Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia
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| Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 24, 1877 |
| Died | November 9, 1943, aged 65 |
| Spouse | Zinaida Rashevskaya |
| Parents | Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (father) Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (mother) |
Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, November 24, 1877 - November 9, 1943, was a Russian grand duke and the son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. [1] He was a notorious playboy.[2] When he proposed marriage to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, his first cousin once removed, her mother Tsarina Alexandra refused to consider the idea because of Boris's reputation:
| “ | What an awful set his wife would be dragged into ... intrigues without end, fast manners and conversations ... a half-worn, blasé ... man of 38 to a pure fresh girl 18 years his junior and live in a house in which many a woman has 'shared' his life! An inexperienced girl would suffer terribly to have her husband 4-5th hand -- or more![3] | ” |
Alexandra's refusal provoked further enmity in Boris's mother, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. Maria Pavlovna and her family, the "Vladimirovichi," plotted to depose Tsar Nicholas II and gain power themselves.[4] They remained in Russia longer than the other Romanovs, hoping that the White movement would prevail and Boris's brother Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia would be installed as Tsar. Boris finally left Russia with his mistress, Zinaida Rashevskaya, in 1918. [5] He married Rashevskaya in Paris in 1919. Zinaida, the widow of an army officer, was looked down upon by Boris's relatives, but he was happy with her.[6] His brother Kirill wanted to restore the Russian monarchy, but Boris was largely uninterested in politics and wanted only to have a good time. When asked by a reporter whether Henry Ford was a financial supporter of the effort to restore the monarchy in Russia, Boris asked, "Who is Henry Ford?" [7]
When he died in 1943, in Paris, at age sixty-five, his obituary noted that he was "a man of generous tendencies, who tipped shopgirls with twenty dollar bills.[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Paul Theroff (2007). "Russia". An Online Gotha. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
- ^ Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967, p. 389
- ^ Massie, p. 389
- ^ Massie, p. 389.
- ^ John Curtis Perry and Constantine Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs, Perseus Books Group, 1999, pp. 228-232
- ^ Perry and Pleshakov, p. 265
- ^ Perry and Pleshakov, pp. 265-266
- ^ Perry and Pleshakov, p. 315
[edit] References
- Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967, Dell Publishing Co., ISBN 0440163587
- John Curtis Perry and Constantine Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs, Basic Books, 1999, ISBN 0-46502462-9
- Paul Theroff, An Online Gotha
