12 October 2023

2023-10-12 The 85th Anniversary of the Death of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill I and of the Accession to the Rights and Responsibilities of the Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff by Wladimir Kirillovich (1938).

2023-10-12 The 85th Anniversary of the Death of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill I and of the Accession to the Rights and Responsibilities of the Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff by Wladimir Kirillovich (1938).

On October 12 (September 29 according to the Julian calendar) 1938, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill I Vladimirovich reposed in the Lord. (See http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/history/persons/monarch/kiril1-vlad.html.)

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On that day, the legal rights and responsibilities of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia were inherited by Kirill I’s only son, Grand Duke Wladimir III Kirillovich. (See http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/history/persons/monarch/vladimir3-kiril.html.)

 

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Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to Thy servants, the Pious and Right-Believing Emperor Kirill I Vladimirovich and Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, and may their memory be eternal.

 

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HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

(Translations)

 

1938-10-10 Letter from G. K. Graff, the Director of the Chancellery of His Imperial Majesty, to Hieromonk Seraphim, the Chairman of the Russian Athonite Monastic Monarchical Organization on Athos, informing him of the declining state of health of the Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. Typescript. Rough draft. Saint-Briac, No. 1047, September 27/October 10, 1938.

 

10 October 1938

S[aint]-Briac

No. 1047

 

Dear Hieromonk Seraphim,

 

I hereby wish to inform you that His Majesty’s health has greatly deteriorated. A team of doctors has been consulted, and they have determined that His Majesty’s condition was not good enough for surgery, and consequently there is little hope for His recovery.

 

His Majesty is fully conscious, but very weak. All the doctors’ efforts to halt the onset of gangrene on the toes of the right foot (1) have met with failure.

 

His Majesty is in one of the best hospitals in Paris. (2)

 

Director of H[is] M[ajesty]’s Chancellery

 

/The original is signed in G. K. Graf’s own hand/

Captain First-Rank G. K. Graf

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 124

 

Notes:

  1. The gangrene was a consequence of arteriosclerosis, which Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich developed as a result of his long exposure to the frigid waters near Port Arthur after the sinking of the Petropavlovsk on March 31/April 13, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War.

  2. The letter here refers to the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.

 

 

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1938-10-23 Letter from St. John (Maximovitch) (3), Bishop of Shanghai, expressing his condolences to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, on the death of his father, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. Manuscript. Shanghai, October 10/23, 1938.

 

Dear Pious and Right-Believing Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich,

 

The death of your august Father, Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich, has filled the hearts of countless Russians exiled from their homeland with genuine sadness, and they flock in large numbers to the memorial services for the Head of the Russian Dynasty.

 

I offer prayers for your deceased Father, that the Lord God may grant him rest where there is no illness and sorrow, and that He reward him for all his labors for the good of Russia. I also pray to the Lord God that He give you wisdom and strength to free the Russian people from their oppressors and to unite them, once you have sat upon your ancestral Throne in the Assumption Cathedral and have placed upon yourself the Cap of Monomakh.

 

Your most devoted servant and intercessor in prayer,

 

John, Bishop of Shanghai (4)

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 74

 

Notes:

  1. John (né Mikhail Borisovich Maksimovich) (1896–1966) – saint, archbishop. Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Bishop (from 1946, archbishop) of Shanghai (1934–1951). St. John graduated from the Poltava Cadet Corps (1914) and the Law School of Kharkov University (1918). He went into exile in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1925, he graduated from the School of Theology of the University of Belgrade. Even before taking monastic vows, he was given the obedience by Metropolitan Antonii (Khrapovitskii) of researching and writing the book The Origin of the Law of Succession to the Throne in Russia, which provided one of the main spiritual, legal, historical, and theoretical justifications for legitimism. In 1934, he was elevated to Bishop of Shanghai and Vicar of the Beijing diocese. On July 16, 1939, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, awarded him the Imperial Monogram, First Class, depicting the letter “K” for Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. He served as Archbishop of Western Europe and Brussels from 1951 to 1962 and as Archbishop of Western America and San Francisco from 1962 to 1966. He provided unfailing support to the legitimate Heads of the Imperial House of Russia in exile, Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich and Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. In the last years of his life, he was persecuted by a group of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, led by Archbishop Vitalii of Montreal and Canada (from 1986 to 2000, Metropolitan and First Hierarch of the ROCOR). He was canonized a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1994. St. John’s incorrupt relics were uncovered on September 28 (according to the Julian calendar) 1994, in San Francisco by Archbishop Laurus of Syracuse and Trinity (from 2000 to 2008, Metropolitan and First Hierarch of ROCOR) and other clergy. St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco was glorified by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in June 2008. He is commemorated on June 4/17 and July 2/15.

  2. The text is handwritten by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.

 

 

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1938-10-24 Statement of Members of the Russian Imperial House on the legal order of succession to the Throne after the death of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. Typescript. Paris, 11/24 October 1938.

 

We, the Members of the Imperial House of Russia, having assembled after the death of the Head of our House, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, consider it our most sacred duty solemnly to declare that the rights of each of the Members of the Imperial House of Russia are determined precisely by the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire and the Statute of the Imperial Family, that they are known perfectly to all, and that we must observe them faithfully, by virtue of a solemn oath, which is why the question of the order of succession to the throne has never caused the slightest doubt among us and still less a disagreement of any kind. We reject any departure from the order of succession provided by the law, because that would be an offense against the inviolability of our laws and of our family traditions.

 

By virtue of the laws indicated above, we recognize that the succession to the throne belongs by right of primogeniture to the senior Member of the Imperial House of Russia, the Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, which he assumed by inheritance after the death of his father on 29 September/12 October 1938, with a profound awareness of the sacred duty which devolves upon him according to the law as Head of the Imperial House of Russia, bestowing upon him all the rights and responsibilities belonging to him by virtue of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire and the Statute of the Imperial Family.

 

The members of the Imperial House of Russia appear as follows by primogeniture in the order of succession: Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich (5), Grand Duke Andrew Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (6), Prince Vsevolod Ioannovich (7), Prince Gavriil Konstantinovich (8), Prince George Konstantinovich (9), Prince Roman Petrovich (10), Prince Andrei Alexandrovich (11), Prince Fedor Alexandrovich (12), Prince Nikita Alexandrovich (13), Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich (14), Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich (15), and Prince Vasily Alexandrovich (16).

 

11/24 October 1938

 

[Here follows the signatures of the most senior Members of the Imperial House present for the signing of the Statement, in order of their rights of succession to the Imperial Throne:]

 

Boris

Vsevolod

Andrew

Dmitry

Gabriel (17)

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 5

 

Notes:

  1. Boris Vladimirovich (b. St. Petersburg, November 12, 1877; d. Paris, October 27/November 9, 1943). Grand Duke, third son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Elder; grandson of Emperor Alexander II. Born in St. Petersburg. Colonel-in-Chief of the 45th Azov Infantry Regiment. An officer on the rolls of the Semenovsky Life Guards and Life Guards Dragoons regiments, and of the 4th Life Guards Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Family. He graduated from the Nicholas Cavalry School. In 1896, he was appointed a Cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, and from 1897, an Aide-de-Camp to the Emperor. In 1903 he mustered out of the regiment and joined His Majesty’s Retinue. In 1904 he was appointed to the staff of the Governor of the Far East, Admiral E. I. Alekseeva. He then served under the Commander-in-Chief, General A. N. Kuropatkin in the Russo-Japanese War. For displays of heroism in combat he was awarded the Gold Sword for Bravery (later renamed the St. George Sword). In 1908, he returned to the Hussars Regiment and was promoted to Captain. In 1909 he entered the rolls of the Life Guards Combat Engineers Battalion. In 1911, he was promoted to Colonel. In that same year, he represented the Emperor at the coronation of King George V of the United Kingdom. In 1912, he represented the Emperor at the coronation of King Rama VI of Siam. In 1914, he was promoted to Major-General of His Majesty’s Retinue. In 1914-1915, he served as the commander of His Imperial Highness the Heir and Tsesarevich’s Life-Guards Ataman Regiment, and from September 1915, Field Commander (Ataman) of all Cossack troops. In 1916 he was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the 5th Kuban Reconnaissance Battalion. In addition to the family Orders of the Imperial House, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class, and the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class with Swords, and the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd Class. In February 1917 he worked to keep Nicholas II on the throne and was later arrested by order of the Provisional Government. In June he was released and in September he went to Kislovodsk where his mother was residing. In August 1918, he and his brother Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich were arrested by the Bolsheviks and both fled to Kabarda. In September 1918 he moved in Anapa, then later returned to Kislovodsk. He emigrated in 1919 through Constantinople to Paris. In that same year, in Genoa (Italy), he entered into an unequal marriage with Z. S. Eliseeva (née Rashevskaia). He did not seek permission to marry from the Head of the Russian Imperial House and did not apply to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the family laws of the Russian Imperial House (on the basis of the decree of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935), because he knew that Kirill Vladimirovich considered his marriage “illegal and invalid.” From 1938 to 1943, by virtue of Article 29 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, he was the Heir of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. He was a member of the Council of the Imperial House. He left no issue, and died in Paris. He is buried in Contrexéville, France.

