Georg Michailowitsch Brassow

Georg Michailowitsch Brassow

Georg Graf Mikhailovich Brassow (* July 24 ^{. Jul} / August 6th, 1910 ^greg. In Moscow ; † 22. July 1931 in Auxerre ) was a Russian nobleman and member of the House of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp . He was the son of Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov's morganatic marriage .

Origin and family exile

Prince Georg was born the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Mikhail and the lower noblewoman Natalija Sergejewna Brassowa . His father was the youngest son of the Russian Tsar Alexander III. and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna , his mother had been married twice before and had a daughter, Georg's older half-sister Natalja Mamontovna (born June 2, 1903, † 1969), called Tata. It was named after his uncle, Grand Duke Georg Alexandrowitsch , who died in a motorcycle accident.

Georg as a boy with his parents

Georg was born shortly after his mother's divorce from her second husband, Rittmeister Vladimir Wulffert, who served in the regiment of cuirassiers under Georg's father; his parents fell in love straight away in 1908 during Natalja's second marriage. When he was born, his father was second to the Russian throne after Tsarevich Alexej . According to the house law of the Russian tsars, he was not allowed to marry without the consent of the ruling tsar Nicholas II . In 1911 Nikolaus allowed Natalija to live with Mikhail's two children on his country estate Brassowo (near Lokot ) and in Saint Petersburg , and gave her the surname "Brassowa" derived from this, but consent to a marriage could not be obtained because his Mother divorced twice and was not of royal descent.

Tsarevich Alexey suffered from hemophilia, so it was feared that he would not live long enough to take the throne. In 1912, he suffered life-threatening bleeding from his legs and groin while Mikhail's family was in Spala, Poland . Since Mikhail feared that Alexej might not survive and that he might therefore be forced into a befitting marriage, Georg's parents married on October 30, 1912 in a Serbian Orthodox church in Vienna in order to establish their connection permanently. The choice of church mattered as this marriage could not be canceled by the Russian court or the Russian Orthodox Church. The marriage was viewed as treason by the imperial family, especially since it was carried out while the tsarevich was nearly dying. Mikhail was excluded from the line of succession due to the improper marriage and went on a trip to Europe with his family in order to finally settle in exile in England .

Return and overthrow of the monarchy

In the fall of 1914, Georg's father asked the Russian court for permission to return to Russia to re- join the army that fought in World War I. His request was granted and Grand Duke Mikhail returned to Russia with his family. Mikhail became a general and was later awarded the St. George's Cross, the highest Russian military order. Tsar Nicholas II raised George's mother to the higher nobility and appointed her Countess Brassowa. Even if Georg was legitimized as Mikhail's son, he and any descendants remained excluded from the Russian throne. Later, the pretender to the throne, Kyrill, would give him the title of prince .

During the February Revolution of 1917 , Tsar Nicholas II abdicated for himself and his son and appointed Mikhail as his successor. But since all St. Petersburg troops had already defected to the revolutionaries, the Grand Duke rejected the appointment and the Provisional Government took power. Georg and his family were initially placed under house arrest in Gatchina before they were released in September that year, but after the October Revolution in 1918 his father was transferred to the distant city of Perm . Michail and Natalija organized that Georg was brought from the country to Copenhagen , where he was taken in by relatives of his grandmother at the court of Christian I of Denmark. In the early morning hours of June 12, 1918, his father Mikhail was arbitrarily shot by the Cheka on their own initiative in the outskirts of Perm , and his body was burned. Since those responsible, in order to cover themselves, pretended that Mikhail had been abducted, the circumstances of his father's death only became known after George's death. His mother was arrested immediately afterwards, but escaped months later while receiving treatment in a hospital and fled with her daughter on a long journey to London in late 1918 / early 1919 .

exile

Georg followed his mother and sister into exile in London in 1919, where he attended Harrow School , a well-known school for higher circles. In 1927 his mother moved to Paris due to financial problems , while Georg stayed in England to finish the school year. He then moved to another school, the École des Roches in Verneuil in Normandy . Even if Georg occasionally thought of claiming the Russian throne, he usually looked at the idea rather jokingly. As he grew up, his pronounced resemblance to his father was often noticed. After Georg had passed his final exams at the Sorbonne in the summer of 1931 , he decided to go on vacation to the south of France with his Dutch friend Edgar Moneanaar . They intended to drive from Paris to Cannes , but their car skidded while driving and hit a tree. Nineteen-year-old Edgar, who had been behind the wheel, died instantly. Georg was rushed to hospital with two broken legs and severe internal injuries and died in Auxerre without regaining consciousness . He was buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. When his mother died in 1952, she was buried at his side. The tomb is covered with a Russian cross on a tombstone with the simple gold-colored inscription Fils et Epouse de SAI Grand Duc Michel de Russie .

Georg never had a place in the Russian line of succession due to his ancestry from a morganatic marriage , but he was the last surviving male descendant of Tsar Alexander III.

Web links

• Romanov Museum, Perm
• The Fate of Romanovs: The Survivors
• Alexander Palace Time Machine; Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich
• George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov in the database of Find a Grave (English)