History of the Yusupov family.
“The ancestors of the Yusupovs are from Abubekir, the father-in-law of the prophet, who ruled after Muhammad (about 570-632) over the entire Muslim family. Three centuries after him, his namesake Abubekir ben Rayok also ruled all the Muslims of the world and bore the title of Emir el-Omr, prince of princes and sultan of sultans, uniting in his person governmental and spiritual power.
During the era of the fall of the caliphate, the direct ancestors of the Russian princes Yusupov were rulers in Damascus, Antioch, Iraq, Persia, and Egypt. A direct descendant named Edigei was in the closest and closest friendship with Tamerlane himself, or Timur, the “Iron Lame” and the great conqueror. Edigei conquered Crimea and founded the Crimean Horde there.
Edigei's great-grandson was called Musa-Murza (Prince Moses, in Russian) and, according to custom, had five wives. The first, beloved, was called Kondaza. From her Yusuf was born - the founder of the Yusupov family. For twenty years Yusuf Murza was friends with Ivan the Terrible himself, the Russian Tsar. The descendant of the emirs considered it necessary to make friends and become related to their Muslim neighbors, “splinters” of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'.
Beautiful Suyumbek, Queen of Kazan, beloved daughter of Yusuf Murza. She was born in 1520 and at the age of 14 she became the wife of the Tsar of Kazan, Enalei.
Suyumbek, remaining a widow, brilliantly led the defense of Kazan, so that the famous Russian commander Prince Andrei Kurbsky could not take the city by storm, and the matter was decided by a secret undermining and explosion of the city walls. The Queen of Kazan was taken with honor to Moscow along with her son.
The sons of Yusuf Murza, the Suyumbek brothers, came to the court of Ivan the Terrible, and from then on they and their descendants began to serve the Russian sovereigns, without betraying the Muslim faith and receiving awards for their service. Thus, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich Il-Murza was granted the entire city of Romanov with a settlement on the banks of the Volga near Yaroslavl (now the city of Tutaev). In this beautiful city, which before the revolution bore the name Romanov-Borisoglebsk, an event occurred that radically changed the fate and history of the Yusupov family.
It was during the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The great-grandson of Yusuf-Murza named Abdul-Murza, who is also the great-grandfather of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, received Patriarch Joachim in Romanov and, unknowingly Orthodox posts, fed him a goose. The Patriarch mistook the goose for fish, tasted it and praised it, and the owner said: this is not a fish, but a goose, and my cook is so skilled that he can cook a goose like a fish. The Patriarch was angry and upon returning to Moscow he told the whole story to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. The king deprived Abdul-Murza of all his grants, and the rich man suddenly became a beggar. He thought hard for three days and decided to be baptized in Orthodox faith. Abdul-Murza, the son of Seyush-Murza, was baptized under the name Dmitry and came up with a surname in memory of his ancestor Yusuf: Yusupovo-Knyazhevo. This is how Prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo appeared in Rus'.
Family coat of arms of the Yusupovs
But that same night he had a vision. A clear voice said: “From now on, for betrayal of faith, there will not be more than one male heir in your family in each generation, and if there are more, then all but one will not live longer than 26 years.”
Dmitry Seyushevich married Princess Tatiana Fedorovna Korkodinova, and according to the prediction, only one son succeeded his father. This was Grigory Dmitrievich, who served Peter the Great, a lieutenant general, whom Peter ordered to be simply called Prince Yusupov. Grigory Dmitrievich also had only one son who lived to adulthood - Prince Boris Grigorievich Yusupov, who was the governor of Moscow.
It is difficult to say why the curse sounded so ornate, but it came true without fail. No matter how many children the Yusupovs had, only one lived to be twenty-six.
At the same time, such instability of the clan did not affect the well-being of the family. By 1917, the Yusupovs were second in wealth after the Romanovs. They owned 250 thousand acres of land, they were the owners of sugar, brick, sawmills, factories and mines, the annual income from which was more than 15 million gold rubles. And the luxury of the Yusupov palaces could be the envy of the great princes. For example, Zinaida Nikolaevna’s rooms in Arkhangelskoye and in the palace in St. Petersburg were furnished with furniture from the executed French queen Marie Antoinette. The art gallery rivaled the Hermitage in its selection. And Zinaida Nikolaevna’s jewelry included treasures that previously belonged to almost all the royal courts of Europe. Thus, the magnificent pearl “Pelegrina,” which the princess never parted with and is depicted in all portraits, once belonged to Philip II and was considered the main decoration of the Spanish Crown.
However, Zinaida Nikolaevna did not consider wealth happiness, and the curse of the Tatar sorceress made the Yusupovs unhappy.
Grandmother de Chaveau
Of all the Yusupovs, perhaps only Zinaida Nikolaevna’s grandmother, Countess de Chavo, managed to avoid great suffering due to the untimely death of her children.
Born Naryshkina, Zinaida Ivanovna married Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov when she was still a very young girl, bore him a son, then a daughter who died during childbirth, and only after that did she learn about the family curse.
Being a sensible woman, she told her husband that she was not going to “give birth to dead men” in the future, but if he hadn’t had enough, “let him give birth to the courtyard girls,” and she would not object. This continued until 1849, when the old prince died.
Zinaida Ivanovna was not forty, and she, as they would say now, went into all serious troubles. There were legends about her dizzying novels, but the greatest noise was caused by her passion for the young Narodnaya Volya member. When he was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, the princess refused social entertainment, followed him and through bribery and promises achieved that he was released to her at night.
