Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, many Murzas were in service in Moscow, and later their descendants, who were baptized, became the founders of many Russian princely and noble families. Princes Yusupov-Knyazhevs and princes Urusovs were the most famous of these.
Khan Yusuf (1480-1555)
Coat of arms of the Yusupovs
The ancestor of the princely Yusupov dynasty was Prince Yusuf, who, according to legend, was killed in 1555 by his younger brother Ismail. Yusuf had 8 sons. The eldest is Yunus, the youngest is Il-Murza. The famous Kazan queen Syuyumbike, after whom the famous tower in Kazan is named, was the daughter of Yusuf.
Queen of Kazan Syuyun, (Syuyumbike)
Khan Yusuf, a descendant of a noble family with a thousand-year history going back to the roots of the Muslim Middle Ages, to Abubakir ben Rayoka, a descendant of the Prophet Ali and nephew of the Prophet Mahomed (Al-Siddiq Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn 'Uthman al-Qurayshi, known as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq ( Arabic: أبو بكر الصديق; 572, Mecca, Arabia - August 23, 634, Medina, Righteous Caliphate) - the first righteous caliph, companion and one of the fathers-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.)
Monogram of Abu Bakr, made in Arabic script
He was the supreme ruler and received the name Emir al Omr - prince of princes, sultan of sultans and khans. His descendants also held prominent positions: they were kings in Egypt, Damascus, Antioch and Constantinople. Some of them ruled Mecca... The descendants and companions of the Islamic Prophet Magomed first came to the lands of Rus' in the 7th century in connection with the joint military campaign of Rus' by the legendary Prince Oleg, the Persian Derbent Shah Riarch and the Arab Caliphate under the command of the Prophet's son-in-law, Caliph Usman ibn Affan against Byzantium Emperor Heraclius and the Khazar Kaganate Tong-Yabhu Kagan. Subsequently, after almost two hundred years of fighting in the region of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rule of some Arab Islamic families was established there, including the ancestors of the Yusupov princes.
The history of this family continues in the 14th century with the brave commander of the great conqueror Timur - the famous Edigei (1340s -1419), who founded the Nogai Horde.
According to the chronicle of Kadyr-Ali-bek, Edige's pedigree goes back to Abubekir, who had two sons Keremet-Aziz and Jalal-al-din. The latter was the father of Bab Tukles, who had four sons. Based on other sources, Kadyr-Ali-bek claims that there were three sons, one of whom was buried next to the Kaaba, the other in Crimea, and the third in Urgench. Further information about Edige's ancestors in the pedigree given by Kadyr-Ali-bek is identical to the pedigree of the princes Yusupov and Urusov.
Persian sources of the 15th century directly call Edige the son of Baltychak. Baltychak was a backlerbek (Amir Al-umara) under the khan of the left wing, Timur-Melik bin Urus. The latter was defeated by Tokhtamysh in 1378. The victorious Khan invited Baltychak to join him in his service, but was met with a proud refusal, for which Tokhtamysh executed the backlerbek.
Own possessions of backlerbek Edige at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries. was considered the el of the Mangyts in the Volga-Ural-Emba interfluve. Along with the fact that El Mangytov was integral part Golden Horde, but there was autonomous entity inside Ulus Jochi.
In the service of Tamerlane
Isa's father and elder brother served Urus Khan, and Edigei, for an unknown reason, was forced to flee. Fleeing from Urus Khan, he followed the young Tokhtamysh to the court of Tamerlane, in whose troops he began his service. Sister Edigeya was the wife of Tamerlane. By the time of Tamerlane's campaign against Tokhtamysh in 1391, he was one of the main emirs (military leaders) of the army. Soon after the defeat of Tokhtamysh, Edigei, together with Timur-Kutlug-oglan and another White Horde emir Kunche-oglan, began to ask Tamerlane to let them go home under the pretext of gathering people for Tamerlane’s army. Tamerlane, who believed them, released the military leaders to their homeland, where they began to pursue their own policies (only Kunche-oglan returned back).
Fight with Tokhtamysh
Edigei, having become the ulubey of the Mangyts, in every possible way contributed to the occupation of the Golden Horde throne by Timur-Kutlug, who, having defeated Tokhtamysh, who subsequently fled to Lithuania, soon reigned on the Golden Horde throne. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas began to prepare a large-scale campaign against the Mongols with the goal of restoring Tokhtamysh on the Golden Horde throne and thereby subordinating the Horde to his political influence. Having set out on a campaign, Vitovt set up a camp on the Vorskla River in 1399 (see Battle of the Vorskla River), and Timur-Kutlug, frightened by the large number of the enemy, sued for peace. Meanwhile, Edigei arrived with his troops at the river, broke off the negotiations and convinced Timur-Kutlug to continue the fight. Having led the Horde troops, Edigei inflicted a crushing defeat on Vytautas.
In 1416 fighting Edigeya against Vitovt and Tokhtamysh took place in the area of Kyiv and the right bank of the Dnieper.
After this resounding victory, Edigei did not leave Tokhtamysh alone and fought him for a long time with varying success. In the end, in the sixteenth battle, Tokhtamysh was finally defeated and killed. Edigei by that time had a huge political influence. According to the Spanish traveler Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, Edigei then had an army of 200,000 horsemen.
In 1419 Edigei was killed by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh near the city of Saraichik.
Character and appearance
Notes about the character and appearance of Edigei were left by only one eastern author - Ibn Arabshah. He described Edigei this way: “He was very dark-skinned, of medium height, thickly built, courageous, scary-looking, highly intelligent, generous, with a pleasant smile, a mark of insight and intelligence.”
Children
Edigei had at least twenty sons. Among them, the most famous are Mansur (d. 1427), Nuraddin (d. 1440), Ghazi (d. 1428), Naurus, Kay-Kawad, Sultan Mahmud and Mubarak.
Khan of the Golden Horde Timur Khan (1410-1412) was married to the daughter of Edigei.
