Derevenko, Andrei Yeremeyevich

Service career

Born in an Orthodox peasant family. In 1899 he was called up for active service in the Baltic Fleet . January 5, 1900 was credited to the Guards crew. In September 1901 he became a gymnast instructor. January 1, 1902 - a sailor of the 1st article. On October 12, 1905 he was awarded a silver watch with the state emblem and in November of that year he was promoted to quartermaster. In December 1905, A. E. Derevenko entered the long-term service. On May 13, 1906 he was appointed uncle of "His Imperial Highness Heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich." In April 1911 he was promoted to boatswain, in May 1916 - to conductors ^[1] .

In 1914 he became a personal honorary citizen. Cavalier of many Russian and foreign orders and medals. In 1909 he was awarded the silver medal of the United Kingdom and the gold medal of the French Republic , in 1910 - the silver medal and the Hessian silver cross of the Order of Philip the Magnanimous, in 1912 - the gold medal for wearing on the Vladimir ribbon ^[1] .

Uncle Tsarevich Alexei

Job post

Severe incurable disease of Tsarevich Alexei - hemophilia - required the constant presence in his environment of persons responsible for his physical safety and health. Despite the illness, the child grew very mobile, female staff could not keep up with the heir in all cases, and the slightest trauma could result in the most tragic consequences ^[1] .

Each year, the royal family sailed on Finnish skerries , during which sailors who personally looked after the children when they were on deck were personally assigned to young royal children. Children moved a lot and even skated on the deck on the deck. On May 14, 1906, A.E. Derevenko was introduced to Nicholas II in Peterhof, and then he was included in the lists of the court servants with the main task of taking care of the heir while the royal family was at sea. For the first time, he performed this duty while sailing the imperial yacht “Standard” in Finnish skerries in August 1906. Since that time, along with the “nannies”, the sailor “uncle” A. E. Derevenko appeared in the list of persons who were surrounded by “August children” ^[1] .

Apparently, he was satisfied with his service and it was decided to give the official “uncle” a new position. On November 12, 1906, the head of the Chancellery of the Empress, Count Y. N. Rostovtsov, in a note to the chamber-frau of the Empress M.F. Geringer, said that “Her Majesty Empress Alexandrovna Fedorovna would like to be composed from May 13, 1906 at the rooms of His Imperial The Highnesses of Heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, the quartermaster of the Guards Crew Andrei Derevenko, was called the “uncle” under His Imperial Highness . ” Thus, the name “uncle” acquired an official character ^[1] .

Gronscher incident

In the summer of 1907, the imperial yacht "Standard" with the royal family on board made a traditional walk in the Finnish skerries. In the area of ​​the Gronscher island, the Stadart jumped onto an underwater rock not shown on the maps, and firmly sat on it in the middle of the hull. The blow was so strong that the steam boilers flew off their seats, and the yacht could not be removed from the cliff only 10 days later, after which the Standart was towed to the dock for major repairs ^[1] .

During this incident A.E. Derevenko proved himself to be the best. In front of the empress, he did everything to secure a two-year-old heir. A. A. Vyrubova so testified about the incident ^[1] :

We felt a terrible push. It seemed that the ship jumped into the air and fell again into the water. Then it stopped, and his left side began to heel. Everything happened instantly. Dishes and vases with flowers were on the floor. The empress cried out in horror, the frightened children trembled and cried; sovereign kept calm. He explained that we came across a reef. The sounds of the alarm were heard, and the whole team of two hundred people ran out onto the deck. A sailor of enormous growth, the Village, took up the heir. He was hired to protect the heir from possible bruises. The village grabbed the boy and ran with him to the bow of the yacht. He realized that the boilers are located just under the dining room and this part of the vessel could be the first to suffer.

After the incident, the situation of A.E. Derevenko under the royal family was finally strengthened, and this incident itself was overgrown with many legends. The historian I.V. Zimin cited the most characteristic transformations in his opinion that took place in the description of this story years later: the underwater rock became a mine , and the brave sailor Derevenko threw himself from the deck of a sinking ship with a 2-year-old prince in the water ^[1] .

Irreplaceable servant

Room A. E. Derevenko in all the imperial residences was located next to the bedroom of the prince. Alexey Nikolaevich called him "Dina". The village was appreciated primarily because he knew how to get along with the child. A. A. Vyrubova wrote in her memoirs: “On ... a sailor drove Alexei around the park in Tsarskoye Selo. Often the children of the Village also came to play with the Heir, and all the clothes of Alexei usually passed to them. When the Heir was sick and cried at night, the Village sat by his crib. The poor child never had an appetite, but Derevenko knew how to persuade him. When the Heir was six or seven years old, his education was entrusted to the teacher, and Derevenko remained with him as a servant ... he did not indulge the “ heir” so much , although he was very devoted and had great patience ” ^[1] .

