The legendary Yusupovs and the secret of their origin. Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston Felix Felixovich (Prince Felix Yusupov Jr.) Prince Nikolai Yusupov
Princess I.M. Yusupov. Record of the acquisition on the book of St. Demetrius of Rostov. 1786. GMUA.
Religious and moral education of children in Russia was usually assigned to the mother. Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova was a woman of a modest, gentle, simple disposition, but firm, especially in the affairs of the Faith, character.
Little is known for certain about Princess Irina Mikhailovna and her relationship with her only son. One can only guess how touching they were. The princess bought books for her son, ordered his naive children's portrait in an officer's uniform. Nikolai Borisovich himself - in his old age one of the first Russian nobles - ordered to be buried next to his mother in her small family estate near Moscow, and not at all in a fashionable cemetery, where his surviving enemies could envy his magnificent gravestone ...
Irina Mikhailovna read not only fashionable French novels, which was then supposed to be done by any lady of high society. She spent many evenings reading the Menaion, the Lives of the Saints of Saint Demetrius of Rostov. For several centuries this extensive edition has been considered in Rus' a favorite popular reading. Irina Mikhailovna became a great admirer of Saint Demetrius, who in the middle of the 18th century had just been canonized as an Orthodox saint who shone forth in the Russian Land. She dedicated her house church in the St. Petersburg house to the memory of the Rostov Metropolitan. The books of St. Demetrius were carefully kept in his library by Prince Nikolai Borisovich.
In the age of Voltairianism and fashionable mockery of religious feelings, Irina Mikhailovna managed to instill in her son a deep Faith, as evidenced by some documents from the prince's archive. It’s another matter that outwardly showing one’s personal religiosity in those days was supposed to be very restrained - after all, the Yusupovs were not enthusiastic converts that literally pester everyone with their petty religious problems and doubts.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., grandson of the prince, a man of a completely different time, was more open in his religious views. He gave considerable support to Orthodoxy in hard years approaching unbelief, one of the first to point out to Russian society the future saint - the righteous John of Kronstadt, through whose prayers several miracles happened in the Yusupov family.
In Arkhangelsk, a small bas-relief by the little-known Russian sculptor F. Titov is kept, where Irina Mikhailovna is depicted playing solitaire, a kind of “gymnastics for the mind”. This portrait was in the personal rooms of Nikolai Borisovich. The simplicity and gentleness of the mother's disposition largely passed on to the son, although the position of a great nobleman sometimes forced him to behave with strangers in a closed and emphasized arrogance. The sculptor also sculpted a profile bas-relief portrait of the youngest prince at the age of twelve or thirty, emphasizing some self-confident arrogance, so characteristic of adolescents. Apparently, the portrait adorned the rooms of Irina Mikhailovna in Spas-Kotovo. A small hole for a nail was made in the upper part of both bas-reliefs, so that the image would be more convenient to hang on the wall.
According to tradition, for the people of the circle of princes Yusupovs, home education was not limited only to classes with tutors. Nikolai Borisovich's father, taking advantage of his official position, as well as the love of the cadets and teachers of the Cadet Corps for him, invited them to study with his son. Among the teachers of the young prince there were many immigrants from Holland. The Dutch, as you know, had a great influence on the formation of the emperor-transformer Peter the Great and on the formation of the new capital of Russia - St. Petersburg. Indeed, the representatives of this people have a lot to learn. Constant communication with foreigners, an example of their "German" punctuality, developed perseverance in the young prince, the ability to work regularly. These skills allowed Nikolai Borisovich, already in his youth, to freely master five foreign languages - both living and dead. Moreover, living languages - not only French - were in constant use. This characterizes Yusupov as a person who constantly strived, at the behest of his own soul, to master new knowledge.
Nikolai Borisovich also had an excellent command of Russian; not so much literary as colloquial. Everyday intonation is constantly present in his written instructions, to a certain extent conveying the style of the prince's oral speech with all its whimsical turns of a learned husband, often communicating with ordinary peasants. By the way, Yusupov was taught Russian, as was the custom then, by an ordinary deacon. That is why in the princely orders - and he did not write them with his own hand very often, traces of knowledge of Church Slavonic letters are clearly traced. For the eighteenth century, the phenomenon is quite common among people from high society.
“Those residents of St. Petersburg and Moscow who consider themselves enlightened people make sure that their children know French, surround them with foreigners, give them expensive dance and music teachers, but do not teach them their native language, so this is beautiful and expensive worthwhile education leads to complete ignorance of the motherland, to indifference and even contempt for the country with which our existence is inextricably linked, and to attachment to France. However, it must be admitted that the nobility that lives in the interior provinces is not infected with this unforgivable delusion. .
He recalled in some detail about his childhood, about his studies, about knowledge. mother tongue in the "Notes" that I have just quoted, Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, Yusupov's senior peer, who was related to him on the maternal side through his brother Semyon Romanovich, who was married to one of the Zinovievs, is a man who belonged to the same circle with Nikolai Borisovich. Alexander Romanovich was born in 1741 and was ten years older than Yusupov. The sister of the brothers A.R. and S.R. Vorontsov was the famous Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, president of two Russian Academies, a lady as educated as she was bilious, who left her much more famous Notes to posterity. A very wise essay by her brother, alas, is known mainly to a narrow circle of specialists in the history of the eighteenth century.
Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, like Yusupov, was immensely rich, had many activities that were pleasant for the soul and mind - he loved the theater, collected paintings and graphics. The most intelligent people of the era became his interlocutors. It seemed that nothing prevented him from living as a free master-sybarite. However, Vorontsov also entered into public service, held many responsible and troublesome positions, reached the highest rank in Russia of the State Chancellor (as the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs was then called) and did a lot of useful things for his country. Despite the fact that Catherine II and Paul I treated him personally, as well as the entire Vorontsov family, without the slightest sympathy - only business qualities were valued, because there were many simply nice people, few workers.
Here is a clear evidence of the quality of home noble education of that time: “Father tried to give us such a good upbringing as was possible in Russia,” recalled A.R. Vorontsov. “My uncle sent a governess for us from Berlin. We quietly learned French, and already from the age of 5 or 6 we showed a decided inclination to read books. I must say that although the education we were given was not distinguished by either the brilliance or the extra expenses used for this subject in our time, it nevertheless had many the good side. Its main advantage was that at that time they did not neglect the study of the Russian language, which in our time is no longer included in the education program. It can be said that Russia is the only country where they neglect the study of their native language and everything that concerns the country in which people were born into the world; It goes without saying that I mean here the modern generation.(8a).
An important role in the education of the young Prince Yusupov was played by books that entered the life of Nikolai Borisovich early. The parents tried to lay the foundation for his future famous library, although they themselves were not great bibliophiles and hardly imagined that their son's library would become one of the largest in Russia and Europe. Books in the house were more like familiar interlocutors. Boris Grigoryevich, a great lover of reading, took the publications of interest to him at the Academy of Sciences for reading, and Irina Mikhailovna bought them.
One of the first books of the young prince was preserved in the Arkhangelsk library. This is the Court Letterbook, published in Amsterdam in 1696. On the flyleaf at the end of the book there is also the first ex-libris of the prince - the signature: “Prince Nicola a’ 9 ans.”. There is also a “self-portrait”, a figurine of a boy - a hand-drawn drawing of the nine-year-old prince Nicola.
Some educational drawings of the young Nikolai Borisovich have been preserved, and even a painting work - “The Cow”. Drawing was included in the circle of obligatory subjects of education for noble youth not only in the middle of the 18th century, but also much later, as evidenced by clearly amateur charade drawings from the Yusupov family album of the middle of the 19th century.
Irina Mikhailovna, presumably, quite often pampered her son with book gifts - another thing is that relatively little special children's or simply good educational literature was produced in the middle of the 18th century. So I had to donate books intended more for adult reading. In 1764, Irina Mikhailovna presented her 13-year-old son with the "History of Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia", about which a corresponding entry was made on the flyleaf of the book. It is still kept in the library of the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum.
It was the library that could tell a lot about Prince Yusupov; to tell about what Nikolai Borisovich's contemporaries remained unknown to, and his descendants were not at all interested in. Unfortunately, the scientific catalog of the Arkhangelsky estate library, unique in its preservation, has not yet been introduced into scientific circulation, and a significant part of the Yusupovs' book collection remains inaccessible to researchers outside the museum.
Count A.R. Vorontsov: “My father ordered for us a fairly well-organized library, which contained the best French authors and poets, as well as books of historical content, so that when I was 12 years old, I was already well acquainted with the works of Voltaire, Racine, Corneille, Boileau and others. French writers. Among these books was a collection of almost one hundred volumes of numbers of the journal: The Key to Acquaintance with the Cabinets of European Sovereigns, which began in 1700. I mention this collection because from it I learned about everything that happened in Russia, the most interesting and most remarkable since 1700. This edition had a great influence on my inclination towards history and politics; it aroused in me a desire to know everything that concerns these subjects, and especially in relation to Russia. .
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, studied all his life, because he read all his life and strove to acquire new knowledge. By his old age, he had collected a huge library, distinguished not only by bibliographic rarities, but also by great completeness. Many books on various fields of knowledge - both humanitarian and natural - have retained the prince's own notes, indicating that he was an attentive and interested reader, and not just a collector of books. It is no coincidence that S.A. Sobolevsky - the largest Russian bibliophile, a bilious person and by no means inclined to give out compliments, called Prince Yusupov an outstanding scientist - an expert on culture, not only foreign, but also Russian. The habit of everyday reading is usually laid down in childhood. By the way, Yusupov and Sobolevsky were clubmates and met more than once at the Moscow English Club.
The traditional education of boys and girls in Russia took place in a certain social circle. The children of Prince Yusupov were brought up with peers from familiar aristocratic families.
One of them is the family of the Counts Panins and their nephews, the princes Kurakin brothers. Yusupov was related to the Kurakins through sisters. Alexander and Alexei Kurakins became childhood friends of Nikolai Borisovich. One was a little older than him, the other, like the future Emperor Paul I, was several years younger. In childhood, as you know, even a small difference in age is very noticeable. Therefore, Yusupov cannot be called a childhood friend of the heir Pavel Petrovich. Closer and warmer relations arose only in early youth, and later strengthened when Nikolai Borisovich accompanied the heir to the throne and his wife on a trip abroad. Yusupov remained a close friend of the imperial couple until the death of Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna.
In the 18th century, court etiquette, of course, was observed very strictly, but for the children of nobles close to the court of Elizabeth Petrovna, quite understandable concessions were made - children are children. It is no coincidence that one of the Kurakin brothers called the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, in letters simply and familiarly affectionately - Pavlushka. That's who observed the court etiquette to the smallest detail, so it's just the grown-up Paul I, who ascended the imperial throne after the death of his mother, Catherine the Great.
Much more information has been preserved about the first years of the life of the future emperor than about the childhood of the “simple” Prince Yusupov, although the circle of their occupations at that time did not differ much. Here are some extracts from the famous "Notebooks" for 1765 by S.A. Poroshin, who was constantly with the young heir to the throne and made notes immediately after the events.
March 27th. Shoe became, wood lice crawled; he was afraid that they would crush him, and he shouted. March 28th. Before that, he quarreled with the Grand Duke (Paul), forcing him to play music. Very reluctantly vulgar, he defended himself with his right that he was now completely dismissed from teaching; lazy person; after that he played chess with Kurakin; frolic, ate supper, went to bed. 30th of March. When they arrived, they played Kurakin and played chess ... before dinner, I watched the puppet theater. March 31. They played chess, rolled Kurakin and put him on a bottle, in a billbox. We sat down at the table, dined with us Pyotr Ivanovich (Panin), gr. Ivan Grigoryevich, Talyzin, Cruz, Stroganov. We talked about various poisons, then about the French ministry. We got up, again dragged Kurakin. 5th of April. We went to the kurtag, which was in the gallery. The Empress played picket. The Tsarevich stood like that. Arriving there, he teased Kurakin with his prank, and he did not stay for supper. After that, he became very polite.” .