This story was well known, they gossiped about it, but strangely enough, Zinaida Ivanovna was not condemned, recognizing the right of the stately princess to extravagances a la de Balzak.
Then suddenly it all ended, for some time she lived as a recluse on Liteiny, but then, having married a ruined but well-born Frenchman, she left Russia, renounced the title of Princess Yusupova and began to be called Countess de Chaveau, Marquise de Serres.
The story of the young Narodnaya Volya member Yusupov was recalled after the revolution. One of the emigrant newspapers published a message that, trying to find Yusupov’s treasures, the Bolsheviks knocked all the walls of the palace on Liteiny Prospekt. No jewelry was found, but they discovered a secret room adjacent to the bedroom in which stood a coffin with an embalmed man. Most likely, this was the Narodnaya Volya member sentenced to death, whose body was bought by his grandmother and transported to St. Petersburg.
Miracles of the Holy Elder
However, despite all the drama in the life of Zinaida Naryshkina-Yusupova-de Chavaux-de-Serre, her family considered her happy. All husbands died of old age, she lost her daughter during childbirth, when she had not yet had time to get used to her, she loved a lot, did not deny herself anything, and she died surrounded by her relatives. For the rest, despite their untold wealth, life was much more dramatic.
Nikolay Yusupov
Zinaida Ivanovna's son, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, had three children - son Boris and daughters Zinaida and Tatyana. Boris died in infancy from scarlet fever, but his daughters grew up not only very beautiful, but most importantly, healthy girls. The parents were happy until a misfortune happened to Zinaida in 1878.
The family spent the autumn of that year in Arkhangelskoye. Prince Nikolai Borisovich, honorary guardian, chamberlain of the court, being busy at work, came rarely and briefly. The princess introduced her daughters to her Moscow relatives and organized musical evenings. In her free time, Tatyana read, and the eldest Zinaida went horseback riding. During one of them, the girl injured her leg. At first, the wound seemed insignificant, but soon the temperature rose, and Doctor Botkin, called to the estate, made a hopeless diagnosis - blood poisoning. Soon the girl fell into unconsciousness, and the family prepared for the worst.
Then Zinaida Nikolaevna said that while unconscious, she dreamed of Father John of Kronstadt, who was familiar with their family. Having come to her senses, she asked to call him, and after the elder who arrived prayed for her, she began to recover. At the same time, the princess always added that she had not heard about the family tradition at that time and did not know that with her recovery she was dooming her younger sister to death.
Tanya died of typhus at twenty-two.
Lightning strike
There is little left of the once rich Yusupov archives in Russia. “The drunken sailor,” as Felix Yusupov described her in his memoirs, looked, first of all, for jewelry, and burned the incomprehensible papers that she came across. Thus, the priceless library and archive of Alexander Blok perished, and the archives of almost all noble families of Russia burned in fires. Now it is necessary to restore family chronicles using acts preserved in state archives.
The Yusupovs are no exception. Felix Yusupov’s memoirs published abroad cannot be completely trusted - he embellishes his role in the murder of Rasputin and presents revolutionary events rather subjectively. But due to the proximity to the imperial family, the Yusupov family chronicle is not difficult to restore.
After the illness of his eldest daughter, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov became especially persistent in the matter of her marriage. As Zinaida Nikolaevna later recalled, the prince, who was ill a lot, was afraid that he would not see his grandchildren.
And soon the princess, who did not want to upset her father, agreed to meet the next contender for her hand - a relative of the emperor, the Bulgarian prince Battenberg. The contender for the Bulgarian throne was accompanied by a modest officer, Felix Elston, whose duty was to introduce the prince to the future bride and take his leave. Zinaida Nikolaevna refused the future monarch and accepted Felix’s proposal, which he made to her the day after they met. It was love at first sight, and for Zinaida Nikolaevna, which everyone noted, the first and only.
Nikolai Borisovich, no matter how embarrassed his daughter’s decision was, did not contradict her, and in the spring of 1882 Felix Elston and Zinaida Yusupova got married. A year later, the young couple had their first child, Nikolai, named after his grandfather.
Yusupovs in a straight line
The boy grew up silent and withdrawn, and no matter how hard Zinaida Nikolaevna tried to bring him closer, she failed. All her life she remembered the horror that gripped her when, at Christmas 1887, when asked by her son what gift he would like, she received an unchildish and icy answer: “I don’t want you to have other children.”
Then Zinaida Nikolaevna was confused, but it soon became clear that one of the mothers assigned to the young prince told the boy about the Nagai curse. She was fired, but the princess began to wait for the expected child with a feeling of persecution and acute fear.
And at first the fears turned out to be unfounded. Nikolai did not hide his dislike for Felix, and only when he was ten years old did a feeling emerge between them that was more like friendship than the love of two relatives.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov died in 1891. Shortly before his death, he asked for the highest mercy to preserve the illustrious family name, and after mourning, Zinaida Nikolaevna’s husband, Count Sumarokov-Elston, was given permission to be called Prince Yusupov.
Family rock made its presence known in 1908.
Felix Yusupov
Fatal duel In the memoirs of Felix Yusupov, it is easy to see that all his life he was jealous of his mother and his older brother. He, although outwardly more like his father than Zinaida Nikolaevna, was unusually similar to her in his inner world. He was interested in theater, playing music, and painting. His stories were published under the pseudonym Rokov, and even Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who was stingy with praise, once noted the author’s undoubted talent.
After graduating from St. Petersburg University, he received a law degree. The family started talking about the upcoming marriage, but Nikolai unexpectedly fell in love with Maria Heyden, who was already engaged to Count Arvid Manteuffel, and soon this wedding took place.
