The Yusupov clan today. The clan of the Yusupov princes. Litigation with Hollywood movie giant

Princes Yusupovs
Vladimir Polushko

In terms of nobility, they were not inferior to the Romanovs, and in terms of wealth they significantly exceeded them. The beginning of the Yusupov family was laid in 1563, when two sons of the sovereign 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, having bequeathed to 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 letters for hereditary possession of new estates. The first prince Yusupov was granted the stewardship, was appointed to the voivodship and embassy posts. He significantly increased his family wealth by marrying a wealthy widow, Katerina Yakovlevna Sumarokova, the daughter of the courtier Khomutov, who was close to the royal court.

Their son Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676 - 1730) became the heir to most of these riches. He was a friend of the youthful games of Peter I, and in adulthood he became one of the closest associates of the reformer tsar. Prince Grigory participated in the implementation of all, as we would now say, “projects” of Peter I and, of course, hurried with him to the Neva banks to cut through 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 Grigory was the organizer of the Russian galley fleet, a member of the State Military Collegium. During 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 "chick of Petrov's nest" can also be considered the heir of Grigory Yusupov, his son Boris Grigoryevich (1695 - 1759). Among a group of young noble offspring, he was sent by Peter to study in France, successfully graduated from the Toulon School of Midshipmen. During the reign of "Peter's daughter" Elizabeth, he held a number of high government posts: he was the director of the Ladoga Canal, the president of the Commerce Collegium.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750 - 1831) achieved even more notable successes in the 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 wedding ceremony for the kingdom of three Russian emperors: Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. On behalf of Catherine II, Nikolai Borisovich collected artworks from the best masters throughout Europe for the imperial collection. At the same time, he began to collect his own collection, which eventually 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 swagger. 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 was the head of the coronation ceremony of Alexander II. But in addition to honorary duties and high titles, he inherited from his grandfather a creative nature, fine artistic taste, a passion for collecting and patronage. Nikolai Borisovich himself was no stranger to communicating with the muses. He was fond of music, 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 also paid tribute to literary creativity: he wrote both novels and religious and philosophical treatises. The books of N. B. Yusupov 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 the ancient family in the direct male line - he died without leaving male heirs. A few 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 suppression 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 adorned the Yusupov family for centuries. We can judge their beauty from old 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 the golden youth of St. Petersburg, had the nickname Russian Dorian Gray and remained an admirer of Oscar Wilde for life. In 1914, Felix married Grand Duchess Irina (Note of the site keeper: Irina Alexandrovna wore the tutul of the Princess of Imperial Blood), the niece of the Tsar. The Yusupovs became related to the Romanovs three years before the collapse of the dynasty. In December 1916, Felix became the organizer of the 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 assassination of Rasputin only hastened the inevitable collapse of the three-hundred-year-old dynasty and the subsequent revolutionary upheavals.

In exile, the Yusupovs for the first time in the entire centuries-old history of the family learned what it means to earn a living. Felix worked as an artist, wrote and published memoirs. His wife opened a tailoring workshop and a fashion salon. During the Great Patriotic War, Felix Yusupov showed real courage and patriotism, decisively rejecting all offers of cooperation from the Nazis.

The Yusupovs left Russia in 1919 aboard the English dreadnought Marlboro, which was sent for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna by her august nephew, King George V. The exile dragged on for many decades. Only the granddaughter of Felix Feliksovich Ksenia, who was born in France in 1942, waited for the return. In 1991, for the first time, she crossed the threshold of the family mansion on the Moika, where the Leningrad Teacher's House was located.
On January 7, 1994, on the platform of the main staircase of the Yusupov Palace, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sfiri met the guests of the Christmas ball, which opened the "Petersburg Seasons". The author of these lines was among those invited. And I remember very well that, despite the proletarian skeptical attitude towards the noble-monarchist 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 for sure.

Shortly before the revolution, it was difficult to find a noble family whose founders lived in ancient times. At that time, among the wealthy families, there were mainly people from the merchant class, and this family was a model of respect and reverence for their roots and genealogy. Perhaps it is precisely that unbreakable bond with the ancestors that explains the stamina and endurance of all members of this influential family.

The history of the surname of the Yusupov family dates back to the time 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 would receive the city of Romanov for feeding, be baptized according to the Orthodox model and find a new home. 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 originates.

The descendants of Yusuf were always respected and were close to the royal family. So, the great-grandson of Khan,Grigory Dmitrievichhad merits before Peter the Great. He participated in the Azov campaigns and the Northern War. His sonBoris Grigorievichserved as governor during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna.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.

The tragedy of the family

Look at the photo of the family tree: the history of the Yusupov family is amazing in that they always had only one heir in the male line. There were other sons, but they never lived to adulthood. Therefore, their family tree has no additional lines, it is straight and unbranched. In those days, this was rare, usually well-born families had many relatives and descendants.

There is a legend that a terrible curse has been imposed on the whole family. Allegedly, the tribesmen of Yusuf found out that he converted his descendants to another faith, were angry and killed the khan himself as soon as he crossed the border of his state. They tracked down the steppe sorceress, who doomed the family members to a terrible fate. Of all the children born within a generation, only one survived to the age of 26.

