Prince Gavriil Konstantinovich of Russia
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Prince Gavriil Konstantinovich Romanov (July 15, 1887-February 28, 1955) was the second son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna née HH Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. of Russia. Prince Gavriil was the great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I. His name is the Russian form of Gabriel.
After the overthrow of the Russian monarchy in the February Revolution of 1917, Prince Gavriil married his mistress, a former ballerina by the name of Antonina Nesterovskaya (such a morganatic marriage would have been legally problematic under the monarchy). Gavriil was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution, but his wife was able to use her connections to obtain his release. Nesterovskaya was a friend of Maxim Gorky, who lobbied Lenin on the couple's behalf. After Gavriil's release, the pair stayed briefly in Petrograd before fleeing to Paris.
Many of Gavriil's family were not so fortunate. Three of his brothers were murdered by the Bolsheviks at Alapaevsk. Two of his uncles were also killed by the Reds, in addition to many of his more distant relations.
While in exile, Gavriil supported the claims of the chief Romanov pretender, the Grand Duke Kirill. Kirill repaid the favor by ennobling Nesterovskaya as "Princess Romanovskaya-Strelninskaya." Gavriil himself was awarded the style of "Grand Duke" by Kirill's son, Vladimir. He was the only Romanov Prince to be elevated to this style. The legality of these actions is open to question, since both Kirill and Vladimir's claims were contested.
Gavriil's wife died in 1950. In 1951, Gavriil married Princess Irina Ivanovna Kurakina, an exiled Russian noblewoman. Gavriil himself died in Paris in 1955. He had no children by either marriage.