The young couple went on a trip to Europe, Nikolai Yusupov followed them, a duel could not be avoided. And it happened
On June 22, 1908, at the estate of Prince Beloselsky on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg, Count Manteuffel did not miss. Nikolai Yusupov would have turned twenty-six years old in six months.
“Rending screams were heard from my father’s room,” Felix Yusupov recalled years later. “I walked in and saw him, very pale, in front of the stretcher where Nikolai’s body was stretched out. His mother, kneeling before him, seemed to have lost her mind. With great difficulty we tore her away from our son’s body and put her to bed. Having calmed down a little, she called me, but when she saw me, she mistook me for her brother. It was an unbearable scene. Then my mother fell into prostration, and when she came to her senses, she did not let me go for a second.”
Vicious Cherub
When Nikolai died in a duel, Zinaida Nikolaevna was nearly fifty. Now all her hopes were connected with her youngest son.
Outwardly, Felix resembled his mother extraordinarily - regular facial features, large eyes, a thin nose, puffy lips, an elegant figure. But, if contemporaries called Zinaida Nikolaevna’s features angelic, then no one compared her youngest son other than with a fallen angel. There was a certain depravity in his whole cherubic appearance.
He was not, like his older brother or mother, inclined towards the arts. He had no interest in military and public service, like his father or maternal relatives. A playmaker, a golden boy, an eligible bachelor. But with marriage everything was not so simple.
Zinaida Yusupova
Zinaida Nikolaevna tried to influence her son, wrote to him: “Don’t play cards, limit your fun time, use your brain!” But Felix Yusupov, although he adored his mother, was unable to overcome himself. Only Zinaida Nikolaevna’s crafty statement that she was sick, but did not want to die until she saw her grandchildren, prompted him to agree to marriage and promise to settle down. Opportunity presented itself quite quickly.
Yusupov Palace
In 1913, he came to Arkhangelskoye for December evenings Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. He himself started a conversation about the marriage of his daughter Irina and Felix, and the Yusupovs happily responded. Irina Alexandrovna was not only one of the most enviable brides in the country, but also stunningly beautiful. By the way, at the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia there were three recognized beauties: Empress Maria Feodorovna, Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and Irina Alexandrovna Romanova.
The wedding took place in February 1914 in the church of the Anichkov Palace. Since the Yusupovs were now related to the reigning dynasty, everyone came to congratulate the young imperial family. A year later their daughter Irina was born.
Killer's mother
Almost everything is known about the role of Felix Yusupov in the murder of Rasputin. They lured the voluptuous old man under the pretext of meeting with Irina Alexandrovna to the palace on the Moika. First they poisoned him, then they shot him and, in the end, they drowned Rasputin in the river.
In his memoirs, Yusupov assures that in this way he tried to free Russia from “the dark force leading it to the abyss.” Several times he refers to his mother, who quarreled with the empress because of her dislike for Rasputin. But is it really worthy to lure a victim under the pretext of intimacy with one’s own wife? And Grigory Rasputin would hardly have believed such behavior of the noble prince.
Even then, contemporaries suspected some slyness in Yusupov’s explanations and assumed that Rasputin agreed to come to settle the quarrel between the spouses caused by Felix’s homosexual inclinations.
The Empress insisted that the conspirators be shot, but since Grand Duke Dmitry Romanov was among them, the punishment was limited to exile. Felix was exiled to the Kursk estate of Rakitnoye.
Having learned about the events in St. Petersburg, Zinaida Nikolaevna, who was in Crimea, paid a visit to the Dowager Empress.
“You and I have always understood each other,” Maria Feodorovna said slowly, slightly drawing out her words. “But I'm afraid our prayers were answered too late.” The Lord punished my son long ago by depriving him of his head. Gather your family. If we have time, it’s not much.”
Damned wealth
At the beginning of the war, almost all of the country's wealthy families transferred their foreign savings to Russia. The Yusupovs were no exception. This was caused not only and not so much by patriotism, but by the desire to preserve property - no one doubted Russia’s victory.
When the revolution broke out, Felix tried to save the family jewels by moving them to Moscow. But it was not possible to take them from there, and the jewelry was accidentally found eight years later.
When the Yusupovs sailed from Crimea on the destroyer Marlboro on April 13, 1919, they remained in Russia: 4 palaces and 6 apartment buildings in St. Petersburg, a palace and 8 apartment buildings in Moscow, 30 estates and estates throughout the country, Rakityansky sugar factory, Milyatinsky meat plant, Dolzhansky anthracite mines, several brick factories and much more.
But even in emigration, the Yusupovs were not among the poor. Although we have already mentioned that foreign savings were transferred to Russia at the beginning of the war, real estate remained abroad, and the princesses constantly carried the most valuable jewelry with them and took them into exile.
After Felix bought passports and visas for several diamonds, the Yusupovs settled in Paris. They bought a house in the Bois de Boulogne, where they lived for many years.
The old prince died in 1928, Zinaida Nikolaevna in 1939.
She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris.
Felix Yusupov did not give up his idle life, and, in the end, all the property exported and owned abroad was wasted. He, his wife and daughter Irina were buried in his mother’s grave. There was no money for another place in the cemetery.