By the middle of the 16th century, under his great-great-grandson, the Supreme Sovereign Khan Yusuf (1480s - 1555), the Nogai Horde reached its peak, and then plunged into the Troubles. The population of the Kazan Khanate expressed a desire to swear allegiance new strength which arose in the East, the Ottoman Empire. Kazan was attacked and captured by a Turkish vassal, the Tatar Khan Giray in alliance with the Nogai Mirzas. After the defeat of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, the daughter of the khan - Syuyumbike (1520 - 1557), the last queen of the Kazan Khanate of the pre-Ottoman era from this dynasty, who was forcibly married to Giray after her husband, Timurid, the Kasimov prince Shah Ali was killed, was taken by the Moscow Tsar from Kazan, and in 1563 her brother, Il-Murza (... - 1611), also arrived in Moscow to Tsar John IV. The grandson of Il-Murza - Abdullah (... - 1694) fought valiantly in the Russian wars with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. In 1681, he accepted Orthodox baptism, received the name Dmitry, the Russian title of prince instead of the previous “Murza” and the surname Yusupov.
Dmitry Yusupov-Knyazhev was one of the people close to Tsar Peter the Great who, in 1689, ensured the defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from an attack by archers loyal to Sofia Romanova and, in fact, brought Peter to power in Moscow.
Abdul (Abdullah)-Murza, baptized Prince Dmitry Yusupov
In 1558, Tsar Ivan the Terrible invited Yunus to Moscow and received him as an honorary guest. In 1559 he died. The circumstances of his death are unknown. Ismail, fearing for Yusuf's other sons, sent Il-Murza and Ibrahim to Moscow in 1563 as amanats (hostages) of the Nogais' loyalty.
Tsar Ivan IV received them favorably and endowed them with extensive estates. They were granted many villages and villages in the Romanovsky district near the Volga. The Yusupov family was rightfully considered the richest in Russia. In the 19th century their Little Russian estates alone totaled 70 thousand acres of land.
Il-Murza had 3 sons: Seyush-Murza, Baymurza, Dinmurza. All of them died at a young age.
Khanmurza Yusupov, Seyush’s own grandson from his youngest son Dzhanmurza, was one of the first in the Yusupov family to convert to Christianity.
The owner of enormous wealth Abdul (Abdullah)-Murza, the grandson of Il-Murza, fell into disgrace under Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and lost a significant part of his estates. To remove himself from disgrace, he converted to Christianity and at baptism in 1681 received the name Dmitry. For his merits and courage shown in the war against the Crimean Khanate and Poland, he received the title of prince and an estate with land. He died in 1694, leaving behind three sons. One of his sons - Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676-1730) - a participant in Peter the Great's wars, was in charge of supplying the Russian army in Poznan and the construction of river ships in Nizhny Novgorod. After the death of Catherine I, for services to the fatherland and devotion to Emperor Peter I, G.D. Yusupov. received as a gift big house in Moscow and was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment, in which the tsar himself was considered a colonel. This attention and mercy of the tsar were so significant that the Duchess of Courland herself (later Empress Anna Ivanovna) congratulated Prince Grigory Dmitrievich in writing on the award and asked him to bow on behalf of her - his surname.
When Peter the Great coronated his wife Catherine I, Grigory Dmitrievich was among the six major generals who supported the canopy on silver poles, under which the empress walked into the cathedral
He is one of the first to receive the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky after its establishment by Catherine I. Grigory Dmitrievich was a senator, and from 1727 - a member of the State Military Collegium. He died at the age of 56 and was buried in Moscow in the Epiphany Monastery.
Yusupov G.D. there were three sons - princes Boris, Grigory, Sergei and a daughter, Princess Praskovya Grigorievna. Praskovya, during the Bironovschina, incurred the indignation of the empress for several careless words, exaggerated by slander. Her mother refused to let her inherit the estate in Tolbino near Moscow, although her father bequeathed it to her. After the death of her mother in 1735, Praskovya took tonsure in the monastery and took the name Mavra, and died 3 years later.
The son of Grigory Dmitrievich, Prince Boris Grigorievich (1695-1759) was sent by Peter I to study in France with other 20 children of Russian dignitaries. He returned from Paris with an excellent education for that time. He was elected Moscow governor (1738), president of the chamber board, chief director for the organization of Lake Ladoga, headed the St. Petersburg Land Cadet Corps for 9 years, Yusupov B.G. actual privy councilor, senator, holder of the orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Apostle the First-Called.
In March 1730, Prince Boris Grigorievich received a letter from Empress Anna Ivanovna “for loyalty and zealous zeal” and the rank of full chamberlain with the rank of major general. Biron was very jealous of him and in 1740 “searched” for him. Fate decreed that after 34 years these families became related, Biron’s son became the husband of his youngest daughter, Evdokia. In 1774, 14 years after the death of her father, Evdokia entered into marriage with Peter Biron, Duke of Courland. The marriage took place under the patronage of Catherine II in the Winter Palace. Boris Grigorievich was buried in the former wooden church of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Sr. (1751-1831) - was enlisted in the Life Guards in infancy, at the age of 16 he entered active service as a lieutenant, and in 1771 he was promoted to lieutenant of the Life Guards cavalry regiment. Then he retired and spent several years traveling around Europe (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal). In London in 1776, he met with the famous writer Beaumarchais.
In January 1783, Nikolai Borisovich was sent Russian Ambassador to Turin to the court of the Sardinian King Amedee III. At the invitation of Prince N.B. Yusupov, experienced artists Mazon, Rossin and others worked to make copies of the originals from Raphael's boxes in the rooms of the Vatican palace. Then the Hermitage in St. Petersburg was decorated with the Raphael Gallery. His collection included up to 10 paintings by Greuze, 6 by Claude Laurent, 15 by Phillip Wouverman, works by Rembrandt, Rubens, etc. He also had a huge number of private collections - cutlery from old Sèvres porcelain, things with precious stones: clocks, snuff boxes and a rich collection of carved stones of rare beauty and artistic value.
