Nikolai Alexandrovich (son of Alexander II)

Nikolai Aleksandrovich was the second child (after his sister Alexandra) and his beloved eldest heir, born to the future Emperor Alexander II (at that time Tsarevich Alexander) and his young wife Maria Alexandrovna. He was born in Tsarskoye Selo on September 20 in a new style and was named after his grandfather - Emperor Nicholas I. According to the recollections of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna - the sister of Alexander II and the aunt of the newborn - their father, Emperor Nicholas I, was so excited and moved by birth the heir to the throne successor, named after him, who called on his three youngest sons - the Grand Dukes Konstantin, Nikolai and Mikhail - ordered them to kneel before the cradle of the future heir to the Russian See and take the oath of allegiance to him.

The boy grew up a universal favorite, distinguished by his mind, good looks and character. Parents and grandparents did not look for souls in him, his mother Maria Maria was especially passionately attached to him. Of the brothers and sisters, Nicholas was closest to his next brother (two years younger), Alexander, the future Emperor Alexander III. Count Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev noted: “The Empress loved him more dearly than others and was absolutely exclusively engaged in him and was proud of his upbringing. Their characters were similar. Nikolai Alexandrovich was much less like a sovereign than a mother. They differed from his father in many ways and often did not understand each other. . " In 1855, the grandfather of young Nicholas died - the 11th All-Russian Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich . His father, Emperor Alexander II , ascended the throne, and a twelve-year-old boy becomes Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich - Heir to the Russian Throne. Sheremetev: "He was generally polite, friendly and well-mannered, observant and careful in words and actions." In the early 1860s, Tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, accompanied by his tutor Count S. G. Stroganov, made study tours around the country ^[1] . These trips were described, in particular, by K. P. Pobedonostsev and I. K. Babst in the book “Letters on the journey of the Tsar’s heir to the Tsarevich across Russia from St. Petersburg to Crimea” ^[2] . In the retinue of the heir was Colonel O. B. Richter, who was with him ^[3] . The Tsarevich went through the encyclopedia of law with Professor Andreevsky .

Nikolai Alexandrovich was passionately and sincerely loved by his second cousin, Princess of Oldenburg , who was friendly with him. Empress Maria Alexandrovna wanted to see her as the heir to her. Negotiations on marriage took a long time, but in the end, the girl’s mother refused categorically. The prince gave Catherine a ring with turquoise as a souvenir.

The heir to the throne Nikolai Alexandrovich visited Taganrog on August 14, 1863. He visited the Assumption Cathedral, the Palace of Alexander I, the Jerusalem Greek monastery, examined the monument to Alexander I and took part in a dinner given in his honor. The local architect Trusov, in 1862, specially for the arrival of the heir to the throne in Taganrog, drafted a wooden carved gazebo, which was carried out by a member of the garden committee Argiropulo. On August 14, 1863, a gala dinner was held in the gazebo, attended by twenty-year-old heir Nikolai Alexandrovich.

Since 1863, B. N. Chicherin taught the state law to the heir. Nikolai Alexandrovich passed the examinations in state law brilliantly and, according to Chicherin's reviews, promised to become the most educated and liberal monarch not only in Russian history, but throughout the world ^[4] .

In 1864 he went abroad. During his stay abroad on September 20, 1864 - on his birthday, when he was 21 years old - Nikolai Alexandrovich was engaged to the daughter of Christian IX , King of Denmark , Princess Dagmar (1847-1928), who later became the wife of his brother, Emperor Alexander III . However, while traveling in Italy, the Cesarevich unexpectedly fell ill for everyone. Since October 20, 1864 he was treated in Nice . In the spring of 1865, his condition began to deteriorate. On April 10, 1865, Alexander II arrived in Nice. On the night of April 12, after a four-hour agony, the Grand Duke died of tuberculous meningitis .

The body of the suddenly deceased heir to the throne from Nice to Petersburg was accompanied by the famous Russian poet, Governor-General of the South-Western Territory, Adjutant General Annenkov . The body was sent to Russia on the frigate " Alexander Nevsky ."

The unexpected demise of the young heir to the throne shocked the Russian Empire and the Romanov family. According to the testimony of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, left in her biographical memoirs, “The Dream of Youth ”, after the death of the prince, his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, only externally remained collected, strictly fulfilling her empress duty and interested in surrounding events, but the relatives knew that with the death of the elder son "took her soul out of her."

Publicists and poets dedicated the death of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich to a poem ^[5] . In 1865, the famous poet Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky , who was present at the death of the Grand Duke, wrote a poem dedicated to his memory, “In the Evening by the Sea,” and published a brochure “Villa Bermon” describing the last days of the heir. In the pamphlet, the poet proposed the construction of a temple in Nice dedicated to the memory of the deceased. Already in 1868, a chapel dedicated to the Grand Duke was erected in Nice, and in 1903-1912. the architect M.T. Preobrazhensky built the five-domed Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker , which was repeatedly recognized as the most beautiful Orthodox church outside of Russia.

Emperor Alexander III named his eldest son and heir, born three years after the death of Cesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, in honor of his older brother, whom he loved "more than anything" ^[6] . After 26 years, this boy will become Nicholas II .

