Nikolai Kulikovsky
Nikolai Kulikovsky | |
---|---|
Cooksville, Ontario, Canada | |
Spouse | Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia |
Children | Tikhon Nikolaevich (1917–1993) Guri Nikolaevich (1919–1984) |
Parent(s) | Alexander Nikanorovich Kulikovsky and Eudoxia Nikolaevna Kharina[1] |
Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky
He was born into a military landowning family from the south of the Russian Empire, and followed the family tradition by entering the army. In 1903, he was noticed by Grand Duchess Olga during a military review, and they became close friends. Olga wanted to divorce her first husband, Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, and marry Kulikovsky, but neither her husband nor her brother, the Tsar, would allow it.
During World War I, Olga eventually obtained a divorce and married Kulikovsky. They had two sons. Her brother was deposed in the
Early life
Nikolai Kulikovsky was born into a military family from the Voronezh province of Russia. His grandfather was a general during the Napoleonic Wars, and his family owned two large estates in Ukraine. He rode from an early age, became an expert horseman, and was educated at Petrograd Real College of Gurevich, followed by the Nicholas Cavalry College , from where he graduated with a degree.[3]
He joined the Blue
Kulikovsky was appointed as captain in the Blue Cuirassiers and posted to the provinces. By 1906, he and Olga were corresponding regularly,[6] when Olga's husband Duke Peter appointed Kulikovsky as his aide-de-camp. With Peter's permission, Kulikovsky moved into the 200-room residence in Sergievskaya Street, Saint Petersburg, that Peter shared with Olga.[7] According to a fellow officer, gossip about a possible romance between Kulikovsky and the Grand Duchess, based on little more than their holding hands in public, spread through high society.[8]
Marriage and revolution
Though Olga repeatedly asked
At the outbreak of
During the war, internal tensions and economic deprivation in Russia continued to mount and revolutionary sympathies grew. After Nicholas II was deposed in early 1917, many members of the Romanov dynasty, including Nicholas and his immediate family, were held under house arrest. The new government retired Kulikovsky from the army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[17] Dowager Empress Marie, Grand Duke Alexander, Grand Duchess Olga, and Kulikovsky managed to escape to the Crimea where they lived for a time before they too were placed under house arrest at one of the imperial estates.[18] As a commoner, Kulikovsky was permitted more freedom of movement than the Romanovs, and was occasionally able to leave the estate in a pony-cart, which allowed him to run errands, obtain food, and seek news of the outside.[19] On 12 August 1917, Olga and Kulikovsky's first child and son, Tikhon, was born in the Crimea. He was named after one of the Grand Duchess's favorite saints, Tikhon of Zadonsk.[20] Although the grandson of an emperor and the nephew of another, Tikhon received no titles because his father was a commoner.[21]
As newspapers were banned and letters infrequent, the Romanovs under house arrest knew little of the fate of Tsar Nicholas and his family. Nicholas,
When Germany surrendered to the
After a brief stay with the Danish consul, the family were shipped to a refugee camp on the island of
Danish residency and exodus
Without a role or rank, Kulikovsky brooded in Denmark, becoming moody and listless.[34] A spinal injury sustained during the war, for which he had to wear a corset, remained unhealed.[35] In 1925, Kulikovsky accompanied his wife to a Berlin nursing home to meet Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Olga's niece, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. According to Harriet von Rathlef, who witnessed the meeting, while Olga and Anderson conversed, he sat in a corner and sulked.[36] Although Olga felt sympathy for Anderson, if only because she was ill, she eventually denounced her as an impostor. Possibly, she was pressured to do so by Kulikovsky and Dowager Empress Marie.[37]
Marie died on 13 October 1928, and the Kulikovskys moved out of Hvidøre. After a brief stay in the Amalienborg Palace, the Kulikovskys moved to Holte, near Klampenborg,[35] where a Danish millionaire, Gorm Rasmussen, engaged Kulikovsky to manage his stables.[38] Hvidøre and some of Marie's jewellery were sold. With Olga's inheritance, Kulikovsky and his family were able to purchase Knudsminde Farm, several miles outside of Copenhagen. Kulikovsky was appointed to the board of a Russian insurance company based in Copenhagen, and oversaw the running of the farm.[35] The farm-estate became a center for the Russian monarchist and anti-Bolshevik community in Denmark.[39]
On 2 February 1935, he and Olga attended and acted as godparents, to the baptizing of Aleksander Schalburg, the son of Christian Frederik von Schalburg.[40]
On 9 April 1940, neutral Denmark was invaded by
Later life
In May 1948, the Kulikovskys travelled to London by Danish troopship. They were housed in a
By 1952, the farm had become a burden to the elderly couple. Their sons had moved away; labour was hard to come by; Kulikovsky suffered increasing back pain and disability, and some of Olga's remaining jewellery was stolen.
