Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia
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| Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia | |
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| Born | May 14, 1879 Tsarskoye Selo |
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| Died | October 30, 1956 (aged 77) Paris |
| Spouse | Mathilde Kschessinska |
| Children | Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky |
| Parents | Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (father) Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (mother) |
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, (May 14, 1879 - October 30, 1956), was a Russian grand duke, the youngest son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. He escaped Russia following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and married his long-time mistress, Mathilde Kchessinska in 1921. He claimed paternity of Kchessinska's son, Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky (June 30, 1902 - April 23, 1974) [1] Andrei was introduced to Kchessinska by his elder brothers, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia. Kschessinska, a ballet dancer, had previously been the mistress of Andrei's cousins Tsar Nicholas II and Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia. Kschessinska liked Andrei's looks when she first met him, as she described in her memoirs:
| “ | He was exceptionally good-looking and also very shy, which did not spoil things at all -- quite the reverse! During dinner he accidentally knocked over a glass of red wine whose contents spilled on my dress. Far from being angry, I saw in this a happy omen ... For from that moment my heart was filled with an emotion which I had not felt for a long time. [2] | ” |
Andrei and his family settled in Paris following the Revolution. He was one of the few members of the Romanov family to believe the claim of Anna Anderson to be Tsar Nicholas II's youngest daughter Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. When he first met the woman, he said it was "an unshakable recognition ... Her face is striking in its profound sadness, but when she smiles, it is she, it is Anastasia, without a doubt." He offered the woman support for her claim and financial assistance throughout her life. [3]
Andrei was distraught during World War II when his son Vladimir, who had been a Young Russian and regarded as pro-Soviet by the Nazi Party, was held in a concentration camp for 119 days before being released. Andrei visited German Police Headquarters multiple times and asked for help from Russian emigrees to get his son released, but neither group would help him. [4] Andrei and his wife lived in Paris, where they enjoyed entertaining. Unlike his brother Kirill, he was largely uninterested in politics. He died in 1956 at age seventy-seven. [5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Paul Theroff (2007). "Russia". An Online Gotha. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
- ^ Charlotte Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album, Sutton Publishing, 2004, p. 108.
- ^ Peter Kurth, Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson, Back Bay Books, 1983, p. 205
- ^ John Curtis Perry and Constantine Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs, Perseus Books Group, 1999, pp. 314-315
- ^ Perry and Pleshakov, p. 340
[edit] References
- Peter Kurth, Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson, Back Bay Books, 1983, ISBN 0-316-50717-2
- John Curtis Perry and Constantine Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs, Basic Books, 1999, ISBN 0-46502462-9
- Paul Theroff, An Online Gotha
- Charlotte Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album, Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3049-7