  2. Dmitry Pavlovich (b. September 6, 1891, in the village of Ilyinskoe in the Zvenigorod district of the Province of Moscow; d. February 20/March 5, 1942, in Davos, Switzerland). Grand Duke, only son of Royal Martyr Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna (née Princess of Greece), grandson of Emperor Alexander II. Colonel-in-Chief of the 11th Fanagoriisky Grenadier Regiment and the Life Guards of the 20th Infantry Battalion. He also entered the rolls of the Life Guards Horse Regiment. Grand Duke Dimitry Pavlovich’s mother died in childbirth, and his father was sent into exile in 1902 for contracting an unequal marriage. He and his sister, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger, were raised by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Royal Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna. From 1909 to 1911 he was enrolled in the Officer Cavalry School. In 1911, he was promoted to Cornet. In 1912 he was appointed Aid-de-Camp to the Emperor. He participated in the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912, and chaired the organization committee for the first All-Russian Olympic Games in Kyiv in 1913. With the rank of captain, he fought in World War I. In December 1916, he played a secondary role in the murder of G. E. Rasputin, for which he was exiled from the Court and sent to serve in the cavalry corps of General N. N. Baratov in Persia. After the Revolution, he continued his military service in the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia. He moved to London, and then lived in Paris. Some circles in the Russian émigré community put forward his name as a pretender to the Russian throne, despite the provisions of the Law on Succession that pointed elsewhere, but Grand Duke Dmitry himself always fully supported the decree of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich in 1924 assuming the title of Emperor-in-Exile. In 1926, in Biarritz, France, he entered into an unequal marriage with an American, Anna Audrey Emery. He approached Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich for permission to marry, which was immediately granted, and he received a princely title with the surname Ilyinsky for his wife and son. By a decree dated July 28, 1935, he received for his wife and offspring the title of Serene Highness Princes Romanovsky-Ilyinsky. In 1937, his marriage to Ms Emery was dissolved. He was a Member of the Sovereign’s Council of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich, and served as His Imperial Majesty Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich’s representative in Paris. From 1935 to 1938 he served as Chairman of the Governing Council and the Office of Sport and Fitness of the Young Russian Party (Mladorossi). He was the Honorary Trustee of the Union of Russian Disabled Persons Abroad, and beginning in 1938, a member of the Council of the Imperial House of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. He died in Davos (Switzerland) and is buried in Mainau (Germany).

  3. Vsevolod Ioannovich (b. January 7/20, 1914, in St. Petersburg; d. June 5/18, 1973 in London). Prince of the Imperial Blood, the only son of Royal Martyr Prince of the Imperial Blood Ivan Konstantinovich and Princess of the Imperial Blood Elena Petrovna (née Princess of Serbia), great-great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. After the Revolution and the execution of his father by the Bolsheviks, he emigrated with his mother to Great Britain. He was the personal representative of the Head of the Russian Imperial House to Great Britain, and in 1938 he was appointed a member of the Council of the Imperial House. In 1939 in London he entered into an unequal marriage with Lady Mary Lygon. He obtained permission to marry from the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, and received the title of Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaia-Pavlovskaia for his wife. The marriage ended in divorce in 1956. That same year in London he entered into a second unequal marriage with Emilia de Gosztonyi (he was her fourth husband). The marriage also ended in divorce in 1961. In that same year in London he entered into his third unequal marriage with Valli Knust. He asked permission for the marriage from Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and received the title of Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaia-Knust for his wife. None of his three marriages produced any children. From 1956 to 1973, by virtue of Article 27 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, he was by right of male primogeniture the Heir of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. Up until the end of the 1960s he fully supported the Head of the Imperial House; for some time he was appointed executor in the event of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich’s death. In 1970, however, he joined a dynastic “Fronde” and signed a statement challenging without foundation the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objected to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne.

  4. Gavriil Konstantinovich (b. July 3 [Julian], 1887, in Pavlovsk; d. February 15/28, 1955, in Paris). Prince of the Imperial Blood (Grand Duke after 1939), second son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna (née Princess of Saxe-Altenburg), great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. In 1900 he joined the 1st Moscow Cadet Corps, and in 1905 he studied at the Nicholas Cavalry School and attended a course of lectures at the Lyceum. In 1907 was entered in the rolls of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Beginning in 1908 he served as an Aide-de-Camp to the Emperor. He served on the front during World War I. In addition to the family orders of the Imperial House, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, with swords and bow, and the Gold Sword for Bravery. In 1915 he was discharged from the Regiment of His Majesty’s Retinue. In 1916 he graduated from an advanced course of study at the Imperial Nicholas Military Academy and was promoted to Colonel. In 1917 in Petrograd he entered into an unequal marriage with Antonina Nesterovskaia. He was arrested in 1918 in Petrograd and kept in custody in the Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress along with his relatives, who were later executed—the Royal Martyrs Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich. He was released and received permission to leave Russia thanks to the efforts of his wife and the intervention of Maxim Gorky. Beginning in 1920 he lived in Paris. In 1935, he asked for and received from Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich the title of Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaia-Strelninskaia for his wife. He served as Chairman of the Union of Units of the Russian Imperial Army. He was a member of the Council of the Imperial House and Honorary Chairman of the All-Cadet Association in France. On May 15, 1939, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, granted him the title Grand Duke and the style Imperial Highness. He was widowed in 1950. In 1951 he entered into a second unequal marriage with Princess Irina Ivanovna Kurakina. He asked for permission to marry from Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and received for his wife the title of Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaia-Kurakina. Neither marriage produced children. He wrote a memoir entitled “In the Marble Palace.” He died in Paris and is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

  5. Prince George Konstantinovich (b. April 23/May 6, 1903 in St. Petersburg; d. October 25/November 7, 1938 in New York). Prince of the Imperial Blood, youngest son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna (née Princess of Saxe-Altenburg), great-grandson of the Emperor Nicholas I. He entered the rolls of the Bakhtin Oryol Cadet Corps. He emigrated abroad with his mother and did not maintain relations with other members of the Russian Imperial House in exile. He never married and died of complications from an unsuccessful appendicitis surgery in New York.

  6. Prince Roman Petrovich (b. October 5 [Julian], 1896; d. October 10/23, 1978, in Rome). Prince of the Imperial Blood, the only son of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna (née Princess of Montenegro), great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. Second lieutenant of the Corps of Engineers. He emigrated with members of his family from Crimea in 1919. In 1921 in Antibes he entered into an unequal marriage with Countess Praskovia Dmitrievna Sheremeteva. He supported the claims of his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, as the leader of the Russian emigration and opposed the legitimate Heads of the Russian Imperial House in exile. He was put forward by some circles as a contender for the Russian throne, bypassing the Law on Succession. He did not seek permission to marry from the Head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935. After World War II, he tried for some time to maintain good personal relations with the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, but in 1970 he signed a Statement unreasonably challenging the legal status of the Grand Duke and his family and protesting against the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. From 1973 to 1978, he was, by virtue of Article 27 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire and by right of male primogeniture, the Heir to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke. Wladimir Kirillovich. In 1977, he headed the newly formed “Romanov Family Association,” which comprised the Princes of the Imperial Blood who were alive at that time and morganatic descendants of members of the dynasty, ignoring the historical Fundamental Laws of the Russian Imperial House. Roman Petrovich died in Rome and was buried in the Testaccio Cemetery. He left issue, though none was a member of the Imperial House. His son, Nicholas Romanovich Romanov, after the death of the last Prince of the Imperial Blood, Vasily Alexandrovich, served as the President of the “Romanov Family Association” from 1989 until his death in 2014. He was succeeded in that position in 2014 by his brother, Dmitry Romanovich, until his death in 2016.