The April 16 entry is perhaps the most remarkable. It shows how simplicity of morals was present in everyday court life, if even the enlightened educator of the heir, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, did not disdain the described “fun”. “I played shuttlecocks. I learned very well. Fektoval. In berlan. Had supper. As soon as the undresser conceived, Nikita Ivanovich came and was here until the Sovereign lay down at half past nine. Then Nikita Ivanovich himself led Kurakin into the dark passage to Stroganov and, after a fright, returned. The others took Kurakin to Stroganov. There, Stroganov's servants dressed up in a white shirt and a wig. Kurakin was a cruel coward." The next day, the "frightening" of the tsar's friend Kurakin continued. Meanwhile, Paul, ten years old, already expressed quite sound thoughts; some of them are fixed: “we always want the forbidden, and that this is based on human nature” or “you study well: you always learn something new”.
Already at the age of 11, the future emperor knew firsthand about some problems family life. Once at dinner, he said: “When I get married, I will love my wife very much and I will be jealous. I really don't want to have horns." Pavel very early turned his favorable attention to some court ladies, among whom, according to rumors, was one of the beautiful princesses of the Yusupovs, the sister of Nikolai Borisovich ...
During the reign of Empresses Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine the Great, the children of all people close to the Court began to go out early, much earlier than Natasha Rostova, by the way, the daughter of the foreman of the Moscow English Club, whose first ball is described by Count L.N. Tolstoy. Here is what Count A.R. recalled about his first trips to high society. Vorontsov.
“Empress Elizabeth, distinguished by benevolence and friendliness to all those around her, was even interested in the children of persons belonging to her court. She largely retained the old Russian manners, which were very similar to the old patriarchal manners. Although we were still children, she allowed us to be at her court on her reception days and sometimes gave, in her inner apartments, balls for both sexes of the children of those persons who were at court. I have a memory of one of these balls, which was attended by 60 to 80 children. We were seated for supper, and the tutors and governesses accompanying us dined at a special table. The Empress was very interested in watching us dance and dine, and she herself sat down to dine with our fathers and mothers. Thanks to this habit of seeing the yard, we imperceptibly got used to the great light and society. .
The children formed friendships "in the light" and outside the walls of the royal palace. “There was another custom,” recalled Count A.R. Vorontsov, - who contributed a lot to making us cheeky, namely, that the children of persons who were at court mutually visited each other on holidays and Sundays. Balls were arranged between them, to which they always went accompanied by tutors and governesses. .
“The spectacle is a public fun that corrects human morals,” wrote the famous Russian actor of the 18th century P.A. Melters about theatrical performances. Count A.R. Vorontsov in "Notes" said that, according to tradition, people of his circle visited theatrical performances since childhood. “French comedies were given twice a week at the court theater, and our father took us there with him to the box. I mention this circumstance because it greatly contributed to the fact that from early childhood we received a strong inclination towards reading and literature. .
It is clear that Nikolai Borisovich also visited the theater at the Cadet Corps, using his father's official box, he also visited court performances in the Winter Palace.
Theater, books, painting - all this occupied far from the last place throughout the life of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. He joined everything beautiful in childhood, which passed under the scrutiny of his father. The death of Prince Boris Grigoryevich was the first great loss of life for his eight-year-old son.
Meanwhile, as long as the young prince's home studies continued, his military career took shape by itself. In 1761, Nikolai Borisovich was promoted from cornet to second lieutenant of the same Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. According to the art critic Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, at the age of 16, Yusupov entered the real military service. However, this information may turn out to be erroneous - one of the first biographers of Prince Nikolai Borisovich introduced many unique documents of the Yusupov archive into scientific circulation, but in his dating of events and facts, confusion happened all the time, so that even at the age of 16, Yusupov could "serve", as well as before, at home.
In 1771, Nikolai Borisovich was promoted to lieutenant, and the military service of the prince ended there. Was there some kind of "story" that caused the collapse of Yusupov's military career, which is a dull mention in the two-volume book "On the family of the Yusupov princes"? Most likely no. It’s just that Nikolai Borisovich, according to the turn of his mind and character, was not intended to carry out commands and walk in formation, as well as prancing on a horse. The following year, he received his resignation and the title of chamberlain of the Imperial Court.
In the presence of "history", obtaining a court rank would be a difficult matter, even with great connections. Maybe the young prince lost a little at cards or got carried away by a married lady? Then such “sins of youth” were considered in the order of things and you can’t make a special “story” out of this with all your desire. In addition, Nikolai Borisovich, like his ancestors, always remained a person not only well-intentioned, but also very cautious.
It should be noted that Russian nobles, as well as nobles in all countries, from time immemorial have been divided into two very uneven categories. One, invariably large, was only listed in the service, while all matters were decided by ordinary secretaries and head clerks. The other - traditionally not numerous, was engaged in state affairs in the most serious way. Prince Yusupov belonged to the second. It would seem that he had very broad interests, backed up by huge material opportunities for their implementation, but instead of living for his own pleasure as a “great Russian master”, Prince Nikolai Borisovich devoted a lot of effort, attention and time to the performance of state duties, to which he regularly attracted all Russian emperors and empresses, from Catherine the Great to Nicholas I inclusive. At the same time, it must be remembered that the state salary-salary of a Russian official at all times remained quite modest - it goes without saying that the "sovereign's man" would simply pronounce the cherished formula - "you have to wait", and the rest depends on sleight of hand... Borisovich allows us to attribute him to a rare type of "not taking" officials. On the contrary, Prince Yusupov did his best to do good to his subordinates, including financially, giving them part of his salary, asking for them "at the top" awards and pensions.
Moscow
Official positions held: chief manager of the Armory and the Expedition of the Kremlin Building, director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-1796), director of the Hermitage (1797), headed the palace glass, porcelain and tapestry factories (since 1792), senator (since 1788), active privy councilor ( 1796), minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-1816), member of the State Council (since 1823).
Biography
The only son of the Moscow mayor Boris Yusupov, a representative of the richest princely family of the Yusupovs, who died on his great-granddaughter Zinaida.
Helping to acquire works of art for Empress Catherine II and her son Paul I, the prince was an intermediary in the execution of imperial orders by European artists. Thus, the Yusupov collection was formed from the same sources as the imperial one, therefore, the Yusupov collection contained works by major landscape painters. Family traditions and membership in the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs had a significant impact on his personality and fate. In its long life, several stages can be distinguished that were of decisive importance for the formation of the collection.
First of all, this is the first educational trip abroad in 1774-1777, staying in Holland and studying at the University of Leiden. Then interest in European culture and art awakened, and a passion for collecting arose. During these years, he made a Grand Tour, visiting England, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria. It was presented to many European monarchs, was adopted by Diderot and Voltaire.
My books and a few good pictures and drawings are my only entertainment.
N. B. Yusupov
In Leiden, Yusupov acquired rare collectible books, paintings and drawings. Among them is the edition of Cicero, issued by the famous Venetian firm of Aldov (Manutius), with a commemorative inscription about the purchase: “a Leide 1e mardi 7bre de l’annee 1774” (in Leiden on the first Tuesday of September 1774). In Italy, the prince met the German landscape painter J. F. Hackert, who became his adviser and expert. Hackert painted on his order the paired landscapes Morning in the Outskirts of Rome and Evening in the Outskirts of Rome, completed in 1779 (both - the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate). Antiquity and modern art - these two main hobbies of Yusupov will continue to determine the main artistic preferences, consonant with the era of the formation and development of the last great international artistic style in European art - classicism.
The second important stage in the formation of the collection was the 1780s. As a person versed in the arts and well-known at European courts, Yusupov entered the retinue and accompanied the Count and Countess of the North (Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna) on a trip to Europe in 1781-1782. Possessing great knowledge, a taste for the fine arts, he performed the instructions of Pavel Petrovich and significantly expanded his ties with artists and commission agents, for the first time visited the workshops of the most famous artists - A. Kaufman in Venice and P. Batoni, engraver D. Volpato, widely known for reproduction engravings from the works of Raphael in the Vatican and Rome, G. Robert, C. J. Vernet, J.-B. Greuze and J.-A. Houdon in Paris. Then relations with these artists were maintained over the years, contributing to the replenishment of the personal collection of the prince.
1790s - the rapid rise of Yusupov's career. He fully demonstrates his devotion to the Russian throne, both to the aging Empress Catherine II and to Emperor Paul I. At the coronation of Paul I, he was appointed supreme coronation marshal. He performed the same role at the coronations of Alexander I and Nicholas I.
From 1791 to 1802, Yusupov held important government posts: director of the imperial theatrical performances in St. Petersburg (since 1791), director of the imperial glass and porcelain factories and tapestry manufactory (since 1792), president of the manufactory board (since 1796) and minister of appanages (since 1800). ).
In 1794, Nikolai Borisovich was elected an honorary amateur of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1797, Paul I gave him control of the Hermitage, where the imperial art collection was located. The art gallery was headed by the Pole Franz Labensky, who had previously been the curator of the art gallery of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, whom Yusupov accompanied during his stay in St. Petersburg. A new complete inventory of the Hermitage collection was carried out. The compiled inventory served as the main inventory until the middle of the 19th century.
The government posts held by the prince made it possible to directly influence the development of national art and artistic crafts. He acquired the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, turning it into a model of a palace and park ensemble. Yusupov is the founder of the famous tribal assembly, an outstanding and most striking personality. He collected a large collection of paintings (over 600 canvases), sculptures, works of applied art, books (over 20 thousand), porcelain, most of which he placed in the estate.
- Examples of paintings from the collection of N. B. Yusupov
| The only thing Moscow is now busy with is the death of Prince Yusupov. On Tuesday, he was still quite healthy, dined with great appetite, ate a lot of peaches, grapes and melons. At night he complained of stomach pains. The people, fearing that it might not be cholera, sent for a doctor. Then came vomiting. People, seeing that the doctor was in great fear, sent for the priest, who was kept hidden next to the patient's room, when the patient was offered to fulfill his duty to the church, he gladly agreed and he was confessed and communed. After that, he felt even worse, and by 6 o'clock in the morning he was gone. |
Personal life
Wife - Tatyana Vasilievna, nee Engelhardt (1769-1841), widow of M. S. Potemkin, niece of Prince G. A. Potemkin, one of the heirs of the latter. Sons:
- Boris (1794-1849) - chamberlain, honorary guardian. Since 1827 he has been married to Zinaida Ivanovna Naryshkina.
- Nicholas (died in infancy).
Among Yusupov's favorites were the French ballerina Bigottini and the St. Petersburg dancer Arina Tukmanova. In 1820, the prince took under his patronage the student Didlo, 18-year-old Ekaterina Petrovna Kolosova, who, according to the choreographer Glushkovsky, “was not a beauty, but a talented artist; the St. Petersburg public loved her very much.” She died after living with the prince for no more than four years and leaving him two sons. Yusupov gave the children the name Gireysky and put 50 thousand rubles each. to the Board of Trustees. One of them died at the age of seven, the other, Sergei Nikolaevich, received a good education and lived mostly abroad.
Awards
- Commander of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (1798)
- diamond signs to the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (1801)
- Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class (1814)
- insignia for 50 years of impeccable service (08/22/1830)
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Notes
Literature
- Shilov D. N., Kuzmin Yu. A. Members of the State Council of the Russian Empire, 1801-1906: Bio-Bibliographic Reference. - St. Petersburg. : Dmitry Bulanin, 2007. - S. 890-893.
- Prakhov A.V. Materials for the description of the art collections of the Yusupov princes // Art Treasures of Russia. - 1906. - No. 8–10. - S. 180.
- Malinovsky K.V. The history of art collecting in St. Petersburg in the 18th century. - St. Petersburg. : Kriga, 2012. - S. 536. - 600 copies. - ISBN 978-5-901805-49-7.
- Ivanova V.I. Another Yusupov: (Prince N. B. Yusupov and his possessions at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries): Historical outline. - M .: Griffin, 2012. - 144 p. - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-98862-091-4.(reg.)
- // Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg. -M., 1896-1918.
