Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova
Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova

Grand Duchess Xenija of Russia ( Russian Ксения Александровна Романова , scientific transliteration Ksenija Aleksandrovna Romanova ; * March 25th July / April 6th  1875 greg. In Saint Petersburg , Russia ; † April 20, 1960 in London ) was a Russian Grand Duchess and the elder of the two sisters of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia .

Life

Xenia as a little girl with her mother
Xenija as a little girl with her mother

Xenija Alexandrovna Romanowa was the fourth of the six children of Tsar Alexander III. and his wife Marija Fjodorovna , born in the Anichkov Palace in Saint Petersburg.

Xenija with husband Sandro and their children
Xenija with husband Sandro and their children

With her siblings Nikolaus II., Georgi , Michail and Olga she experienced a sheltered childhood at the imperial court in St. Petersburg. The Tsar set great store by an intimate family life. As a child she was a tomboy , but also very shy. Xenija enjoyed going fishing with her father and siblings. In the park of the Gatchina Palace she went horse riding and shared a passion for music with her sister Olga. Like her brothers, Xenija received training from private tutors. A special focus was learning foreign languages. In addition to her native Russian, she also learned German, English and French. Like almost every young girl of her time, she was also taught drawing, gymnastics, and playing the piano.

Their sheltered life changed abruptly when their father died and Nicholas followed him to the throne.

Shortly before the death of Alexander III. she married on July 25th jul. / August 6, 1894 greg. Grand Duke Alexander Michailowitsch , her second uncle, whom everyone just called Sandro . Their marriage was not particularly happy; Sandro took an American mistress with whom he wanted to leave Xenija. He confessed to Xenija, and she retaliated with affairs.

The marriage to Sandro resulted in seven children, six sons and a daughter.

  1. Irina (1895–1970), married to Felix Jussupow in 1914
    1. Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova, (1915–1983)
  2. Andrej (1897–1981), married 1. in 1918 to Elisabeth Princess Ruffo-Sasso, with whom he had three children, and 2. In 1942 he married Nadine McDougall, with whom he had a daughter:
    1. (from 1st marriage) Princess Xenija Andrejewna (1919–2001)
    2. (from 1st marriage) Prince Michail Andrejewitsch (1920)
    3. (from 1st marriage) Prince Andrei Andrejewitsch (1923)
    4. (from 2nd marriage) Princess Olga Andrejewna (1950)
  3. Fyodor (1898–1968), married in 1923 to Irene Princess Palej, daughter of Grand Duke Paul of Russia with whom he had the following children:
    1. Prince Mikhail Fyodorovich (1924)
    2. Princess Irina Feodorovna (1934)
  4. Nikita (1900–1974), married Countess Maria Voronzow-Daschkow in 1922. They had two sons:
    1. Prince Nikita Romanov (1923)
    2. Prince Alexander Romanov (1929)
  5. Dimitri (1901–1980), married 1. 1931 to Marina Countess Golenistschew-Kutuzov-Tolstoy, 2. 1954 Sheila McKellar-Chisholm
    1. (from 1st marriage) Princess Nadeschda Romanowa (1939–2002)
  6. Rostislaw (1902–1978), married 1. in 1928 to Princess Alexandra Galitzyn , 2. in 1945 with Alice Baker, 3. in 1954 with Hedwig von Chappuis.
    1. (from 1st marriage) Prince Rostislaw Romanow (1938–1999)
    2. (from 2nd marriage) Prince Nikolai Romanow (1945–2000)
  7. Wassili (1907–1989), married in 1930 to Natalia Princess Galitzyn
    1. Princess Marina Romanova (1940)

After her brother Mikhail married the unsuitable Natalia Sergejewna Sheremetyevskaya abroad, she was one of the few Romanovs who understood him. She visited him several times abroad and tried to mediate between him and Nikolaus.

When the October Revolution broke out , she and her mother fled Russia to Denmark with the help of the British Navy . She separated from her husband in exile. Xenija died in London on April 20, 1960.

literature

  • Alexander of Russia , Once I was Grand Duke , Paul List Verlag, Leipzig, 1932, licensed edition Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg, 2000, ISBN 3-8289-6816-3
  • VI Fedorschenko : The Imperial House: Outstanding Personalities (Императорский Дом: выдающиеся сановники), Olma-Press, 2003, Volume 2, Page 593 (Russian)
  • Je.W. Ptschelow and AN Bochanow: Genealogy of the Romanows 1613–2001 (Генеалогия Романовых 1613–2001), Exlibris-Press, 2001, page 81 (Russian)

Web links

Commons : Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Romanowa, Xenija Alexandrovna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Романова, Ксения Александровна (Russian); Romanova, Ksenija Aleksandrovna (scientific transliteration); Xenia of Russia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Duchess of Russia
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 1960
Place of death London