History From the military leader who was in the service of Tamerlane and the sovereign Nogai prince (died at the beginning of the 15th century) Edigei Mangit, Musa-Murza was born in the third generation, whose son Yusuf-Murza (died in 1556) was the ancestor of the Yusupov family. He had two sons, Il-Murza and Ibrahim (Abrey), who were sent to Moscow in 1565, and a daughter by the great Tatar queen Soembike; their father's killer, Uncle Ishmael. Some of their descendants last years During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, St. baptism and were written by the princes Yusupov or Yusupovo-Knyazhevo until the end of the 18th century, and after that they began to be written simply by the princes Yusupov. The homeland of the Yusupovs is considered to be the city of Saraichik, now a village in the Atyrau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From Il-Murza came two branches of the Yusupov princes: the eldest, along the line of Suyush-Murza, which died out in the 18th century. with the death of his descendant in the fifth generation, Prince Semyon Ivanovich, and the second in the line of Chin-Murza (later the senior branch), direct descendants on the paternal line in the 19th generation remained faithful to Muslim traditions and still live in Tatarstan; from Ibrahim - one junior branch of the Yusupov princes. Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730), the great-grandson of Il-Murza began to serve as a steward under Peter the Great; participated with him in the Azov campaigns; V Northern War- fought with the Swedes near Narva, Poltava and Vyborg; under Catherine I he was a senator, under Peter II he was general-in-chief (1730), the first member of the state Military Collegium and headed it from 1727 to 1730. Prince Nikolai Yusupov His son Boris Grigorievich (1696-1759) during the reign of Anna Ioannovna and under John Antonovich was the Moscow governor, under Elizaveta Petrovna he was a senator, president of the commercial board and chief director of the cadet corps. Boris Grigorievich's son Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) was an envoy in Turin from 1783 to 1789, then a senator; Emperor Paul I made him minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-16), and Alexander I made him a member of the State Council (from 1823). Director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-96), directed the Hermitage (1797). Owner and builder of the Arkhangelskoye estate, philanthropist. He had an art gallery and a library. His son, Boris Nikolaevich, chamberlain, left the only heir. After the death of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827-1890), due to the suppression of male offspring in the Yusupov family, by another imperial decree in 1891, the Yusupov title was transferred to the Sumarokov-Elston counts. In 1882, having married Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, the son of Felix Nikolaevich Sumarkov-Elston, Felix Feliksovich (1856-1928), lieutenant general (1915), in 1915 the chief commander of the Moscow Military District, since 1919 in exile... ... The highest permission was given to his son-in-law, guard lieutenant Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, to be called Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, so that the princely title and surname Yu passed only to the eldest in the family of his descendants. The family of princes Yu was recorded in Part V of the genealogical book of the provinces of Oryol, Kursk and St. Petersburg. The coat of arms is included in the III part of the General Armorial. With this decree issued in 1891, he inherited the princely title of his wife and became known as: “Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarkov-Elston.” Accordingly, their children also received the right to this double title. Felix Feliksovich (1887-1957) (junior), son of Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and son of the first Yusupov-Sumarkov-Elston - Felix Feliksovich, as a joke with obvious subtext, he was called “Felix III”, in 1914 he married the niece of Emperor Nicholas II Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna, further strengthening her blood relationship with the Romanov family. This F.F. Yusupov went down in Russian history most of all because he was the organizer and active participant in the murder of G.E. Rasputin. Since 1917 in exile. [edit] Notable representatives
IN Russian Empire on the eve of the 20th century there were about 65 thousand noble families. Of these in history ( printed publications) about 4 thousand were captured. If there were nobles among your ancestors, today you can also write about them and publish a book... Specialists of the Program " Russian dynasties"will do this for you.
The historical roots of the Yusupov family go back to the Nogai princes, descendants of the Turkic and Mongolian tribes that were part of end of XIII century in the ulus of the powerful Golden Horde prison Nogai. The Nogai Horde emerged from the Golden Horde in the 14th-15th centuries and roamed a large area - in the Caspian region, the left bank of the Lower Volga, and the Urals. The princely family of the Yusupovs traces its origins to the Nogai ruler Musa-Murza, the great-grandson of the famous military leader Edigei. One of the sons of Musa-Murza, Yusuf-Murza, was, according to legend,
the father of the last Kazan queen Suyumbek (her name is also spelled as Sumbek, Suyunbeka). There are many legends about her, since this queen was a very extraordinary person. Suyumbek was very beautiful and had a character that was not only powerful, but also courageous. During the siege of Kazan by the Russian army, the queen, despite the danger, appeared on the walls of the city, trying to inspire her troops. In the Kazan Kremlin, a seven-tiered tower has been preserved (either a former mosque, or recreated from a destroyed one)
mosque) named after her. When Queen Suyumbek was captured, the Russian commanders treated her with all possible respect. In Moscow, Ivan the Terrible also treated her favorably and placed the queen and her son in one of the Kremlin palaces. Suyumbeki's son, Utemish-Girey, was baptized and given the name Alexander, and was subsequently adopted by Ivan the Terrible. Having died at the age of seventeen, he was given the honor of being buried in the tomb of the great Moscow princes and Russian tsars in the Archangel Cathedral. Yusuf-Murza
was on friendly terms with Russia, but later, due to the capture of his daughter, he quarreled with Ivan IV and began to conduct hostile actions against the Russians. According to Russian sources, in 1556 he was killed by his brother Ishmael, who was worried about the current situation.
In 1565, Ishmael sent Yusuf’s two sons, Ibrahim-Murza and Il-Murza, to Ivan the Terrible, who became the ancestors of the Yusupov princes. During the Time of Troubles, the descendants of Yusuf Murza faithfully served the Russian tsars, despite the attempts of False Dmitry II to win them over to his side. The impostor himself died in 1610 at the hands of Prince Urusov, a descendant of Yusuf-Murza’s brother Izmail. According to some assumptions, two sons of Yusuf Murza died in battle with the Poles. However, while serving the Moscow state, representatives of this family expressed their faith
preferred not to change. The transition of one of them to Christianity took place much later, already under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, when Abdul-Murza, a descendant of Il-Murza, converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Dmitry at baptism. Until the end of the 18th century, this family was written as the Yusupovo-Knyazhevy or princes Yusupov, and later simply the princes Yusupov.