In 1791 Yusupov N.B. became a theater manager in St. Petersburg. Then the president of the manufactory board under Emperor Alexander I, a member of the State Council, and an actual privy councilor. Famous philanthropist awarded with orders St. Alexander Nevsky (1796) and St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called (1797). In 1800, he became minister of the Department of Appanages, also retaining control of the manufactory board. In Paris he was received with honor by Napoleon.
In 1826, Nikolai Borisovich was appointed supreme marshal at the coronation of the new tsar. Thus, he was destined to hold this position at three coronations: Emperor Paul - on April 15, 1797, Emperor Alexander I - on September 15, 1801, Emperor Nicholas I - in August 1826. He died on June 15, 1831 and was buried in the village of Spassky near Moscow.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr. (1826-1891) - member of the Board of Trustees of the institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, was in charge of the St. Petersburg Public Library.
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston Sr. received the title of Prince Yusupov upon his marriage to Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, the last representative of the Yusupov family, commander of the Cavalry Regiment, Moscow Governor-General (1914-1915); Chairman of the Animal Acclimatization Society.
Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, 4th generation of the 3rd branch of the descendants of His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky and Elizaveta Mikhailovna Golenishcheva-Kutuzova.
The history of the Kutuzov family is very closely connected with the history of Arab Muslim families.
Prince (from 1885) Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (October 5 (17), 1856 - June 10, 1928) - Russian lieutenant general (1915), adjutant general (1915), chief commander of the Moscow Military District (May 5 - June 19, 1915), commander-in-chief over the city of Moscow (May 5 - September 3, 1915), 4th tribe of the 3rd branch of the descendants of His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishcheva-Kutuzov-Smolensky from Elizaveta Mikhailovna Khitrovo, née Golenishcheva-Kutuzova.
Ancestor - Al-Malik al-Muzafar Sayf ad-Din Qutuz (Arabic: الملك المظفر سيف الدين قطز; ? - October 24, 1260) - Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (1259-1260), ancestor of the princes Qutuz ovs and Counts Sumarokovs. Descended from the descendants of Genghisid Barak Khan, the ruler of the Berke Ulus in Crimea, where Baybars Mameluk, the Sultan of Egypt, a relative and ally of Mustafa Kutuz, and the Black Sea region to Bessarabia, where the Toka-Timur Bessarab dynasty ruled, was born in the 14th century.
The Bahrids ruled Egypt, Syria and western part Arabian Peninsula from 1250 to 1390. Originally originating from the Euro-Asian steppe, from the Black Sea region, the Bakhrid dynasty peacefully inherited power from their patrons, the Ayubids (the dynasty of Sultan Aepa Osenievich, Ayub ibn Yasin (Ya-Sin is also one of the names of the Prophet Magomed (Muhammad, Ahmad, Tā Hā, Yā Sīn, clothed with God, thou who art covered, and servant of God [ʿAbd Allāh; 72:19]), whom she faithfully served, providing large-scale military assistance, until the death of the last Ayubid Sultan, al-Salih Ayub, after which he became a childless widow Shajar al-Durr married the Mameluk leader, al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aibak, during which power was legally transferred from the Ayyubids to the Bahrid Mameluks.
Religion: Sunni Islam.
According to legend, the Kutuzovs’ ancestor took part in the battle on Lake Peipsi(Battle of the Ice) on the side of Alexander Nevsky, after which his descendants received Russian titles, boyars and lands from this prince.
Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov and Count Sumarokov with Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna and sons Feoix and Nikolai
Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov the Younger
The estate of the Yusupov princes in the village has still been preserved. Arkhangelskoye, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region.
The family of the Urusov princes, as shown in the certificate of the discharge archive and other genealogical books, descends from the son of Ismail, Prince Urus.
Edigei's campaign against Moscow. The event is related to the war in the Meshchera region against Tokhtamysh
Many of Urus's grandchildren accepted the Christian faith with the title of princes of Urus.
Coat of arms of the Urusovs
Prince Urusov Dmitry Semyonovich (1830 † 1903)
Prince Lev Vladimirovich Urusov (1877-1933)
It is known that the sons of Yan-Arslan (the son of Prince Urus) were taken to Moscow as amanats (trusted persons) and baptized there, Urak - with the name of Peter, Zaurbek - with Alexander. The discharge book under 1954 says that in July of this year, at the reception of the Tsar's ambassadors, when the ambassadors ate at the sovereign's, Prince Pyotr Urusov "cut" the wine and poured the drink.
Urak (Peter) Urusov killed the Tushino impostor False Dmitry in December 1610. (False Dmitry I, officially called himself Tsarevich (then Tsar) Dmitry Ivanovich, in relations with foreign states - Emperor Dmitry (lat. Demetreus Imperator) (d. May 17 (27), 1606), - Tsar of Russia from June 1 (11), 1605 years to May 17 (27), 1606, according to the established opinion in historiography, an impostor who pretended to be the miraculously saved youngest son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry. The first of three impostors who called themselves the son of Ivan the Terrible, who laid claim to the Russian throne. There were three Dmitry impostors: Urusov killed False Dmitry II, the Tushinsky Thief.
Death of False Dmitry
Pyotr Urusov was married to the widow of Prince A. Shuisky. He began his career in the forefront of the Moscow court youth under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (son of Ivan the Terrible).
With the beginning of the Time of Troubles, Urusov went to Crimea, where he became an authoritative expert on Moscow affairs and was one of the organizers of attacks on Moscow. P. Urusov took a prominent position in the Crimean Khanate or Ulus Berke. Berke (Mong. Berkh Khan; Tat. Bәrkә, Bärkä, Berkhe, Berka, Berkai; 1209-1266) - the fifth ruler of the Juchi Ulus (1257-1266), son of Juchi, grandson of Genghis Khan. He was the first Mongol ruler to convert to Islam.