  7. Andrei Alexandrovich (b. January 12 [Julian], 1897, in St. Petersburg; d. April 25/May 8, 1981, in Provender House, Faversham, Kent, UK). Prince of the Imperial Blood, eldest son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. He was an officer in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. In 1918, he entered into an unequal marriage with the widow A. A. von Friederici, Elisabetta, daughter of Fabrizio Ruffo, Duke of Sasso-Ruffo (she died in 1940 as a result of German bombings). In 1924, Andrei Alexandrovich and 3 of his 5 younger brothers (these three had by then reached their dynastic age of majority; a fourth was in the United States and could not sign, and the fifth and youngest brother had not reached his dynastic majority and was not asked to sign) and his father signed a letter pledging their loyalty to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. He did not seek permission to marry from the head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935. In 1938 he reaffirmed his recognition of the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich as Head of the Russian Imperial House after the death of Kirill Vladimirovich. He was a member of the Council of the Imperial House under Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. In 1942, Andrei Alexandrovich entered into a second unequal marriage with Nadine McDougall (1908-2000). In 1970, he signed a statement challenging, without foundation, the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objecting to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. From 1978 to 1981, he was, by virtue of Article 27 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire and by right of male primogeniture, the Heir to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. After the death of Prince Roman Petrovich in 1978, he became the President the “Romanov Family Association,” which comprised the Princes of the Imperial Blood who were alive at that time and morganatic descendants of members of the dynasty, ignoring the historical Fundamental Laws of the Russian Imperial House. Both of his marriages had issue, though none is a member of the Imperial House. He died in Provender House in Kent (UK).

  8. Fedor Alexandrovich (b. December 11 [Julian], 1898, in St. Petersburg; d. November 17/30, 1968, in Ascain (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France), November 17/30, 1968). Prince of the Imperial Blood, second son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. He emigrated abroad with his mother. In 1923, in Paris, he entered into an unequal marriage with Irina Pavlovna Countess von Hohenfelsen, Princess Paley, the morganatic daughter of Holy New Martyr Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich by his morganatic spouse Olga Valerianovna Karnovich. In 1924, he and three of his five brothers (those who had by then reached their dynastic age of majority and were living then in Europe) and his father signed a letter pledging their loyalty to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. He did not seek permission to marry from the head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935. The marriage of Prince of the Imperial Blood Fedor Alexandrovich with Princess Irine Pavlovna Paley, contracted in 1923, ended in divorce in 1936. He maintained close and friendly ties with the leader of the All-Russian Fascist Party Anastasii Andreevich Vonsiatsky. He died and was buried in Ascain (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France). He left morganatic offspring (who have since died out in the male line).

  9. Nikita Alexandrovich (b. January 4 [Julian], 1900 in St. Petersburg; d. August 30/September 12, 1974 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France). Prince of the Imperial Blood, third son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. He emigrated abroad with his mother. In 1922 in Paris he entered into an unequal marriage with Countess Maria Illarionovna Vorontsova-Dashkova. In 1924, together with his father and adult brothers, he signed a letter of loyalty to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. Nikita Aleksandrovich was entrusted with various public engagements by Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich. Some circles in the Russian émigré community put forward his name as a pretender to the Russian throne, despite the provisions of the Law on Succession that pointed elsewhere. In 1932, he wrote a letter to Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich breaking with him over Kirill’s New Year’s Address of 1932, which contained a condemnation of not only Communism, but also of Capitalism. Nikita Alexandrovich was for this expelled from the Imperial Family, i.e. deprived of all his dynastic rights, except for the inviolable and inalienable right of succession to the throne. Because of this, in 1934 he was not invited to the wedding of Prince George of Kent with Princess Marina of Greece, and his change in dynastic status was reflected in the Almanach de Gotha. He subsequently wrote a letter of apology, and on December 31, 1934, he signed a statement: “Concerning reports that appeared in the Russian press and associated with My name, I am compelled to make the following statement: 1) I strongly condemn the contents of the brochure published by Mr. Sychev entitled ‘The Laws of Succession to the Throne in Russia’; 2) I never considered the issue of succession to the Throne in any way to be controversial and would never reject the rights to the Throne of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, to whom I am completely loyal. Nikita. December 31, 1934, London.” He was consequently forgiven and fully reinstated as a member of the Imperial Family. Later, he repeatedly changed his political position. He did not seek permission to marry from the head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935. In the 1950s and 1960s, he made statements hostile to the Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family. In 1970, he supported the statement issued by Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich, Roman Petrovich, and Andrei Alexandrovich challenging, without foundation, the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objecting to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. He left morganatic offspring (now extinct) and died in Cannes, France. He was buried in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

  10. Dmitry Alexandrovich (b. August 2/15, 1901 at Gatchina; d. June 24/July 7, 1980 in London). Prince of the Imperial Blood, fourth son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. He emigrated abroad with his mother. In 1924, together with his father and adult brothers, he did not sign a letter of loyalty addressed to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich inasmuch as he was in New York at the time, but he did support Kirill Vladimirovich with sincere conviction. In 1931 he entered into an unequal marriage with Countess Maria Sergeevna Golenishcheva-Kutuzova. He was the only son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich to ask Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich for permission to marry and, on the basis of the decree issued on July 28, 1935, received for his wife the title of Serene Highness Princess Romanovsky-Kutuzov. The marriage ended in divorce in 1947. They had one daughter. In 1935, with the consent of Kirill Vladimirovich, he joined the Mladorossi Party. He was a member of the Council of the Imperial House under Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. He served as an officer in the British Navy during World War II. In 1954 in London he entered into a second unequal marriage with Sheila MacKellar Chisholm. He did not ask permission to marry from the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, and did not receive a title for his new wife. In 1970, he supported the statement issued by Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich, Roman Petrovich, and Andrei Alexandrovich challenging, without foundation, the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objecting to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. He subsequently played a leading role in the creation and leadership of the Romanov Family Association. He died in London. His daughter from her first marriage, Princess Nadezhda Dmitrievna Romanovskaya-Kutuzova, died in 2001.

  11. Rostislav Alexandrovich (b. November 11/24, 1902, on the Ai-Todor estate in the Yalta district of the Taurida province; d. July 18/31, 1978, in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France). Prince of the Imperial Blood, fifth son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson Emperor Nicholas I. He emigrated abroad with his mother. In 1924, together with his father and adult brothers, he signed a letter of loyalty addressed to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. In 1928, in Chicago, he entered into an unequal marriage (his first) with Princess Alexandra Pavlovna Galitzine. The marriage ended in divorce in 1944. He did not seek permission to marry from the head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich dated July 28, 1935. In 1945, again in Chicago, he entered into his second unequal marriage, to Alice Baker Eilken. The marriage ended in divorce in 1952. In 1954, in Chicago, he entered into a third unequal marriage with Hedwig Maria Gertrud Eva von Chappuis. In 1970, he supported the statement issued by Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich, Roman Petrovich, and Andrei Alexandrovich challenging, without foundation, the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objecting to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. He worked as an accountant. He left morganatic offspring from his first two marriages, and died in Cannes.

  12. Vasily Alexandrovich (b. June 24/July 7, 1907, at Gatchina; d. June 11/24, in 1989 Woodside, California, USA). Prince of the Imperial Blood, youngest son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas 1. He emigrated with his family. His father and 3 of his 5 brothers signed a statement of loyalty to Emperor-in-Exile Kirill in 1924. Vasily was not asked to sign because he had not yet attained his dynastic majority. In 1931, in New York, he entered into an unequal marriage with Princess Natalia Alexandrovna Golitsyna (his only child, a daughter, was born from this marriage). He did not seek permission to marry from the Head of the Russian Imperial House and refused to formalize the status of his wife and offspring in accordance with the Family Laws of the Russian Imperial House issued by Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich, dated July 28, 1935. In 1970, he supported the statement issued by Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich, Roman Petrovich, and Andrei Alexandrovich challenging, without foundation, the legal status of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and his family and objecting to the Decree of December 23, 1969, on the Guardianship of the Throne. From 1981 to 1989, by virtue of Article 29 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, he was the Heir of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. After the death in 1981 of his brother, Prince of Imperial Blood Andrei Alexandrovich, he became the President of the “Romanov Family Association,” which was comprised of, except for him, only morganatic descendants of Members of the Dynasty, who ignored the historical family laws of the Russian Imperial House. In 1981, after the birth of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich’s grandson, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, he added his signature to a statement groundlessly denying the membership of the newborn in the Russian Imperial House. He died in Woodside, California, and was buried in the Serbian Cemetery in San Francisco. With his death, the only other remaining male line of the Russian Imperial House, besides the senior line, had died out, and the direct heir to the Head of the House of Romanoff, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, became, by virtue of Article 30 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, his daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.

  13. Here appear the signatures of Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Prince of the Imperial Blood Vsevolod Ioannovich, and Prince of the Imperial Blood Gabriel Konstantinovich—all members of the Russian Imperial House who were present at the meeting. The signatories were the most senior dynasts after the Grand Duke Wladimir, and they were, respectively, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the line of succession after Grand Duke Wladimir to the position of Head of the Russian Imperial House. By listing in the statement all the living male dynasts in the order of their place in the succession to the throne and by omitting the names of the morganatic sons of these dynasts, the signatories made clear that the then living morganatic sons born to these male dynasts were not dynasts and were not in the line of the succession. Those morganatic sons then living included the children of two signatories, Grand Duke Andrei and Grand Duke Dmitry, as well as the children of Prince Roman, Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, Prince Feodor, Prince Nikita, and Prince Rostislav.