Dmitry's son, Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676-1730), grew up at the royal court. From childhood he was a member of the stewardship, and his fate was largely predetermined by the fact that he was constantly near Tsarevich Pyotr Alekseevich. Children's games grew into adult state concerns, and subsequently Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov was a faithful ally of Peter I in military operations and an associate in many of his endeavors. He was a member of the dragoon regiment during two Azov campaigns. Grigory Yusupov also took part in battles
with the Swedes. He was seriously wounded, but did not leave military service. He carried out various assignments of Peter I - he was in charge of the procurement of provisions for the army, supervised the construction of ships and rafts, and participated in search commissions to investigate abuses. His signature, among others, sealed the verdict of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in 1718. In 1719, Grigory Yusupov headed the Office of Secret Affairs.
Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov zealously served his sovereign. His services were appreciated by Empress Catherine I. On the day of the establishment of the Order of St. Alexander Neva Prince Yusupov became one of his first gentlemen. After the death of Catherine I, Grigory Yusupov enjoyed the favor of Peter II and was elevated by him to colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and subsequently became the first member of the State Military Collegium. Accession of Anna Ivanovna, daughter of Ivan V, brother of Peter the Great, who had very few rights
to reign in the presence of closer heirs (for example, the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna), was the result of the policy of a group of the highest aristocracy. Russian nobles sought to create an aristocratic oligarchy in the country, and Anna Ivanovna was considered the most suitable candidate for the throne for these purposes. She was supposed to become empress under “conditions” that limited her power and actually transferred almost all state powers to the Supreme Privy Council. Despite the fact that Anna Ivanovna
with her limitations and inertia was the direct opposite of Peter I, Grigory Yusupov continued to faithfully serve the monarchy in the person of the empress. Prince Yusupov was a staunch supporter of unlimited autocratic power, so he was among the people who submitted a petition to the Empress with a request to destroy the “conditions” she herself had signed that limited her power. The devotion of Prince Yusupov was noted by Anna Ivanovna; on the day of his coronation, Grigory Yusupov was granted the title of general-in-chief. The Spanish Ambassador, who personally knew
Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov, spoke of him as a man of “very honest rules,” who “served well, knew his craft, was extremely devoted to his sovereign and always walked the straight road.”
The educational activities of Peter I also influenced the fate of Grigory Yusupov’s eldest son, Boris Grigorievich (1695-1759). In 1717, together with twenty other young men from boyar families, he was sent by Peter I to France to receive an education. Boris Yusupov studied at the Toulon School of Midshipmen, but subsequently he served Russia not in the naval or military, but in the civilian field. Boris Yusupov was able to apply the knowledge he had acquired and established himself as a man of great intelligence. In 1730
year he was granted the title of chamberlain. Six years later, he became a senator and was the author of projects for various reforms in the Moscow province, adopted by the Senate for approval. As a result of this activity, in 1740 he received the title of Privy Councilor and was appointed Moscow governor. At the same time, Boris Grigorievich, on the instructions of the Empress, took part in several investigative commissions. In 1741, Prince Yusupov became president of the Commerce Collegium, and in 1742 - director of the Ladoga Canal. Being
President of the Commerce Collegium, Boris Yusupov contributed to the development of the Russian cloth industry, continuing the work begun by Peter I. He carefully studied cloth production, made improvements in cloth factories, and even ordered a special breed of sheep from Holland to improve the quality of wool. The cloth factory, granted ownership to Boris Yusupov, supplied the entire Russian army with cloth. As director of the Ladoga Canal, he also did a lot for the development of Russian river navigation.
In 1750, Prince Boris Grigorievich Yusupov was appointed chief director of the land gentry (later 1st cadet) corps and held this position until 1759. Yusupov performed the duties of the corps director with his characteristic thoroughness and conscientiousness, delving into all issues in detail, such as: the maintenance of students, the level of teaching, the integrity of corps officials, etc. The result of Prince Yusupov’s concern for the education and training of youth was that the number of students
The 1st Cadet Corps was far outnumbered as intended. Prince Yusupov was a man experienced in government affairs. He did not contradict many events that were not entirely to his liking due to their routine nature, but at the same time he took his own measures to introduce Russian education and training of Russian youth. For his services, Boris Grigorievich Yusupov in 1751 was awarded the order Andrew the First-Called.
Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov, in addition to Boris Grigorievich, had two more sons and two daughters.
One of his daughters, Praskovya. Grigorievna, became a victim of palace intrigues. Comprehensive information about the reasons that led the young noble girl to tragic fate, not currently. Princess Praskovya Grigorievich Yusupova had the misfortune of arousing the personal dislike of Empress Anna Ivanovna, but the reasons for this discontent are unknown. There were various speculations about this. Be that as it may, the fact is that two weeks after the death of her father, Princess Praskovya Grigorievna, under military escort
was brought from Moscow to Tikhvin and placed in the Vvedensky nunnery. The abbess of the monastery received orders not to let anyone near the brought princess and to guard her vigilantly. Praskovya Yusupova, after living in a rich parental home, was placed in the corner of the abbess’s cramped cell, the furnishings of which corresponded to the strict monastery regulations. The severity of this situation, imprisonment and the absence of close people caused Princess Praskovya, who apparently did not possess meekness and humility, to have a nervous breakdown.