Vasily Leontievich Kochubey (coat of arms "Priyatel" of the Varangian Shimon, African's son), descendant of the rulers of Khadzhiba, modern Odessa, which at that time was one of the capitals of the Ulus of Barak (Berke)
Berke fought against his relative, Chingizid Hulagu, the Ilkhan of Iran, entering into an alliance against him with the Egyptian Mamluks. He continued the policy of his brother Batu to preserve the integrity and strengthen the independence of the ulus, which by the end of Berke’s reign had become a virtually independent state from the Great Khan. He strengthened the yoke of the Golden Horde over the Russian principalities.
While in Crimea, he became related to the ruler of Akkerman (Belogorod) Kantemir, strengthening his position and family status.
Dmitry Cantemir, ruler of the Moldavian Principality, heir to Tsar Ivan I Bessarab, Toktemirovich Dzhuchiev Chingizov Voloshin Voloshsky
On May 14, 1639, the Khan of Mangup Kadylyk, who was part of the Eyalet subordinate to the Ottoman Empire with its center in Feodosia (Cafe), Begadyr-Girey, fraudulently summoned P. Urusov to him as if “for advice” and executed him and all his people. The body of P. Urusov was thrown “into the Tsar’s courtyard bypassing.” Soon his two sons were also killed.
The Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire in the lands of the former Principality of Theodoro was formed on the southern coast of Crimea after the siege and capture of Mangup by the Ottoman Turks under the leadership of Gedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475. After a five-month siege, the assault on Mangup in 1475 was successful; sources mention the false flight of the Turks as a stratagem. The Principality of Theodoro ceased to exist and became part of the Ottoman Empire. The family of Prince Alexander, with the exception of his young son Kenalbi (Kemal Bey), was slaughtered.
Tired and angry with the long siege, the Turks massacred the defenders of the fortress, which is confirmed by archaeologists - on the Mangup plateau, during excavations of the basilica carried out by N.I. Barmina, tombs were discovered, on last stage the existence of the temple was literally filled with skeletons - up to seventeen in one of them, and many of the skulls had traces of blows from a heavy blunt instrument. Many skeletons had their upper or lower limbs cut off. Burials were discovered in the most unexpected places. The excavations of wine presses (tarapans) were used as graves, and sometimes the bodies were simply sprinkled with earth and stones out of the blue.
After the conquest, the Mangup Kadylyk was formed from the former lands of the principality, which was part of the eyalet (province) with its center in Kef (Feodosia). The lands of the Sultan's domain, where the Christian population lived, were outside the jurisdiction of the Crimean khans. The Tatars were even forbidden to settle on them. The descendants of the Christians who survived the massacre in the mountains after the Russian-Turkish War in 1779 were resettled to the Russian Empire, to the Northern Azov region.
Principality of Theodoro on the map of Crimea
Coat of arms of the Principality of Theodoro
In 1776, Moscow provincial prosecutor Prince P.V. Urusov and entrepreneur M.G. Medox formed a permanent troupe of the Moscow Russian Theater (Bolshoi Theater), which included the theater troupes of N.S. Titov and Moscow University, as well as serf actors P.V. Urusova and others.
Tinay Tinbaev with a detachment of Yurt Nogais acted against the Poles on the side of Russia in 1617-1618. His son Gazi, the great-grandson of Biy Ismail, baptized Mikhail Kanaev, had long served in Moscow. So in 1616, as a governor, Prince Mikhail Kanaev Murzin, son of the Tinbaev-Urusov, together with N. Likharev, by royal decree, went to fight on Lithuanian soil in Surozh, Vitebsk and other places. In 1617, Prince Mikhail fought with the regiments under the walls of Moscow. The chronicler writes: “And he had a great battle with them (the Poles), “I became like the ancient heroes.” Mikhail fell heroically in an unequal battle.
Coat of arms of the Princes of Cherkasy
Yakov Cherkassky
Prince Yakov Kudenetovich (or Kudenekovich) Cherkassky (d. July 8, 1666) - a close boyar (1645) and governor from the Cherkasy family. The son of the prince-valiya (Wālī (Arabic: والي, wālī) - governor, governor) of Kabarda Kudenet Kambulatovich Cherkassky (1616-1624). Before baptism he bore the name Uruskan-Murza. Princes Ivan Borisovich and Vasily Kardanukovich of Cherkasy were his cousins.
Princes Yusupov
Vladimir Polushko
In terms of nobility they were not inferior to the Romanovs, and in terms of wealth they were significantly superior to them. The Yusupov family began in 1563, when two sons of the ruling prince of the Nogai Horde, Il-Murza and Ibrahim-Murza, arrived in Moscow.
Tsar Ivan IV received them favorably and endowed them with rich estates “according to the nobility of the family.” The line of descendants of Ibrahim Murza ended early. The younger brother Il-Murza died in 1611, bequeathing his five sons to faithfully serve Russia. His grandson and heir Abdullah converted to Orthodoxy in 1631 and was named Dmitry Yusupov. Instead of the Tatar name “Murza”, he received the title of prince and royal charters for hereditary ownership of new estates. The first prince Yusupov was granted the title of steward and was appointed to voivodeship and ambassadorial positions. He significantly increased the family wealth by marrying the rich widow Katerina Yakovlevna Sumarokova, the daughter of the devious Khomutov, who was close to the royal court.
The heir to most of this wealth was their son Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676 - 1730). He was a comrade of the youth games of Peter I, and during adult life became one of the closest associates of the reformer king. Prince Gregory participated in the implementation of all, as we would now say, “projects” of Peter I and, of course, hastened with him to the banks of the Neva to open a “window to Europe.” So the history of the St. Petersburg branch of the Yusupov family began simultaneously with the history of our city. Prince Gregory was the organizer of the Russian galley fleet, a member of the State Military Collegium. At the burial of Peter the Great, only the three state dignitaries closest to him followed immediately behind the coffin. These were A.D. Menshikov, F.M. Apraksin and G.D. Yusupov.