This story was repeated from ancestors to descendants, and not in vain, there were too many confirmations of its veracity. The couple really had only one son, who reached the age of 26 years. Family members were wary of this frightening legend, and all the servants who were in the house, without any doubt, took superstition at face value.

Historians who have conducted research on the noble family of the Yusupovs have a different opinion on this matter. They found 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, there were no such cases of death at a young age. In addition, the curse only applied to men. There were no such problems with girls, they lived to old age much more often. Therefore, the researchers put forward a 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 was on the verge of extinction for many years. However, this had a positive effect on the well-being of the family. Unlike other eminent families with many descendants, the funds were not distributed among the heirs, they were not wasted by numerous relatives. The wealth of the family has always remained in the house and 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

The wife of Boris Nikolaevich came from an influential and noble Naryshkin family. She was married at the age of fifteen, while her chosen one was already thirty. Boris was a widower at that time. Having met the young lady-in-waiting Zinaida Ivanovna at the coronation celebrations, the prince was fascinated by her beauty. It was not easy to achieve the location of the bride's parents, so Boris Ivanovich was forced to woo 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 her wedding ring and lost it, so she had to take another one. The family life of the spouses from the very beginning did not work out. The 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 finally destroyed the already fragile family ties. After the appearance of her son Nikolai, Zinaida gave birth to a daughter, but she died in childbirth. Having learned about the birth 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 has since become 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 to numerous novels. The whole high society was aware of her adventures and reputation, but many influential families continued to respect Zinaida Ivanovna because of her friendly disposition and noble family.

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 became known as the Countess de Chauveau. So she broke all ties with the damned, in her opinion, the family of the Yusupov princes and began a new life in France.

The only son of Zinaida Ivanovna, who went to France, Nikolai Borisovich. In fact, the history of the Yusupov surname is interrupted on him, since he was the last descendant in the male line.

Nikolai was a passionate collector, collected musical instruments, works of art, jewelry. One of the greatest values, which was then passed down from generation to generation in the family, is the pearl of Pelegrin. With her, Zinaida, the daughter of Nikolai Borisovich, poses in almost all of her portraits.

Nicholas 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, from an early age he took part in charity, for which he received the respect of his contemporaries.

The family life of the prince 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 young had to get married in secret. A case was opened against this union in the Synod, but Emperor Alexander II himself ordered the spouses to be left alone.

Three children were born in the marriage: son Boris and daughters Tatyana and Zinaida. The boy died at an early age from an illness, and Tatiana died at the age of 22. According to the official version, the cause of death was typhus, the epidemics of which at that time happened quite often. 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 the most august persons, sought her hands. 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. It turned out to be Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston, whom Zinaida Nikolaevna married in 1882. Their marriage was happy, despite the difference 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 secular receptions that the spouses held on their estates were famous throughout the empire. They were invited not only Russian, but also Western aristocrats.

Zinaida Ivanovna was passionate about dancing, she knew how to perform both ballroom and Russian folk dances. During the costume ball in the Winter Palace, the princess danced so excellently that the guests applauded and called her five times. Also, the owner of the state of the noble family of the Yusupovs was famous for her generosity and conducted charitable activities.

In 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 Yusupov family.

Felix Feliksovich

For those who are interested in the biography and history of the Yusupov family, it will be very interesting to read Felix's memoirs. In them, he fascinatingly talks about his youth, relationships with family members, about his brilliant mother and brother Nikolai. Married to Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, who was related to the reigning emperor of the Russian Empire.

During their honeymoon, World War I broke out. The couple were detained as prisoners of war in Germany until the end of the war. Prince Felix's father attracted the Spanish ambassador to the cause. Thanks to his diplomatic actions, the young people managed to escape to Russia, where they began to deal with the arrangement of 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 the culprit of all the misfortunes that were happening at that time in the country. The prince participated in the organization of 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 the October Revolution, the Yusupov family moved abroad. At first they lived in London, and then, having sold several family jewels, they acquired estates in France.To improve their financial situation, the couple opened a fashion house, but it did not bring significant profit. Felix's biggest success was the court case he won 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 indignant prince sued for slander and received a large monetary compensation. It is believed that after this incident, all Hollywood films began to warn about the fiction of the plot and characters.

The couple adopted Mexican Victor Manuel Contreras for adoption. In the future, the adopted son became a sculptor and artist, his works of art. His work can be found in various European countries, as well as in Mexico and the United States.

Prince Felix Feliksovich died in 1967, and his wife died three years later. The couple is buried in Paris. This ends the history of the noble family of the Yusupovs.

From the time of Ivan the Terrible, many murzas were in the service in Moscow, and later their descendants, who were baptized, became the founders of many Russian princely, noble families. The princes Yusupov-Knyazhev and the princes Urusov were the most famous of those.

Khan Yusuf (1480-1555)

Coat of arms of the Yusupovs

The ancestor of the Yusupov princely dynasty was Prince Yusuf, who, according to legend, was killed in 1555 by his younger brother Ismail. Yusuf had 8 sons. The elder is Yunus, the younger 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 Abu Bekir bin Rayok, a descendant of the Prophet Ali and the nephew of the Prophet Mohammed (As-Siddiq Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn 'Usman 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 father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.)