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An excerpt characterizing Yusupov, Nikolai Borisovich
Pierre did not see people separately, but saw their movement.All these people, the horses seemed to be driven by some invisible force. All of them, during the hour during which Pierre watched them, floated out of different streets with the same desire to pass quickly; they all alike, colliding with others, began to get angry, to fight; white teeth bared, eyebrows frowned, the same curses were thrown over and over, and on all faces there was the same youthfully resolute and cruelly cold expression, which struck Pierre in the morning at the sound of a drum on the corporal's face.
Already before evening, the escort commander gathered his team and, shouting and arguing, squeezed into the carts, and the prisoners, surrounded on all sides, went out onto the Kaluga road.
They walked very quickly, without resting, and stopped only when the sun had already begun to set. The carts moved one on top of the other, and people began to prepare for the night. Everyone seemed angry and unhappy. For a long time, curses, angry cries and fights were heard from different sides. The carriage, which was riding behind the escorts, advanced on the escorts' wagon and pierced it with a drawbar. Several soldiers from different directions ran to the wagon; some beat on the heads of the horses harnessed to the carriage, turning them, others fought among themselves, and Pierre saw that one German was seriously wounded in the head with a cleaver.
It seemed that all these people now experienced, when they stopped in the middle of the field in the cold twilight of an autumn evening, the same feeling of unpleasant awakening from the haste that gripped everyone upon leaving and impetuous movement somewhere. Stopping, everyone seemed to understand that it was still unknown where they were going, and that this movement would be a lot of hard and difficult.
The escorts treated the prisoners at this halt even worse than when they set out. At this halt, for the first time, the meat food of the captives was issued with horse meat.
From the officers to the last soldier, it was noticeable in everyone, as it were, a personal bitterness against each of the prisoners, which so unexpectedly replaced the previously friendly relations.
This exasperation intensified even more when, when counting the prisoners, it turned out that during the bustle, leaving Moscow, one Russian soldier, pretending to be sick from his stomach, fled. Pierre saw how a Frenchman beat a Russian soldier because he moved far from the road, and heard how the captain, his friend, reprimanded the non-commissioned officer for the escape of a Russian soldier and threatened him with a court. To the excuse of the non-commissioned officer that the soldier was sick and could not walk, the officer said that he was ordered to shoot those who would fall behind. Pierre felt that the fatal force that crushed him during the execution and which was invisible during captivity now again took possession of his existence. He was scared; but he felt how, in proportion to the efforts made by the fatal force to crush him, a force of life independent of it grew and grew stronger in his soul.
Pierre dined on rye flour soup with horse meat and talked with his comrades.
Neither Pierre nor any of his comrades spoke about what they saw in Moscow, nor about the rudeness of the treatment of the French, nor about the order to shoot, which was announced to them: everyone was, as if in rebuff to the deteriorating situation, especially lively and cheerful . They talked about personal memories, about funny scenes seen during the campaign, and hushed up conversations about the present situation.
The sun has long since set. Bright stars lit up somewhere in the sky; the red, fire-like glow of the rising full moon spread over the edge of the sky, and the huge red ball oscillated surprisingly in the grayish haze. It became light. The evening was already over, but the night had not yet begun. Pierre got up from his new comrades and went between the fires to the other side of the road, where, he was told, the captured soldiers were standing. He wanted to talk to them. On the road, a French sentry stopped him and ordered him to turn back.
Pierre returned, but not to the fire, to his comrades, but to the unharnessed wagon, which had no one. He crossed his legs and lowered his head, sat down on the cold ground at the wheel of the wagon, and sat motionless for a long time, thinking. More than an hour has passed. Nobody bothered Pierre. Suddenly he burst out laughing with his thick, good-natured laugh so loudly that people from different directions looked around in surprise at this strange, obviously lonely laugh.
– Ha, ha, ha! Pierre laughed. And he said aloud to himself: “The soldier didn’t let me in.” Caught me, locked me up. I am being held captive. Who me? Me! Me, my immortal soul! Ha, ha, ha! .. Ha, ha, ha! .. - he laughed with tears in his eyes.
Some man got up and came up to see what this strange man was laughing about. big man. Pierre stopped laughing, got up, moved away from the curious and looked around him.
Previously, loudly noisy with the crackling of fires and the talk of people, the huge, endless bivouac subsided; the red fires of the fires went out and grew pale. High in the bright sky stood a full moon. Forests and fields, previously invisible outside the camp, now opened up in the distance. And even farther than these forests and fields could be seen a bright, oscillating, inviting endless distance. Pierre looked into the sky, into the depths of the departing, playing stars. “And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me! thought Pierre. “And they caught all this and put it in a booth, fenced off with boards!” He smiled and went to bed with his comrades.
In the first days of October, another truce came to Kutuzov with a letter from Napoleon and an offer of peace, deceptively signified from Moscow, while Napoleon was already not far ahead of Kutuzov, on the old Kaluga road. Kutuzov answered this letter in the same way as the first one sent from Lauriston: he said that there could be no talk of peace.
Soon after this, from the partisan detachment of Dorokhov, who was walking to the left of Tarutin, a report was received that troops had appeared in Fominsky, that these troops consisted of Brusier's division, and that this division, separated from other troops, could easily be exterminated. Soldiers and officers again demanded activity. Staff generals, excited by the memory of the ease of victory at Tarutin, insisted on Kutuzov's execution of Dorokhov's proposal. Kutuzov did not consider any offensive necessary. The average came out, that which was to be accomplished; a small detachment was sent to Fominsky, which was supposed to attack Brussier.
By a strange chance, this appointment - the most difficult and most important, as it turned out later - was received by Dokhturov; that same modest, little Dokhturov, whom no one described to us as making battle plans, flying in front of regiments, throwing crosses at batteries, etc., who was considered and called indecisive and impenetrable, but the same Dokhturov, whom during all the Russian wars with the French, from Austerlitz and up to the thirteenth year, we find commanders wherever only the situation is difficult. In Austerlitz, he remains the last at the Augusta dam, gathering regiments, saving what is possible when everything is running and dying and not a single general is in the rearguard. He, sick with a fever, goes to Smolensk with twenty thousand to defend the city against the entire Napoleonic army. In Smolensk, he had barely dozed off at the Molokhov Gates, in a paroxysm of fever, he was awakened by the cannonade across Smolensk, and Smolensk held out all day. On Borodino day, when Bagration was killed and the troops of our left flank were killed in the ratio of 9 to 1 and the entire force of the French artillery was sent there, no one else was sent, namely the indecisive and impenetrable Dokhturov, and Kutuzov was in a hurry to correct his mistake when he sent there another. And the small, quiet Dokhturov goes there, and Borodino is the best glory of the Russian army. And many heroes are described to us in verse and prose, but almost not a word about Dokhturov.
Again Dokhturov is sent there to Fominsky and from there to Maly Yaroslavets, to the place where the last battle with the French took place, and to the place from which, obviously, the death of the French already begins, and again many geniuses and heroes describe to us during this period of the campaign , but not a word about Dokhturov, or very little, or doubtful. This silence about Dokhturov most obviously proves his merits.
Naturally, for a person who does not understand the movement of the machine, at the sight of its operation, it seems that the most important part of this machine is that chip that accidentally fell into it and, interfering with its movement, is rattling in it. A person who does not know the structure of the machine cannot understand that not this spoiling and interfering chip, but that small transmission gear that turns inaudibly is one of the most essential parts of the machine.
On October 10, on the very day Dokhturov walked halfway to Fominsky and stopped in the village of Aristovo, preparing to execute the given order exactly, the entire French army, in its convulsive movement, reached the position of Murat, as it seemed, in order to give the battle, suddenly, for no reason, turned to the left onto the new Kaluga road and began to enter Fominsky, in which only Brussier had previously stood. Dokhturov under command at that time had, in addition to Dorokhov, two small detachments of Figner and Seslavin.
On the evening of October 11, Seslavin arrived in Aristovo to the authorities with a captured French guard. The prisoner said that the troops that had now entered Fominsky were the vanguard of the entire large army, that Napoleon was right there, that the entire army had already left Moscow for the fifth day. That same evening, a courtyard man who came from Borovsk told how he saw the entry of a huge army into the city. Cossacks from the Dorokhov detachment reported that they saw the French guards walking along the road to Borovsk. From all this news, it became obvious that where they thought to find one division, there was now the entire French army, marching from Moscow in an unexpected direction - along the old Kaluga road. Dokhturov did not want to do anything, because it was not clear to him now what his duty was. He was ordered to attack Fominsky. But in Fominsky there used to be only Brussier, now there was the whole French army. Yermolov wanted to do as he pleased, but Dokhturov insisted that he needed to have an order from his Serene Highness. It was decided to send a report to headquarters.
For this, an intelligent officer, Bolkhovitinov, was chosen, who, in addition to a written report, was supposed to tell the whole story in words. At twelve o'clock in the morning, Bolkhovitinov, having received an envelope and a verbal order, galloped, accompanied by a Cossack, with spare horses in Main Headquarters.
The night was dark, warm, autumnal. It has been raining for the fourth day. Having changed horses twice and galloping thirty miles along a muddy, viscous road in an hour and a half, Bolkhovitinov was at Letashevka at two o'clock in the morning. Climbing down at the hut, on the wattle fence of which there was a sign: "General Staff", and leaving the horse, he entered the dark passage.
- The general on duty soon! Very important! he said to someone who was getting up and snuffling in the darkness of the passage.
“From the evening they were very unwell, they didn’t sleep for the third night,” whispered the orderly voice intercessively. “Wake up the captain first.
“Very important, from General Dokhturov,” said Bolkhovitinov, entering the open door he felt for. The orderly went ahead of him and began to wake someone:
“Your honor, your honor is a courier.
- I'm sorry, what? from whom? said a sleepy voice.
- From Dokhturov and from Alexei Petrovich. Napoleon is in Fominsky,” said Bolkhovitinov, not seeing in the darkness the one who asked him, but from the sound of his voice, assuming that it was not Konovnitsyn.
The awakened man yawned and stretched.
“I don’t want to wake him up,” he said, feeling something. - Sick! Maybe so, rumors.
“Here is the report,” said Bolkhovitinov, “it was ordered to immediately hand it over to the general on duty.
- Wait, I'll light the fire. Where the hell are you always going to put it? - Turning to the batman, said the stretching man. It was Shcherbinin, Konovnitsyn's adjutant. “I found it, I found it,” he added.
The orderly cut down the fire, Shcherbinin felt the candlestick.
“Oh, the nasty ones,” he said in disgust.
By the light of the sparks, Bolkhovitinov saw Shcherbinin's young face with a candle and a still sleeping man in the front corner. It was Konovnitsyn.
When at first the sulphurous tinder lit up with a blue and then a red flame, Shcherbinin lit a tallow candle, from the candlestick of which the Prussians gnawed at it ran, and examined the messenger. Bolkhovitinov was covered in mud and, wiping himself with his sleeve, smeared his face.
- Who delivers? Shcherbinin said, taking the envelope.
“The news is true,” said Bolkhovitinov. - And the prisoners, and the Cossacks, and scouts - all unanimously show the same thing.
“There is nothing to do, we must wake up,” said Shcherbinin, getting up and going up to a man in a nightcap, covered with an overcoat. - Pyotr Petrovich! he said. Konovnitsyn did not move. - Headquarters! he said, smiling, knowing that these words would probably wake him up. And indeed, the head in the nightcap rose at once. On Konovnitsyn's handsome, hard face, with feverishly inflamed cheeks, for a moment there still remained an expression of dream dreams far removed from the present situation, but then he suddenly shuddered: his face assumed its usual calm and firm expression.
- Well, what is it? From whom? he asked slowly but immediately, blinking in the light. Listening to the officer's report, Konovnitsyn printed it out and read it. As soon as he read, he put his feet in woolen stockings on the dirt floor and began to put on shoes. Then he took off his cap and, combing his temples, put on his cap.
- Did you arrive soon? Let's go to the brightest.
Konovnitsyn immediately realized that the news he had brought was of great importance and that it was impossible to delay. Whether it was good or bad, he did not think and did not ask himself. It didn't interest him. He looked at the whole matter of the war not with the mind, not with reasoning, but with something else. There was a deep, unspoken conviction in his soul that everything would be fine; but that it is not necessary to believe this, and even more so, it is not necessary to say this, but one must only do one's own business. And he did his job, giving him all his strength.