The heir of Grigory Yusupov, his son Boris Grigorievich (1695 - 1759), can also be considered a “chick of Petrov’s nest”. Among a group of young noble offspring, he was sent by Peter to study in France, and successfully graduated from the Toulon School of Midshipmen. During the reign of “Petrova’s daughter” Elizabeth, he held a number of high government positions: he was director of the Ladoga Canal, president of the Commerce Collegium.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750 – 1831) achieved even more noticeable success in public service. He was a member of the State Council, a diplomat of the highest rank, communicated with kings and emperors, met with Voltaire, Diderot, Beaumarchais. As the supreme marshal of the coronation, he led the crowning ceremony of three Russian emperors: Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. On the instructions of Catherine II, Nikolai Borisovich collected all over Europe artwork the best masters for the imperial collection. At the same time, he began to collect his own collection, which over time became one of the best private collections of works of art not only in Russia, but throughout Europe. According to contemporaries, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was one of the most truly noble and cultured people of his time, without the slightest hint of stupid arrogance. It was to him that A.S. Pushkin dedicated the poem “To the Nobleman.”
The grandson of the “enlightened nobleman,” named after the legendary grandfather Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827 – 1891), at the age of 28 he was the commander-in-chief of the coronation ceremony of Alexander II. But in addition to honorary duties and high titles, he inherited from his grandfather a creative nature, a subtle artistic taste, and a passion for collecting and philanthropy. Nikolai Borisovich himself was no stranger to communicating with muses. He was fond of playing music and studied composition. His sonatas, nocturnes and romances were performed not only in St. Petersburg halls, but also in music salons in other European cities. He paid tribute and literary creativity: wrote both novels and religious and philosophical treatises. N.B. Yusupov's books are stored in the former Imperial Public Library, of which he was vice-director for four years.
N.B. Yusupov Jr. became the last representative of an ancient family in the direct male line - he died without leaving any male heirs. Several years before his death, he received the highest permission to transfer the surname, title and coat of arms to the husband of his eldest daughter Zinaida, Count F.F. Sumarokov-Elston, and then to their descendants. To the credit of the Yusupovs, it should be noted that back in 1900 (that is, long before the coming catastrophic upheavals), a will was drawn up, according to which, in the event of the termination of the family, all artistic values become the property of the state and remain in Russia.
Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova (1861 – 1939) completes the series of spiritually beautiful women who have graced the Yusupov family for centuries. We can judge their beauty by ancient portraits created by the best artists. The portrait of Zinaida Nikolaevna was painted by the great Valentin Serov, who managed to convey to us his admiration for the spiritual and physical beauty of this woman. Next to this portrait in the Russian Museum hangs a portrait of her son Felix, created in the same 1903.
Prince Felix Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (1887 - 1967) became the most famous of the Yusupov family, although he did not perform any feats of arms and did not distinguish himself in public service. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he was the idol of St. Petersburg's golden youth, had the nickname Russian Dorian Gray, and remained an admirer of Oscar Wilde throughout his life. In 1914, Felix married Grand Duchess Irina (Note from the site keeper: Irina Alexandrovna wore the title of Princess of the Imperial Blood), the Tsar’s niece. The Yusupovs became related to the Romanovs three years before the collapse of the dynasty. In December 1916, Felix became the organizer of a monarchist conspiracy, as a result of which Grigory Rasputin was killed in the family mansion on the Moika. The conspirators were sure that they were acting to save the Russian Empire. In fact, the murder of Rasputin only accelerated the inevitable collapse of the three-hundred-year-old dynasty and the subsequent revolutionary upheavals.
In emigration, the Yusupovs learned for the first time in the centuries-old history of their family what it meant to make a living. Felix worked as an artist, wrote and published memoirs. His wife opened a sewing workshop and a fashion salon. During the Great Patriotic War Felix Yusupov showed true courage and patriotism, decisively rejecting all offers of cooperation from the fascists.
The Yusupovs left Russia in 1919 on board the English dreadnought Marlborough, which was sent for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna by her august nephew King George V. The exile lasted for many decades. Only Felix Feliksovich's granddaughter Ksenia, born in France in 1942, waited to return. In 1991, she first crossed the threshold of the family mansion on the Moika, where the Leningrad Teacher's House was located.
On January 7, 1994, on the landing of the main staircase of the Yusupov Palace, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sfiri met the guests of the Christmas ball, which opened the “St. Petersburg Seasons”. The author of these lines was among those invited. And I remember very well that, despite the proletarian skepticism towards the noble-monarchical traditions (brought up by many years of experience in Soviet journalism), I experienced something similar to sacred awe. It was one of those rare moments when you visibly feel the cyclical nature of history and the fact that it moves, if not in a circle, then in a spiral.
Shortly before the revolution, it was difficult to find a noble family whose founders lived in ancient times. At that time, among the rich families there were mainly people from the merchant class, and this family was a model of respect and veneration for its roots and pedigree. Perhaps it is precisely this unbreakable connection with their ancestors that explains the stamina and endurance of all members of this influential family.
The history of the Yusupov family name dates back to the times of Ivan the Terrible. The ancestor of the future nobles was Yusuf-Murza, the Nogai Khan. He sent his descendants to Moscow so that they could feed the city of Romanov, receive baptism according to the Orthodox model and find new house. According to official data, the period from the 16th to the 17th centuries can be considered the time from which the history of the family began.
Yusuf's descendants always enjoyed respect and were close to royal family. So, great-grandson of the khan,Grigory Dmitrievichhad merits before Peter the Great. He took part in the Azov campaigns and Northern War. His sonBoris Grigorievichserved as governor during the reign of Empress Anna Ioanovna.his descendant received from Paul I the title of Minister of the Department of Appanages, and Emperor Alexander I, who replaced him, made Nicholas a member of the State Council.
Tragedy of the family
Look at the photo of the family tree: the history of the Yusupov family is surprising in that they always had only one heir in the male line. There were other sons, but they never lived to adulthood. Therefore they family tree has no additional lines, it is straight and unbranched. In those days, this was rare; usually high-born families had many relatives and descendants.
There is a legend that a terrible curse has been placed on the entire family. Allegedly, Yusuf's fellow tribesmen learned that he had converted his descendants to another faith, were angry and killed the khan himself as soon as he crossed the border of his state. They found a steppe witch who doomed family members to a terrible fate. Of all the children born within a generation, only one lived to be 26 years old.