 

* * *

 

1938-10-31/01 Manifesto of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, concerning the death of his father, Emperor-in Exile Kirill I, and his assumption of the rights and responsibilities of Head of the Imperial House of Russia. Typescript. Saint-Briac, 18/31 October 1938.

 

It has pleased the Lord God, on the 12th day of October this year, to call unto Himself my beloved Father, the Lord Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich. Humbly bowing before the Will of the Most High, I believe that all Russian people will share with me the new heavy sorrow that has been sent to me.

 

My unforgettable parents have bequeathed to me a love and sense of sacrifice for Russia and the Russian people. They showed me the way which I must follow in order to complete the great work which they had begun and I, in sacred and reverent memory of them, will steadfastly follow their instructions, devoting all my resources to service of the Motherland.

 

Following the example of my Father, profoundly aware of the sacred duty incumbent upon me, I accept by inheritance, by the supreme right of Head of the Imperial House of Russia to which I have succeeded, all the rights and duties which belong to me by virtue of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire and the Statute on the Imperial Family.

 

As a faithful son of the Holy Orthodox Church, now, at this crucial moment, I address myself to Her, seeking Her blessing and support in the arduous service which is in store for me.

 

I also address myself to all those Russian people who hold dear the destiny of Russia and I call upon them to rally around me. I call upon them to follow me in close co-operation for the good of their people.

 

I have one aim and one aspiration—to devote myself to the service of Russia, for the happiness and prosperity of the Russian people, which will only find its right and freedom under the protection of the Imperial Throne.

 

Bending my knees before the Lord Almighty, I pray that He may grant me strength to serve my people, and I believe that all Russian people will with one accord come to my help in their endeavour to free the Motherland from suffering and humiliation.

 

Wladimir

 

Issued at S[aint]-Briac on 31 October 1938

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 1 (ch. 2)

 

 

* * *

 

1938-10-31/02 Announcement from the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia concerning the decision of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, to continue to use the title Grand Duke. Typescript. Saint-Briac, 18/31 October 1938.

 

His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich wishes it to be known that, having now assumed the title of Head of the Imperial House of Russia, He is pleased to retain the title of Imperial Highness and Grand Duke, with which style and titles He should be called in all circumstances, without exception.

 

When His Imperial Highness deems it necessary to make a change in His title, an announcement to that effect will be made.

 

Captain First-Rank G. Graf,

Director of the Chancellery

 

31 October 1938 S[aint]-Briac

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 124

 

 

* * *

 

1938-11-01/01 Letter from Prince of the Imperial Blood Andrei Alexandrovich to Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich on his recognition of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich as the Head of the Imperial House of Russia. (18) Typescript. Hampton Court, 19 October/1 November 1938

 

Wilderness House

Hampton Court Palace

Midd[lese]x

November 1, 1938

 

Dear Andrei,

 

Mama (19) conveyed to me the contents of your letter and the statement you have prepared for the press. (20) I am not signing it as I was not present at the family meetings and do not know what you have decided, and, in the second place, I do not see why the family needs to sign this statement at all as it is self-evident that after the death of Kirill as Head of the Imperial House his son takes over as Head. I personally recognized Kirill and in the same way now recognize his son.

 

Wladimir in his message will himself confirm his position as Head of the House.

 

I embrace you warmly,

 

Your Andrei

 

Greetings from Andi, (21) and from us both to your wife (22) and Vova. (23)

 

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 5.

 

Notes:

  1. This version corrects several minor errors that appeared in previous published versions of this letter.

  2. Ksenia Alexandrovna (b. 25 March/7 April 1875, in St. Petersburg; d. 7/20 April, 1960, in London). Eldest daughter of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna (née Princess of Denmark); sister of Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II. Colonel-in-Chief of the 48th Ukrainian Dragoon Regiment. She married Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, her father’s cousin, on July 25/August 7, 1894, and served as the Imperial patron of the St. Petersburg Kseniinsky Institute for Noble Maidens, the Naval Benevolent Society, and the “Yasli” Society (which provided free daycare for working-class families). During World War I, she ran a hospital in St. Petersburg. When the revolution broke out in 1917, she was with the Dowager Empress in Kyiv, then moved to the Ai-Todor and Dulber estates in Crimea. She was placed under house arrest and threatened with summary execution. She emigrated abroad with her mother and other relatives in 1919. In 1920 she and her husband separated but no divorce was ever finalized. She was the Imperial patron for two construction projects: one, the Church of the Righteous Job the Long-Suffering in Brussels, as a memorial to Emperor Nicholas II (who was born on the feast day of the Righteous Job); and the other, the restoration of the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Paris. She also served as the patron of the Russian Red Cross Society. She was a gifted artist. Beginning in 1931, she was made an Honorary member of the Icon Society. She also promoted the activities of the Union of Russian Nobles, the Union of Russian Pilots, the Naval Assembly, the National Organization of Russian Scouts, and the Union of the Knights of St. George. She died at Hampton Court Palace (near London). She was buried next to her husband in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (Alpes-Maritimes, France). She had seven children: Princess of the Imperial Blood Irina Alexandrovna, Princess Yusupova Countess Sumarokova-Elston (1895-1970); Prince of the Imperial Blood Andrei Alexandrovich (1897-1981); Prince of the Imperial Blood Feodor Alexandrovich (1898-1968); Prince of the Imperial Blood Nikita Alexandrovich (1900-1974); Prince of the Imperial Blood Dmitry Alexandrovich (1901-1980); Prince of the Imperial Blood Rostislav Alexandrovich (1902-1978); and Prince of the Imperial Blood Vasily Alexandrovich (1907-1989).

  3. See the document dated 1938-10-24.

  4. Elisabetta Ruffo (1886-1940). Daughter of Duke Fabrizio Ruffo di Calabria. She married firstly Alexander Alexandrovitch Friederici, and secondly (as his first morganatic wife) Prince of the Imperial Blood Andrei Alexandrovich in 1918. She died during the bombing of England by the German Luftwaffe.

  5. Matilda Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya (née Kshesinskaya) (1872-1971). A famous Russian ballet dancer. She had an active and successful career on stage from 1890 to 1936. From 1896 to 1904, she was first principal ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater. From 1890 to 1894 she was the romantic interest of Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich (the future Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II). Then she became the common-law spouse of the Holy New Martyr Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. In 1921, she married morganatically Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. In 1925, she converted to Orthodoxy. In 1929, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich granted her title of Princess Krasinskaya, and, in 1935, the title and style Her Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya.

  6. Vladimir Andreevich Romanovsky-Krasinsky (1902-1974). The son of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich by his morganatic wife, Her Serene Highness Princess Matilda Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya (née Kshesinskaya). In 1912, Emperor Nicholas II bestowed upon him hereditary noble status and the surname Krasinsky. In 1920, he emigrated abroad with his parents to France. In 1935, he received the title of Prince and style of His Serene Highness, with the surname Romanovsky-Krasinsky, from Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich. He was a member of the Mladorossi Party. He died without children.

 

 

* * *

 

1938-11-04 Address from the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, to the President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Anastasii (24). Typescript. October 22/November 4, 1938.

 

You Eminence, Reverend Archpastor,

 

Having accepted all the rights and responsibilities that have transferred to me by right of succession, I now turn to You, as the President of the Synod of Bishops, to request your assistance in uniting with Me all the Russian peoples, for the reestablishment of the former place and position of the Holy Orthodox Church, which is inseparably connected to the reestablishment of monarchy in Russia.

 

Knowing, Your Eminence, of your convictions and of the sentiments of the members of the Council, which took place in September of this year, I am confident of your assistance, which is so necessary for the salvation of our homeland.

 

Entrusting myself to Your Eminence’s holy prayers, I ask You, Eminence, to accept my expression of deepest respect.

 

[The original is signed in His Imperial Highness’s own hand:]

 

Wladimir

 

22 October/4 November 1938

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 1 (ch. 2)

 

Note:

  1. This letter is essentially identical in content to the one sent by Grand Duke Wladimir to Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), administrator of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe, under the Ecumenical Patriarch.

 

 

* * *

 

1938-11-05 Letter from St. John (Maximovitch), Bishop of Shanghai, to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, expressing his loyalty and offering words of spiritual instruction. Manuscript. Shanghai, 23 October/5 November 1938

 

Most Pious Great Sovereign,

 

Not long before the death of your Most August Father, I sent to you, as Heir of the Russian Throne, a report, (25) and upon His death I offered you my most humble condolences. Now I consider it necessary to express once again my devotion to the Throne of the Russian Tsars and to you as Their Legitimate Successor.