Yusupov Nikolai Borisovich (1750 - 1831) - diplomat, collector and philanthropist, owner of the Arkhangelskoye estate. He came from an old Nogai princely family. Enrolled in the Life Guards from birth, at the age of 20 he entered active military service with the rank of lieutenant, but left it a year later for an unknown reason. After retiring in the summer of 1772, Yusupov went on a trip to Europe: he listened to lectures at Leiden University, met with Beaumarchais, Voltaire, and others, and began to collect a collection of paintings. In 1781 he returned to Russia and the following year accompanied his heir, the future Paul I, with his wife on a trip to Europe. In 1783, Yusupov was appointed envoy extraordinary to Turin, to the court of the Sardinian king. In 1789 he returned to Russia. Active energy and breadth of interests allowed him from 1791 to become director of the imp. theaters, at the same time heading the Glass and Porcelain factories. Tapestry manufactory. In 1796, after the accession of Paul I to the throne, by order of the imp. became director of the Hermitage. In 1802, after the accession Alexander I, Yusupov, senator, active Privy Councilor, left for France. In 1810, he purchased from the widow N.A. Golitsyn Arkhangelsk estate near Moscow with unfinished buildings. Yusupov, who had a colossal fortune (real estate in 15 provinces, silk and cloth factories, a saltpeter factory, over 21 thousand souls of peasants, etc.), turned this estate into a model of a palace and park ensemble. Yusupov, from 1823 appointed member of the State. council, the greatest nobleman of four reigns, who participated in the coronation of three monarchs, an enlightened lover of the arts, owned a wonderful serf theater, a rich collection of paintings, and an excellent library. Although the general public did not have an entrance to Arkhangelskoye, its treasures were known to most of the cultural community. During Patriotic War 1812 the estate was not damaged. In 1827 Yusupov's palace was visited by A.S. Pushkin, subsequently writing a poetic message to Yusupov "To a nobleman", in which he gave a portrait of an enlightened bearer of the traditions of Russian-French culture of the 18th century.
Used materials of the book: Shikman A.P. Figures of national history. Biographical guide. Moscow, 1997.
Yusupov Nikolai Borisovich (10/15/1750-7/15/1831), prince, real state councilor, senator, member of the State Council. In infancy enrolled in the Life Guards Horse Regiment. In 1755 he was granted the cornets, in 1761 he was promoted to second lieutenant, in 1771 - to lieutenant. In 17772 he was appointed chamber junker to the royal court. Dismissed from service in the same year, he traveled around Europe for several years. Upon his return to Russia in 1781, he was granted a full chamberlain and appointed to the presence in the Commission on Commerce. In 1782 he was part of the retinue of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and his wife, who traveled around Europe under the name of Count and Countess of the North. In 1783 he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Turin, to the court of the Sardinian king. In the same year, he went on royal command to the Neapolitan court. In 1784 he was sent to Rome to express gratitude to Pope Pius IV. Yusupov also defended Russia's interests in Venice. In 1788 he was promoted to Privy Councilor and in the same year was appointed to the presence in the Governing Senate, and upon his return to St. Petersburg, he sat in the 1st department of the Senate and on a survey expedition (1790). In 1791-1799 he was the director of the imperial theaters: he established a theater office, control over theatrical collections, etc. In 1792, Yusupov was entrusted with the management of a glass factory, a state-owned porcelain factory and a state-owned trellis manufactory. In 1793 he was a member of the commission that considered the reasons for the extraordinary fall in the exchange rate in Russia. In 1796 he was appointed president of the Manufacture College. Then he was promoted to active privy councilors and appointed supreme marshal at the upcoming coronation of the emperor. In 1797 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, on November 20, 1797 he was appointed chief director of the Manufacture College. In 1798 he was assigned to the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and was awarded the Commander of the Order. In 1800 Yusupov was appointed minister of the specific department. In 1801, on the occasion of the coronation of Alexander I, he was appointed supreme marshal at the coronation. In 1802, according to the petition, he was dismissed from all positions and went abroad for treatment. In 1811 he returned to Russia and settled in Moscow. In 1812, he readily accepted the appointment of a member of the Committee for Orders on Food Troops in Moscow. In 1814 he was appointed chief of the expedition of the Kremlin structure, as well as over the workshop and the Armory. In 1816 he was appointed to the presence in the 6th department of the Senate in Moscow. In the same year he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 1st degree, and the following year he was ordered to be present in the 1st department of the 6th department of the Senate. Member of the State Council (since 1823). In 1826, for the third time, he was appointed supreme marshal on the occasion of the upcoming coronation of Emperor Nicholas I. He was married to the widow Tatyana Vasilievna Potemkina (née Engelgart) and had a son, Boris, from this marriage. Yusupov collected a huge collection of paintings, sculptures, works of applied art, a rich library.
Materials of the book are used: Sukhareva O.V. Who was who in Russia from Peter I to Paul I, Moscow, 2005.
Yusupov Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831). Prince Yusupov, having a craving for knowledge, studied abroad, then was in the diplomatic service. Returning to his homeland, he reached high ranks and titles, was, in particular, the director of the imperial theaters. Having headed the Hermitage, he contributed to the transformation of the court collection of art and antiquities into a palace museum. Under him, the Armory Chamber, the oldest Kremlin repository, became a museum.
Abroad, Yusupov began to collect books, paintings, engravings, sculptures of famous masters. The library contained more than 20 thousand volumes of the rarest publications from the beginning of printing to early XIX V. Among them are the Ostroh Bible by Ivan Fedorov, samples of editions of the famous printing house Aldov - 32 volumes and Elsevirov - 82 volumes, French books with illustrations by F. Boucher, J. Moreau, J. Fragonard, editions of French enlighteners, including the famous "Encyclopedia" by Diderot and Delambert, as well as 70 volumes of Voltaire's works. Russian literature was well represented (864 volumes): the most valuable books printed in the printing house of N. I. Novikov, the works of A. D. Kantemir, M. V. Lomonosov, D. I. Fonvizina, N. M. Karamzina, R. Derzhavina, I. A. Krylova, A. S. Pushkin, rarities of Peter's time.
This is practically the only personal library of a nobleman in our country, which has been preserved exactly where it was arranged, albeit with losses, in the Yusupov estate - Arkhangelskoye.
+ + +
Yusupov Nikolay Borisovich. In 1830, readers of the Literaturnaya Gazeta read for the first time Pushkin's later famous poem, which we now know as the message "To the Noble". In the first publication, it was entitled "Message to K. N. B. Yu ***".
Under the initials "K. N. B. Yu.” Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, an old Catherine’s nobleman, was hidden, about whom contemporaries who knew him said that “he was distinguished by his enlightened mind, refined taste for everything elegant, sharpness, courtesy, gaiety of disposition, vast memory, loved scientists and artists ... " .
You understood the purpose of life: a happy person,
For life you live. Your long clear age
You also smartly diversified from a young age,
I was looking for the possible, moderately mischievous;
Fun and ranks came to you in succession.
Messenger of a young crowned wife,
You appeared in Ferney - and a gray-haired cynic,
Minds and fashion leader sly and bold,
Loving your dominion in the North,
He greeted you with a grave voice.
Yusupov traveled a lot in his youth. Was in Ferney with Voltaire, met in Paris with Diderot, in London - with Beaumarchais. He was friends with the sculptor Canova. For several years he was the Russian envoy in Turin. Later he served as the director of theaters, was in charge of the Hermitage, led the expedition of the Kremlin building in Moscow and the Armory. Cavalier of all the highest orders of the Russian Empire. He lived in the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, famous for its wonderful palace and magnificent park. Possessing a huge fortune, Yusupov collected a library of up to thirty thousand volumes, an excellent collection of engravings and prints, and an art gallery of rare richness with masterpieces by Correggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, and David. All this was housed in a palace decorated with great pomp and solemnity.
...Stepping on your threshold,
I am suddenly transported back to the days of Catherine.
Book depository, idols, and paintings,
And slender gardens testify to me
That you favor the muses and silence...
The message "To the Nobleman" reflected the author's real impressions of visiting Arkhangelsk and talking with its owner. This was in the early spring of 1827 and in the autumn of 1830. In January 1831, Pushkin was in Yusupov's Moscow mansion and, at the request of P. A. Vyazemsky, asked him about Fonvizin. The last meeting of the poet with the nobleman known to us took place at the end of February 1831 at a party hosted by Pushkin and his young wife.
“My Yusupov is dead,” Pushkin informed the poet and literary critic P. A. Pletnev on July 22, 1831.
Pushkin's message was misunderstood in society and in the responses of the press. The poet was reproached for flattery and servility. In addition, Yusupov's reputation was not impeccable, and A. S. Griboyedov even called him "an old court scoundrel." It was not clear to Pushkin's critics that the poet was not at all going to sing of the old prince. Yusupov in his poem became a kind of artistic symbol of the age of enlightenment, and his biography served the poet to recreate a whole historical period. most accurate estimate Pushkin's idea was given by V. G. Belinsky, who saw in the message "only the highest degree of artistic comprehension and depiction of an entire era in the person of one of its most remarkable representatives."
L.A. Chereisky. Pushkin's contemporaries. Documentary essays. M., 1999, p. 206-207.
Literature:
Kuznetsova I.A. Collection of paintings of the book. N.B. Yusupova // Age of Enlightenment. Russia and France: Mater, scientific. conf. "Vipper Readings - 1987". M. 1989. Issue. 20;
About the family of princes Yusupov. SPb., 1866 - 1867. Part 1 - 2.
Alexander I (since 1801)
Nicholas I (since 1825)
Moscow
Official positions held: chief manager of the Armory and the Expedition of the Kremlin Building, director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-1796), director of the Hermitage (1797), headed the palace glass, porcelain and tapestry factories (since 1792), senator (since 1788), active privy councilor ( 1796), minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-1816), member of the State Council (since 1823).
Biography
The only son of the Moscow mayor Boris Yusupov, a representative of the richest princely family of the Yusupovs, who died on his great-granddaughter Zinaida.
Helping to acquire works of art for Empress Catherine II and her son Paul I, the prince was an intermediary in the execution of imperial orders by European artists. Thus, the Yusupov collection was formed from the same sources as the imperial one, therefore, the Yusupov collection contained works by major landscape painters.
Family traditions and membership in the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs had a significant impact on his personality and fate. In its long life, several stages can be distinguished that were of decisive importance for the formation of the collection.
First of all, this is the first educational trip abroad in 1774-1777, staying in Holland and studying at the University of Leiden. Then interest in European culture and art awakened, and a passion for collecting arose. During these years, he made a Grand Tour, visiting England, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria. It was presented to many European monarchs, was adopted by Diderot and Voltaire.
My books and a few good pictures and drawings are my only entertainment.
N. B. Yusupov
In Leiden, Yusupov acquired rare collectible books, paintings and drawings. Among them is the edition of Cicero, issued by the famous Venetian firm of Aldov (Manutius), with a commemorative inscription about the purchase: “a Leide 1e mardi 7bre de l’annee 1774” (in Leiden on the first Tuesday of September 1774). In Italy, the prince met the German landscape painter J. F. Hackert, who became his adviser and expert. Hackert painted on his order the paired landscapes Morning in the Outskirts of Rome and Evening in the Outskirts of Rome, completed in 1779 (both - the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate). Antiquity and modern art - these two main hobbies of Yusupov will continue to determine the main artistic preferences, consonant with the era of the formation and development of the last great international artistic style in European art - classicism.
The second important stage in the formation of the collection was the 1780s. As a person versed in the arts and well-known at European courts, Yusupov entered the retinue and accompanied the Count and Countess of the North (Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna) on a trip to Europe in 1781-1782. Possessing great knowledge, a taste for the fine arts, he carried out the instructions of Pavel Petrovich and significantly expanded his ties with artists and commission agents, for the first time he visited the workshops of the most famous artists - A. Kaufman in Venice and P. Batoni, engraver D. Volpato, widely known for reproduction engravings from the works of Raphael in the Vatican and Rome, G. Robert, C. J. Vernet, J.-B. Greuze and J.-A. Houdon in Paris. Then relations with these artists were maintained over the years, contributing to the replenishment of the personal collection of the prince.