Monogram of Abu Bakr, made in Arabic script

He was the supreme ruler and received the name of Emir al Omr - the prince of princes, the 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 associates of the Islamic Prophet Magomed first came to the lands of Russia in the 7th century in connection with the joint military campaign of Russia by the legendary Prince Oleg, Persian Derbent Shah Riarch and the Arab Caliphate under the command of the son-in-law of the Prophet, Caliph Usman ibn Affan against Byzantium Emperor Heraclius and the Khazar Khaganate Tong-Yabkhu Khagan. Later, after almost two hundred years of hostilities in the region of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rule of some Arab Islamic families was established there, among which were the ancestors of the Yusupov princes.

The history of this clan continues in the 14th century by 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 genealogy goes back to Abubekir, who had two sons Keremet-Aziz and Jalal-al-din. The latter was the father of Baba Tukles, who had four sons. Relying on other sources, Kadyr-Ali-bek claims that there were three sons, one of whom is buried next to the Kaaba, the other in the Crimea, and the third in Urgench. Further information about the ancestors of Edige in the genealogy given by Kadyr-Ali-bek is identical to the genealogy of the princes Yusupovs and Urusovs.

Persian sources of the 15th century directly call Edige the son of Baltychak. Baltychak was a beklerbek (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 offered Baltychak to go to his service, but met with a proud refusal, for which Tokhtamysh executed the beklerbek.

Beklerbek Edige's own possessions at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries. El Mangyt was considered in the interfluve of the Volga - Ural - Emba. Along with the fact that El Mangytov was an integral part of the Golden Horde, but was an autonomous entity within the Ulus of Jochi.

In the service of Tamerlane

Father and elder brother Isa served Urus Khan, and Edigei, for some unknown reason, was forced to flee. Fleeing from Urus Khan, following the young Tokhtamysh, he arrived at the court of Tamerlane, in whose troops he began his service. Edigei's sister was the wife of Tamerlane. By the time of Tamerlane's campaign against Tokhtamysh in 1391, he was one of the main emirs (commanders) of the army. Shortly after the defeat of Tokhtamysh, Yedigey, 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. Having believed them, Tamerlane released the military leaders to their homeland, where they began to pursue their own policy (only Kunche-oglan returned back).

Fight against Tokhtamysh

Edigei, becoming 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 fled to Lithuania, soon reigned on the Golden Horde throne. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt began to prepare a large-scale campaign against the Mongols in order to restore Tokhtamysh to the Golden Horde throne and thereby subordinate the Horde to his political influence. Having set out on a campaign, Vitovt set up camp on the Vorskla River in 1399 (see Battle on the Vorskla River), and Timur-Kutlug, frightened by the large number of the enemy, asked for peace. In the meantime, Edigei arrived at the river with his troops, who broke off the negotiations and persuaded Timur-Kutlug to continue the fight. Leading the Horde troops, Yedigei inflicted a crushing defeat on Vitovt.

In 1416, Yedigei's military actions against Vitovt and Tokhtamysh took place in the region 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 enormous political influence. According to the Spanish traveler Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Edigey then had an army of 200,000 horsemen.

In 1419 Edigei was killed by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh near the town of Saraichik.

Character and appearance

Only one eastern author, Ibn Arabshah, left notes on the character and appearance of Edigei. He described Edigei as follows: “He was very swarthy [face], of medium height, of a dense build, brave, scary in appearance, of a high mind, generous, with a pleasant smile, a mark of insight and ingenuity.”

Children

Yedigei had at least twenty sons. Among them, the most famous are Mansur (d. 1427), Nuraddin (d. 1440), Ghazi (d. 1428), Naurus, Kay-Kavad, Sultan-Mahmud and Mubarak.

Khan of the Golden Horde Timur Khan (1410-1412) was married to Edigey's daughter.

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 Time of Troubles. The population of the Kazan Khanate expressed a desire to swear allegiance to the new power that arose in the East, the Ottoman Empire. Kazan was attacked and captured by the 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 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, Kasimov prince Shah Ali was killed, was taken out by the Moscow Tsar from Kazan, and in 1563 her own brother, Il-Murza (... - 1611), also arrived in Moscow to Tsar John IV. The grandson of Il-Murza - Abdullah (... - 1694) valiantly fought in the Russian wars with the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. In 1681, he received Orthodox baptism, received the name Dmitry, the Russian title of prince instead of the former "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 the attack of archers loyal to Sophia 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 honored guest. In 1559 he died. The circumstances of the death are unknown. Ismail, fearing for the other sons of Yusuf, in 1563 sent Il-Murza and Ibrahim to Moscow as amanats (hostages) of the loyalty of the Nogais.

Tsar Ivan IV received them favorably and endowed them with vast 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 only their Little Russian estates totaled 70 thousand acres of land.

Il-Murza had 3 sons: Seyush-Murza, Baimurza, Dinmurza. They all died at a young age.

Khanmurza Yusupov, the grandson of Seyush from the youngest son Dzhanmurza, was one of the first in the Yusupov family to accept Christianity.

