Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia

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Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia
Born	November 24, 1877(1877-11-24)
Died	November 9, 1943 (aged 65) Paris
Spouse	Zinaida Rashevskaya
Parents	Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (father) Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (mother)

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia (Russian: Борис Владимирович; November 24, 1877 – November 9, 1943) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Czar Alexander II of Russia and a first cousin of Czar Nicholas II. He followed a military career and was a Major General in the Russian Army. He took part in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. A notorious playboy, he managed to escape revolutionary Russia. In exile, he married his mistress and settled in Paris.

[edit] Early life

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was born on November 24, 1877 at Saint Petersburg, the third child and second surviving son among the five children of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, born Duchess Marie Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Boris' parents were very wealthy and lived in splendor in the luxurious Vladimir Palace in Saint Petersburg. His father Vladimir Alexandrovich, a brother of Czar Alexander III of Russia, was a renowned patron of the arts; his mother, Maria Pavlovna, one of the greatest hostesses of Russian society. Boris, more extrovert than his siblings, was his mother’s favorite.

It was traditional for the male members of the Romanov family to follow a military career. From his birth Grand Duke Boris was appointed patron of the 45th Azov Infantry Regiment, and enrolled into the Semeonovsky Life Guards and the Life Guards Dragoon regiment, the 4th Life Guard Rifle Battalion of the Imperial Family. His education emphasized languages and military training. In 1896, at the age of eighteen, he graduated from the Nikolaievksy Calvary School with the rank of Cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. That same year he became aide-de-camp to the Emperor.

[edit] A Russian Grand Duke

Grand Duke Boris lived in his own palace in Saint Petersburg, built in 1895 in the style of an English country house. From early youth Boris was notorious for his restless life style. Very social, he liked to drink and have fun. Lazy but charming, he was tall and handsome with a humorous smile and a husky voice. He became a famous playboy, unscrupulous in his conquests. In 1896 during the coronation ceremonies of Czar Nicholas II, he flirted with Crown Princess Marie of Romania, who was his first cousin and was already married. The next year, he visited her in Bucharest, fueling more rumors. Entangled with a Mademoiselle Demidov, he was the cause of her engagement breaking off on the eve of her wedding. The famous ballerina Anna Pavlova was one of Boris’ lovers. He was called: “The terror of jealous husbands as well as of watchful mothers”. ^[1]

Although loaded with wealth and privilege, he found his income insufficient and ran up a huge debt of nearly half a million rubles with his mother. In one year he spent more than 25,000 rubles for meals, 16,000 for servants and 8,000 for automobiles, giving 46 rubles to the church. His mother protected him from the wrath of the family, and he did not mind what others, including the Romanovs, thought of him. At one point he proposed to Princess Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg, but otherwise avoided settling down.

He was determined only to have a good time. His trips abroad became legendary, his escapades in doubtful taste.^[2] He drank in the company of spongers and whores.^[2] Twelve days spent in Paris in 1901 became just a blur of ladies' faces for Boris, with “actresses” prevailing. Mornings, after a spot of cognac, he would go with his friends to the Bois de Boulogne, concentrating on where to have lunch and dinner. Dinner would be accompanied by music and, late at night, the real fun would begin.^[2]

In 1901 he had a liaison with a Frenchwoman, Jeanne Aumont-Lacroix, and had a son by her. The child, Boris Lacroix (1902-1984), was not recognized. To break the relationship and strengthen his character Boris’ parents sent him, with the Czar’s approval, on a world tour.

[edit] World tour

In the autumn of 1901, Boris Valdimirovich left Russia for Cannes where he lived in Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich's house. He began the long trip in January 1902 on board the German ship Bremen. Accompanied by a large entourage, he visited Egypt, India, Ceylon, Siam, French Indochina, Japan, Honolulu, California, Chicago and New York. A highlight of his journey was his visit to the Maharaja of Kapurthala in his kingdom near Punjab. He went hunting tigers and always remembered well his Kapurthala friends. During his visit to the United States he was noted in Chicago for drinking champagne from the satin slipper of a chorine from The Wizard of Oz and tipping showgirls with $20 bills.^[2] Jovial and increasingly stout, Boris was famous for his wild and unpredictable behavior, but eventually these excesses began to lose their appeal. He remarked to his brother Kyril, “After a while every woman is the same, nothing is new except the face”.^[3]

In October 1903, Boris enlisted in the Czar's retinue. On February 26 he left Russia for the Far East, to take part in the Russo-Japanese War. ^[4] On the morning of March 31, 1904, while galloping from the heights of Dacha Hill on the rim of Port Arthur, he witnessed the sinking of the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk in which more than 600 men died; his brother Grand Duke Kyril was among the few survivors.^[5] In December 1904, for his bravery in battle he was awarded a golden weapon with the caption For Courage and was promoted to staff captain.