1790s - the rapid rise of Yusupov's career. He fully demonstrates his devotion to the Russian throne, both to the aging Empress Catherine II and to Emperor Paul I. At the coronation of Paul I, he was appointed supreme coronation marshal. He performed the same role at the coronations of Alexander I and Nicholas I.
From 1791 to 1802, Yusupov held important government posts: director of the imperial theatrical performances in St. Petersburg (since 1791), director of the imperial glass and porcelain factories and tapestry manufactory (since 1792), president of the manufactory board (since 1796) and minister of appanages (since 1800). ).
In 1794, Nikolai Borisovich was elected an honorary amateur of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1797, Paul I gave him control of the Hermitage, where the imperial art collection was located. The art gallery was headed by the Pole Franz Labensky, who had previously been the curator of the art gallery of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, whom Yusupov accompanied during his stay in St. Petersburg. A new complete inventory of the Hermitage collection was carried out. The compiled inventory served as the main inventory until the middle of the 19th century.
The government posts held by the prince made it possible to directly influence the development of national art and artistic crafts. He acquired the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, turning it into a model of a palace and park ensemble. Yusupov is the founder of the famous tribal assembly, an outstanding and most striking personality. He collected a large collection of paintings (over 600 canvases), sculptures, works of applied art, books (over 20 thousand), porcelain, most of which he placed in the estate.
In Moscow, Yusupov lived in his own palace in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky Lane. In 1801-1803. in one of the wings on the territory of the palace lived the Pushkin family, including little Alexander Pushkin. The poet also visited Yusupov in Arkhangelsk, and in 1831 Yusupov was invited to a gala dinner in the Arbat apartment of the newlyweds Pushkins.
It has been magnificently extinguished for eighty years, surrounded by marble, painted and living beauty. In his country house, Pushkin, who dedicated him, talked to him, and drew Gonzaga, to whom Yusupov dedicated his theater.
He died during the famous cholera epidemic in Moscow, in his own house in the parish of the Khariton Church in Ogorodniki. He was buried in the village of Spasskoye-Kotovo, Mozhaysky district, Moscow province, in the ancient church of the Savior Not Made by Hands.
B graphic guide persons mentioned in the letters from Tobolsk of the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Her Children to Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva (Vyrubova). The letters are given in the book of A.A. Taneeva-Vyrubova "Pages of my life"
Mentioned:
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston (03/11/24/1887, St. Petersburg - 09/27/1967, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, Paris) - Prince (Yusupov), Count (Sumarokov-Elston), Felix Jr., "Felix III".
Enough has been said about Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston (or simply Prince Felix Yusupov Jr.). Trying to add something is a hopeless business. And yet ... For some, Yusupov Jr. is the embodiment best qualities Russian aristocracy and nobility, one of the noblest, selfless, fearless men who committed a heroic deed, for others - a vicious representative of his kind, guilty of a grave crime. Or the third: book. F. Yusupov is a collective image that marked a special phenomenon in Russian life, lying at the origins of the Russian revolution.
For the first and last time in his life, this man committed an act of national importance that left such a significant mark on the history of Russia - he killed the peasant Grigory Rasputin. I would like to understand whether his actions were dictated by a case in which emergency circumstances entered into an insoluble conflict with the peculiarities and unique originality of nature, which led to such an excessive, grotesque, unjustified and momentary reflection, or a certain pattern emerged that began to form long before the appearance on the light of the titled heir to an ancient family, a bright representative of the world of Russian nobility, a secular handsome man and everyone's favorite - Felix Yusupov. The answer to this question is possible only as a result of the study of historical roots. However, even a brief review of the extensive history of the Yusupov family would significantly increase the already rather voluminous outline of his life. Therefore, we will briefly consider some of the most important circumstances in the biography of Prince Felix Yusupov Jr.
Yusupovs
Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova with her sons at the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow
Prince Felix Yusupov at a costume ball, 1903
The Yusupovs were not only the most noble, but also the richest people Russian Empire. Their condition at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century was fabulous and was estimated at several tens of millions of rubles, provided in Tsarist Russia with gold. L.P. Minarik gives the following figures: “In 1900, the value of their estates, dachas and houses was 21.7 million rubles, including the cost of St. Petersburg houses - 3.5 million rubles, the Moscow house - 427.9 thousand rubles, anthracite mine - 970 thousand rubles, sugar factory - 1.6 million rubles, cardboard and paper factories - 986 thousand rubles. In 1900, the Yusupovs owned 23 estates; the largest of them were estimated: Rakitnoye - 4 million rubles, Milyatinskoye - 2.3 million rubles, Klimovskoye - 1.3 million rubles, Arkhangelskoye - 1.1 million rubles. By 1914, the Yusupovs had 3.2 million rubles. securities kept in the State Noble, Moscow Merchant, Azov-Don, St. Petersburg International, St. Petersburg Commercial and Industrial and Russian for Foreign Trade Banks. [Minarik. UK. cit.]
On the father's side, the pedigree of Felix Jr. begins with his grandfather, Adjutant General Count Felix Nikolaevich Elston (1820 - 1877). According to rumors, he was the illegitimate son of Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm-Ludwig of Prussia and Catherine Feodorovna Tizenhausen (1803-1888) - the maid of honor of the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Emperor Nicholas I). These rumors were confirmed by his grandson Prince Felix Yusupov (Jr.) in his memoirs. However, according to another version of F.N. Sumarokov-Elston was the son of the unmarried Baron Hugel and the Hungarian Countess Forgach, nee Andrássy, while Ekaterina Tizenhausen was only his adoptive mother. One way or another, but by marrying Countess Elena Sergeevna Sumarokova (1829 - 1901) - the grandmother of Felix Yusupov Jr. on his father's side, Felix Nikolayevich acquired the dignity of a count along with the count's motto of the Sumarokovs: "One way without bends."
Father of Felix Yusupov Jr. - Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston - served in the Life Guards Cavalry Guards of Her Majesty Empress Maria Feodorovna Regiment (since 1879), adjutant of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (from 1886 to 1904), adjutant general of the retinue of Emperor Nicholas II, head of the Moscow military district (from May 5 to 19 June 1915), commander-in-chief in Moscow (Moscow governor) (until September 3, 1915).
In 1882 F.F. Sumarokov-Elston married Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova (1861-1939). Since Zinaida Yusupova remained the only descendant of the Yusupov family, and with the death of her and her father the glorious Yusupov family was cut short, the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III issued a charter on December 2, 1891, allowing the husband of Princess Zinaida Yusupova, Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, to bear the title and surname wife and father-in-law and be referred to in the future as Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, with the same title reserved for his wife, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, Countess Sumarokova-Elston. This decision was contrary to the laws of the Russian Empire, but for them, as well as for their grandfather F.N. Sumarokov-Elston, an exception was made. Moreover, according to the royal will, the princely title and surname of the Yusupovs passed to the eldest male heir in the descendant line and only after the death of the holder of the title.
The mother of Felix Yusupov Jr. - Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, Countess Sumarokova-Elston cannot be likened to a "stingy knight" or an evangelical rich man. Owning treasures, she tried to separate from them those who needed them, which apparently constituted the hereditary trait of the Yusupov family. Avarice and stinginess did not belong to their family traditions, which is also emphasized by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, giving place to Princess Zinaida Yusupova in his memoirs: “A woman of rare beauty and deep spiritual culture, she courageously endured the hardships of her enormous fortune, donating millions to charity and trying to alleviate human need. She got married a few years before my wedding and came to Ai-Todor accompanied by her handsome son Felix. Then I did not imagine that eighteen years later, my little Irina would be his wife. [Vel. book. Alexander Mikhailovich. UK. cit.]
As a member of the committee for the arrangement of the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, she donated about 50 thousand rubles. for the construction of the Roman Hall. At the expense of Princess Yusupova, an orphanage for orphans was opened at the Elizabethan Society; in August 1914, an infirmary for wounded soldiers was organized in Petrograd. And these are just some examples.
An important touch in the image inner world Zinaida Yusupova is her friendship with the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Their rapprochement was facilitated by the fact that the estates near Moscow of the Yusupovs in Arkhangelsk and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in Ilyinsky were nearby. Princess Z.N. Yusupova shared the grief of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna after the murder of her husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
The Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston family also maintained friendly relations with the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II and the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who were frequent guests of the Yusupovs in their Arkhangelsk estate near Moscow, as well as in the Crimea (Koreiz). Confirmation of this can be found in the Diary of Emperor Nicholas II, and in the memoirs of contemporaries, in particular, S.K. Bugsgewden. The visits were mutual.
Zinaida Nikolaevna became the mother of four boys. The two middle ones died in infancy. The elder brother Nikolai was killed on June 22, 1908 in a duel by the Horse Guards Count A.E. Manteuffel, the husband of Countess Marina Alexandrovna Manteuffel (ur. Heiden), with whom Nikolai Yusupov had an affair.
The originality of the nature of Felix Yusupov Jr.
Portrait of Felix Yusupov by Valentin Serov, 1903
fourth and last child in the Yusupov family - Felix is named after his grandfather and father. Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston (junior) remained the only heir to the title and the entire fortune. He received the title of "Prince Yusupov" only in 1914 in connection with his marriage to the princess of imperial blood, Irina Alexandrovna Romanova. Nevertheless, he became widely known to the whole world just under the name of Prince Felix Yusupov Jr. Felix Yusupov was baptized into the Orthodox faith. He left the following recollection of this event: “At the christening in the home church, the priest almost drowned me in the font, where he dipped me three times according to Orthodox custom. They say that I came to my senses.”
There is no doubt that Felix Yusupov inherited many of the good features of his ancestors, which turned out to be closely intertwined with the special properties of his nature, which made up the exceptional originality of Prince Felix Yusupov the Younger. The inimitable type of Felix's character was formed from childhood. Until the age of 15, he suffered from sleepwalking. In his youth, he had a passion for dressing in women's clothes. In this connection, he participated in many recreational activities in the company of his older brother Nikolai. According to Felix, he misled many men, including King Edward VII. This continued until the son's hobbies became known to the father, who called the son "a scoundrel and a disgrace to the family, to whom not a single decent person will stretch out his hand," after which the disguise was over. But the love of reincarnation in the form of a touch of theatricality and an unbridled flight of fantasy remained with Felix for life.
Felix was friends with Vel from a young age. Prince Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov, who among his contemporaries was known as "a rake and a reveler." On this basis, young people agreed. Surprisingly, in the future, accusing Rasputin of all serious and, ultimately, of discrediting the Royal Family, friends apparently did not consider that they themselves were discrediting the royal family, and Royal Family, and Russian aristocrats with the same behavior attributed to Rasputin.
Felix's other passion is spiritism. Detailed description cases of evocation of spirits, "observation of amazing things", the fall of marble statues during seances, the appearance of ghosts are given in the memoirs of Prince Felix Yusupov.
In 1908-1909. Felix Yusupov Jr. met with the Royal Family several times. In his memoirs, without being blunt, which distinguishes his style of narration, not constrained by self-esteem, he considered it necessary to tell that the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna “sternly reprimanded him”, pointing out that “every self-respecting man should be a military man or courtier." Felix dared to answer the Empress:
I can’t be a military man, because war is disgusting to me, and I’m not fit to be a courtier, because I love independence and I say what I think. I see my vocation in the prudent management of estates and numerous lands and factories. Proper management of everything is also a kind of service to the Fatherland. And I serve the Fatherland - I serve the Tsar!
The queen's face was covered with large red spots.
And the Tsar is the Fatherland! she cried.
At that moment, Nicholas II entered, and Alexandra Feodorovna told him:
Felix is a complete revolutionary! [Prince Felix Yusupov. UK. op.]
