Prince John Constantinovich of Russia
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| Prince John Constantinovich of Russia | |
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| Born | July 5, 1886 St. Petersburg, Russia |
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| Died | July 18, 1918 (aged 32) Alapaevsk, Russia |
| Occupation | Royalty |
| Spouse | Princess Helen of Serbia |
| Children | Prince Vsevolod (1914-1973) Princess Ekaterina (1915-2007) |
| Parents | Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna |
Prince John Constantinovich of Russia (Иоанн Константиович) (July 5, 1886 – July 18, 1918), sometimes also known as Prince Ivan, Prince Ioann or Prince Johan, was the eldest son of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna, née Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. He was described by contemporaries as a gentle, religious human being, nicknamed Ioannchik by his relatives.
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[edit] Early life
John Constantinovich was born as a Grand Duke of Russia with the style Imperial Highness, but at the age of 9 days, a Ukaz of his cousin Emperor Alexander III of Russia stripped him of that title, as the Ukaz amended the House Law by limiting the grand-ducal title to grandsons of a reigning emperor. As a result he received the title Prince of the Imperial Blood (Prince of Russia) with the style Highness.
He once entertained the possibility of becoming an Orthodox monk, but eventually fell in love with the fair and strong-willed Princess Helen of Serbia. They married on September 2, 1911, and Helen took the name Princess Helen Petrovna of Russia. They were a very happy couple, blessed with a son, Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich (20 January 1914 - 18 June 1973), and a daughter, Princess Catherine Ivanovna (12 July 1915 - 13 March 2007), who was the last member of the Imperial Family to be born before the fall of the dynasty, and was ultimately to become the last surviving uncontested dynast of the Imperial House of Russia.
[edit] Revolution and death
Prince Ioann fought in the First World War, was decorated as a war hero, and was at the front when the Russian Revolution of 1917 started. In April 1918 he was exiled to the Urals by the Bolsheviks, and later murdered in July the same year in an atrocious way in a mineshaft near Alapaevsk, along with his brothers Prince Constantine Constantinovich and Prince Igor Constantinovich, his cousin Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, and other relatives and friends.
His body was eventually buried in Beijing, in the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Mission, which was destroyed years later to build a park. His sister Princess Vera Konstantinovna, mother Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna and wife Princess Helen Petrovna left Russia in April, 1919 with help from the King of Norway. His daughter Princess Catherine Ioannovna, married Ruggero, Marquis Farace di Villaforesta (a descendant of the Medici family of Florence). Catherine lived in Buenos Aires and later in Montevideo, Uruguay where she died in 2007. His sister Princess Vera Konstantinovna, the youngest daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, died in New York in 2002, almost 100 years old.
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] See also
- Romanov sainthood
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