By 1911 he was made a colonel. In the same year he represented the Czar at the coronation of the King of Siam. Between 1910-1914, he wore the uniform of Colonel of His Imperial Highness the Tsesarevich Atamansky Guards Cossack Regiment. In 1914 he became a major general.^[6]

[edit] War

Grand Duke Boris during World War I

When World War I broke out, Boris Vladimirovich was put in command of the Guards regiment of the Ataman Cossacks. It was a nominal position, and he managed to stay away from the fighting.^[7] He commanded this regiment during the War between 1914 and 1915. Thereafter, he was attached to the general headquarters and was made Field Ataman for the commander in chief on September 17, 1915. He served in the army without real distinction. His military responsibilities were only vaguely defined and he did not change his ways during the war, continuing his life of pleasure and idleness.^{[8] [9]}

In spite of Boris' reputation, his ambitious mother wanted to arrange a splendid marriage for him. In February 1916, she tried to marry him to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, Czar Nicholas II's eldest daughter. She was his first cousin once removed. Olga, overprotected by her parents, was an inexperienced girl of twenty.^[9] Boris was thirty eight with a long line of mistresses linked to his name.^[9] Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna turned him down.^[6] The refusal provoked the enmity of Boris' mother. Maria Pavlovna and her family, the "Vladimirovichi," plotted to depose Czar Nicholas II and gain power themselves. Towards the end of the monarchy, they were involved in a conspiracy to put Boris' brother Kyril on the throne.^[10]

Boris' Anglophobia got him into trouble during the War. In June 1916, he was having supper at military headquarters while drunk, and in the presence of several officers of the British Military mission, he lambasted Britain.^[11] His behavior was so insulting that the British Ambassador made a formal protest, and Boris was forced by the Emperor to apologize.^[6]

When Nicholas II abdicated Boris was at Gatchina with Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, who declined the throne.^[10] This marked the fall of the Russian monarchy and Boris was one of the few members of the Romanov family who went to Mogilev to pay final respects to Czar Nicholas II.^[12]

[edit] Revolution

During the period of the provisional government Boris Vladimirovich was living in Tsarskoye Selo. In March 1917, he was put under house arrest because of compromising correspondence with his mother.^[13] Released in the summer, he was able to gain entrance to the Vladimir Palace. Disguised, with the help of a friend and a caretaker, he retrieved the money and jewels from the secret safe in his mother’s bedroom. The jewels found their way to safety in a London bank.^[14][15]

Before the Bolsheviks took power, Boris escaped the former Imperial capital to the Caucasus with his mistress Zenaida Rachevskaya. In September 1917, he joined his mother and younger brother Grand Duke Andrei Vladimorovich in Kislovodsk, a spa and resort town in the Caucasus.^[14]. He lived in a villa with his brother, but their mistresses were placed in separate houses, because Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna would not acknowledge their existence.^[16] For the next year they lived quietly away from danger,^[15] but in August 1918 Boris and his brother Andrew were arrested in the night after a systematic search of their villa. They were taken to Piatigorsk with other prisoners. Detained at the state Hotel in Piatisgorsk, the local soviet wanted to shoot them. They owed their lives to a lucky chance.^[17] By coincidence, the Bolshevik commander sent to execute them had once been a struggling artist in Paris before the war whom Boris had helped by buying some of his paintings. The Bolshevik recognized him and, risking his own life, returned them to their villa the next day. Since they were no longer safe and would probably be arrested again, the two grand dukes decided to flee.

On August 26, 1918, armed with false papers stating they were doing business with the Soviets, ^[18] Boris and Andrei escaped heading for Kabarda, where the chief Circassian tribe, the Kabards, lived on the north slope of the mountain. For a time they wandered from village to village.^[18] Kislovodsk was captured by the White Army and the Bolsheviks fled in late September, allowing the two brothers to return to the city on October 6. However, two days later, under the threat of the Red advance, the small group of Romanovs and their entourage were forced to flee. In constant fear for their lives, the local White general advised them to travel to Anapa in the south.^[16] He arranged a train and an escort of his own men and they left Piatigorsk on October 19, with their own companions and other local refugees. ^[16] At Touapse a trawler was waiting, they docked at Anapa, a coastal city on the Black Sea on October 22.^[16] From there it would be easier to escape abroad by boat. However, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was determined to remain in Russia hoping that the White movement would prevail and Boris' brother Grand Duke Kyril Vladimirovich would be installed as Czar. By March 1919 Boris decided to leave with his mistress. Against his mother's wishes he left Russia from Anapa by boat through the Black Sea.^[18][14][19]