 

I do not use the title that befits a Russian Monarch, not because I doubt that you are its legitimate bearer, but in order to be faithful to your expressed intentions, to the extent that they became known to me before my departure from Europe, and also to be consistent with my previous report. The present time of wavering convictions requires particular wisdom so not to undermine the legitimacy of Your Imperial authority and, at the same time, to help attract to Yourself those who either have not yet woken up from the frenzy of rebellion, or who, in good faith, have not yet taken the path of submission to the Law. Succession by primogeniture imposes a duty to carry on the spirit of one’s predecessors.

 

Like the Russian people abroad, scattered throughout all the countries of the world, the Russian people now languishing in the Fatherland will recognize you as their Tsar as soon as they see that you are the bearer of the spirit, and the one who continues the work, of your Imperial ancestors, the Grand Princes and Tsars of Russia. You must before all else have strong faith in Him, “In Whom Kings reign and the mighty write the truth,” [*] Who “makes and unmakes Kings.” [**]

 

To be a guardian of piety and a champion of Orthodoxy is the first duty of the All-Russian Tsar, who is the successor of the Byzantine Emperors.

 

If your heart is filled with piety and humility, the Lord will look upon you as he once did upon young David, and then will be fulfilled in you the prophecy and hopes of Metropolitan Antonii, who in a letter to your Father about 14 years ago, applied to you the verse in 1 Samuel, 24:21 (26).

 

You will not be the first of Russia’s rulers to come from afar to unite and exalt Rus’. From the Varangian lands, your Heavenly Patron Saint, Grand Prince Vladimir, returned to Rus’ in his youth, having previously been forced to hide outside his homeland; from remote corners also came His son Yaroslav the Wise (27) to destroy the power of the Accursed One (28); and from the forests of Kostroma, the Ipatiev Monastery, came the founder of the Romanoff Dynasty to ascend to the Throne (29).

 

May the Lord make you the restorer and rebuilder of Rus’.

 

Your humble servant and intercessor in prayer,

 

John, Bishop of Shanghai (30)

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 74

 

Notes:

[*] Proverbs 8:21.

[**] Daniel 2:21.

  1. The “report” St. John references here has not been found in the Archive of the Russian Imperial House.

  2. 1 Samuel 24:21: “Now I know that you will indeed reign and that the sovereignty in Israel will pass into your hands” (NJB).

  3. Yaroslav I Vladimirovich, the Wise (in holy baptism, George) (b. 978 in Vyshgorod; d. on February 20/March 5, 1054). Grand Prince. The sixth son of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir I and, according to some sources, Grand Princess Rogneda Rogvolodovna (a princess from Polotsk, known also by her monastic name Anastasia). He received the principality of Rostov from his father; and in 1010, after the death of Prince Vysheslav Vladimirovich, he succeeded to the principality of Novgorod. In 1014, he refused to pay tribute to his father, which sparked a conflict between father and son. War between the two was averted only by the death of St. Vladimir in 1015. Violence broke out in Novgorod in 1015 (including the murder by members of Novgorod’s elite of Varangian members of the prince’s retinue, and, in turn, revenge killings by Yaroslav against the members of the Novgorodian elite). The violence ended when Yaroslav learned of his father’s death, the assumption of the throne by Sviatopolk I, and the murder of St. Boris on Sviatopolk’s orders. Yaroslav attempted to warn his other brother, St. Gleb, of Sviatopolk’s treachery but failed to save him from death at Sviatopolk’s hands. In 1016, Yaroslav rose against Sviatopolk I and defeated him near the city of Liubech. Sviatopolk I fled to his father-in-law, Prince Boleslaw I the Brave of Poland. Yaroslav seized Kiev and became grand prince. In 1017, he concluded a peace treaty with Emperor Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire against Boleslaw and Sviatopolk. In the summer of 1018, Yaroslav was defeated by Boleslaw at the River Bug and fled to Novgorod. Yaroslav had thought to flee even further, into Scandinavia, but he was dissuaded by the people of Novgorod, who pleaded with him to continue the fight. In 1019, exploiting a rift between Boleslaw and Sviatopolk and the former’s departure from Kiev, Yaroslav defeated his brother Sviatopolk and assumed the grand-princely throne of Kiev. In 1019, Sviatopolk I was definitively defeated on the River Alta, on the very place where St. Boris the Passion-Bearer had been murdered on Sviatopolk’s orders. Yaroslav’s first wife was St. Anna, who evidently died in 1018. In 1019, Grand Prince Yaroslav married the daughter of King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden: Princess Ingegerd (who in Orthodox baptism took the name Irene), whom Yaroslav very much loved and respected. Yaroslav “translated” the holy relics of St. Gleb from Smiadyn to Vyshgorod, burying them next to the grave of St. Boris. In 1021, Yaroslav defeated his nephew, Prince Briachislav Iziaslavich of Polotsk, who had devastated Novgorod, then concluded a peace treaty with him. In 1023, a feud broke out between Yaroslav and his brother, Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich of Tmutarakan. Mstislav defeated Yaroslav near the town of Listven, but then he immediately negotiated a peace with him that divided the Kievan lands between them (the treaty was concluded in 1026). In 1023, Yaroslav suppressed a revolt led by members of a pagan cult in Suzdal. In 1030, Yaroslav captured the Polish city of Belz, defeated the Chuds, and founded the town of Iuriev on their lands. He also created a school in Novgorod. In 1031, he and his brother Mstislav of Tmutarakan captured several Cherven towns from the Poles, taking many prisoners and resettling them on the banks of the Ros River. After Mstislav’s death in 1036, Yaroslav united under his power the entire land of the Rus’. Having settled his disputes with Novgorod, he granted the city many new privileges and liberties. He attacked the Pechenegs, who were threatening Kiev, defeating them completely and putting an end to their planned invasion. In 1037, he began large-scale construction projects in Kiev, laying down the foundation of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, founding the monasteries of St. George and St. Irene, erecting the Golden Gate, and beginning or completing many other important architectural monuments in the city. In 1038, he went to war against the Yatvingians and also arranged for several important dynastic marriages: his sister, Maria, to the Polish Prince Casimir I the Restorer; and his daughter, Anastasia, to Prince Andrew of Hungary. In 1040-1041, he fought with the Lithuanians and Masovians. In 1043, after the murder of Russian merchants in Constantinople, Yaroslav began military operations against the Eastern Roman Empire, but was defeated. In 1044, he arranged the marriage of his daughter, Elizabeth, to King Harald Hardrada of Norway. In 1045, he helped his son-in-law, Andrew of Hungary, ascend the throne of Hungary. In 1046, he made peace with the Eastern Roman Empire, returned captured prisoners, and successfully negotiated a marriage between his son, Vsevolod, and Princess Maria, the daughter of Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. In 1047, he aided his other son-in-law, Casimir I, against the Masovians. In 1049, he gave his daughter Anna in marriage to King Henry I of France. In 1050, he buried his much beloved wife Irene, who was his advisor on all important matters. In 1051, he attempted, for the first time in Russian history, to achieve autocephaly for the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, raising to the Kievan Metropolitanate the native-born Russian hierarch Hilarion (the author of the famous “Sermon on Law and Grace”). Yaroslav earned the epithet “the Wise” for his learning, his patronage of science and education, and his law codes. He created the first compilation of Russian laws—the Russian Law (or Russkaya Pravda)—and issued his Charter on Ecclesiastical Courts (or Ustav o tserkovnykh sudakh). Before his death, Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise instituted a new system of princely succession: a “rota” or “ladder” system, according to which power in Russia belonged to the entire House of Riurikovich. The most senior member of the House by birth order would occupy the most senior and most important of Rus’ thrones: Kiev. The other princes in the House would rotate through the other principalities, from larger and more significant to smaller and less important, in accordance with their seniority overall in the ruling House. This system of succession would survive into the fifteenth century, though it was violated numerous times as the increase in the number of princes over time made calculating seniority much more complex, as internal conflicts between branches of the dynasty disrupted the hierarchy of principalities, and as usurpations of thrones complicated the orderly succession in the family—all leading to violence and confusion in the relationship among the princes of the House of Riurikovich. Yaroslav I died after falling ill in Vyshgorod. He is buried in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev, which he built. He lies next to his wife, Grand Princess Irene. He was venerated locally as a saint, then glorified by the entire Church in 1831. His feast day is the Synaxis of the Saints of Volhynia, October 10/23.