Greek Plebiscite Results

In 1862 , after the overthrow in Greece as a result of the uprising of the reigning king Otto I (of the Wittelsbach family), the Greeks held a plebiscite at the end of the year for the choice of a new monarch. There were no ballots with candidates, so any citizen of Greece could offer his candidacy or type of government in the country. The results were released in February 1863 .

Among those whom the Greeks entered, was Nikolai Alexandrovich; he finished fifth and scored less than 1 percent of the vote. True, it should be recognized that representatives of the Russian, British and French reigning houses could not occupy the Greek throne according to the London Conference of 1832 ^[7] .

Ranks and titles

• Warrant Officer and Cornet (Vys. Pr. 22.08.1850);
• Lieutenant (Vys. Pr. 1851);
• Ataman of all Cossack troops (02/19/1855);
• Staff Captain (Vys. Pr. 1855);
• Rotmistr "for well-being" (Vys. Pr. 17.04.1858);
• Adjutant Wing (Vys. Pr. 08.09.1859);
• Major General of the Suite (Vys. Pr. 08.09.1862).

Rewards

• Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (09/10/1843);
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (09/10/1843);
• Order of the White Eagle (09/10/1843);
• Order of St. Anne 1st Art. (09/10/1843).

Foreign:

• Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece (1857);
• French Legion of Honor , Grand Cross (09/08/1859);
• Danish Order of the Elephant (09/20/1859);
• Swedish Order of the Seraphim (09/20/1859);
• Austrian Order of St. Stephen , the Great Cross (1860).

Before the revolution, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich small monuments were erected in the cities:

• Pavlovsk. In 1866, on the pedestal of the amphitheater in Pavlovsky Park, an oval portrait of Tsesarevich and a marble board with an inscription were strengthened. After 1917 they were removed and are currently stored in the Pavlovsk Palace Museum. The stone amphitheater is preserved.
• St. Petersburg. Bronze bust on a high curly pedestal next to the St. Nicholas Church on Black River. Opened May 9, 1874, sculptor A.M. Opekushin. Both the monument and the church were destroyed after 1917.
• Uralsk. Marble bust on a pedestal in the rotunda gazebo. The monument was destroyed after 1917.
• Romanovskaya village . A cast-iron monument on Donskaya street. The monument was destroyed after 1917.
• Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin city). Bronze bust on a granite pedestal at the Great Pond in Catherine Park. Opened, presumably, in the late 1860s, the sculptor A. M. Opekushin. The bust was removed after 1917 and is currently in the storerooms of the Catherine Palace Museum. In the summer of 2010, an exact copy of this bust was installed on the pedestal.
• Monument to the Tsarevich in Nice . Opened December 19, 2012 in the garden of St. Nicholas Cathedral ^[8]
• Boulevard Tzaréwitch (Tsarevich Boulevard) in Nice is named in memory of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich.

1. ↑ Melentyev F. I. “The prince was sailing along the Volga with the boyars ...” The letter of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich led. Prince Alexey Alexandrovich July 8, 1863 // Slavic Almanac 2015.M., 2015. Issue. 1-2. - S. 428-435 .
2. ↑ Melentiev F.I. “Letters on a journey” across Russia to Tsarevich Nikolai Aleksandrovich: writing circumstances and prospects for studying // Historical documents and current problems of archeography, source studies, Russian and world history of modern and recent times: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists “Clio-2016” / [Ch. ed. A.K. Sorokin, resp. ed. S.A. Kotov]. - M, 2016 .-- S. 380-383 .
3. ↑ Melentiev F.I.O.B. Richter - chronicler of travels across Russia to Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich // Romanovs on the road. Travels and trips of members of the royal family in Russia and abroad: Sat. Articles / Resp. ed. M.V. Leskinen, O.V. Khavanova. - M .; SPb., 2016 .-- S. 192-203 .
4. ↑ Chicherin B.N. General state law. Lectures to the heir. Ed. and from the foreword: V. Tomsinov M .: Mirror, 2006 .-- 536 p.
5. ↑ Melentiev F.I. "And we honor the people's memory, the heir will not die beloved! ..": Poetic responses of 1865 to the death of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich // Christianity and Russian literature: Collection of the eighth / Ed. ed. V.A. Kotelnikov and O.L. Fetisenko. - SPb. , 2017 .-- S. 159—192 .
6. ↑ “The terrible day of my brother’s death ... will remain for me the best day of my life” Letter from the future emperor to Prince Meshchersky / Publ. F. Melentyev // Motherland. - 2015. - No. 2 . - S. 12 .
7. ↑ In 1862, a Danish prince with only 0.00002% of the vote was elected King Archived on February 14, 2015. (eng.)
8. ↑ Nice monument to Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich unveiled

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• Nikolai Alexandrovich (son of Alexander II) at the Rodovod . Tree of ancestors and descendants
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• Zimin I.V. Disease and death of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich // Problems of History. - 2001. - No. 9. - P. 140—147.
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• Memoirs of Count S.D.Sheremetev

Chernukha V. G. Lost Alternative: Heir to the Throne, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich (1843–1865

• Biography on the site "Russian Imperial Army"