Matilda Felixovna Kschessinskaya
Matilda Maria Felixowna Kschessinskaja , Russian Матильда Феликсовна Кшесинская (August * 19 . Jul / 31 August 1872 greg. In Ligovo in Saint Petersburg , † 6. December 1971 in Paris ) was a Russian prima ballerina and by marriage Princess Romanova-Krassinskaja.
Life
Kschessinskaja came from a Polish family who worked at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg. She began her career under the training of Marius Petipa , who produced some of the greatest prima ballerinas. In 1890 Kschessinskaya graduated from the Mariinsky Ballet . She was the first ballerina to repeat the "32 fouettés en tournant" by the Italian Pierina Legnani (1863–1923). The success of Kschessinskaya was based on her special grace and expressive creative power, which cast a spell over the audience.
Scandals
But her affair, which lasted from 1890 to 1894, with the last Russian tsar Nicholas II , who is said to have lost his virginity with her, attracted more attention . The Tsar even commissioned a villa for the dancer in 1904, which still bears her name and today houses the Museum of the Political History of Russia (formerly the Revolutionary Museum).
The scandals and rumors about her name continued, however, because she entered into a " Ménage à trois " with two grand princes of the Romanov family , Sergei Mikhailovich and his cousin Andrei Vladimirovich .
Escape and marriage
On February 13, 1920, she fled with the family of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna via Italy to France . In 1921 she married Grand Duke Andrei Wladimirowitsch Romanow (1879–1956), son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrowitsch Romanow and Maria Pavlovna in Paris . He also claimed to be the father of Kschessinskaja's son, Vladimir Romanowsky-Krasinsky (1902–1974).
Life in exile
In 1929 Kschessinskaya opened her own ballet school, where she taught students such as Margot Fonteyn , Lady Alicia Markova , André Eglevsky and Tamara Toumanova . She last appeared in public in 1936, at a charity ball at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden , London . In 1960 she published her autobiography.
reception
- Matilda (feature film, 2017)
literature
- Coryne Hall: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs . Sutton Publishing, Stroud 2005, ISBN 0-7509-3557-X .
- Matilda Kschessinskaja: Memories . Centropoligraf, Moscow 2009, ISBN 978-5-9524-4400-3 .
Web links
- Short biography with picture
- Biography , Krugosvet (Russian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kschessinskaya, Matilda Felixovna |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kschessinskaja, Matilda Maria Felixovna; Romanowa-Krasinskaya, Matilda Maria Felixowna; Кшесинская, Матильда Феликсовна (Russian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | russian ballet dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 31, 1872 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ligowo near Saint Petersburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | 6th December 1971 |
| Place of death | Paris |