The owner of enormous wealth, Abdul (Abdullah)-Murza, the grandson of Il-Murza, fell into disgrace under Tsar Fedor 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 the 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 the Peter's wars, was in charge of supplying the Russian army in Poznan and building river ships in Nizhny Novgorod. After the death of Catherine I, for services to the fatherland and devotion to Emperor Peter I, Yusupov G.D. received a large house in Moscow as a gift and was granted the 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 from her - his last name.

During the coronation of the wife of Catherine I by Peter the Great, Grigory Dmitrievich was among the six major generals who supported the canopy on silver poles, under which the empress walked to 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, since 1727 - a member of the State Military Collegium. He died in the 56th year 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 Bironovshchina incurred the indignation of the empress for a few careless words, exaggerated by slander. Her mother refused her the inheritance of the estate in Tolbino near Moscow, although her father bequeathed to her. Upon the death of her mother in 1735, Praskovya took "monastic vows" in the monastery and took the name Mavra, and died 3 years later.

The son of Grigory Dmitrievich, Prince Boris Grigoryevich (1695-1759) was sent by Peter I to study in France with 20 other children of Russian dignitaries. He returned from Paris with a brilliant education for that time. He was elected governor of Moscow (1738), president of the college of chambers, chief director for the arrangement of Lake Ladoga, for 9 years he headed the St. Petersburg land cadet corps, Yusupov B.G. Acting Privy Councilor, Senator, Knight of the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Apostle the First-Called.

In March 1730, Prince Boris Grigoryevich received a letter from Empress Anna Ivanovna "for loyalty and zeal" and the rank of real chamberlain with the rank of major general. Biron was very envious of him and in 1740 he "looked after" him. Fate decreed that after 34 years these families became related, the son of Biron became the husband of his youngest daughter, Evdokia. In 1774, 14 years after the death of her father, Evdokia married Peter Biron, Duke of Courland. The marriage took place under the auspices of Catherine II in the Winter Palace. Boris Grigoryevich was buried in the former wooden church of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Sr. (1751-1831) - even in infancy he was enrolled in the Life Guards, at the age of 16 he entered active service as a lieutenant, and in 1771 he was granted the lieutenant of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Then he retired, spent several years traveling in Europe (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal). In London in 1776 he met the famous writer Beaumarchais.

In January 1783, Nikolai Borisovich was sent by the Russian ambassador to Turin to the court of the Sardinian king Amedeus III. At the invitation of Prince N.B. Yusupov, experienced artists Mazon, Rossin and others worked to make copies of the originals from the Raphael 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 Wuwermann, works by Rembrandt, Rubens, and others. He also had a huge number of private collections - cutlery from old Sèvres porcelain, things with precious stones: watches, snuff boxes and rich a collection of carved stones of rare beauty and artistic value.

In 1791 Yusupov N.B. became manager of theaters in St. Petersburg. Then the president of the manufactory-college under Emperor Alexander I, a member of the State Council, a real privy councillor. The well-known philanthropist was awarded the orders of St. Alexander Nevsky (1796) and St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called (1797). In 1800, he became Minister of the Department of Appanages, retaining also the management of the manufactory college. In Paris he was received with honor by Napoleon.

In 1826, Nikolai Borisovich was appointed supreme marshal at the coronation of a new tsar. Thus, he was destined to hold this position at three coronations: Emperor Paul - April 15, 1797, Emperor Alexander I - 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) - a 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 by marrying Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, the last representative of the Yusupov family, commander of the Cavalier Guard Regiment, Moscow Governor-General (1914-1915); Chairman of the Animal Acclimatization Society.

Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, 4th tribe 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 the Arab Muslim families.

Prince (since 1885) Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (October 5 (17), 1856 - June 10, 1928) - Russian lieutenant general (1915), adjutant general (1915), chief head of the Moscow Military District (May 5 - June 19, 1915), commander-in-chief of the city of Moscow (May 5 - September 3, 1915), 4th knee of the 3rd branch of the descendants of His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky from Elizaveta Mikhailovna Khitrovo, nee Golenishcheva-Kutuzova.

Ancestor - Al-Malik al-Muzafar Sayf ad-Din Kutuz (arab. الملك المظفر سيف الدين قطز‎; ? - October 24, 1260) - the Mamluk sultan of Egypt (1259-1260), the ancestor of the princes of the Kutuzovs and the counts. Descended from the descendants of Genghisid Barak Khan, the ruler of Ulus Berke in the Crimea, where in the Old Crimea was born in the 14th century Baibars Mamelyuk, the Sultan of Egypt, a relative and ally of Mustafa Kutuz, and the Black Sea region to Bessarabia, where the dynasty of Toka-Timur Bessarab ruled.

The Bahrids ruled Egypt, Syria and the western part of the Arabian Peninsula from 1250 to 1390. Originally originating from the Euro-Asian steppe, from the Black Sea region, the Bahrid dynasty peacefully inherited power from their patrons, the Ayubids (the dynasty of Sultan Aepa Osenevich, Ayub ibn Yasin (I-Sin is also one of the names of the Prophet Magomed (Muhammad, Ahmad, Tā Hā, Yā Sīn, clothed by God, thou who art covered, and a servant of God [ʿAbd Allāh; 72:19]), whom she faithfully served, providing large-scale military assistance, until the death of the last Ayyubid sultan, al-Salih Ayub, after which his childless widow Shajar al-Durr married a Mamluk leader, al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aibak, during which power was legally transferred from the Ayyubids to the Bahrid Mamelukes.