Prince Felix Yusupov and Vel. Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Book. Felix Yusupov Jr. and Vel. book. Elizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova
If not to be unnecessarily biased, the peculiar addictions (or hobbies) of Felix Yusupov Jr. can be considered as transient delusions of youth and treated with condescension. Apparently, not only their parents treated them this way, but also Vel. Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who took part in the spiritual education of Felix Yusupov. Here is a letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to Felix dated February 28, 1911, imbued with a feeling of warmth and maternal care for her pupil. In this letter, Elizaveta Fedorovna warns Felix about the danger of another reckless hobby. As follows from the letter, the subject of his sympathies was a certain E. - married woman, carried away by which he could destroy her fate, and himself repeat the fate of his brother. Elizabeth Feodorovna writes:
“Dear child!
May the Lord bless you.
<...>As I understand your joy and anxiety due to the arrival of E., may the Lord save you from suffering, because these torments, unfortunately, can be fatal when we do not have the strength to fight and fall victim to our feelings. May Saint Thomaida watch over you and protect you! How I wish you would get married and have children! How your parents would live! And the heart, in pursuit of unrealizable happiness, sometimes passes by - very close - perfect joy, not noticing it, that's what's sad. Poor child. I will be happy to see you here; why not spend the summer in Arkhangelsk and travel from here to other estates, instead of sitting in Tsarskoye? I am afraid of this meeting, I am afraid for it, because it is very dangerous to play with someone else's heart. You can't arrange a divorce for her and marry her - then why run into danger, right? To say all this, I know, is essentially useless, all this has been known since the creation of the world. But alas, no one beware until it's too late.
I have to go to the temple now.
God bless you and give you the strength and joy to be an honest person.
Elizabeth» [Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to the GIM OPI, D. 84, L. 16-17v.].
Knowing Felix since childhood, having the opportunity to influence his upbringing with a good example and useful, affectionate edification, Vel. Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, all her life, nurtured feelings of love and hope for her spiritual pupil, keeping them even after the murder of Felix G.E. Rasputin. From a letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to Emperor Nicholas II dated December 29, 1916: “... For ten days I prayed for you, for your army, country, ministers, for those who were sick in soul and body, and the name of this unfortunate [Grigory Rasputin] was in the commemoration, so that God would enlighten him and ... I return and find out that Felix killed him, little Felix, whom I knew as a child, who was afraid of killing a living creature all his life and did not want to become a military man, so as not to shed blood. [Letters rep. Vel. book. Elizabeth Feodorovna]
For his part, Felix Yusupov showed to Aunt Ella mutual feeling sympathy and treated her with deep respect. This is evidenced by the prince's memoirs, in which he draws the holy image of Elizabeth Feodorovna with love and gratitude: “I do not intend to give any new information about Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Enough has been said and written about this holy soul in the chronicles of the last years of tsarist Russia. But I can’t keep silent about her in my memoirs. Her influence in my life turned out to be too important and necessary. Yes, and from childhood I loved her like a second mother.<...>The people called her a saint. I have no doubt that one day the church will recognize this as well.<...>Forever my life is illuminated by the light of this wonderful woman, whom I already revered as a saint in those years. [Prince Felix Yusupov. UK. Op.].
In truth, Elizaveta Feodorovna was a guardian angel for Felix Yusupov. She literally fought for his soul. Here is the episode given by Felix in his memoirs:
Once, speaking with her face to face, I told her about my adventures, which, as it seemed to me, were unknown to her.
Calm down, she smiled. “I know a lot more about you than you think. That's why I called you. He who is capable of much evil is also capable of much good, if he finds the right path. And a great sin is no greater than sincere repentance. Remember that reason sins more than the soul. And the soul can remain pure in sinful flesh. Your soul is important to me. That's what I want to reveal to you. Fate has given you everything a person could wish for. And to whom it is given, from that it will be asked. Think you are responsible. You must be an example. You must be respected. Trials have shown you that life is not fun. Think how much good you can do! And how much harm to cause! I prayed a lot for you. I hope the Lord listens and helps you."
How many hopes and spiritual strength sounded in her words! - concludes Felix Yusupov.
Under the influence of Elizabeth Feodorovna, young Felix Yusupov was filled with noble impulses, plans, the implementation of which could create a precedent for a radical change in life in Russia, for example, “turn Arkhangelskoye into an art center”, turn the palace into a museum, turn Yusupov’s possessions in Moscow and St. “hospitals, clinics, shelters for the elderly”, to open sanatoriums in the Crimean and Caucasian estates, “land would go to the peasants, plants and factories would become joint-stock companies.” Vel. Princess Elizabeth approved of Felix's plans, but his mother, Zinaida Yusupova, did not, believing that her son, the last of the Yusupov family, should marry and continue the family. Alas, the plans of Felix Yusupov Jr. were not destined to come true. By his own admission, he did not read the books handed over to him by Elizaveta Fedorovna, left his homeland (and much earlier than the forced emigration), received his education at Oxford, and married favorably.
Nevertheless, young Yusupov made an attempt to take the path that Elizaveta Fedorovna showed him by her example. He financed the creation of the House for consumptive women at the Martha and Mary Convent. For a while, he walked through the Moscow slums, “where dirt and darkness reigned. People huddled in close quarters, slept on the floor in the cold, dampness and slops. Felix writes: “An unfamiliar world opened up to me, a world of poverty and suffering<...>I wanted to help everyone. But the enormity of the task was overwhelming. I thought about how much is spent on the war and on scientific experiments for the benefit of the same war, and people live and suffer in inhuman conditions. There were disappointments.<...>Almost every day I went to the hospital in Moscow to see consumptives. Patients with tears thanked me for my trifling handouts<...>I was immensely grateful to the Grand Duchess for understanding my despair and for being able to guide me to a new life. However, I was tormented that she did not know everything about me and considered me better than I am. [Prince Felix Yusupov. UK. op.]
On the insistent advice of Elizabeth Feodorovna, Prince Felix Yusupov Jr., on the eve of important events in his life related to the matchmaking for Princess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, made a trip to the Solovetsky Monastery together with Elizabeth Feodorovna in June 1913, from where he wrote to his chosen one: “This is already the fourth the day I am in the Solovetsky Monastery, I live in a small, dark cell, I sleep on a wooden sofa without any mattress, I eat monastic food and, in spite of all this, I enjoy the journey. So many interesting things here. This is a completely independent small state, surrounded by a huge stone wall. They have their own ships, their own fleet, the abbot of the monastery - the king and ruler of this small country in the far north, surrounded by a raging sea.
How strange to come here after all our talk about our life abroad, it's all so different that you can't even compare. All day long we look around the surroundings, fish, in huge lakes, of which there are about 400 and they are all connected by canals, so you can drive on them for hours, moving from one to another. The Grand Duchess [Elizaveta Feodorovna] has been more and more in church since 5 o'clock in the morning. Services last here for 5-6 hours, I was once, and this time is enough for me. While she is praying, I fish and come to the very end. There are a lot of schemniks in amazing costumes here. It is completely impossible to sleep here, the bells ring day and night, hundreds of tame gulls that scream without ceasing and fly straight into the rooms, and the worst thing is the bugs, which are legions, and they bite mercilessly. The food is terrible and long monastic hair sticks out and floats everywhere. It’s so disgusting that I eat only tea and prosphora.” [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: GMI OPI. F. 411. Op. 1. D. 84. L. 102-103v.].
In July 1913, Yusupov Jr. arrived in London to meet with Princess Irina Alexandrovna, who was there with her parents. On July 28, 1913, Vel also arrived in London. Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna. The purpose of her trip, in addition to the desire to see relatives, was the desire to help Felix establish good relations with the Vel family. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich, thereby contributing to a favorable outcome for Felix of his matchmaking with Irina Alexandrovna. In a letter to his mother, Felix reports: “Dear Mama, I saw the Grand Duchess, who is delighted to be in London. I went to meet her at the station, but I was 5 minutes late, that is, the train arrived earlier than expected. She found some amazing 7 1/2 am train. When I returned home, I immediately telephoned her to find out when I could see her. She answered the phone and laughed terribly and joked, it is clear that she is so pleased to be in London after so many years.
From a letter from Felix Yusupov to his mother (July 1913, London): “I have just returned from Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who is leaving tomorrow for Kiel for a week, then to Russia ... We talked a lot about me with her. She gave me very good advice, for which I am very grateful.” [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. cit.]
As for Elizabeth Feodorovna, although she could not completely overcome the attraction of the Yusupov world, to which she belongs due to her origin, position, upbringing, her world and the world of Princess Zinaida Yusupova entered into a contradiction carefully hidden by both - there was a struggle.
This can be judged from the response letter from Zinaida Nikolaevna to her son about Vel. Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna: “I believe how glad Elizabeth Feodorovna is to be in London and how she enjoys it, forgetting that now she doesn’t care where she is! How all this is exaggerated and false! Sometimes I feel sorry for her!" - The letter revealed the abyss of misunderstanding of the natural feelings and noble impulses of his girlfriend!
From the letters of Z.N. Yusupova to her son on September 23 and 28, 1909, it follows that Valentina Sergeevna Gordeeva, the daughter of the real state adviser to the governor of the Samara province, Sergei Petrovich Ushakov, the first assistant to Vel. Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna in the work of organizing the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy. Subsequently, Valentina Sergeevna, after the arrest and execution of Elizabeth Feodorovna, headed the monastery. Valentina Sergeevna was the same age as Elizaveta Feodorovna and, apparently, just like her, touchingly, tenderly, maternally related to everyone's favorite Felix Yusupov. Zinaida Nikolaevna writes from Koreiz: “My dear Felix, You have already frightened us all with your long silence! .. For 36 hours there was no news of your arrival in London!<...>Finally, at 7 1/2 o'clock, your telegram arrived, and the whole house came to life! Valentina [Gordeeva] did not sleep either, the young ladies were worried<...>. We accompanied Valentina [Gordeeva] to Kokkoz. I am very sorry that she left. She loves you so much that it was nice to talk to her about you! She is a good person with a sensitive warm heart, but in vain she is forced to put on a monastic robe! It will never suit her!" [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: GMI OPI. F. 411. Op. 1. D. 36. L. 27-28v.].
Again a stone in the garden of Elizabeth Feodorovna: a strange attitude towards monasticism and sincere impulses of a pure, believing, Orthodox soul.
Studying at Oxford
Let us point out those aspects of the life of the young Felix Yusupov, in which, despite the oddities and carelessness of youth, serious grounds emerged.
In 1908, Felix got bored with the life of a young rake in St. Petersburg, and he decided to go to England for an education. In December 1908, a teacher was discharged from London in English Mr Stanning. In February 1909, Felix Yusupov made a study trip to England. In London, he was received by Princess Victoria of Battenberg (sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna), Princess Marie-Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, and the Archbishop of London, who approved his decision to enter one of the British higher educational institutions. After receiving letters of introduction, Felix, accompanied by his new English friend Mr. P. Steele and Mr. G. Stanning, visited Oxford, Cambridge and Winchester. At Oxford, Felix introduced himself to the rector of one of the university's colleges. Deciding to enter the Faculty of Agriculture, Yusupov preferred Oxford, although Mr. Stanning, who took care of Felix, strongly recommended that he enter Cambridge. “Not seeing the young prince’s obvious desire for study, the mentor advised Felix to sign up as a volunteer so as not to be bound by deadlines and be able to travel at any necessary time.” [Yudin. UK. cit.]
At the end of September 1909, Felix began his studies at Oxford University as a volunteer. Mr. Stanning's recommendations were well founded, for Felix's interest in learning soon really began to wane. Poorly knowing English, he decided, on the advice of the dean of the faculty, to change his chosen specialty - agriculture - to the study of the English language and literature, but already at the end of 1910 he again decided to change his specialty to political economy.
The way of life of young Yusupov during this period can be understood from his letter to his mother: “Dear mother, ... Yesterday I dined with Lady Ripon and stayed overnight with an Englishwoman in the neighborhood. This morning a large company went to Brighton for the whole day. Tomorrow at Oxford. I'll be back in London on Monday. Yesterday we dined with four of us, Lady Ripon, her husband, King Manuel and myself. We sat and chatted all evening. She rebuilt her house, and it turned out beautifully just lovely. On Wednesday I have breakfast at Richmond "e. The King's mother wants to meet me. I see him every day, he is just touching, he comes to London every day, has breakfast, dine with me, we go to a concert with him. [Yudin. UK. cit.]