  4. Sviatopolk I Vladimirovich (Yaropolkovich) (in holy baptism, Peter), the Accursed (b. 978; d. March 22/April 4, 1020). Grand Prince. Sviatopolk I was the only son of Grand Prince Yaropolk I Sviatoslavich and a former Greek nun, who had been among the prisoners brought back to Rus’ by Grand Prince Sviatoslav I Igorevich. Sviatopolk I was born after the death of his father, who died in the wars against Vladimir I. He was then adopted by his uncle. He received the principalities of Turov and Pinsk. In 1013, he married the daughter of the Polish King Boleslaw I the Brave. Sviatopolk and his wife were imprisoned by order of St. Vladimir I, who suspected them of conspiring against him. In 1015, after St. Vladimir I’s death, they were freed, and, as the senior member of the dynasty, Sviatopolk ascended the grand-princely throne of Kiev. He ordered the murders of the sons of St. Vladimir—the Holy Princely Passion-Bearers Boris, Prince of Rostov, and Gleb, Prince of Murom, despite the fact that they recognized Sviatopolk’s dynastic seniority over them. Sviatopolk I also ordered the murder of their brother, Prince Sviatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of the Drevlianians. For this atrocity, Sviatopolk I is known to history by the epitaph “the Accursed.” Another of St. Vladimir’s sons, Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Novgorod, rose up against Sviatopolk and defeated him and his Pecheneg allies near the town of Liubech. Grand Prince Sviatopolk fled to his father-in-law in Poland, and his wife was taken prisoner by Yaroslav. In 1018, Sviatopolk I, with the support of Boleslaw I, defeated Yaroslav I and forced him to flee to Novgorod. Soon, however, Sviatopolk I and his father-in-law began to quarrel and he lost Boleslaw's support, who then withdrew his army and returned to Poland, seizing several towns in Chervon Rus’ (eastern Galicia) along the way. In 1019, fearing the approaching army of Yaroslav I, Sviatopolk I fled from Kiev to the Pechenegs. Forming an alliance with them, Sviatopolk attempted to return to the Kievan throne, but he was defeated in the Battle of the Alta River (on the very place and on the very day, July 24/August 6, where and when his assassins had murdered Prince St. Boris in 1015). He was possibly wounded in the battle. Sviatopolk I died at an unknown location, somewhere between Poland and the Czech lands.

  5. The reference here is to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanoff.

  6. The entire text is handwritten by St. John.

 

 

* * *

 

1938-11-10/01 Letter from the Chairman of the Russian Monastic Monarchist Organization of Mount Athos, Hieromonk Seraphim, and its members, to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, expressing their condolences on the death of his father, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill I, and their loyalty to the Grand Duke. Manuscript. Mt. Athos, October 28/November 10, 1938

 

To:

His Imperial Majesty

Emperor Wladimir Kirillovich

 

Your Imperial Majesty,

Most Pious Sovereign!

 

It was with deepest sorrow that we, the Russian monarchist monks—the brethren of Holy Mount Athos—received the news of the death of your Most August Father, our Sovereign Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich.

 

We offer our prayers to the Lord God for the repose of the soul of our newly-deceased Sovereign in the Heavenly Abode with all the saints.

 

To Your Imperial Majesty, as the dear Son of the deceased, we express our deepest condolences for the difficult loss that has befallen you.

 

May the most merciful Lord God console you in your grief and give you spiritual and physical strength for your new Imperial duties for the liberation of our dear Motherland Russia from the yoke of the godless Communists.

 

May the Lord help you to fulfill the wise vision of your Most August Father for the glory of God, for the good of the Church of Christ, and for the joy of many millions of the Russian people.

 

Your Imperial Majesty’s most obedient servants and humble and constant intercessors in prayer:

 

Chairman of the Russian Monastic Monarchist Organization of Mount Athos:

 

/signature/

Hieromonk Seraphim

 

Members of the Organization:

 

/signatures/

 

Hieroschemamonk Kallistos

Hieromonk Nikon

Hieroschemamonk Seraphim

Hieromonk Acacius

Hieroschemamonk Seraphim

Hieromonk Stephan

Hieromonk Kallistratos

Hieromonk Anthony

Hieromonk Savva

Hieromonk Mitrophanes

Hieromonk Seraphim

Hermit-monk Nicholas

 

 

Mount Athos

October 28, 1938

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 237

 

 

* * *

 

1938-11-12 Response of the Chairman of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Anastasii (Gribanovsky) to a letter from the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich (31). Typescript. Belgrade, October 30/November 12, 1938

 

Your Imperial Highness,

 

It has pleased God to entrust to you the rights and responsibilities of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, which have transferred to you from your late Most August Father by right of inheritance.

 

Heeding the call to the sacred duty that has been laid upon you, you now embark on the path of selfless service to the nation, calling on all Russia’s faithful sons to unite around you to help you in your noble, patriotic desire to “liberate Russia from suffering and humiliation.”

 

Aware of the weightiness and responsibility of the task that lies before Your Imperial Highness, you, following the example of your pious Ancestors, seek first the gracious help of the Holy Orthodox Church, asking for its “blessing and support for the difficult service that lies ahead of you.”

 

The Church, which, according to the words of your deceased Father, was the “original Leader and Organizer of the destinies of Russia,” cannot but welcome this pious desire of your Orthodox heart and is ready to bless your every good undertaking aimed at restoring the Russian Orthodox Kingdom, now lying in ruins, which had been nurtured, strengthened and sanctified by the Church. The Church fervently prays to the Lord that He will instill the spirit of harmony and unity in the hearts of the Russian people, so that they can all unite around you without exception and direct all our nation’s strength to fighting the dying Communism that has enslaved our country. Now is the right time for this: the night is already passing and the day is fast approaching. Bolshevism has outlived itself, and the Russian people, having paid for their willfulness and the seduction of Communism, are by the grace of God again returning to their Father’s house and to their ancient historical legacy. At the cost of unprecedented suffering, humiliation, and slavery, the people understand now more clearly than before all the benefits of rule by a hereditary monarchy, which has been anointed from Above, and again longs for those blessed times when, under the mighty scepter of their Orthodox Tsar, everyone lived freely and happily under his vine, like Israel in the days of Solomon.(32)

 

In their spiritual insight; and especially in their unshakable loyalty to Orthodoxy, which has been the cornerstone of our state from time immemorial; and in their strong faith and hope in God’s help, which the Church unfailingly supports in them, lies the main guarantee of their salvation. One cannot fail to recognize the significance of the fact that the Lord deigned to call you to this vital service to the nation at no other time than in the year of St. Vladimir, when, inspired by the 950th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, the great image of your Heavenly Patron and Enlightener of Rus, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir, and with him, the triumph of ancient Holy Rus, comes into view, as if emerging from the baptismal font. To connect with strong bonds the present and future with our glorious and sacred past, made bright by the rays of Holy Rus, is the high calling to which you have been called by Divine Providence.

 

Nothing can prevent a restored Russia from adopting in its revival the best and most practical of the achievements of modern culture, in order to be, in this respect, at the same level as other neighbouring nations. But in every aspect, Russia must also be imprinted with the spirit of the Orthodox faith, piety, and purity, in ways consistent with our history. There could be nothing more dangerous than if, under the guise of foreign customs and institutions legitimated by time, Russia assimilates something from the sad legacy left behind by debauched Bolshevism: everything touched by its corrupting, godless hand threatens to infect us again with its intrinsic leprosy.

 

The crown-bearing rulers of Russia from the House of Romanoff, beginning with their Ancestor (33) and down to the late Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, tried tirelessly to follow the path set out by St. Vladimir, and to lead the entire Russian people along them. We paid for our deviation from this path with our current humiliations and exile. But those who have come out of Sodom and Gomorrah should never look back, as did Lot’s wife (34).

 

May the Lord grant you, as he did Solomon, a wise heart to judge everything in truth and to discern between what is good and what is evil.

 

Youth itself always serves as a symbol of purity, sacrifice and the idealistic exaltation of the spirit. It is not surprising that your bright, clear visage, shrouded in the glorious traditions of our Dynasty, is looked upon with love by the true sons of Russia, inspired by the brightest and most joyful hopes. May God help you to vindicate these best hopes of the suffering Russian people, and strengthen you spiritually and physically, crowning you with wisdom, courage, the gift of fierce love for Russia, and mercy for all—which have from time immemorial been the crowning adornment of the Imperial Romanoff Dynasty.

 

Having been linked to it for the last three hundred years of history, the Russian people cannot help but treasure their Imperial House, and, especially, He who heads it in the order of succession. The more acknowledged and accepted this order is, the more confident we can look into the future, for it ensures the speedy restoration and establishment of Imperial rule in Rus.

 

It has now come to Your Imperial Highness to be both the Bearer and the Guardian of this sacred Imperial birthright, so that the historical candle does not go out in the darkness of our troubled and sorrowful days. With it, the Russian people, living in the diaspora, hope, with God’s help, to return to the liberated Russian land, where this candle will again be placed on the All-Russian candlestand, to shine its light not only on everyone who is in the church, but also before the entire world.