Religion - Sunni Islam.

According to legend, the ancestor of the Kutuzovs 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 their sons, Feoiks and Nikolai

Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov the Younger

Until now, the estate of the princes Yusupovs in the village has been preserved. Arkhangelsk, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region.

The clan of the princes Urusov, as shown in the certificate of the discharge archive and other genealogical books, comes from the son of Ismail, prince Urus.

Yedigei's campaign against Moscow. The event is connected with the war in the Meshchera region against Tokhtamysh

Many of the grandchildren of Urus adopted the Christian faith with the title of princes of the Urusovs.

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 Jan-Arslan (the son of Prince Urus) were taken to Moscow as amanats (trusted persons) and baptized there, Urak - in the name of Peter, Zaurbek - Alexander. The discharge book under 1954 says that in July of this year, when the Caesar's ambassadors were received, when the ambassadors ate with the sovereign, Prince Peter Urusov "cut" wine and poured drink.

Urak (Peter) Urusov killed in December 1610 the Tushino impostor False Dmitry. (False Dmitry I, officially calling himself Tsarevich (then Tsar) Dmitry Ivanovich, in relations with foreign states - Emperor Dimitri (lat. Demetreus Imperator) (d. May 17 (27), 1606), - Tsar of Russia from June 1 (11), 1605 year to May 17 (27), 1606, according to the opinion established 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 claimed the Russian throne. All of these There were three Dmitriev impostors, Urusov killed False Dmitry II, Tushinsky Thief.

Death of False Dmitry

Peter Urusov was married to the widow of Prince A. Shuisky. He began his career in the forefront of the Moscow court youth during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (son of Ivan the Terrible).

With the beginning of the Time of Troubles, Urusov went to the Crimea, where he became an authoritative specialist in Moscow affairs, and was one of the organizers of the attacks on Moscow. P. Urusov occupied a prominent position in the Crimean Khanate or Ulus Berke. Berke (Mong. Berkh Khan; Tat. Bәrkә, Bärkä, Berkhe, Berka, Berkay; 1209-1266) - the fifth ruler of the Dzhuchiev Ulus (1257-1266), son of Dzhuchi, grandson of Genghis Khan. The first of the Mongol rulers converted to Islam.

Vasily Leontievich Kochubey (the coat of arms "Friend" of the Varangian Shimon, Afrikanov's son), a descendant of the rulers of Khajiba, modern Odessa, which at that time was one of the capitals of Ulus Barak (Berke)

Berke fought against his kinsman - Genghisid Hulagu, Ilkhan of Iran, having entered 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 became virtually independent of the great khan. He strengthened the yoke of the Golden Horde over the Russian principalities.

While in the Crimea, he became related to the ruler of Akkerman (Belogorod) Kantemir, strengthening his position and tribal status.

Dmitry Kantemir, ruler of the Moldavian Principality, heir to Tsar Ivan I of 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 the center in Feodosia (Cafe), Begadyr-Girey, fraudulently summoned P. Urusov as if “on advice” and executed him and all his people. The body of P. Urusov was thrown "at the royal court around." Soon his two sons were also killed.

The eyalet of the Ottoman Empire on the lands of the former Principality of Theodoro was formed on the southern coast of Crimea after the siege and capture of Mangup undertaken 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, the sources mention the false flight of the Turks as a military trick. The Principality of Theodoro ceased to exist and became part of the Ottoman Empire. The family of Prince Alexander, with the exception of the infant son Kenalbi (Kemal Bey), was slaughtered.

Tired and angry with a long siege, the Turks massacred the defenders of the fortress, which is also confirmed by archaeologists - on the Mangup plateau, during the excavations of the basilica carried out by N.I. moreover, many skulls had traces of blows from a heavy blunt instrument. Many of the skeletons had their upper or lower limbs cut off. Burials were found in the most unexpected places. The excavations of wine presses (tarapanov) were used as graves, and sometimes the bodies were simply sprinkled on level ground with earth and stones.

After the conquest, the Mangup kadylyk was formed from the former lands of the principality, which was part of the eyalet (province) with the center in Kef (Feodosia). The lands of the Sultan's domain, where the Christian population lived, were outside the jurisdiction of the Crimean khans. Tatars were even forbidden to settle on them. The descendants of Christians who survived the massacre in the mountains after the Russian-Turkish war in 1779 were resettled in the Russian Empire, in the Northern Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov.

Principality of Theodoro on the map of Crimea

Coat of arms of the Principality of Theodoro

In 1776, the Moscow provincial prosecutor, Prince P.V. Urusov and entrepreneur M.G. Medox formed a permanent troupe of the Moscow Russian Theater (Bolshoi Theatre), which included the theater troupes of N.S. Titov and Moscow University, as well as serf actors P.V. Urusova and others.