[edit] Exile

Grand Duke Boris and his wife in exile

Once safe in exile in Constantinople, Boris tried to get permission to go to Britain but was refused passage on a British warship.^[10] His Anglophobia came back to haunt him and, with his bad reputation, he was not liked by the British royal family. Boris and Zenaida went to Italy instead. They were married at Genoa on July 12, 1919.^[10] Zenaida Rachevskaya, born at Dvinsk 3 November 1898, died January 20, 1963 in Paris, was the daughter of General Sergei Alexandrovich Rachevskaya, who had commanded the fortifications at Port Arthur.^[10] neè Yeliseyeva by her first marriage to a military officer,^[10] Zinaida was a young widow of 20.^[20] As Grand Duke Boris was a friend of King Alphonso XIII of Spain, for a time he stayed in Spain as his guest.^[21] Eventually Boris and his wife settled in France. He lived in a house at 18 Rue de Marignan, near the Champs-Élysées, with his wife, mother-in-law and private secretary.

Boris and his siblings were reunited in exile in September 1920, at Contrexéville in the south of France, by the death of their mother Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. ^[22] Boris inherited his mother’s emeralds, the most valuable items of the Grand Duchess' jewel collection.^[23] He sold most of them. The emeralds included a famous necklace which at some point was bought by Cartier, and in turn resold to Barbara Hutton. They subsequently reset the stones and created an even more famous piece, which could be worn as a necklace or a tiara. (It now belongs to Elizabeth Taylor.) With the money from the emeralds Boris bought a chateau, "Sans Souci", in Meudon near Paris, living comfortably with his wife. The couple did not have any children.

In the winter of 1925 he and his wife, who claimed an interest in dress-making, sailed to New York City.^[20] He said that he just wanted to visit some friends and have a good time. When asked by a reporter whether Henry Ford was a financial supporter of the effort to restore the monarchy in Russia, Boris did not know who Henry Ford was.^[24] His brother, Grand Duke Kyril, wanted to restore the Russian monarchy and in 1926 proclaimed himself Czar-in-exile, but Boris was largely uninterested in politics and wanted only to have a good time.^[24]

[edit] Last years

During the long years of exile the former playboy-Grand Duke remained in love with his wife, who was twenty years his junior.^[20] He was deeply attached to her, and became involved with her family and circle of friends. Of the Romanovs, the couple was close only with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimorovich and his morganatic wife Mathilde Kschessinskaya. However, Zenaida was looked down upon by Boris' relatives and by Russian émigrés.^[20]

In exile, Boris frequented his illegitimate son Boris Lacroix, who had been raised in France in his mother's family. Lacroix's mother, Jeanne, had died before the 1920s, and was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery, the grand duke visited her grave once he came to live in France. Boris very often would see his son, who became a famous designer under the name Jean Boris Lacroix. He had two sons who regularly visited the Grand Duke until his death.

During World War II Boris and his wife experienced difficulties. At the end of 1942, during the German occupation they sold their estate in Meudon, and moved to a house in the Rue de la Faisanderie in Paris. A year later Boris was critically ill. The grand duke died quietly in his bed on November 9, 1943, in Paris, at age sixty-five. His obituary was briefly noted by the newspapers and Vichy radio.^[25] Nonetheless there was a large turnout for the funeral, held at a Russian-Orthodox church where his body was placed in the crypt. He was later reburied next to his mother in Contrexéville, in the Vosges, in the Russian-Orthodox chapel.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• Chavchavadze, David, The Grand Dukes, Atlantic, 1989, ISBN 0938311115
• Ferrand, Jacques. Descendances naturelles des souverains et grands-ducs de Russie, de 1762 à 1910 : répertoire généalogique, 1995.
• Hall, Coryne, Imperial Dancer, Sutton publishing, 2005, ISBN 0750935588
• Perry, John and Pleshakov, Constantine, The Flight of the Romanovs, Basic Books, 1999, ISBN 0465024629.
• Zeepvat, Charlotte, The Camera and the Tsars, Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3049-7.
• Zeepvat, Charlotte, Romanov Autumn, Sutton Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-7509-2739-9