During one of her outbursts of anger, she had the imprudence to express her thoughts in front of an official, and this person was not slow to report these speeches. Princess Yusupova complained about her brother Boris, calling him an adversary, and about Empress Anna Ivanovna. She talked about the mercy of Princess Elizabeth Petrovna towards her and about her desire for her to become empress. Princess Praskovya also spoke poorly of the Vvedensky Monastery. Naturally, these statements by the princess entailed grave consequences for her. Abbess
made the prisoner's life unbearable, and Praskovya Yusupova secretly sent a trusted woman to St. Petersburg. It is not known what young Yusupova wanted to achieve by this; most likely, she harbored illusions about her case being reviewed and tried to somehow justify herself. Having learned about this, the abbess wrote a denunciation against Princess Yusupova, in which she outlined all the seditious statements of Praskovya Grigorievna. The woman sent by the princess to St. Petersburg was captured and interrogated. Under threat of death, she confirmed what the princess said in the monastery
seditious speeches and monastic denunciations corresponded to the truth. By order of Anna Ivanovna, both Princess Yusupova and the informer were brought to St. Petersburg, and a new trial of the case began. After interrogation, the princess was sentenced to corporal punishment, tonsure as a nun and exile to a remote monastery. The verdict stated that Praskovya Yusupova, according to state laws, is subject to death penalty and only the mercy of the empress keeps her alive. In 1735, the princess was punished, tonsured as a nun and received
tonsured the name of Proclus. Under penalty of death, she was forbidden to talk about what was happening. The nun Prokla was sent into eternal exile in Siberia, to one of the monasteries of the Tobolsk diocese. Such a fate, naturally, embittered the unfortunate Princess Yusupova. One of the reports from the Tobolsk Vvedensky Monastery said that the nun Prokla does not go to the Church of God, does not wear monastic robes and is not called by a monastic name. In response to this report, an order was received from St. Petersburg to keep the princess under
constant guard and in the “leg glands”. There is evidence that in 1746, Princess Praskovya Yusupova was still alive, but nothing is known about her further fate.
Despite the misfortune that befell Praskovya Grigorievna, the family of her brother Boris Grigorievich continued to prosper.
Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750-1831), son of Boris Grigorievich, was from infancy, according to the custom of his time, enlisted in the Life Guards cavalry regiment. In 1771 he became a chamberlain cadet, in the same year he retired and went to Europe for several years to receive his education. In 1781 he returned to Russia and was promoted to actual chamberlain. In 1782, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and his wife went on a trip to Europe under the name of the Northern Counts. Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov
was in their retinue on this trip. Upon returning to his homeland in 1783, Nikolai Yusupov began to carry out diplomatic assignments for Empress Catherine in Turin, Naples, Venice, Rome. Yusupov was tasked with achieving a limitation of Roman Catholic influence in Russia, and in Venice he had to fight the intrigues of England and Austria directed against Russian state. The brilliant mind of Nikolai Yusupov and his diplomatic abilities allowed him to bring a lot of benefit to his homeland in the diplomatic field.
In 1788, Prince Yusupov was promoted to Privy Councilor and became a senator. In 1791, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was appointed director of theaters and held this position until 1799. He also did a lot of good in this field. Among his merits is the organization of the correct internal structure theatrical premises (it was on his initiative theater places were numbered for the first time), establishing control over theatrical fees and costs of staging plays, which was the case before his intervention
completely arbitrary. At the same time, he became president of the Manufactory Board and took over the state-owned glass and porcelain factories. Before the enthronement of Emperor Paul, Prince Nikolai Yusupov was appointed supreme marshal at the coronation and chairman of the coronation commission. On the day of his coronation, he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. In 1801, Prince Yusupov was reappointed to the same positions upon the accession of Alexander I to the throne and received diamond signs for the Order of St. Andrew
First-Called. Upon the accession of Emperor Nicholas I to the throne in 1826, Prince Yusupov performed the same duties for the third time at his coronation. Traveling around Europe, the prince collected works of art. Love of literature and interest in theater also found a place in Yusupov’s life, and his son inherited, in addition to an art gallery and a collection of marble statues, a magnificent library and a home theater.
Nikolai Yusupov's sister, Evdokia Borisovna (d. 1780), was given in marriage by Empress Catherine II to the Duke of Courland, Peter Biron. This marriage did not bring happiness to the beautiful Yusupova and was subsequently dissolved, but managed to strengthen ties between Russia and Courland.
The son of Nikolai Borisovich, Prince Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov (1794-1849), continued family traditions. His activities and the positions he held were very diverse. He was a master of ceremonies, a district leader of the St. Petersburg nobility, a member of the manufacturing council, and in 1848 he became a chamberlain. In all the positions he held, Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov showed himself to be knowledgeable and conscientious statesman, who also possessed excellent human qualities, which was manifested in his
attitude towards the serfs under his control, for whom he was a true benefactor. All peasant troubles, shortages and crop failures found an ardent response from him, and the peasants invariably received the necessary help from him. His concern extended to the point that during a cholera epidemic, the nobleman Yusupov himself cared for the sick, neglecting the danger of becoming infected himself. His death from typhus in 1849 was a great grief for the peasants.
