Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich of Russia
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Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (14 February 1850– 26 January 1918) was the first-born son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia and a grandson of Nicholas I of Russia.
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[edit] Early life
Born in St Petersburg in the middle of the nineteenth century into the Romanov family, he had a very privileged childhood. Most royal children were brought up by nannies and servants so by the time Nikolai had grown up he lived a very independent life having become a gifted military officer and an incorrigible womanizer. He had an affair with a notorious American lady Fanny Lear. This affair let him into a plot to betray his family, in which he stole three valuable diamonds from an icon that belonged to his mother. He was declared insane and he was banished to the far reaches of the Russian empire never to see home again.
[edit] Later life
He lived for many years under constant supervision in the area around Tashkent, South Eastern Russia and made a great contribution to Tashkent by using his personal fortune to help improve the local area. In 1890 he ordered the building of his own palace in Tashkent to house and show his large and very valuable collection of works of art and the collection is now the center of the State museum of arts of Uzbekistan. He was also famous in Tashkent as a competent engineer and irrigator, constructing two large canals, the Bukhar-aryk (which was poorly aligned and soon silted up) and the much more successful Khiva-Aryk, later extended to form the Emperor Nicholas I Canal, irrigating 12,000 desyatinas, 33,000 acres (134 km²) of land in the 'Hungry Steppe' (Голодная степь) between Djizak and Tashkent. Most of this was then settled with Slavic peasant colonisers.
Nikolai had a number of children by different women and one of his grandchildren Natalya Androssov Iskander Romanov died in Moscow in 1999.
[edit] Death
Nikolai died on the 26 January 1918 and was buried in St George's Cathedral Tashkent (later demolished by the Soviet regime) and although the revolution had started he had a state funeral as he was so admired by the local population.
[edit] Family
Nikolai married Nadedja Alexandrovna von Dreyer (1861-1929) in 1882 there were two children from this marriage:
- Artemi Nikolaievitch Prince Iskander (1883-1919) killed in the Russian Civil War
- Alexander Nikolaievitch Prince Iskander (15 November 1889-8 October 1935) married May 5, 1912 Olga Iosifovna Rogovsky (1893-1962). The couple had two children. Alexander and Olga were later divorced, and Alexander married Natalya Khanykov (30 December 1893-20 April 1982) in 1930. No children resulted from the latter marriage.
- Kyrill Aleksandrovitch Prince Iskander (5 December 1914-1992)
- Natalya Androssov Iskander Romanov (2 February 1917-1999)
Among his illegitimate children were the following:
With Alexandra Abasa (1855-1894):
- Olga Wolinsky (May 1877-1910)
- Nicholas Wolinsky (11 December 1878 - 30 December 1913)
With unknown mistresses:
