Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
Konstantin Konstantinovich | |
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Died | 15 June 1915 Pavlovsk Palace, Pavlovsk, Russian Empire | (aged 56)
Burial | , St. Petersburg, Russian Empire |
Spouse | |
Issue | Prince John Constantinovich Prince Gabriel Constantinovich Princess Tatiana Constantinovna Prince Constantine Constantinovich Prince Oleg Constantinovich Prince Igor Constantinovich Prince George Constantinovich Princess Natalia Constantinovna Princess Vera Constantinovna |
House | Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov |
Father | Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaevich of Russia |
Mother | Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg |
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (Russian: Константи́н Константи́нович, IPA: [kənstɐnʲˈtʲin kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ] ⓘ; 22 August 1858 – 15 June 1915) was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and a poet and playwright of some renown. He wrote under the pen name "K.R.", initials of his given name and family name, Konstantin Romanov.
Early life
The fourth child of the
From his early childhood KR was more interested in letters, art, and music than in the military upbringing required for
Public life
KR was both a patron of Russian art and an artist in his own right. A talented pianist, the Grand Duke was Chairman of the Russian Musical Society, and counted
The Grand Duke's artistic
KR and his wife were among the relatively few Romanovs on intimate terms with Nicholas II and the Empress
He was also a close friend of the
Marriage and family
KR married in 1884 in
The couple would have a total of nine children:
- Prince John (1886–1918)
- Prince Gabriel(1887–1955)
- Princess Tatiana(1890–1979)
- Prince Konstantin(1891–1918)
- Prince Oleg (1892–1914)
- Prince Igor(1894–1918)
- Prince Georgy (1903–1938)
- Princess Natalia (died at exactly two months, 1905)
- Princess Vera(1906–2001)
Prince John married Princess Helen of Serbia (daughter of King Peter of Serbia) in 1911. Princess Tatiana married Prince Konstantin Bagration-Muhransky, a Georgian prince, that same year.
KR's children were the first to fall under the new Family Law promulgated by
Sexuality
As exemplary and dedicated (and even conservative) as KR's public life was, his private turmoil was intense. Had it not been for the publication of KR's strikingly candid diaries long after his death, the world would have never known that this most prolific of Grand Dukes, the father of nine children, was tormented by his homosexual feelings.[1]
As mentioned, KR's first
By the end of 1904, KR became somewhat attached to an attractive young man by the name of Yatsko. "I sent for Yatsko and he came this morning. I easily persuaded him to be candid. It was strange for me to hear him describe the familiar characteristics: he has never felt drawn to a woman, and has been infatuated with men several times. I did not confess to him that I knew these feelings from my own personal experience. Yatsko and I talked for a long time. Before leaving he kissed my face and hands; I should not have allowed this, and should have pushed him away, however I was punished afterwards by vague feelings of shame and remorse. He told me that, ever since the first time we met, his soul has been filled with rapturous feelings towards me, which grow all the time. How this reminds me of my own youth." A few days later, KR and Yatsko met again, and a relationship developed between the two.
In KR's final years, he wrote of his homosexual urges less and less, whether from having reached some arrangement with his conscience, or from the natural advance of age and ill health.
War years and death
The outbreak of
The first year of the war took a cruel toll on his immediate family. Five of his six sons served in the Russian Army, and in October 1914, his fourth and most talented son,[2] Prince Oleg, was mortally wounded fighting against the Germans. The following March, his son-in-law Prince Bagration-Muhransky was killed on the Caucasus front. KR's health and spirit were broken by these blows, and he died on 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1915.
Fate of KR family after the Russian Revolution
The Princes Ioann, Gavriil, Konstantin, and Igor were all arrested after the
Prince Gavriil was released from prison through the intercession of
The widowed Princess Tatiana fled to Romania and later to Switzerland with her children. She eventually became a nun, and died in Jerusalem in 1979, where she had been Abbess of the Orthodox Mount of Olives Convent.
KR's wife and two youngest children, Prince George and Princess Vera, remained at Pavlovsk throughout the war, the chaotic rule of the Provisional Government, and after the October Revolution. In the fall of 1918, they were permitted by the Bolsheviks to be taken by ship to Sweden (on the Ångermanland, via Tallinn to Helsinki and via Mariehamn to Stockholm), at the invitation of the Swedish queen.
At Stockholm harbor they met prince
Archives
Documents about Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich's family (including correspondence and photographs) are preserved in the "Romanov Family Papers" collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA).[4]
Honours and awards
The Grand Duke received the following Russian and foreign decorations:[5]
- Russian
- Knight of St. Andrew, 26 September 1858
- Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 26 September 1858
- Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 26 September 1858
- Knight of the White Eagle, 26 September 1858
- Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 11 June 1865
- Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 15 October 1877
- Knight of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, 1883; 3rd Class, 14 May 1896; 2nd Class, 1903; 1st Class, 1913
- Foreign
- Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 22 April 1897[6]
- Kingdom of Bulgaria: Order of Merit, Grade I in Diamonds, 18 February 1910
- Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 25 June 1875[7]
- France:
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 30 August 1875
- Ordre des Palmes Académiques, 22 February 1894
- Kingdom of Prussia:[8]
- Pour le Mérite (military), 22 March 1879
- Knight of the Black Eagle, 10 December 1883
- Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, with Swords, 15 March 1878
- Grand Duchy of Hesse: Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 21 November 1893[9]
- Mecklenburg:
- Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, Grand Cross, 16 August 1874
- Military Merit Cross, 21 May 1878
- Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 30 April 1878[10]
- Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 26 April 1874
- Kingdom of Greece: Knight of the Redeemer, 10 August 1875; Grand Cross, 21 May 1878
- Victor Emmanuel III of Italy[12]
- Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 30 April 1909[13]
- Principality of Montenegro: Medal for Military Distinction, 1 May 1878[14]
- Romania:
- Medal for Military Virtue, 20 October 1877
- Iron Cross for the Crossing of the Danube in 1877, 1878
- Principality of Serbia:
- Medal for Military Merit, 1 May 1878
- Grand Cross of the Star of Karađorđe, 11 August 1911[14]
- Siam[15]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia |
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References
- ^ a b Maylunas, Andrei, and Mironenko, Sergei, editors; Galy, Darya, translator, A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story, 1997
- ^ Zeepvat, Charlotte, The Camera and the Tsars, 2006
- ^ "Vera Constantinovna, Russian Princess, Dies at 94." The New York Times, 20 January 2001
- ^ "Romanov Family Papers". Hoover Institution Library & Archives. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ Russian Imperial Army – Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Archived 10 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine (In Russian)
- ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
- ^ "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste", Preussische Ordens-Liste (in German), 1, Berlin: 9, 15, 1886 – via hathitrust.org
- ^ "Ludewigs-orden", Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1898, p. 9 – via hathitrust.org
- ^ Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg0: 1879. Schulze. 1879. p. 31.
- ^ Italy. Ministero dell'interno (1920). Calendario generale del regno d'Italia. p. 57.
- ^ "Latest intelligence – Italy and Russia". The Times. No. 36823. London. 18 July 1902. p. 3.
- ^ 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. p. 150.
- ^ a b Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 618.
- Royal Thai Government Gazette (7 September 1902). "ส่งเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์และเหรียญราชรุจิไปพระราชทาน" (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
External links
- K. R. Poems (in Russian)
- The King of the Jews, (Play), Funk & Wagnalls, NY, 1914. from Archive.org