From his second marriage, Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov had a son, Prince Nikolai Borisovich. Having graduated from St. Petersburg University with a course in jurisprudence, Nikolai Yusupov did not achieve success in public service, like his father, but inherited his best patriotic qualities. During the war of 1854, Prince Yusupov fully equipped two infantry battalions at his own expense, which came to the attention of the emperor, and Yusupov was awarded the rank of chamber cadet. Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was also appointed chamberlain of the imperial
yard, but found his true calling in guardianship. He was a member of various charitable societies and a school for the deaf and dumb, and was not nominally listed as one, but took an active part in their work. In addition, like his ancestors, Prince Nikolai Borisovich was an ardent admirer of art, and his great passion was music. He patronized many musicians and composers. His services in this area were highly appreciated by the Roman and Paris conservatories, which made him an honorary member.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov died without leaving any male offspring, and the bearer of the title of princes Yusupov was his daughter Zinaida, who later married Count Sumarokov-Elston. After the death of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, by a special highest decree, which was sometimes practiced in the event of a threat of disappearance of a noble family, his son-in-law was allowed to be called Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, so that the princely title and surname Yusupov would be transferred only to the eldest in the family. One of the last
representatives of this family, Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, was related to the reigning house, since he was married to Irina Alexandrovna, the niece of the emperor. He subsequently played a leading role in the murder of Grigory Rasputin, and after October revolution was forced to leave Russia.
At the very end of the 19th century, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova commissioned a painting from the increasingly popular artist Serov. More precisely, paintings, since she needed portraits of all members of her family.
Valentin Alexandrovich was famous for the fact that he extremely disliked writing “the rich, famous and arrogant,” but he liked the princess and her family. The artist gallantly noted that if all rich people were the same, then there would be no injustice and misfortune left in the world. The princess sadly replied that not everything in life is measured by money. Alas, the history of the Yusupov family was so complex and tragic that it had every reason to be sad.
Origin of the family
The origin of the family was very ancient. Even at the end of the 19th century, when among high nobility In the Russian Empire, more and more people came from among wealthy merchants and manufacturers; the Yusupovs remained not only rich, but also respected their family, and knew a lot about their ancient roots. In those years, not everyone could boast of this.
So, the history of the Yusupov family begins with the khan - Yusuf-Murza. He, knowing full well about the glory of Ivan IV the Terrible, did not at all want to quarrel with the Russians. Wanting reconciliation with the formidable sovereign, he sent his sons to his court. Ivan appreciated this behavior: Yusuf’s heirs were not only showered with villages and rich gifts, but also became “forever the rulers of all the Tatars in the Russian land.” So they found a new homeland.
This is how the Yusupovs (princes) appeared. The history of Russian families has added another glorious page. The progenitor of the family himself ended badly.
Khan knew perfectly well that in distant and alien Muscovy his sons would be much better off. Only they managed to cross the borders of their former state how their father was treacherously stabbed to death by his own brother. The history of the Yusupov family says that the tribesmen were so enraged by the news that the sons of the murdered khan had converted to Orthodoxy that they asked one of the most powerful steppe witches to place a curse on their entire family. It was scary.
Curse of the family
The Yusupovs themselves passed on the words of the curse from generation to generation: “And let only one of the family live to be 26 years old. And so it will be until the entire race is destroyed.” Superstitions are superstitions, but the words of such an ornate spell came true without fail. No matter how many children the women from this family gave birth to, only one of them always lived to reach the ill-fated age of 26 or older.
However, modern historians say that the family probably had some kind of genetic disease. The fact is that " generational curse princes Yusupov” did not begin to manifest itself immediately, no matter what legend says. One child at a time began to survive only after Boris Grigorievich (1696-1759). Until then, there is no information about the small number of surviving heirs, which suggests a hereditary disease. This suspicion is confirmed by the fact that with the girls in the family everything was much better - they lived to adulthood much more often.
Since then, each head of the clan had only one son. Because of this, throughout the 18th-19th centuries, the family was actually on the verge of complete extinction. However, this sad circumstance also had its own positive side: unlike all the other princely families, which by the end of the 19th century, for the most part, completely squandered their fortunes, the Yusupovs’ money was more than fine.
Family well-being
However, problems with the gene pool did not in any way affect material well-being. By the time of the revolution, the Yusupov family was only slightly “poorer” than the Romanovs themselves. Although the history of the Yusupov family clearly hints that in fact the family was much richer than the imperial family.
According to official information alone, Yusuf’s distant descendants owned more than 250 thousand acres of land, they also owned hundreds of factories, mines, roads and other profitable places. Every year, the profit from all this exceeded 15 million (!) gold rubles, which, translated into modern money, exceeds 13 billion rubles annually.
The luxury of the palaces that belonged to them aroused envy even among families whose ancestors came from the times of Rurik. Thus, in the St. Petersburg estate, many rooms were furnished with furniture that previously belonged to the executed Marie Antoinette. Among their property were such paintings that even the Hermitage collection would consider it an honor to have them in their collection.
In the boxes of women from the Yusupov family, jewelry that had previously been collected all over the world lay carelessly. Their value was incredible. For example, the “modest” pearl “Pelegrina”, with which Zinaida Nikolaevna can be seen in all the paintings, once belonged to the famous Spanish crown and was the favorite decoration of Philip II himself.
However, everyone considered their family happy, but the Yusupovs themselves were not happy about it. The history of the family is abundant happy days has never been different.
Countess de Chauveau
Zinaida Nikolaevna’s grandmother, Countess de Chauveau, probably lived the most happy life(compared to the rest of the women in the family). She came from an ancient and noble family of the Naryshkins. Zinaida Ivanovna was married to Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov at a very young age.
She gave birth to her mature husband, first a son, and then a daughter, who died during childbirth. Only later did she find out that all the Yusupovs faced this. The story of the family so impressed the still young girl that she flatly refused to give birth again: “I don’t want to produce dead people.”
