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia

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Pretender
Cyril Vladimirovich
Born October 12, 1876(1876-10-12)
Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
Died October 12, 1938 (aged 62)
Neuilly, France
Title(s) Grand Duke of Russia
Throne(s) claimed Russia
Pretend from 1924
Monarchy abolished 1917
Last monarch Nicholas II of Russia
Connection with cousin
Royal House Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
Mother Marie of Mecklenburg
Spouse Victoria Melita of Edinburgh
Successor Grand Duke Vladimir Kyrilovich

Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia, (Kirill Vladimirovich Romanov) (October 12, 1876 (N.S.)–October 12, 1938) was a member of the Russian Imperial Family. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the death of Tsar Nicholas II and his brother Michael, Cyril became the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias. He claimed the title, "Emperor in Exile", in 1924 and held it until his death.

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[edit] Early life

Grand Duke Cyril was born on October 12, 1876 in Tsarskoye Selo. His father was Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, the third son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse. His mother was Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (later known as Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia), the daughter of Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz. As a grandson in the male line to a Russian Tsar, he was titled Grand Duke, with the style His Imperial Highness.

[edit] War Service

Cyril served in the Russian Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. While serving as First Officer on the Petropavlovsk, the ship was blown up by a Japanese mine at Port Arthur in April 1904. Cyril barely escaped with his life, and was invalided out of the service suffering from burns, back injuries and shell shock.

[edit] Marriage

Grand Duke Cyril married his first cousin, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on October 8, 1905. Victoria's father was Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria. Victoria's mother was Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Tsar Alexander II and Cyril's paternal aunt.

The marriage caused a scandal in the courts of European Royalty as Princess Victoria was divorced from her first husband, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, also her first cousin. The Grand Duke of Hesse's sister was Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, the wife of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The Tsarina already disliked her former sister-in-law and first cousin, being instrumental in leading the opposition to the marriage in the Russian court. Shortly after returning to Russia, the Tsar stripped Cyril of his imperial allowance and position in the navy.

However, after several deaths in the family had put Cyril third in the line of succession to the Imperial Throne, Nicholas reinstated Cyril, and the latter's wife came into favor, and was given the title Grand Duchess of Russia, who from then on was styled as Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna.

[edit] Children

The Grand Duke Cyril and Princess Victoria Melita had three children:

[edit] Revolution

During the February Revolution of 1917, upon the abdication of the tsar, Cyril came with his regiment to swear allegiance to the provisional government, wearing a red revolutionary band on his uniform. This caused grave offence in the Imperial Family and led to many members shunning him as legitimate heir to the Throne.

After the October Revolution, Cyril and Victoria fled to Finland, then Coburg, Germany. Eventually the exiled family moved to France where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

[edit] Life abroad

In 1924, Grand Duke Cyril proclaimed himself Emperor in exile in Paris: by the laws of the Russian Empire, he was the prime claimant after the execution of Tsar's family by Bolsheviks.

His sole son, Vladimir, succeeded him as head of the Romanov dynasty.

While living in exile, Cyril was supported by some emigres who styled themselves "legitimists" (legitimisti, in Russian легитимисты), underlining the "legitimacy" of Cyril's succession. The opponents of Cyril were known as the "un-predetermined" (nepredreshentsi, in Russian непредрешенцы), who believed that in the wake of the radical revolutionary events, the convening of a Zemsky Sobor was necessary in order to choose a new monarch for Russia. {In 1922 Nicholas II cousin Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856-1929) was proclaimed "Emperor of all Russia" by the Zemsky Sobor of the Preamursk region by general Mikhail Diterikhs}.

Cyril found his strongest support amidst a group of legitimists known as the Mladorossi, a Russian emigre monarchist organization that was heavily influenced by fascism - although it distanced itself from other fascist movements. Progressively, the organization began to exhibit pro-Soviet sympathies, arguing that the monarchy and the Soviet Bolshevik systems could peacefully coexist (as per their slogan "Tsar and the Soviets"). Cyril became more wary of the organization when he learned that its founder, Alexander Kazem-Bek, was spotted meeting with an OGPU agent. Cyril accepted Kazem-Bek's voluntary resignation. His son, Vladimir, continued ties with the organization throughout World War II.

[edit] Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Nicholas I of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Alexander II of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Charlotte of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Princess Wilhelmine of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Princess Alexandrine of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Heinrich LXIII, Prince Reuss of Köstritz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Princess Augusta Reuss of Köstritz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Countess Eleonore of Stolberg-Wernigerode
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 12 October 1876 Died: 12 October 1938
Titles in pretence
Vacant
Title last held by
Nicholas II		 — TITULAR —
Tsar of Russia
13 September 1924 – 12 October 1938
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1917		 Succeeded by
Vladimir Cyrillovitch
Imperial coat of arms of Brazil
Pretenders to the Russian
throne since 1917
Russian Empire
October Revolution

Emperor Nicholas II (1917-1918)
— vacant —
Grand Duke Cyril (1924-1938)
Grand Duke Vladimir (1938-1992)
Grand Duchess Maria (1992-)
Prince Nicholas (1992-)
See also House of Romanov