As researcher E.E. Yudin: “An integral part of Felix Yusupov's stay in England was his active familiarization with British political and secular culture. Most of his time was occupied not by scientific studies, but by an endless series of receptions, visits, dinner parties, dinners and even breakfasts, visits to palaces and rural estates of the English aristocracy, balls and festive evenings. High English society showed considerable interest in the young Prince Yusupov, as a representative of the elite great empire, just in these years, becoming a foreign policy ally of Britain, and as, obviously, to a person who had a huge fortune, even in comparison with high English standards. Felix Yusupov becomes a member of several elite closed clubs in Oxford, actively participates in the entertainment of the English "golden" youth. He acquires a large circle of not only secular acquaintances, but also close friends. He often writes about the latter to his mother, praising their personal, human qualities. Some of them he will invite later to come to him in Russia. It seems that Felix will maintain close personal contacts with his English friends in subsequent years, having already returned to Russia. [Yudin. UK. cit.]
Perhaps the opinion of many researchers that Yusupov became a member of the Masonic lodge in England refers to this period of time, if "elite closed clubs" are associated with Masonic lodges. But there is no direct evidence of entry into the lodge. Moreover, as can be judged from the letter of Princess Z.N. Yusupova to her son dated November 8, 1913 (written from Koreiz to Paris), this was considered reprehensible and unacceptable in the Yusupov family: “Be very careful with Nick. M. [Vel. Prince Nikolai Mikhailovich]. He is terribly false, and many, not without reason, consider him freemason». [Cit. according to Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: River of Time. Book. 2. M., 1995. S. 135-136].
Apparently, during this period of time, Felix met and became friends with Oswald Reiner (Reiner), an agent of the British foreign intelligence service MI6, who also studied at Oxford.
Then Felix became friends with the ballerina Anna Pavlova. About her, he writes the following: “I forgot Oxford, my studies, my friends. Day and night I thought of the incorporeal being that agitated the hall, enchanted with white feathers and the bloody sparkling heart of a ruby. Anna Pavlova was in my eyes not only a great ballerina and beauty, but also a heavenly messenger!<...>She understood me. "You have God in one eye and the devil in the other," she told me. [Prince Felix Yusupov. UK. op.].
This is how the life of the young Felix Yusupov in England proceeded - cheerfully and carefree, not particularly bothering with studies and sciences. But now the time has come for exams, and according to their results - obtaining (or not) a diploma. In this regard, E.E. Yudin draws attention to the study of Richard Thomas Batts, who, relying on the diaries of K.S. Lewis (“the famous English writer and apologist for Christianity, who from 1925 to 1954 held the position of professor at Magdalen College in Oxford”), as well as on the testimony of A.D. Carlyle (from 1893 acting chaplain at University College, Oxford) writes that Felix Yusupov could not pass a single exam. Therefore, Farquharson and Carlyle, by agreement with Yusupov, “they themselves made and handed him a certificate, furnishing everything very importantly and solemnly.”
The presentation of a certificate (certificate) - a diploma of the third (lowest) degree, meant that the prescribed course of lectures was listened to, and the examinee, although he received the lowest mark, nevertheless passed the exams and received a diploma of higher university education - to the inexpressible joy of the mother of Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna, who wrote to her son on June 18, 1912: “My dear boy, Thank God that he passed the exam, even if he got the 3rd diploma and then thank you! Of course, if you had studied more, i.e., more evenly over these last two years, it would be easier to get through now, but what has passed has passed.” [Yudin. UK. op. with reference to GIM OPI. F. 411. Unit. ridge 39.]
Courtship and marriage of Prince Felix Yusupov Jr. to Princess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova
Felix and Irina Yusupov
Another serious act of Prince Felix Yusupov Jr., characterizing him on the positive side, was the matchmaking and marriage to the princess of imperial blood, Irina Alexandrovna Romanova.
It is believed that the family of Victoria of Battenberg really wanted their daughter Princess Louise, who liked the Russian prince Felix Yusupov, to marry him. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wished the same. There were rumors about their engagement, but they remained only rumors. There were other contenders in England as well. However, Felix's choice was different. His attention had long been attracted by his daughter Vel. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich and Vel. Princess Xenia Alexandrovna - Princess of Imperial blood Irina Alexandrovna, the Emperor's niece, beloved, as historians believe, the granddaughter of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Judging by the memoirs, Felix was in love with Irina Alexandrovna, as they say, at first sight, from their first chance meeting, which took place in the Crimea, “during a horseback ride”, when Felix “saw a lovely young girl” ... Since then , judging by the letters, he did not mentally part with her.
Among the contenders for the hand of Irina Alexandrovna were the Greek Prince Christopher, (the fifth son of King George I and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna), and Prince Albert Edward of Wales. The Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich and Prince Vladimir Paley treated her very favorably.
Therefore, Felix Yusupov, in order to carry out honest intentions regarding Irina Alexandrovna, had to show perseverance, patience and even ingenuity in order to get the hand of his chosen one. In addition, he had to wait patiently for several years until Irina Alexandrovna came of age. Irina had a mutual feeling for Felix, and her parents, who had long been friends with the Yusupovs, were also interested in the younger Yusupov and were ready to forgive his scandalous adventures in Paris, which they became aware of during the engagement period. In fairness, it should be noted that revels at that time were characteristic not only of Felix Yusupov, but of youth in general, as, however, it always was and is. It's all about the atmosphere of gossip in which secular society lived, and evil tongues that can inflate each case to incredible proportions. Although Felix's innate politeness, charm, and determination resolved the incident, bad taste Irina's parents still remained - there is no smoke without fire.
The wedding of Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston and Princess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova took place on December 22 (old style), 1914, in the house church of the Anichkov Palace. Felix wrote in his memoirs: “I was happy, because this met my secret aspirations. I could not forget the young stranger I met on a walk on the Crimean road... In comparison with the new experience, all my previous hobbies turned out to be miserable. I understood the harmony of true feeling.
In connection with his marriage, Felix received the right from the Sovereign to bear the princely title and surname Yusupov during his father's lifetime.
A year later, on March 8 (21), the Yusupovs had a daughter, named, like her mother, Irina (1915-1983).
How the attitude towards Grigory Rasputin was formed in the Yusupov society
Probably, with regard to the marriage of Felix and Irina, we can say that they were made for each other. Needless to say, both families also corresponded to each other both in their way of thinking, and in their position, and in their neighborhood (dachas in the Crimea), and in mutual high-society interests. Despite many "buts", in addition to purely human calculations, as well as petty claims, there was one common basis, or a common theme, which undoubtedly contributed to the rapprochement of both respectable families, giving additional kindred ties a certain dedication, a special conspiratorial status of people united by a common interest, a way of thinking, an idea, a common understanding of which gave a solid foundation for strong, especially friendly relations. The unifying super-idea was to deliver the Royal Family, St. Petersburg, the Empire from the terrible man Rasputin - the cause of all the troubles and evils of the Fatherland. Naturally, such an attitude did not develop immediately, but the theme of Rasputin from the very beginning of his appearance next to the Royal Family excited the minds, gradually acquiring more and more fantastic outlines.
Here, for example, are feelings about this, which, however, are quite understandable, Vel. Princess Xenia Alexandrovna, the Sovereign's sister, which is reflected in her diary entries: “In the carriage, Olga [Vel. Princess Olga Nikolaevna] told us about her conversation with her [Alix]. She said for the first time that the poor little one had this terrible disease, and therefore she herself was ill and would never fully recover. About Gregory, she said that how could she not believe in him when she sees that the little one is better as soon as he is near him or prays for him.
In the Crimea, it turns out that after our departure, Alexei had bleeding in the kidneys (horror!) and they sent for Grigory. Everything stopped with his arrival! My God, how terrible and how sorry for them.
Anya V[yrubova] visited Olga today and also talked about Grigory, how she met him (through Stana) in Hard time life (during his divorce), how he helped her, etc.
Horrified by all the stories and accusations - she talked about the bathhouse, laughing, and about the fact that they say that she lives with him! That everything now falls on her neck! [Cit. according to Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: Meilunas A., Mironenko S. Nikolai and Alexandra. Love and life. M., 1998]
“On March 16, Princess Yusupova came to tea. We sat for a long time and talked a lot. She told about her conversation with A[lix] about Gri[igory] and that’s it. He went to Siberia, and not to the Crimea at all. Someone sent him a ciphered dispatch without a signature to tell him to come here. Alix did not know anything about this, she was delighted and, they say, said: "He always feels when I need him." [Cit. according to Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: Meilunas A., Mironenko S. Nikolai and Alexandra. Love and life. M., 1998]
October 16th. Walked with Nikita in the morning. It's wonderful, warm, quiet. - 12. - Felix had breakfast. - Again, fermentation has risen at the expense of Rasputin - they write about him in the newspapers, God knows what. In "Evening Time" an impossible advance is given. He just left here the other day. - Just desperation.<...>» [Cit. by: Khrustalev with reference to: GARF. F. 662. Op. 1. D. 44. L. 23]
The heightened interest in the Friend of the Royal Family of many high-ranking persons gradually gave way to hidden, and then undisguised irritation towards the Royal Family and, in any case, misunderstanding. On the part of the Yusupovs, the cause of dissatisfaction was the disapproval of the young Yusupov's marriage expressed by the Tsar and the Tsarina, because the scandalous Felix, who did not want to serve, became a relative of the Romanovs. From a letter from Princess Z.N. Yusupov to his son November 8, 1913 from Koreiz:
“On the 6th there was a dinner and a ball in Livadia, at which Elena was also invited, which is very nice. I was seated at the royal table, and during the dance they called me to sit next to the hostess [Empress Alexandra Feodorovna], who congratulated me and talked a lot about you both. Despite ostentation, the conversation was dry, and it was clear how much I was not sweet to her! He [Tsar Nicholas II] escaped with smiles and a handshake, but not words didn't say. One could say a lot about this evening in words, but I don’t feel like writing. She doesn't like your departure for Paris, of course. "Fat" [Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva (Vyrubova)] as the fifth daughter, and keeps himself that way» [Cit. according to Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: River of Time. Book. 2. M., 1995. S. 135-136]
Already after the wedding of Felix and Irina, another reason appeared for changing the Yusupovs' attitude towards the Royal Family for the worse. In 1915, Felix's father, Prince F.F. Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston (senior) with the support of Vel. Prince Nikolai Nikolayevich was appointed to two key posts: the chief commander of the Moscow military district (from May to June) and the chief commander of the city of Moscow (from May to September). However, he was soon dismissed due to mediocre leadership during the Moscow riots in 1915. Concerning these events, Emperor Nicholas II writes to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in a letter dated June 16, 1915: “Yusupov, whom I sent for, was present at the council on the first question; we cooled his ardor a little and gave him some clear instructions. There were funny moments when he read his report on the Moscow rebellion - he became excited, shook his fists and pounded them on the table. [Cit. according to Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: Correspondence of Nikolai and Alexandra 1914-1917. - M: Zakharov, 2013].
Everything that came from the Royal Family already caused undisguised irritation. The main reason for hostility was still Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New, and everything connected with him was subjected to malicious criticism, which determined the tone of the letters of Princess Z.N. Yusupova. In a letter to her son dated October 2, 1915, she writes: “I must say that what is happening in Ts[arsky] S[el] revolts me to such an extent that I would like to go somewhere far, far away and never come back! Gri[igory] returned again. Varnava [Bishop of Tobolsk Varnava (Nakropin), who was considered a protege of Gr. Rasputin] is said to be getting a promotion! And Samarin was directly pressed because of these bastards, on the orders of the crazy V[alide] [Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna], who also drove her husband crazy. I suffocate with indignation and find that this can no longer be tolerated. I despise all those who endure all this and remain silent.” [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. cit., with reference to: From the Yusupov family correspondence. / Publication N.B. Strizheva. // The river of times. Book. 2. M., 1995. S. 140-141.].