Tiny Tinbaev with a detachment of Yurt Nogais in 1617-1618 acted against the Poles on the side of Russia. His son Gazi, the great-grandson of Biy Ismail, baptized Mikhail Kanaev, has long served in Moscow. So in 1616, as governor, Prince Mikhail Kanaev Murzin, son of Tinbaev-Urusov, together with N. Likharev, by royal decree, went to fight on Lithuanian land to Surozh, Vitebsk and other places. In 1617, Prince Mikhail fought with regiments under the walls of Moscow. The chronicler writes: "And I would have a great battle with them (Poles)," "I was like the ancient heroes." Michael 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 Cherkassky family. The son of the Wali prince (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 Cherkassky were his cousins.

Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich Yusupov

The ancestors of the Yusupovs are from Abubekir, the father-in-law of the prophet, who ruled after Muhammad (about 570-632) of the entire Muslim family. Three centuries after him, his co-namer Abubekir bin 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 governmental and spiritual power in his person. Prince N. B. Yusupov, Jr. notes: “He was the supreme dignitary of the caliph Radi-Billag, who disappeared in the rapture of bliss and luxury, who gave him all power in the spiritual and secular sense.”

In the era of the fall of the caliphate, the direct ancestors of the Russian princes Yusupov were rulers in Damascus, Antioch, Iraq, Persia, Egypt ... Some of them were buried in Mecca, on Mount Hira, where Muhammad opened the text of the Koran; in the Kaaba itself, sacred to Muslims, or near it, these are Baba-Tukles and his two sons, Abbas and Abdurakhman. Sultan Termes, the third son of Baba-Tukles (16th generation from Abubakir ben Rayok), driven by hostile circumstances, moved north of Arabia, to the shores of the Azov and Caspian Seas, dragging with him many tribes of Muslims devoted to him. The Nogai Horde, which appeared as a state between the Volga and the Urals, was the result of the resettlement of the Sultan of Termes.

Now it becomes clear the complete equality of the marriage concluded in 1914 between Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov and Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, niece of the reigning Emperor Nicholas II: both spouses were of royal origin.

A direct descendant of Termes named Edigey was in close and close friendship with Tamerlane himself, or Timur, the "Iron Lame" and the great conqueror. Edigey was appointed chief commander of Timur. The Mongol hordes of Tokhtamysh burned Moscow and arrogantly moved against Tamerlane. Edigey went out to meet Tokhtamysh and killed him in single combat in front of the army. The Lithuanian prince Vitovt suffered a crushing defeat from Edigey on the Vorskla River in 1339. Tamerlanov's friend imposed a tribute on the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Vasily Dmitrievich. Finally, Edigey conquered the Crimea and founded the Crimean Horde there.

The great-grandson of Edigey was called Musa-Murza (Prince Moses, in Russian) and, as usual, had five wives. The first, beloved, was called Kondaza. Yusuf, the ancestor of the Yusupov family, was born from her. 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 intermarry with Muslim neighbors, "fragments" of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. Four daughters of Yusuf became the wives of the kings of the Crimean, Astrakhan, Kazan and Siberian. The latter was the same Kuchum, whom Yermak Timofeevich conquered at the head of his Don Cossacks.

Here is the second portrait in the gallery of the Twelve Portraits of the Moscow Yusupov Palace - the beautiful Suyumbeka, the Queen of Kazan, the 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. In the same year, Enalei was killed by his subjects, and the citizens of Kazan returned to the kingdom the formerly exiled Crimean king Saf-Girey.

The beauty marries a second time, now to Saf-Girey; soon her only son, Utemish-Giray, was born. Saf Giray introduced executions in Kazan. Kazanians were indignant. Yunus, the son of Yusuf, decided to stand up for Saf Giray and went to Kazan. But Saf Giray deceived Yunus. And then both Yusuf and Yunus took the side of Ivan the Terrible. Saf Giray drank and crashed on the steps of his own palace.

Suyumbeka became a widow and queen of Kazan for the second time. Her two-year-old son Utemish-Girey was proclaimed king by the Kazan people. When the Russian tsar approached the walls of Kazan with an army, the beautiful Suyumbeka put on armor and a helmet, remembering that she was the ruler of Kazan, and became the head of the defenders of the city. At first, she tried to call for help from her father and brother, but they remained faithful to the agreement with John IV.

Suyumbeka led the defense of Kazan so brilliantly that the famous Russian commander Prince Andrei Kurbsky could not take the city by attack, and the matter was decided by a secret digging and blowing up the walls of the city. The Queen of Kazan was honorably taken to Moscow with her son. And in Kazan, repeated in the architecture of the Moscow Kazan railway station, the seven-tier Suyumbekin tower, about 35 sazhens high, adorned the Kazan Kremlin, forever remained.

The story of the beauty does not end there. Ivan the Terrible appointed Shikh-alei as tsar in Kazan. But he was soon forced to flee to Moscow, where he married Suyumbek. The daughter of Yusuf-Murza is getting married for the third time. Shikh-alei takes possession of the city of Kasimov (Gorodets) and the title of king of Kasimov. He moves to Kasimov with his beautiful wife.