 

In this holy hope, we beseech God’s blessing for you, as the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, and with deep respect,

 

/the following lines Metropolitan Anastasii wrote by hand:/

we remain Your Imperial Highness’s most faithful servant and fervent intercessor in prayer.

 

+Metropolitan Anastasii

 

1938

30 October

12 November

Belgrade

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 73

 

Notes:

(31) This version, based on the archival original, corrects a number of errors included in previous publications of this document.

(32) [This line is drawn from Micah 4:4.] Solomon, King of Israel from 965 BC to 928 BC. Son of King David the Psalmist and Bathsheba (the wife of the military leader Uriah the Hittite, who was killed on orders of King David). Co-ruler with his father from 967 BC to 965 BC. He is described in the biblical texts as a wise and able ruler. He built the Temple in Jerusalem, materials for which were gathered by King David. Solomon became famous for his wisdom. Even so, he fell into idolatry. He was the author of several books of the Old Testament, including Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Wisdom of Solomon.

(33) Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanoff.

(34) Lot’s wife looked back longingly at the city of Sodom as it was consumed by fire. For her regret at leaving this place of debauchery, she was turned into a pillar of salt and became a symbol of faithlessness and resistance to God’s will

 

* * *

 

1938-11-19 Response from the head of the Western European Russian Exarchate of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, Metropolitan Eulogius, to a letter from the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich. Typescript. Paris, No. 1220, November 6/19, 1938

 

Metropolitan

of the Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition

in Western Europe

Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarch

12, rue Daru – Paris 8

No. 1220 (35)

19 November (36) 1938

 

Your Imperial Highness,

 

Thank you very much for your kind letter to me of November 4.

 

Recognizing you as the legitimate Head of the Imperial House of Russia, I am ready to serve the national cause of uniting the Russian people around your name and help you in all your endeavours for the good of our long-suffering homeland.

 

To our great sorrow, it is very difficult at present to predict what kind of political system will be established in Russia after its liberation from the Bolsheviks. Its political horizons remain dark and uncertain. (37) We, the people of another age, of an age when there was a Russia so-called, can imagine no other Russia than one ruled by the monarch—the Anointed of God. But this fundamental question will be definitively resolved by the entire (38) Russian people, now shackled by the chains of slavery and unable to express its will.

 

In this uncertainty lies the greatest difficulty of your high and important position.

 

But whatever political system takes hold in the new Russia, may God bless you for your selfless service to Russia, our great and suffering homeland. Give her all the strength and energy of your youth, and for all your life—and may the Lord be your Help and Guide in all your ways.

 

With deepest reverence and complete devotion, I have the honour to be

 

Your Imperial Highness’s

 

/the remainder of the letter is written in the Metropolitan’s own hand:/

 

Most humble servant and intercessor before God,

+Metropolitan Eulogius

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 75-Eulogius

 

 

Notes:

(35) Inscribed on the top left corner of the page.

(36) The day and month (but not the year) are inscribed by hand.

(37) The lines starting with the words “To our deep sorrow” and ending with “dark and uncertain” were omitted when the letter of Metropolitan Eulogius was published in the newspaper “Vozrozhdenie” on November 12/25, 1938. The abridged version became the source for subsequent publications of the letter. The present publication restores those lines, based on the archival original.

(38) The word “entire” is underlined in the original.

 

* * *

 

1938-11-21 Letter from Archbishop Alexander of Brussels and Belgium to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, expressing his loyalty to him and describing the memorial services for the soul of the departed Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich, and prayers services (molebny) for the health of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, which took place in Brussels. Manuscript. Brussels, November 8/21, 1938.

 

To His Imperial Highness

The Most August Head of the Imperial House of Russia

Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich

 

Your Imperial Highness,

 

Moved by pious feelings of love, reverence, and loyal devotion to your late Most August Father, Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich, I began at the proper time, and have just concluded on 7/20 November, the forty-days of memorial services for the soul of the departed Emperor.

 

On November 7/20, after the memorial service at which the late Emperor was commemorated for the last time, a solemn prayer service for the precious health of Your Imperial Highness was served in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Brussels; and at this service, in accordance with the Church rubrics, we beseeched the Most High Lord to grant Your Imperial Highness “the pious awe of Moses, the courage of David and the wisdom of Solomon.”

 

Praying that God will pour out his blessings upon you, our pious Grand Duke, I remain Your Imperial Highness’s most devoted servant and intercessor in prayer,

 

+Alexander

Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium

 

8/21 November 1938 (39)

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 75-Alexander of Brussels

 

Note:

(39) The entire text of the letter is handwritten.

 

 

* * *

 

1938-12-03 Letter from the Metropolitan Seraphim of the Orthodox Russian Churches in Western Europe, to the Chairman of the Union of Russian Nobles, P. P. Mendeleev (40) expressing His Eminence’s loyalty to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, on behalf of the Western European Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and his inability to participate in the gathering on December 5/18, 1938, in Paris in honour of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, together with Metropolitan Eulogius. Typescript. Certified copy. November 20/December 3, 1938

 

/letterhead of the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Russian Churches in Western Europe/

 

/The Holy Cross is here embossed at the top of the page/

 

METROPOLITAN (41)

Of the Orthodox Russian Churches

in Western Europe

 

ARCHEVEQUE

DES EGLISES ORTHODOXES RUSSES

EN EUROPE OCCIDENTALE

 

Address:

ARCHBISHOP SERAPHIM

132, Avenue de Clamart

Issy-les-Moulineaux (Seine)

3 December 1938 (42)

 

COPY

 

Your Excellency, Dear Pavel Pavlovich,

 

Deeply sympathizing with and welcoming the unification of all Russian people under the leadership of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke WLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, in a clear and definite response to the Statement from the President of the Council of Russian Bishops and the Synod of Bishops, His Eminence Metropolitan ANASTASII, “beseeches God to bless Grand Duke WLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH as the Head of the Russian Imperial House, the Bearer and Guardian of the Sacred Imperial Succession, and fervently prays to the Lord that He will instill the spirit of harmony and unity in the hearts of the Russian people, so that they can all unite, without exception, around Grand Duke WLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH and direct all our nation’s strength to fight the dying Communism that has enslaved our country.”

 

Personally, on behalf of myself and the entire Western European Russian Orthodox Diocese, I pledged our loyalty to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke WLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH, while visiting Him in Saint-Briac on November 11/24, when, before the Miracle-Working Icon of the Kursk MOTHER OF GOD, His Highness and I prayed together that HE would receive God’s blessing as he begins his service to our long-suffering country.

 

As to your request that I serve together with Metropolitan Eulogius at the solemn gathering you are organizing on December 5/18 of this year, I am forced to respond with a definite no.

 

This concelebration in the context of honouring socially and politically the Russian people who have united around the name of Grand Duke WLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH would constitute an event of ecclesiastical significance, namely: the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church with Metropolitan Eulogius, who has left the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church and came under the omophorion of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

 

But such a unification cannot be realized by means of a social and political event, but only by entering the fold of the Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and, unfortunately, that has not yet happened, despite all the many overtures to Metropolitan Eulogius by the Council of Russian Bishops and the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and by individual Archpastors who are its members.

 

If you would like to discuss this matter with me, then please come on December 18 at 5:30 in the evening.

 

Praying that God will bless you, I remain your steadfast intercessor in prayer.

 

/Metropolitan Seraphim’s name is signed by Protopresbyter A. Shabasheva:/

 

Metropolitan Seraphim

 

I certify that this is a true copy: Protopresbyter Alexander Shabashev (43)

 

To His Excellency, P. P. Mendeleev

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 75-Seraphim (Luk’ianov)

 

Notes:

(41) The word “ARCHBISHOP” is printed as part of the letterhead, but next to it is typewritten “METROPOLITAN.”

(42) This is written on the top left corner of the paper.

(43) This line is written by hand.

 

 

* * *

 

1938-12-10 Letter from the Abbot of the Russian monasteries of the Holy Archangel Michael (44) and the Three Hierarchs (45) on Mount Athos, Archimandrite Eugenius (Zhukov) (46), and all the brethren, to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, expressing their loyalty to him and their prayers for God’s help in his new responsibilities. Manuscript. Athos, November 27/December 10, 1938

 

/Letterhead, depicting the Holy Mountain under the protective veil of the Mother of God/

 

27 November (Old Style) 1938

 

To His Imperial Highness, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, Head of the Imperial House of the Russian State

 

Your Imperial Highness, Most Gracious Sovereign and Grand Duke,

 

It has pleased God to send down on our beloved homeland the most bitter trials and terrible, never-before-seen misery, which have beset us already for more than 20 years. Many tears have been shed and even more Russian blood has been shed, and to this day our country suffers immensely, and there is no deliverer....

