Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia

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This article is about the former claimant to the Russian imperial throne. For his namesake grandfather, see
St Vladimir, Grand Duke of Rus
.
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich
St. Petersburg
, Russia
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1948)​
Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
FatherGrand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia
MotherPrincess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (Russian: Владимир Кириллович Романов; 30 August [O.S. 17 August] 1917 – 21 April 1992) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia, a position which he claimed from 1938 to his death.

Early life

Vladimir was born Prince Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia at

Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia
.

Vladimir's family had fled to Finland after the

court.[3]

In the 1930s Vladimir lived for a period in England studying at the

landowner.[4]

Russian heir and World War II

Vladimir Kirillovich in 1925

On the death of his father on 12 October 1938, Vladimir assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia.[2] In 1938 there were suggestions that he would be made regent of Ukraine but he rebuffed the idea, saying he would not help dissolve Russia.[4]

During World War II, Vladimir was living in Saint-Briac-sur-Mer in Brittany. On June 26, 1941, he issued this statement: "In this grave hour, when Germany and almost all the nations of Europe have declared a crusade against Communism and Bolshevism, which has enslaved and oppressed the people of Russia for twenty-four years, I turn to all the faithful and loyal sons of our Homeland with this appeal: Do what you can, to the best of your ability, to bring down the Bolshevik regime and to liberate our Homeland from the terrible yoke of Communism."[citation needed] In 1942, Vladimir and his entourage were placed in an internment camp at Compiègne after he refused to issue a manifesto calling on Russian émigrés to support Nazi Germany's war against the Soviet Union.[4]

In 1944 the

American occupation zone
.

Vladimir's maternal aunt,

Infanta Beatrice of Orléans-Borbon, secured for him a Spanish visa. He subsequently lived with her in Sanlúcar de Barrameda
.

Post war and marriage

After the war he spent most of his time in Madrid, with frequent stays at his property in Brittany, as well as in Paris.

Vladimir married

Russian empire in 1801.[7] Yet the royal status of the House of Bagration had been recognized by Russia in the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk and was confirmed by Vladimir Kirillovich on 5 December 1946 as claimed head of the Russian imperial house. However the last ruling emperor of Imperial Russia Nicholas II had deemed marriage in this family of Princess Tatiana Constantinova in 1911, as morganatic.[8] Some controversy therefore arises as to whether Vladimir's marriage to Leonida was equal or morganatic, and whether his claim to the Imperial throne validly passed to his daughter Maria, to some other dynast, or to no one upon his death.[8]

Following Vladimir's public designation of his daughter as "curatrix of the throne", in anticipation that she would eventually succeed him as head of the dynasty in exile, the heads of three of the other branches of the imperial family—the Princes

Sheremetyev, while Andrei Alexandrovich had two sons by Donna Elisabeth Ruffo of a Russian branch of the Princes di San Sant' Antimo) and that his wife was of no higher status than the wives of the other Romanov princes.[9]

In 1952 he called on the

Western powers to wage war against the Soviet Union. On 23 December 1969 Vladimir issued a controversial decree whereby in the event he predeceased the living male Romanovs that he recognised as dynasts then his daughter Maria would become the "Curatrix of the Imperial Throne".[10] This has been viewed as an attempt by Vladimir to ensure the succession remained in his branch of the imperial family,[11] while the heads of the other branches declared that Vladimir's actions were illegal.[9]

Vladimir was able to visit Russia in November 1991 when he was invited to visit

St Petersburg by its Mayor Anatoly Sobchak.[4]

Death and succession dispute

Grand Duke Vladimir died while addressing a gathering of Spanish-speaking bankers and investors in

St. Petersburg, the first Romanov to be honoured in this way since before the revolution. The press noted that the funeral "was regarded by civic and Russian authorities as an obligation to the Romanov family rather than a step toward restoration of the monarchy." As he was only a great-grandson of a recognized Russian emperor, his claimed title of "Grand Duke of Russia" caused problems as to what to put on his tombstone.[12]

After his death, his daughter

Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia who had been chosen president of the self-styled "Romanov Family Association" prior to the death of Grand Duke Vladimir.[13][14]

Honours

Ancestry

References

  1. New York Times
    . 30 August 1991. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  2. ^ a b Almanach de Gotha (182nd ed.). Almanach de Gotha. 1998. p. 214.
  3. ^ a b "Grand Duke Cyril Dies In Paris Exile". New York Times. 13 October 1938. p. 23.
  4. ^
    New York Times
    . Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  5. ^ "The Royal Contemporary of the Revolution". Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Grand Duchess Leonida of Russia". 28 May 2010 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. ^ Massie, p 268
  8. ^
    ISBN 91-630-5964-9
  9. ^ a b Massie p 269
  10. ^ "Maria I Wladimirovna". imperialhouse.ru. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  11. ^ Massie p 263
  12. New York Times
    . Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Nikolai Romanov Prince of Russia Presentation". nikolairomanov.com. 26 September 2002. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  14. ^ "Letter: A Romanoff perspective on Russian pretenders". The Independent. 13 October 1994. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  15. ISBN 9780953214273
    .

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov at Wikimedia Commons

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia
House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 30 August 1917 Died: 21 April 1992
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Cyril Vladimirovich
 — TITULAR —
Emperor of Russia
12 October 1938 – 21 April 1992
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1917 		Succeeded by
Disputed
Nicholas Romanovich

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