And Utemish-Girey, the son of Suyumbeki, was baptized in Moscow. Shikh-alei died in Kasimov and was buried in 1567 in the local tomb. The beautiful queen died before him, in 1557, having lived only 37 years. Probably, her grave is also in Kasimov. In any case, her descendant, the Russian prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., thinks so when he writes in his book: “Scarlet wild rose with milky bird cherry shower flowers on the forgotten tomb!”

In Russia, the charm of the charming image of Suyumbeki lived for a very long time. The Russians called her a sorceress. And Russian poets made her image one of the most poetic in world literature.
The poet Kheraskov, the author of the famous "Rossiyada", made the Kazan queen the main character of his poem, one of the best in the Russian XVIII century. At the beginning of the 19th century, the plays by Gruzintsov "The Conquered Kazan" and Glinka's "Sumbeka, or the Fall of Kazan" were performed on the stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Finally, in 1832, the stage saw Count Kutaisov's ballet Sumbeka, or the Conquest of the Kazan Kingdom. Pushkin was at the play, in which the role of Suyumbeki was performed by the ballerina Istomina, sung by him in Onegin.

The sons of Yusuf-Murza, the brothers Suyumbeki, came to the court of Ivan the Terrible, and since then they and their descendants began to serve the Russian sovereigns, not changing the Muslim faith and receiving awards for their service. So, on the banks of the Volga near Yaroslavl, the whole city of Romanov with a settlement (now the city of Tutaev) was granted to Il-murza by Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. In this beautiful city, which before the revolution bore the name of Romanov-Borisoglebsk, there are an abundance of churches on both banks of the Volga and also the ruins of an ancient mosque. It was in this city that an event took place that dramatically changed the fate and history of the Yusupov family.

It was in the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The great-grandson of Yusuf-Murza, named Abdul-Murza, received Patriarch Joachim in Romanov. The historian M.I. Pylyaev recalled: “Once upon a time, the brilliant nobleman, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, was the chamber junker on duty during dinner with Catherine the Great. A goose was served on the table.

- Do you know how, prince, to cut a goose? Ekaterina asked Yusupov.

“Oh, the goose must be very memorable of my surname! - answered the prince. “My ancestor ate one on Good Friday and for that he was deprived of several thousand peasants granted to him.

“I would take away all his property from him, because it was given to him on the condition that he did not eat fast on fast days,” the empress remarked jokingly about this story.

So, the great-grandfather of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov treated the patriarch and, out of ignorance of the Orthodox posts, fed him a goose. The patriarch took the goose for a fish, tasted it and praised it, and the owner, take it and say: this is, they say, not a fish, but a goose, and my cook is so skillful that he can cook a goose for fish. The patriarch was angry and upon returning to Moscow told the whole story to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. The Tsar deprived Abdul-Murza of all awards, and the rich man suddenly became a beggar. He thought hard for three days and decided to be baptized in the Orthodox faith. Abdul-Murza, the son of Seyusha-Murza, was baptized under the name Dmitry and came up with a surname for himself in memory of his ancestor Yusuf: Yusupovo-Knyazhevo. So Prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo appeared in Russia.

But that very night he had a vision. A distinct voice said: “From now on, for betraying the faith, there will not be more than one male heir in each tribe of your family, and if there are more, then all but one will not live longer than 26 years.”

Dmitry Seyushevich married Princess Tatyana Fedorovna Korkodinova, and according to the prediction, only one son succeeded his father. It was Grigory Dmitrievich, who served Peter the Great, a lieutenant general, whom Peter ordered to be called simply Prince Yusupov. Grigory Dmitrievich also had only one son who lived to adulthood - Prince Boris Grigorievich Yusupov, the former governor of Moscow. It is curious that at different times two representatives of a glorious family occupied this post: in addition to Boris Grigoryevich, the Governor-General of Moscow in 1915 was Felix Feliksovich Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston.

Boris Grigorievich Yusupov

The son of B. G. Yusupov is perhaps the most famous of the glorious family. Prince Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) is one of the richest nobles in Russia: there was not only a province, but even a county, where he did not have a village or estate. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of this remarkable man. Nikolai Borisovich was both the first director of the Hermitage, and the Russian envoy to Italy, and the chief manager of the Kremlin expedition and the Armory, as well as all theaters in Russia. He created the "Versailles near Moscow" - the Arkhangelsk estate, amazing in beauty and wealth, where A. S. Pushkin visited him twice, in 1827 and 1830. A poetic message from the great poet to Prince Yusupov, written in Moscow in 1830, is known:

... I will come to you; see this palace

Where is the architect's compass, palette and chisel

Your learned whim was obeyed

And inspired in magic competed.

Pushkin in early childhood lived with his parents in the Moscow palace of the prince, in Bolshoi Kharitonievsky lane. The images of the outlandish oriental garden that surrounded the palace were then reflected in the prologue of Ruslan and Lyudmila. The poet also brings here his beloved heroine Tatyana Larina in the seventh chapter of "Eugene Onegin" - "to Moscow for the bride's fair":

At Kharitonya in the alley

Carriage in front of the house at the gate

Has stopped…

Yes, and the poet simply makes Tatyana related to the princely family of the Yusupovs: after all, they came to visit Tatyana's aunt, Princess Alina, and in the 20s of the last century, Princess Alina, the sister of N. B. Yusupov Alexandra Borisovna, really lived in the Yusupov Palace in Moscow. A number of reflections of the poet's conversations with Prince Yusupov are found in the images of Pushkin's famous Boldino autumn, and when the prince died, the poet wrote in a letter: "My Yusupov died."