About the hardships of family life
She immediately told her husband that he was free to run after all the girls in the yard, she would not force him into bondage. This is how they lived until 1849, when the old prince died. The princess at that time was not even forty years old, and therefore she, as they say now, “went into all kinds of troubles.” In those years, gossip about her adventures was spread throughout the empire, to say nothing of St. Petersburg!
But the most scandalous episode of her biography was her passion for one young Narodnaya Volya member. When he was imprisoned, she abandoned all the balls and masquerades, by hook or by crook, seeking a softening of the prison regime for her beloved.
New husband
In those years, even for lesser sins it was possible to fly out of high society, but they pitied Zinaida Ivanovna: after all, they were the Yusupovs! Incredible story had its continuation, but for a long time it was believed that the princess’s quirks were over. Her revelry suddenly stopped; the woman lived as a complete recluse for a long time. Then she meets a handsome, well-born, but completely ruined Frenchman, falls in love and leaves Russia forever. She abandoned the “cursed name” and became Countess de Chauveau, Marquise de Serres.
Strange find
Everyone forgot about this strange and stupid story, but then the revolution broke out. The Bolsheviks were well aware of the family’s wealth, since the curse of the Yusupov family was well known even in Moscow. They assumed that the “crazy potbelly stove” could well have hidden her jewelry somewhere in her former house on Liteiny Prospekt, and therefore all its premises were tapped literally millimeter by millimeter. An absolutely incredible discovery awaited them: they discovered a secret room, the door to which was walled up.
There was a coffin in the room containing an embalmed body. young man. We can safely assume that the solution to the missing Narodnaya Volya has been found. Most likely, the countess was unable to get the sentence reviewed, and therefore went on a spree. Only after redeeming the body of her executed lover did she manage to calm down.
Zinaida Ivanovna, as we have already said, had an only son. Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov himself had three children at once. The eldest was son Boris. There were two daughters - Zinaida and Tatyana. No one was surprised that Boris early age died of scarlet fever. The parents were only consoled by the fact that their daughters grew up to be beautiful and were completely healthy. It was only in 1878 that a misfortune befell Zinaida.
New trouble
The family lived in their Arkhangelsk estate in the fall of that year. Nikolai Borisovich, being constantly busy at work, came home rarely and not for long. Tatyana preferred to read, and Zinaida loved to go on long horseback rides. One day she injured her leg. The wound was tiny and did not seem to pose any danger, but by the evening the girl had a fever.
Doctor Botkin, hastily summoned to the estate, made a disappointing diagnosis. Blood poisoning in those days only resulted in death. By morning, Zinaida’s fever did not subside, she fell into unconsciousness. It seemed that the family of the Yusupov princes would soon suffer another loss.
John of Kronstadt: phenomenon
Subsequently, Zinaida recalled that in that strange and unsteady state that separated reality from dreams, she dreamed of Saint John of Kronstadt, with whom her family had long been friends. When she suddenly regained consciousness, the elder was urgently called to the estate. He prayed for her, and the girl quickly recovered. But the sad story of the Yusupov princely family did not end there. At 22, Tatyana died of measles.
Continuation of the family line
It is not surprising that the old prince passionately desired his daughter’s marriage. Zinaida Nikolaevna then recalled that her father, who by that time had begun to get sick a lot, was very afraid of not living to see his grandchildren.
Soon a contender was found. Young Yusupova was wooed by the Bulgarian prince Battenberg, who was a direct relative of the imperial couple. The prince's retinue included a modest young man, Felix Elston, whose duties included introducing the future bride to the groom. And then thunder struck. Felix and Zinaida fell in love literally at first sight, and the feelings were mutual. Soon the young people got married.
Nikolai Borisovich at first almost fainted from such an extravagant decision of his daughter, but he did not dare to contradict his only heiress. Just a year later, the young couple had their first child, who was named Nikolai in honor of his grandfather.
New shocks
The boy was very withdrawn and unsociable; the princess tried all her life to bring him closer to her, but did not achieve much success. At Christmas 1887 a little boy With icy calm he told his mother: “I don’t want you to have other children.” It soon turned out that one of the nannies told him that the Yusupovs were a cursed family. The stupid woman was immediately fired. Zinaida, who by that time was expecting the birth of her second child, thought with fear how his older brother would greet him.
At first, everything indicated that the boy hated his younger brother Felix. Only when he turned ten years old did they begin to communicate normally. But all contemporaries noted that the relationship between the two young princes simply resembled strong friendship, but not brotherly love. This is how the history of the Yusupov family continued. Discussion of the terrible curse that hung over their family gradually faded away. But then 1908 came.
Death of Nicholas
Nikolai fell madly in love with Maria Heyden, who was soon to marry Arvid Manteuffel, and the wedding took place because the young people loved each other.
Despite the desperate admonitions of all his friends, the offended Nikolai followed them on their honeymoon. The duel was only a matter of time. It took place on June 22, 1908. Nikolai died six months before his twenty-sixth birthday. The parents almost went crazy with grief, and from now on all their thoughts were directed towards young Felix. Unfortunately, the obvious happened: the spoiled boy became a “spoiled cherub,” greedy and capricious.
However, the trouble was not this, but his exceptional wastefulness. When the family sailed from burning Russia in 1919, they had more than enough money. For just a couple of “small and faded” diamonds, Felix bought French passports for all his household, and they bought a house in the Bois de Boulogne. Alas, the prince did not give up the comfortable life he led in his homeland. As a result, his wife and daughter Irina were buried right in the grave of Zinaida Nikolaevna. There was no money for the funeral. The line was completely interrupted.
