Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
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Home Page > Business > Home Business > Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
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Posted: Aug 11, 2010 |Comments: 0
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Early life
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich with three of his brothers(from left to right) : Alexander, Alexei, Vladimir and Tsarevich Nicholas
The Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich Romanov of Russia was born in Saint Petersburg on 14 January 1850 (4 January O.S.). He was the son of emperor Alexander II and empress Maria Alexandrovna. He was a younger brother of Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna, Tsarevich Nikolay Alexandrovich, Alexander III of Russia, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and He was an older brother of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich.
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was destined for a naval career since his childhood. At the age of 7 he received the rank of midshipman. The next year Konstantin Nikolayevich Posyet was appointed as his tutor. While the winters were dedicated to theoretical studies, during the summers he trained on Russian warships of the Baltic fleet stationed in Saint Petersburg harbour. The training was rough, but gave him the possibility of getting used to various sailing ships:
in 1860 the yacht Shtandart on a cruise from Petergof to Livada [disambiguation needed]
in 18611863 the yacht Zabava under the flag of counter-admiral Posyet in the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia,
in 1864 the frigate Svetlana in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea
in 1866 the frigate Oslyabya during an extensive training cruise to the Azore Islands.
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich in his youth
On 18 September 1866 Grand Duke Alexei was promoted lieutenant. He continued his navy career serving as officer aboard the frigate Alexander Nevski on a cruise in across the Mediterranean Sea to Pireaus, where he attended the wedding of his cousin Olga Konstantinovna.
In 1868 he went on a trip to southern Russia traveling by train from Saint Petersburg to Nikolaevsk [disambiguation needed], continuing by ship down the Volga to Astrakhan. He then boarded a military ship for a cruise on the Caspian Sea to Baku, [Petrovsk (now Makhachkala) and then to Iran. He then crossed the Caucasus and reached Poti where the Alexander Nevsky was moored. From there he sailed to Constantinople, Athens and the Azore Islands On the return voyage, on the frigate was involved in a shipwreck off the coast of Jutland during a storm on the North Sea. Though the ship was lost, the crew including Alexei Alexandrovitch was unhurt and could safely reach the shore.
In January 1870 Alexei Alexandrovich reached the age of majority according to Russian legislation. The event was marked by taking two oaths : the military one and the oath of allegiance of the Grand Dukes of the Russian Imperial House. In June 1870 Alexei Alexandrovich started the last part of his training. This included inland navigation on a cutter with a steam engine, on the route from Saint Petersburg to Arkhangelsk through the Mariinsk Canal system and the Northern Dvina River. After visiting the schools and industrial facilities of Arkhangelsk, he started his navigation training in arctic conditions, aboard the corvette Variag. His cruise took him to the Solovetsky Islands, continuing through the White Sea and Barents Sea to Novaya Zemlya. The route continued to Kola Bay and the city of Murmansk, the ports of northern Norway and Iceland. He returned to Cronstadt at the end of September.
Love affair with Alexandra Zhukovskaya
Alexandra Zhukovskaya
In 1869/1870, Alexei had an affair with Alexandra Zhukovskaya, daughter of poet Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky, who was eight years older than him. They were parents to a son, Alexei, born on 26 November 1871. Tsar Alexander II was strongly opposed to this relationship.
Some historians claim that they were morganatically married and that the marriage was annulled by the Russian Orthodox Church , because, according to the “Fundamental Laws of the Imperial House”, this marriage was illegal. However, articles 183 and 188, which prohibited marriages without the consentment of the emperor, were included in the Fundamental Laws only by the 1887 revision under Tsar Alexander III. The rules valid in 1870 did not prohibit mornaganatic marriages, but simply excluded their offspring from the succession to the throne. There is no evidence either to the marriage or to the divorce. There is also no evidence that the Grand Duke even requested the permission to marry. As Alexandra Zhukovskaya, was not an aristocrat and, besides, the daughter of an illegitimate son of a Russian landowner and a Turkish slave, such a marriage would have been unthinkable.
Upset by his son’s affair, Alexander II even refused to grant Alexandra Zhukovskaya a title, which would have officially recognized the Grand Duke’s paternity, even if illegitimate. Other European courts also refused to grant her a title. As a solution of last resort, on 25 March 1875 Alexandra was able to secure the title of baroness Seggiano from the Republic of San Marino, with the right to transmit the title to her son Alexei and his firstborn male descendants. It was only in 1883, that Alexander III, the Grand Duke’s elder brother, granted the baron Seggiano the title of count Belevsky, and in 1893 approved his coat of arms.
Tour of the United States
On board the frigate Svetlana
Voyage to the United States
After the official visit to Saint Petersburg of an American squadron under the command of Admiral David Farragut in 1867, a high level visit of the Russian Navy was envisaged by the Russian Government. After lengthy negotiations, it was decided that the Russian delegation would be headed by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. The official announcement of the visit was made on 29 June 1871 by Nikolay Karlovich Krabbe, Minister of the Imperial Russian Navy.
The Russian squadron, under the command of admiral Konstantin Nikolayevich Posyet on board the frigate Bogalye included the frigates Svetlana and The Admiral General, the corvette Ignatiev and the gunboat Abrek. The Grand Duke was serving as lieutenant aboard the Svetlana. Before reaching the United States, the Russian squadron was to be met by the frigate Vsadnik of the Russian Pacific Fleet. Though all ships were equipped with steam-engines, the squadron made the passage to America mainly under sail, so as to avoid making port on the route for coal supplies. Except for the Grand Duke personal staff, the crew included 200 officers and over 3000 sailors. The squadron set sail out of Kronstadt on 20 August 1871.
The squadron first stopped in Copenhagen, where the Grand Duke paid a visit to King Christian IX of Denmark. In the English Channel the Russians were met by a squadron of the Royal Navy and escorted to Plymouth, where the Grand Duke was met by the Duke of Edinburgh Alfred of Saxe-Coburg. A visit to Balmoral Castle had been scheduled, but had to be canceled because the Prince of Wales was very sick and Queen Victoria extremely concerned. The Russian squadron set sail from Plymouth on 26 September. and, on route to New York, stopped for a few days in Funchal, (Madeira Islands), leaving on 9 October.
The Russian squadron was met by an American squadron under the command of vice-admiral Stephen Clegg Rowan Port Admiral of New York hoisting his flag on the frigate Congress. Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee, commander of the North Atlantic Squadron attended on his own flagship, the Severn. The other ships of the squadron were the Iroquois and the Kansas, attended by several tugs.
A welcoming committee had been formed in New York, chaired by William Henry Aspinwall. Among the members of the committee were Moses H. Grinnell, general Irwin McDowell, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. rear-admiral S. W. Godon, John Taylor Johnston, Albert Bierstadt, Lloyd Aspinwall and others. After a short delay due to the weather, the Russian squadron anchored in New York harbor on 21 November 1871, where the Grand Duke was greeted by general John Adams Dix. A military parade took place in the city. The Grand Duke then attended a thanksgiving service at the Russian chapel.
Reception by President Grant
On 22 November, the Grand Duke left for Washington by special train, placed at his disposal by the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company. The train had three cars: the “Commissariat” having all the modern improvements of a hotel, comprising store-rooms and pantry, the “Ruby”, dining room car to accommodate 28