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

However, let us turn to the further links of the genus and the fate that accompanies them. Boris Nikolaevich, chamberlain, son of N. B. Yusupov, lived mainly in St. Petersburg and also left the only heir - Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr.

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov

He was a talented musician and writer, vice-director of the St. Petersburg Public Library, married to Duchess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribopierre. On Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr., the male line of the ancient family was cut short.

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

The only heir - the beautiful and richest bride of Russia Zinaida Nikolaevna Princess Yusupova, whose portraits were painted by the best artists of that time Serov and Makovsky - married the great-great-grandson of M.I. Moscow governor.

Felix Feliksovich Yusupov Sr.

Yusupov family

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

And Emperor Alexander III, satisfying the request of Prince N. B. Yusupov Jr., so that the famous surname does not stop, allows Count Sumarokov-Elston to also be called Prince Yusupov. This title was to pass to the eldest of the sons.

Yusupov family

In a happy marriage, two sons were born and raised, both graduated from Oxford University.

Felix Yusupov

The eldest was named Prince Nikolai Feliksovich Yusupov (1883-1908).

Nikolai Yusupov, elder brother of Felix Yusupov Jr.

Parents have already begun to forget about the terrible prediction, when on the eve of his 26th birthday, Nikolai Feliksovich fell in love with a woman whose husband challenged him to a duel and ... killed him. The duel took place in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island in June 1908, at the estate of the princes Beloselsky-Belozersky. Nikolai fired into the air both times… “The body was placed in the chapel,” writes the younger brother Felix, who inherited the title of Prince Yusupov. Prince Nikolai Feliksovich was buried in Arkhangelsk near Moscow.

Shocked parents, having buried their eldest son, build a temple-tomb in Arkhangelsk where the princes Yusupovs were supposed to find their last shelter. The temple was erected by the famous Moscow architect R.I. Klein until 1916. A revolution broke out, and the temple never accepted a single burial under its vaults. So it still stands today as a monument of a terrible curse to the family of the Yusupov princes, opening the wings of the colonnades towards fate ...

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. Since the Petrine era, the Yusupov princes have invariably occupied important government positions (one of them was even the Moscow governor). Over time, the family accumulated gigantic wealth. Moreover, each Yusupov had only one son, who inherited the entire fortune of his parents.

The male branch of the Yusupov family was cut short in 1882

The male offspring of the genus was stopped in 1882 by 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 left the only heir - Felix Feliksovich. He was born in 1887 and, thanks to an imperial decree, received both his surname and his mother's property as an exception.

Stormy youth

Felix belonged to the capital's "golden youth". He was educated at the Gurevich Private Gymnasium. In 1909 - 1912. the young man studied at Oxford, where he became the founder of the Russian Society of 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 ended up in Germany at the most inopportune moment. Wilhelm II ordered the arrest of unlucky travelers. Diplomats intervened. At the last moment, Felix and his wife managed to leave the Kaiser's possessions - if they had delayed even a little more, 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 personally observe the depressing changes in the capital's moods. 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 indecision of the crowned 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." The Tobolsk peasant, who practiced strange rituals and was known for his dissolute lifestyle, he considered the main cause of Russia's misfortunes. Yusupov not only decided to kill him, but also found himself faithful accomplices. They were Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (Felix's brother-in-law).

On the night of December 30, 1916 (according to the new style), Rasputin was invited to the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. According to the established version, the conspirators first fed him a poisoned cyanide pie, and then an impatient Felix shot him in the back. Rasputin resisted, but received several more bullets. The Trinity threw his body into the Neva.

Yusupov failed to poison Rasputin with potassium cyanide

The crime could not be hidden. With the beginning of the investigation, the emperor ordered Felix to retire from the capital to the Kursk estate Rakitnoye. Two months later, the monarchy fell, and the Yusupovs left for the Crimea. After the October Revolution, the princely family (including Felix's parents) on the British battleship Marlboro left Russia forever.

"All events and characters are fictitious"

“Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental” is approximately the same phrase that every film buff sees at the beginning of many films. Felix Yusupov is directly responsible for the emergence of this stamp.

Once in exile, the prince had to learn how to earn. The first years rescued family jewels. 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 the case gave Yusupov opportunity to earn money in court.

Although the aristocrat was never held responsible for the massacre of Rasputin, the label of the killer of the Siberian warlock stuck to him for life. In the West, interest in the “Russia we have lost” has not abated for many years. The theme of relations within the crowned Romanov family was also actively exploited. In 1932, the Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made 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 process, receiving a significant amount of 25 thousand pounds. It was after that scandalous lawsuit in MGM (and later in all of Hollywood) that a tradition began to include the disclaimer "All events and characters are fictitious" in their films.

Felix Yusupov owned the fashion house "Irfé"

Yusupov lived in his homeland for 30 years, in exile - 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.