This story was repeated from ancestors to descendants, and for good reason, there was too much evidence of its veracity. The couple actually had only one son left, who had reached the age of 26. Family members were wary of this frightening legend, and all the servants in the house, without any doubt, accepted the superstition at face value.
Historians who conducted research on the Yusupov noble family have a different opinion on this matter. They discovered that the death of sons at a young age did not begin immediately after the emergence of an eminent family. The legendary “curse of the family” manifested itself only after the death of Boris Grigorievich; before him, no such cases of death at a young age were recorded. In addition, the curse applied only to men. There were no such problems with girls; they lived to old age much more often. Therefore, researchers have put forward the version that the cause of the tragedy was not a mythical curse at all, but a genetic disease transmitted through the male line.
Since there was only one son and heir in the family, the family of the Yusupov princes throughout for long years was on the verge of extinction. However, this had a positive impact on the well-being of the family. Unlike other famous families with many descendants, cash were not distributed among the heirs, they were not wasted by numerous relatives. The family's wealth always remained in the house and was concentrated in the hands of one owner.We will tell you about the most prominent representativesdynasties. Storiestheir lives are fascinating, full of mysteries and amazing events.
Zinaida Ivanovna
Boris Nikolaevich's wife came from an influential and noble Naryshkin family. She was betrothed at the age of fifteen, while her chosen one was already thirty. Boris was a widower at that time. Having met the young maid of honor Zinaida Ivanovna at the coronation celebrations, the prince was fascinated by her beauty. It was not easy to gain the favor of the bride's parents, so Boris Ivanovich was forced to get married several times. The history of the Yusupov family says that the wedding was postponed several times.
Finally, on January 19, 1827, the wedding took place in Moscow. The ceremony was extremely unsuccessful: the groom was forced to return home because he forgot to receive a blessing from his father, the bride dropped wedding ring and lost it, so I had to take another one. The couple's family life did not work out from the very beginning. Young and energetic Zinaida was unhappy in the company of her gloomy and thoughtful husband; in letters to her father she noted that she was bored in St. Petersburg. Soon a tragedy occurred that completely destroyed the already fragile family ties. After the birth of her son Nikolai, Zinaida gave birth to a daughter, but she died during childbirth. Having learned about the family curse, the princess flatly refused to give birth to more children and allowed her husband to have connections on the side and have mistresses. Their marriage from that moment became a formality.
The princess was young and very pretty. Historians who have studied the Yusupov dynasty note that, according to contemporaries, she was slender and tall, had a thin waist and beautiful dark eyes. The thirst for entertainment pushed her into numerous novels. All high society knew about her adventures and reputation, but many influential families continued to show respect to Zinaida Ivanovna because of her friendly disposition and noble surname.
After the death of her husband in 1849, the princess left the Russian Empire and met a young Frenchman. Their age difference was 20 years. They got married in 1861 in the homeland of Zinaida Ivanovna. The nobility reacted negatively to the unequal marriage, so the princess acquired for her husband the title of Count Chauveau and Marquis de Serres, and she herself began to be called Countess de Chauveau. So she broke all ties with the damned, in her opinion, family of the Yusupov princes and began new life in France.
The only son of Zinaida Ivanovna, who went to France, Nikolai Borisovich. In fact, the history of the Yusupov family name is interrupted with him, since he was the last descendant in the male line.
Nikolai was a passionate collector, collecting musical instruments, works of art, and jewelry. One of the greatest treasures, which was then passed down from generation to generation in the family, is the Pelegrina pearl. With her, Zinaida, the daughter of Nikolai Borisovich, poses in almost all of her portraits.
Nikolai was very sensitive to art. He collected himself a unique collection of paintings, however, his gallery was always closed to visitors. Also, following the example of his ancestors, he took part in charity work from an early age, for which he received the respect of his contemporaries.
The prince's family life was also not without difficulties. He was in love with his half-cousin, Tatyana Alexandrovna Ribopierre. From the point of view of Orthodoxy, such a marriage was unacceptable, so the newlyweds had to get married in secret. A case was opened against this union at the Synod, but Emperor Alexander II himself ordered the spouses to be left alone.
The marriage produced three children: son Boris and daughters Tatyana and Zinaida. The boy died in early age from illness, and Tatyana died at the age of 22. According to the official version, the cause of death was typhus, epidemics of which occurred quite often at that time. And again, in the biography of the Yusupov family, a moment arises when only one descendant of the prince remains alive. This time, not the heir, but the heiress of a multimillion-dollar fortune, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna, became the only legal owner of the family wealth.
Zinaida Nikolaevna
Contemporaries spoke of the princess as a woman of extraordinary intelligence and beauty. She received an excellent education, knew several languages, and the most noble suitors, including august persons, sought her hand in marriage. Her father admitted that he would like to see his daughter on the throne, but she was not ambitious and refused everyone, wanting to find a chosen one to her liking. He turned out to be Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston, whom Zinaida Nikolaevna married in 1882. Their marriage was happy, despite the differences in views and interests of the spouses. Felix was a military man and did not really like the noble circles in which his wife preferred to be. However, the social receptions that the couple held on their estates were famous throughout the empire. Not only Russian but also Western aristocrats were invited to them.
Zinaida Ivanovna was passionate about dancing and knew how to perform both ballroom and Russian folk dances. During a costume ball in the Winter Palace, the princess danced so superbly that the guests applauded and called her out five times. Also, the owner of the fortune of the noble Yusupov family was famous for her generosity and conducted charitable activities.
During the marriage, the couple had two sons. The first-born, Nikolai, did not live to see his 26th birthday for only six months and was killed in a duel with Count Arvid Manteuffel. Their youngest son, Felix Feliksovich, survived - the last descendant in the history of the family of the Yusupov princes.
Felix Feliksovich
For those interested in the biography and history of the Yusupov family, it will be very interesting to read Felix’s memoirs. In them, he talks fascinatingly about his youth, relationships with family members, about his brilliant mother and brother Nikolai. He married Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, who was related to the ruling emperor of the Russian Empire.