Princess Zinaida Yusupova has so far rebelled in her letters and set up those around her, and, above all, her son, accordingly. In unison, Vel's assentations sounded to her. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich and Vel. Princess Xenia Alexandrovna. The intensity, pathos, degree, as they say, went off scale. The seething indignation at the decisions made by the Sovereign found justification in the supposedly obscene behavior of Rasputin. However, an indignant feeling bordering on hatred quickly spread from Rasputin to Anna Vyrubova, the Empress, and then the Sovereign. The atmosphere that prevailed in the families of the Yusupovs and Vel. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich on the eve of the murder of Gr. Eph. Rasputin-New can be described as hysterical, with an obsessive idea of guilt in everything and everything Rasputin, Vyrubova and the Tsaritsa - but this was only a cover for a genuine attitude towards the Tsar ...
Prince Felix Yusupov Jr. and Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New. Confrontation
Acquaintance with the romantic period in the life of Prince F.F. Yusupov Count Sumarokov-Elston (matchmaking and marriage) allows us to draw an important conclusion: behind the external outrageousness, as you can see if you wish, a subtle nature capable of high feelings, deep feelings, responsible decisions and serious actions could be hidden. In any case, what else could attract to him noble and honest people, sincere and kind people, such as, for example, Maria Evgenievna Golovina? Maria, or, as she was called in the circle of friends, Munya, was the daughter of a chamberlain, a real state adviser Evgeny Sergeevich Golovin, and was brought native niece Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (ur. Karnovich). Olga Valerianovna became the morganatic wife of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, respectively, stepmother to Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, a friend of Felix. Through Dmitry Pavlovich, apparently, Felix met the Golovin family.
Lyubov Valerianovna Golovina and her daughter Maria were admirers of the elder Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New, and were part of his close circle. Through the Golovins, Felix Yusupov Jr. also met Grigory Efimovich, about which he writes in his memoirs: “I met Rasputin in the family of G. in St. Petersburg in 1909. I have known the G. family for a long time, and I was especially friendly with one of the daughters, M..”
Felix did not like Rasputin, his appearance and manners. To emphasize his hostile attitude, Yusupov, in his memoirs, when describing his acquaintance with Rasputin in the Golovins' house, did not hesitate to apply thick colors: "a strange subject", "smiled evilly", did not approach, but "sailed up to the young lady", "pressed them to his chest and kissed him with the air of a father and a benefactor”, “at first glance I didn’t like something in him, even repulsed him”, only “depicted ease”, noted that Rasputin was “secretly shy, even a coward”. Nevertheless, "his manners were striking", and in general, Grigory Rasputin made an "indelible impression" on Yusupov.
Feeling that Felix did not like Grigory Efimovich, Maria Golovina wrote him a letter on August 20, 1910, where she tried to dispel unpleasant impressions and explain the “oddities” in the behavior and speeches of Elder Grigory:
“Dear Felix Feliksovich!
I am writing to you to ask you not to show anyone the piece of paper that I gave you from Ali [Alexandra Pistohlkors, sister of Anna Vyrubova]. Your new acquaintance [G.E. Rasputin-New] was with us today and asked about it, and I also find that the less talk about him, the better. I would really like to know your opinion about him, I think that you could not endure a particularly good impression, for this you need to have a very special mood and then you get used to treating his words differently, which always imply something spiritual. And not related to our everyday life.
If you understood this, then I am terribly glad that you saw him and I believe that it was good for you for your life, just do not scold him, and if he is unpleasant for you, try to forget. ... ". [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. cit.]
The way Felix Yusupov perceived Grigory Rasputin is strikingly different from the assessment given by G.E. Rasputin-New Petersburg journalist and publisher of the newspaper "Smoke of the Fatherland" A.F. Filippov, cited by V. Khrustalev: “There is no doubt that Rasputin had an increased sensitivity and culture of the good old times, which gave us a peasant who, in terms of subtlety of perceptions, was equal to bars, otherwise this semi-literate peasant would have long ago alienated representatives of the highest aristocracy, who are not often meet". [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. cit.]
The natural nobility of Yusupov collided with the "nobility", or rather the natural peasantry of Rasputin - two elements came together, as it turned out to be irreconcilable. Irreconcilability is not the fault of the peasant, who turned out to be open, direct and honest to the end (the end of death) in his desire to reconcile, comprehend, understand and love the master, but through the fault of the lordly opposite, who did not want to descend from the impregnable peak of his nobility, his legalized prosperity and well-being to holy simplicity, hidden behind a veil of "ignorance" and "illiteracy", ignorance of secular manners and prim etiquette.
The subtle nature of Felix was still able to feel something unusual, bright, although it did not fit into the usual ideas of light. Grigory Rasputin, contrary to the first impression, attracted Yusupov, aroused genuine interest in himself. The personality of the elder and the events associated with his name (perhaps under the influence of his mother) worried Felix Yusupov more and more. This is evidenced by a letter from Maria Golovina to Felix Yusupov dated February 1 (14), 1912:
“Dear Felix Feliksovich!
Your telegram touched me very much, it is good that you wanted to know the truth and were not satisfied with the information that the newspapers are full of. Of these, you probably know the main facts that an inquiry was made in the Duma, why about him [G.E. Rasputin] is forbidden to write that Bishop Germogen [Saratov (Dolganov)], who was his friend so far sought a promotion, now considers him the culprit of his fall and raises all his friends against him, of whom he suddenly turned out to be very many, but on the other hand, they want make a scandal to strike where he is loved and appreciated [i.e. e. blow to the Royal Family - approx. Yu.R.]. This, I think, is the main reason for the uproar against him. He is sent to a completely different place, and he is used as a tool to hurt his friends [the King and Queen] and take away, if possible, even this consolation! How much anger people have, and most importantly envy! As everything beautiful and bright seek to destroy and pollute. Of course, they took up arms against him out of envy, he carries his cross and experiences suffering for Christ. If you could see how far he is from everything that happens around him - he is in a completely different area, in the area of the spirit and is far from our understandings and passions, and we judge everything in our own way, and so we ourselves are immersed in sin and the temptation that we cannot understand the true purity that he preaches and puts into practice. After all, sin would not have power over people if they were stronger than it, and in whatever age people appear who discover another life, they will always be persecuted and persecuted, as they persecuted everyone who followed in the footsteps of Christ.
You know and saw him too little to understand his personality and the power that guides him, but now I have known him for two years and I am sure that he bears the cross of God and suffers for the truth, which is incomprehensible to us and, if you are a little familiar with occultism, you know that everything great is hidden under a certain shell, which closes the way to the truth for the profane. Remember the words - "Enter through the narrow gate", but few people understand this, preferring, as he says, the "inviolable tree" of pharisaic virtue, in my opinion, often bordering on cruelty, true Christian love!
That's all I can tell you about him, if you are particularly interested in something, then write, I will always write to you with pleasure. While he is still here and wants to talk to us during the first week of Lent, and then he leaves, I don’t know for how long, and I don’t know whether he will come when you are here.
Write everything you think about it, I really value your opinion and want to feel you with me, just be frank, because I love you with a heartfelt, pure and clear love that will last to the grave and, I hope, that no human tricks will they will betray our friendship, but a friend must tell everything without fear of offending him, because love must endure everything! On the 5th feast of the icon that I gave you, pray that it will save you!
And generally write, goodbye.
Maria Golovina" [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: GMI OPI. F. 411. Op. 1. D. 48. L. 40-43v.].
Amazing letter. So much holy love and trust to someone who will soon ruthlessly inflict massacre on another object of holy true love - that person who himself loved people holy and true, who even loved his enemies and murderers, and proved this by his martyrdom, stretching out his hand before death to his executioner.
What is also surprising is the depth of penetration into the subtleties of the situation and the clarity of assessment of those events and circumstances that still remain unclear and foggy for those who tend to trust the interpretation of the Yusupovs in this historical dispute, in this age-old, universal confrontation between two spiritual elements: good and evil. , love and hate, life and death.
Grigory Rasputin is the man whose life is sanctified by faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ led him, by faith he verified his thoughts and feelings, faith guided his actions. What actually happened to him in Petersburg? He was not accepted, he was rejected, pushed out of the environment. He was a stranger to this environment. And few could understand and appreciate his faith from the mighty of the world this and their surroundings. That's the reason for the opposition. In high society, they are used to treating a person in accordance with his real status and data - what a person is worth. You had to get a pass into the high society, and, having received it, behave in accordance with the place that society has assigned you, and do not dare to cross the line so as not to hear a formidable, threatening cry: who are you ?! Grigory Efimovich, contrary to these rules, went beyond what was permitted, stepped over the line, encroaching on the "holy" - the inviolability of strict etiquette and hierarchy.
But what could Grigory Efimovich offer these people? Only one thing - his living faith and the fruits of the spirit, with which he was gifted from God. And so this living faith came into conflict with the dead letter of secular customs and rules, with thoroughly false etiquette.
The fact that they are different was understood by both sides: both Grigory Efimovich and representatives of the Yusupov world. But how did different, opposite sides act in this situation? Grigory Efimovich tried to understand, love, teach, heal, help. He was even ready to accept something useful from them, to understand, to comprehend their truth with his peasant mind - to adapt to them, perhaps even become like them, in order to better understand. In this he followed the example of the apostles, imitating them.
On the opposite side, on the contrary, at first there was surprise, interest, but they did not understand, did not agree, they began to endure, but not for long, they quickly broke (fell) into a fetid pit of undisguised irritation, gross lies, vile slander, banal shameful envy, poisonous gossip and evil gossip. Gradually growing, these phenomena turned into hysteria, into some kind of frenzy, madness. Finally, and it all got tired, and, especially without ceremony, they killed him.
Why did they kill, for what? The killer - the young prince Felix Yusupov was faced with what destroyed his life credo. No one ever questioned his primacy and superiority, neither his mother nor Aunt Ella, in fact, encroached on his freedom. Felix was not surpassed, this was his element - social life, St. Petersburg, Paris, London, entertainment, whims, no one limited him.
The appearance of Rasputin in his life became a threat to the world of his superiority, independence. Felix Yusupov was afraid of losing freedom, but not freedom from sin, but freedom from the limitation of sin. In the face of the peasant Gregory, he felt something that was higher than him, which brought him from the patrician Olympus to the sinful earth, something that allowed him to feel weaker, weaker. Weaker, not in the physical or any other sense, but in the spiritual. He first encountered the element of the spirit, felt its power and height, and at the same time felt his insignificance and helplessness in front of it. Elder Gregory destroyed his idol, the idol of the secular crowd Felix Yusupov. His authority, his position, his fortune were nothing before the truth and height of true Christian love. His conscience denounced his wretchedness, and with this he could not agree, could not part with his indisputable superiority for him, which was given to him in a secular way understood by freedom, position and wealth - everything is dust, dust, ashes, nothing, and he himself, according to true, small, not figuratively, but literally, his soul turned out to be petty and insignificant. Grigory Efimovich called him just that: "small." Felix could not agree with this, childishly put up with it.
It is hard to say how sincere the friendship with Maria Golovina was from Felix Yusupov. But his mother, Zinaida Yusupova, was clearly burdened by this friendship, and already after Felix left for England, Zinaida Nikolaevna would like to get rid of the obsessive attention of Maria Golovina, who, apparently, on her own initiative, as well as due to naivety and simplicity, as a friend continued to visit the Yusupovs even in the absence of Felix, which they were not particularly happy about. This can be judged from the letter of Z.N. Yusupova to her son dated September 23, 1909, where there is the phrase: “We didn’t get rid of Golovina, she was with Sonya [Dzhambakurian-Orbeliani] and drank tea with us.” [Cit. by: Khrustalev. UK. op. with reference to: GMI OPI. F. 411. Op. 1. D. 36. L. 23-26v.]
Thanks to Maria Golovina, Felix Yusupov was offered a choice: either to continue the treacherous path of serving the world of the Yusupovs, or to follow the path of correction and healing indicated by the Russian pilgrimage peasant, the spiritualized wanderer, the elder Grigory - the path of the original serving Russian nobility, the path of devotion and fidelity to God's Anointed and God's Russian people. But the noble impulse of a pure soul did not touch Yusupov. He did not want to accept the meaning of her words about the elder Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New, who, by his existence in St. Petersburg, the Yusupov patrimony, defied the world of the Yusupovs. And the offspring of this world, the prince of this world, Felix Feliksovich Yusupov Jr., accepted this challenge ...
(To be continued)