 

After the death of your much-loved father, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Your Imperial Highness was pleased to make the magnanimous decision, born of your selfless love for our suffering people, to accept, in accordance with the Fundamental Russian State Laws, the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, taking upon yourself all rights and responsibilities of that position.

 

In deep gratitude for your unconditional mercy and love, all Russian people must from now on set aside their party and personal grievances, all their disagreements and discords, which only play into the hands of Russia’s international enemies and torturers, and, in close cooperation with each other, making efforts both individually and collectively, offer their spiritual and material strength, experience, and knowledge, with faith in God’s help, to this common great work of bringing about the rebirth of Russia under Your Imperial Highness’s most gracious leadership.

 

We, the Russian monks of the Holy Mountain of Athos, the monasteries of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Three Hierarchs, in great joy, devotion and gratitude, humbly falling at your feet, express our sincere wish to Your Imperial Highness for every success in your selfless service to Russia, and we offer our fervent prayers to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, that they place you under Their Protection, send down to you Their Grace, and deliver our suffering homeland from complete destruction, through the prayers and intercession of the Enlightener of the Russian Land, the Holy Prince Vladimir, your Heavenly Patron.

 

We humble Russian monks, your intercessors in prayer, in sincere devotion to Your Imperial Highness,

 

Abbot of the Russian monasteries of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Three Hierarchs on Mount Athos

/the signature is in Abbot Eugenius’s own hand:/

 

Archimandrite Eugenius, and the brethren

 

Address:

/the address is imprinted on the page by an ink stamp/

 

Reverend Archimandrite Eugene

Superieur De La Cellule

St. Michel Ange

Mont-Athos

Grèce

 

ARID, f. 8, op. 1, d. 237

 

 

Notes:

(44) The reference here is to the Russian monastic community of the Holy Archangel Michael, an annex of the Stavronikita Monastery on Mount Athos. It was located near the road from St. Andrew’s Skete to the Iviron Monastery. It was revived by the Abbot, Hieromonk Eugenius (Zhukov). Holy relics at the monastery include a particle of the True and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, and numerous saints’ relics. The brethren numbered 18 monks.

(45) The reference here is to Russian monastic community of the Three Hierarchs (St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom), an annex of the Hilandar Monastery. It was located in Karyes, next to the monastery of the Holy Trinity. It was founded in the beginning of the twelfth century, and acquired in the mid-nineteenth century by a native of St. Petersburg, Fr. Sisoes, who built a new church and a three-story building. After Fr. Sisoes, Schemamonk Varlaam (a native of the Voronezh province, who arrived on Athos in 1864) became the Abbot. Holy relics at the monastery include the revered icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” and numerous saints’ relics. The brethren in 1913 numbered 30 monks and 3 clergy.

(46) Eugenius (Zhukov) (1887-1972). Archimandrite, Abbot of the monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael on Mount Athos. Father-Confessor, spiritual child of the Holy Venerable Silouan of Athos, and spiritual friend of Hieroschemamonk Theodosius and Archbishop Leontius of Chile. He was born in the village of Lestnitskoye, in Stavropol province, into a peasant family. He went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and on the way back he went to Athos and received the monastic tonsure at the monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael of the Stavronikita Monastery. He was ordained a Hieromonk and became the Assistant Abbot. In 1914 he returned in Russia for his mother’s funeral and was unable to return to Athos due to the outbreak of World War I. He took up residence at the Lebiazhsky Hermitage in the Kuban. During the Civil War, he miraculously escaped death: he was in the parish church when a detachment of Red Army soldiers arrived and shot all the monks of the hermitage. He was an active opponent of Renovationism. He was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite (1924), but out of humility refused to accept the rank of bishop. He rejected the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius of 1927. He was arrested many times and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted (probably because he was seen as a foreigner). He served as a priest in the village of Kavkazskaya in the Kuban, and maintained a correspondence with His Beatitude Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. In 1933 he was arrested again and exiled to the Kemerovo detainment camps. On the advice of a lawyer, and citing his (alleged) Greek citizenship, he was deported in 1936 (in exchange for a certain Greek communist). He returned to Athos, where he again took charge of the monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael. He died in 1972.

 

 

* * *

 

LITERATURE AND SOURCES

(Except for two of the titles listed below, these works have not been translated from Russian into English.)

 

 

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, My Life in Russia’s Service: Then and Now. London: Selwyn & Blount, 1939.

Kirill Vladimirovich. Moia zhizn’ na sluzhbe Rossii. Vospominaniia. http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/monograph/kirill-vladimirovich-imperator-moya-zhizn-na-sluzhbe-rossii-spb-liki-rossii-1996-334-s.html

 

Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, Rossiia v nashem serdtse. Vospominaniia.

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/monograph/vladimir-kirillovich-glava-rossijskogo-imperatorskogo-doma-e-i-v-gosudar-velikij-knyaz-leonida-georgievna-e-i-v-velikaya-knyaginya-rossiya-v-nashem-serdtse-spb-liki-rossii-1995-160-s.html

 

Velikii Kniaz’ Kirill Vladimirovich na Chernomorskom Flote

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/zakatov-a-n-chernomorskij-period-voenno-morskoj-sluzhby-velikogo-knyazya-kirilla-vladimirovicha-iyun-sentyabr-1900-g.html

 

Chudo sviatogo Ipatiia. Spasenie Velikogo Kniazia Kirilla Vladimorovicha 31 marta/13 aprelia 1904 g. vo vremia katastrofy bronenostsa Petropavlovsk

https://proza.ru/2011/02/26/472

 

Imperator Kirill I v fevral’skie dni 1917 g.

https://proza.ru/2011/02/25/703

 

Otrechenie ot prav na presto po Zakonam Rossiiskoi Imperii

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/3606

 

Otrechenie ot prestola i obespechenie dinasticheskoi preemstvennosti v rossiiskom prave

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/zakatov-a-n-otrechenie-ot-prestola-i-obespechenie-dinasticheskoj-preemstvennosti-v-rossijskom-prave.html

 

Revoliutsiia 1917 g. i Dom Romanovykh

https://proza.ru/2017/03/29/2086

 

Dom Romanovykh o Revoliutsii 1917 goda

http://proza.ru/2018/02/27/1699

 

Podniavshii Znamia. K 100-letiiu provozglasheniia Bliustitel’stva Vserossiiskogo Prestola (26 iiulia/8avgusta 1922 g.)

http://proza.ru/2022/07/15/1578

Transferring the Flag

http://proza.ru/2022/07/22/1529

 

Stanovlenie Doma Romanovykh v izgnanii

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/3977.html

 

Korpus Imperatorskikh Armii i Flota

http://proza.ru/2021/04/24/1692

 

Imperatorskii Voennyi Orden Sviatitelia Nikolaia Chudotvortsa

https://proza.ru/2018/12/18/1513

 

Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov’ Zagranitsei i Rossiiskii Imperatorskii Dom v izgnanii

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/nikon-levachjov-belavenets-ieromonakh-russkaya-pravoslavnaya-tserkov-zagranitsej-i-rossijskij-imperatorskij-dom-v-izgnanii-pravda-i-vymysly.html

 

Netlennaia slava. Perenesenie ostankov Imperatora Kirilla I i Imperatritsy Viktorii Feodorovny iz Koburga v Sankt-Peterburg (7 marta 1995 g.)

https://proza.ru/2011/02/25/829

 

Tsarstvennyi rovesnik Revoliutsii Gosudar’ Vladimir Kirillovich

https://proza.ru/2011/02/27/1220

 

Rossiiskii Imperatorskii Dom Romanovykh i Velikaia Otechestvennaia voina 1941-1945 gg.

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/rossijskij-imperatorskij-dom-romanovykh-i-velikaya-otechestvennaya-vojna-1941-1945-gg.html

 

Pomoshch’ Vladimira Kirillovicha sootechestvennikam-Uznikam natsizma

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/zakatov-a-n-pomoshch-velikogo-knyazya-vladimira-kirillovicha-sootechestvennikam-iz-sssr-zaklyuchennym-v-natsistskikh-lageryakh.html

 

Palomnichestvo Gosudaria Vladimira Kirillovicha i Gosudaryni Leonidy Georgievny na Paskhu v Ierusalim (1962)

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/palomnichestvo-gosudarya-vladimira-kirillovicha-i-gosudaryni-leonidy-georgievny-v-ierusalim-na-paskhu-1962-goda.html

 

Nachalo vozvrashcheniia Doma Romanovykh na Rodinu

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/allnews/news/2021/2021-11-11-30-letie-nachala-vozvrashcheniya-doma-romanovykh-v-otechestvo.html

 

Status Rossiiskogo Imperatorskogo Doma Romanovykh v Rossiiskoi Federatsii

http://imperialhouse.ru/rus/monograph/articles/4388.html

 

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