During their honeymoon the First World War began World War. The couple were detained as prisoners of war in Germany until the end of the war. Prince Felix's father brought the Spanish ambassador into the matter. Thanks to his diplomatic actions, the young people managed to escape to Russia, where they began to arrange military hospitals.
Felix and Irina had a daughter, whose godparents were Emperor Nicholas himself and his wife.Felix Feliksovich was involved in the murder of Rasputin, as he considered him to be the culprit of all the misfortunes that were happening in the country at that time. The prince participated in organizing the murder of Rasputin. He stated that he must be removed by any means and his influence on the sovereign and empress must be stopped, even at the cost of murder.
After October revolution The Yusupov family moved abroad. At first they lived in London, and then, having sold several family jewels, acquired estates in France.To improve their financial situation, the couple opened a fashion house, but it did not bring significant profit. Felix's greatest success was his winning a lawsuit with Hollywood. One of the studios made the film “Rasputin and the Empress,” in which it was shown that Felix Feliksovich’s wife was the emperor’s mistress. The outraged prince sued for libel and received large monetary compensation. It is believed that after this incident, all Hollywood films began to warn about the fictitiousness of the plot and characters.
The couple adopted Mexican Victor Manuel Contreras. Later, the adopted son became a sculptor and artist, his works of art. His works can be found in various European countries, as well as in Mexico and the USA.
Prince Felix Feliksovich died in 1967, and three years later his wife died. The couple is buried in Paris. This ends the story of the noble Yusupov family.
Family tree
In his memoirs written in exile, Felix Yusupov described the history of his family as follows: “It begins with the Tatars in the Golden Horde, continues in the imperial court in St. Petersburg and ends in exile.” His family descended from the Nogai ruler Yusuf. Starting from the era of Peter the Great, the Yusupov princes invariably occupied important government positions (one of them was even the Moscow governor). Over time, the family accumulated enormous wealth. Moreover, each Yusupov had only one son, who inherited the entire fortune of his parents.
The male branch of the Yusupov family died out in 1882
The male offspring of the clan ended in 1882 with Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. The aristocrat had a daughter, Zinaida, and from her two grandchildren. The elder Nikolai was killed in a duel, after which Zinaida Nikolaevna and her husband Felix Sumarokov-Elston were left with the only heir - Felix Feliksovich. He was born in 1887 and, thanks to an imperial decree, as an exception, received both the surname and property of his mother.
Stormy youth
Felix belonged to the capital's “golden youth”. He received his education at the Gurevich private gymnasium. In 1909 - 1912 the young man studied at Oxford, where he became the founder of the Russian Society at Oxford University. Returning to his homeland, Yusupov headed the First Russian Automobile Club.
In the fateful year of 1914, Felix married Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, the niece of Nicholas II. The emperor personally gave permission for the wedding. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon abroad. There they learned about the beginning of the First World War.
By coincidence, the Yusupovs found themselves in Germany at the most inopportune moment. Wilhelm II gave the order to arrest the unlucky travelers. Diplomats intervened in the situation. At the last moment, Felix and his wife managed to leave the Kaiser’s possessions - if they had delayed even a little longer, they would not have been able to return to their homeland.
The prince was the only son in the family and therefore avoided being sent to the front. He remained in the capital, where he organized the work of hospitals. In 1915, the young couple had their only daughter, Irina. From her come the modern descendants of the Yusupov family.
"Rasputin must disappear"
Living in Petrograd, Yusupov could observe with his own eyes the depressing changes in the mood of the capital. The longer the war dragged on, the more the public criticized the royal family. Everything was remembered: the German family ties of Nicholas and his wife, the indecisiveness of the crown bearer and, finally, his strange relationship with Grigory Rasputin, who treated the heir Alexei. Married to the royal niece, Yusupov perceived the mysterious old man as a personal insult.
In his memoirs, the prince called Rasputin “a satanic force.” He considered the Tobolsk peasant, who practiced strange rituals and was known for his dissolute lifestyle, to be the main cause of Russia's misfortunes. Yusupov not only decided to kill him, but also found loyal accomplices. They were Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (Felix's brother-in-law).
On the night of December 30, 1916 (new style), Rasputin was invited to the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. According to the established version, the conspirators first fed him a pie poisoned with potassium cyanide, and then the impatient Felix shot him in the back. Rasputin resisted, but received several more bullets. The trio threw his body into the Neva.
Yusupov failed to poison Rasputin with potassium cyanide
It was not possible to hide the crime. With the beginning of the investigation, the emperor ordered Felix to leave the capital to the Kursk estate of Rakitnoye. Two months later, the monarchy fell, and the Yusupovs left for Crimea. After the October Revolution, the princely family (including Felix’s parents) left Russia forever on the British battleship Marlborough.
"All events and characters are fictitious"
“Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental” is approximately the same phrase at the beginning of many films that every film lover sees. Felix Yusupov is directly responsible for the creation of this stamp.
Once in exile, the prince had to learn how to earn money. In the early years, family jewelry helped out. The income from their sale allowed Felix to settle in Paris and, together with his wife, open the fashion house “Irfé” (the name was formed from the first two letters of the names Irina and Felix). In 1931, the emigrant’s business was closed due to unprofitability. And then an opportunity presented itself to Yusupov opportunity to earn money in court.
Although the aristocrat was never held accountable for the massacre of Rasputin, the label of the killer of the Siberian warlock stuck to him for the rest of his life. In the West, interest in “The Russia We Lost” has not subsided for many years. The theme of relations within the crowned Romanov family was also actively exploited. In 1932, the Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced the film Rasputin and the Empress. The tape claimed that Yusupov’s wife was Grigory’s mistress. The offended prince sued the studio for libel. He won the case, receiving a significant sum of 25 thousand pounds. It was after that scandalous lawsuit that MGM (and later throughout Hollywood) began to include the disclaimer “All events and characters are fictitious” in their films.