By 1952, Kulikovsky had shrunk more than 4 inches (10 cm) from his peak height of 6 ft 2 inches (188 cm). He distrusted conventional medicine and tried homeopathy instead.[57] By 1958, he was virtually paralyzed, and had difficulty sleeping. At the end of his life he was sleeping on the sofa in the living room of the couple's Cooksville house, to avoid waking his wife. He died there on the night of 11 August 1958.[58] His estate was valued at 12,123.47 Canadian dollars,[59] about 98,000 Canadian dollars as of 2012.[60] The Grand Duchess died two years later, and was interred next to her husband in York Cemetery, Toronto.[61]
Notes and sources
- ^ Huberty et al., p. 620
- ^ Russian: Николай Александрович Куликовский
- ^ a b Phenix, p. 63
- ^ Phenix, p. 62
- ^ Phenix, p. 52
- ^ Phenix, p. 71
- ^ Phenix, p. 73; Vorres, pp. 94–95
- ^ A Cuirassier's Memoirs by Vladimir Trubetskoy, quoted in Phenix, p. 73
- ^ Phenix, pp. 85–86; Vorres, p. 108
- ^ Phenix, pp. 85–86
- ^ Letter from Grand Duchess Olga to Tsar Nicholas II, 16 May 1916, State Archive of the Russian Federation, 643 28, quoted in Phenix, p. 97
- ^ Letter from Grand Duchess Olga to Tsar Nicholas II, 18 June 1916, State Archive of the Russian Federation, 601 1316, quoted in Phenix, p. 98
- ^ Phenix, p. 103
- ^ Grand Duke Alexander's Memoirs, Once A Grand Duke, p. 273, quoted in Phenix, p. 104
- ^ Phenix, p. 105
- ^ Phenix, p. 106
- ^ Phenix, p. 115
- ^ Phenix, pp. 115–118; Vorres, pp. 149-153
- ^ Vorres, p. 153
- ^ Phenix, pp. 57–58, 119
- Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, 23 April 1906, section 2, chapters 3 and 5
- ^ Phenix, p. 119
- ^ Phenix, p. 122; Vorres, pp. 155–156; Zeepvat, p. 152
- ^ Phenix, pp. 123–125; Vorres, pp. 156–157
- ^ Phenix, p. 128; Vorres, p. 159
- ^ Vorres, p. 160
- ^ Vorres, pp. 160–162
- ^ Phenix, pp. 130–131; Vorres, pp. 160–163
- ^ Kulikovsky-Romanoff, p. 5
- ^ Phenix, p. 132
- ^ Phenix, pp. 132–134; Vorres, p. 165
- ^ Phenix, p. 135
- ^ Phenix, p. 134; Vorres, p. 172
- ^ Phenix, p. 138
- ^ a b c Phenix, p. 168
- ^ Kurth, p. 112
- ^ Phenix, p. 155
- ^ Vorres, pp. 184–185
- ^ Phenix, p. 170
- ^ "Fødte Mandkøn" [Born Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1915-1945 (in Danish). Den Ortodokse Russiske Kirke i København. 1934. p. 14.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Phenix, p. 174
- ^ Phenix, p. 176; Vorres, p. 187
- ^ Phenix, p. 179
- ^ Phenix, pp. 179–180; Vorres, pp. 187–188
- ^ Mr. J. S. P. Armstrong, Agent General for Ontario, quoted in Vorres, p. 191
- ^ Phenix, p. 184; Vorres, p. 191
- ^ Vorres, pp. 188, 190
- ^ Vorres, p. 193
- ^ Vorres, p. 196
- ^ Vorres, pp. 196–198
- ^ Phenix, p. 193
- ^ Vorres, pp. 207–208
- ^ Phenix, pp. 205–206; Vorres, p. 209
- ^ Phenix, p. 207; Vorres, p. 210
- ^ Vorres, pp. 200–205
- ^ Phenix, p. 214; Vorres, p. 211
- ^ Phenix, p. 206
- ^ Phenix, p. 231
- ^ Phenix, p. 232
- ^ CPI inflation calculator Archived 2007-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, Bank of Canada, retrieved 5 July 2012
- ^ Vorres, pp. 227–230
References
- Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. & B. (1994) L'Allemagne Dynastique, Vol. VII. Le Perreux, France: Alain Giraud. ISBN 2-901138-07-1
- Kulikovsky-Romanoff, Olga (Undated) "The Unfading Light of Charity: Grand Duchess Olga As a Philanthropist And Painter", Historical Magazine, Gatchina, Russia: Gatchina Through The Centuries, retrieved 6 March 2010
- Kurth, Peter (1983). Anastasia: The Life of Anna Anderson. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-02951-7
- Phenix, Patricia (1999). Olga Romanov: Russia's Last Grand Duchess. Viking/Penguin. ISBN 0-14-028086-3
- Vorres, Ian (2001) [1964]. The Last Grand Duchess. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN 1-55263-302-0
- Zeepvat, Charlotte (2000). Romanov Autumn. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-4418-8