Felix Yusupov owned the Irfé fashion house
Yusupov lived in his homeland for 30 years, in exile for 50. During the Great Patriotic War, he did not support the Nazis, as many other emigrants did. The prince did not want to return to Soviet Russia after the victory over Hitler. He died in 1967 at the age of 80. The last Yusupov was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery.
If you believe astrologers, in the famous family of Russian princes Yusupov, everyone was born and died in strict accordance with the inevitable laws of Space and Earth, which were in force at the moment when the Voice sounded, placing a curse on their family...
Family coat of arms of the Yusupovs
Deep roots
For a long time, according to some legend, it was believed that the Yusupov family originated from the famous prophet Ali, that is, from Muhammad himself. However, having thoroughly researched the roots of the surname N.B. Yusupov Jr. made significant adjustments in 1866–1867. It turned out that its ancestor Bakr ibn Raik did not live during the time of Muhammad, but three centuries later and was the supreme commander of the Arab caliph Ar-Radi billah Abu-l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Jafar (907–940). Twelve generations of the descendants of the warlike Ibn Raik lived in the Middle East. They were sultans and emirs in Damascus, Egypt, Antioch, Medina, Constantinople, and Mecca. But in the 13th century, the son of Sultan Termes, who ruled in Mecca, and a group of people devoted to him decided to move to the shores of Azov and the Caspian Sea. His famous descendant Edigei (1352–1419) is considered the founder of the Crimean (Nogai) Horde. Under the great-great-grandson of Edigei - Khan Yusuf (1480s - 1555) - the Nogai Khanate reached its greatest prosperity.
Khan Yusuf was killed by his brother Ishmael in February 1555. In order not to take on the sin of killing Yusuf’s sons, Ishmael sent them to the court of Ivan the Terrible. The Russian Tsar graciously met the orphans - Il-Murza and Ibrahim-Murza, generously giving them lands.
The line of descendants of Ibrahim-Murza soon ended. But Il-Murza left five sons after his death in 1611. One of them was Seyush-Murza Yusupov-Knyazhevo. He was a brave warrior, he served faithfully to the Russian throne both under Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, and under Alexei Mikhailovich. The estates and title of the clan were inherited by his son from his first wife Abdullah (Abdul-Murza). Just like his father, he fought bravely in military campaigns against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate.
What have you done, roast goose!
The baptism of this Russified descendant of Khan Yusuf took place under rather curious circumstances. Once Abdul-Murza hosted Patriarch Joachim and, with the best intentions, treated the Orthodox high priest to roast goose. And the dinner party was during Lent. The Patriarch, not suspecting anything, tasted the modest one, and also praised: “You have a nice fish, prince!” Abdul-Murza remained silent in response. But there was a well-wisher who whispered to the patriarch what kind of fish the infidel Nogai had fed him. Joachim, mortally offended, complained to the king. The pious sovereign, angry, deprived Murza of almost all his estates.
The descendant of Yusuf was in deep thought for a long time and finally decided, by converting to Orthodoxy, to earn the sovereign’s forgiveness and return the taken lands. According to family legend, he made this decision on the third day after the story with the goose, that is, on Easter itself. And that same night he had a vision, or maybe a prophetic dream. In short, he heard a voice: “From now on, for betraying the faith of your ancestors, out of all the children, there will be only one heir left. The rest will die before they reach 26 years of age.”
In 1681, Abdul-Murza was baptized with the name Dmitry Seyushevich. And, as predicted, all his children did die. Except for the youngest son Grigory Dmitrievich. He was five years old when his father changed his faith.
Portrait of Zinaida Yusupova with the family pearl “Pelegrina”.
Artist Francois Flameng. 1894
Whether the family legend is true or not, this story is reflected even in the interiors of Yusupov’s palaces: the lush exterior decorations often contain an image of a goose. True, the legend lives in two versions. According to the second, the clan was cursed by a Nogai sorceress after the Horde learned that the sons of Murza had converted to Christianity. It is interesting that the curse came true in almost every generation and also affected the fate of the bearers of the Yusupov surname and even illegitimate children born from representatives of the princely family.
The secret love of a beautiful great-grandmother
Zinaida Yusupova (nee Naryshkina, 1809–1893) learned about the curse after her marriage and bluntly told her husband, Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov (1794–1849), that she was not going to give birth to dead people, and therefore he was free to “satisfy his lust with the courtyard girls.” But you can’t fool nature, and the young princess herself went into all sorts of troubles. The whole of St. Petersburg was gossiping about her stormy romances. But they especially talked a lot about adultery with the young revolutionary Narodnaya Volya. When her lover ended up in the casemate of the Shlisselburg fortress, Princess Zinaida did the almost impossible: using connections at court, she ensured that the prisoner was released to her on parole.
It is difficult to say how long this fantastic romance lasted. Only years later, after three revolutions, looking for Yusupov’s treasures, representatives Soviet authorities they knocked on all the walls, searched all the secluded places of the luxurious palace of Naryshkina-Yusupova on Liteiny Prospekt in Leningrad. No treasures were found. But in a secret room connected to the princess’s bedroom, the skeleton of a man, wrapped in a shroud, suddenly fell on the security officers.
There were rumors among St. Petersburg old-timers that Yusupova had managed to rescue her lover from captivity (perhaps she simply ransomed him). But the beautiful young man suffered from consumption and did not last long...
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov Jr. (1887–1967) recalled in his memoirs that, while sorting out old papers in her bedroom after the death of his great-grandmother, he experienced inexplicable horror and immediately called a footman, hoping that an evil force - a ghost or spirit - would not appear to the two of them . What was it? The energy of unburied and unbroken ashes, forever hidden in a secret room?..
By the way, according to the Yusupov family legends, the shadows of their deceased ancestors were supposed to be invisibly present in their family nests. It is no coincidence that one of the bearers of an ancient surname, going to a ball or reception, left her caskets and boxes unlocked. She explained it this way: “Let our family spirits admire our family jewels.”
Alexander Pronin
Read the continuation in the February issue (No. 02, 2014) of the magazine “Miracles and Adventures”