Far from everyone liked the behavior of A. E. Derevenko. So, M. K. Lemke wrote about him in his memoirs, “250 Days in the Tsar’s Headquarters”: “A sailor with a rollicking appearance, with a sassy mug ... he is a person; everyone is very attentive with him, fawning, treating with cigarettes ... apparently, the life-surgeon prof. S.P. Fedorov enjoys a special location in the Village. He fussed for a very long time: “Where is the professor?” He shouted when he put the palace in the car when she left the staff cinema ” ^[1] . P. Gilliard recalled that AE Derevenko forced people from the lower classes who came to Alexei Nikolaevich (deputation of peasants and the like) to kneel before him. The Cesarevich blushed thickly and did not know how to behave. P. Gilliard had to talk with his uncle, explaining the inadmissibility of such excessive servility, after which this ceased ^[2] .

Having been introduced into the immediate circle of the heir to the Russian throne, he apparently understood the significance of his position at one of the dramatic moments in the life of the imperial family - during the crisis in Spal, when the heir almost died from internal hemorrhage due to a hemophilia attack - he even tried to lead a diary. Regular recordings were conducted from September 1 to October 28, 1912. Their content was unsophisticated, so on September 6, 1912 he wrote: “In the morning they were sitting at home, their leg hurt. There was a compress, they played cards ” ^[1] .

As the tsesarevich was growing up, the uncle could no longer cope with the expanding circle of duties, and in December 1913 another sailor from the Standard, K. G. Nagorny , joined him as assistants ^[1] .

Material assistance from the royal family

Uncle Tsesarevich received a decent salary. As of January 1914, it consisted of: of the sums allocated to the Crown Prince’s heir - 360 rubles, the salary of the Guards crew - 444 rubles, additional issues of the Guards Crew - 579 rubles, which amounted to 1383 rubles. in year. In addition, there were various indirect payments ^[1] .

The imperial family was part of the family affairs of A.E. Derevenko. For example, in November 1910, Alexandra Fedorovna found out that his sister was ill at home and ordered him to leave on vacation to visit her, and he and his wife were given money for the trip. In March 1912, the son of A.E. Derevenko was operated on at the expense of the royal family in the hospital of the Holy Cross Exaltation Community, “for which 18 rubles were transferred there. Chancellery of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna . " A. E. Derevenko spent 350 rubles a year on teaching children, for example, he taught them French and a visiting teacher paid 20 rubles a month. In December 1915, he appealed to the Empress with a request for the appointment of an annual allowance for the education of children. The requested money was immediately allocated to him ^[1] .

But there were monetary penalties. For example, in April 1912, the Empress’s Chancellery received a letter signed by the Lieutenant General, the head of the household of the Hoffmarshal unit, in which “for a tablespoon that was not returned to the Livadia service pantry in the autumn of 1911, it cost 12 kopecks. and two tablespoons of simple forks of 10 kopecks. apiece ”, the sailor Derevenko was offered to return 32 kopecks ^[1] .

After the February Revolution

After the February Revolution, the attitude of a number of persons from the immediate circle of the imperial family towards the latter underwent significant changes. The behavior of A.E. Derevenko caused complaints from people who remained loyal to the family of the renounced emperor ^[1] .

In the early days of the riots, he left the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo with the sailors of the Guards crew ^[1] . Investigator N. A. Sokolov in his work “The Killing of the Tsar’s Family” wrote: “the old uncle of the Heir, the boatswain Derevenko, the one whose children spent the first years of the Heir’s life, who carried Him in his arms during his illness, manifested himself in the very first days of the coup anger towards Him, turned out to be a Bolshevik and a thief and left the Tsar’s Family ... " A. Taneyeva on March 19, 1917 noted in her diary: " When they took me past the nursery Alexei Nikolaevich, I saw the sailor Derevenko sitting on a chair lounging, and ordered the Heir to give him something And then another. Alexei Nikolaevich ran with sad and surprised eyes, fulfilling his orders. ” ^[3]

According to the memoirs of E.S. Botkin, on the day of arrival at the Alexander Palace, where the royal family was kept under house arrest, the commandant P.A. Korovichenko , appointed by the Provisional Government , A.E. Derevenko ran after him along the corridor with such low bows, that Alexei Nikolayevich laughed until you drop and said to P. Gilliard : “Look at the fat man, at the fat man!” ^[3]

Nevertheless, on July 1, 1917, “with the permission of the former Emperor,” A. E. Derevenko was appointed valet of Alexei Nikolaevich. But he was not included in the list of persons accompanying the royal family referred to by the Provisional Government to Tobolsk . This was due to exposed postscript of the former uncle. The commissar of the Provisional Government BC Pankratov wrote: “the uncle, sailor Derevenko, was a semi-literate but cunning crest who was highly trusted by Alexandra Fedorovna under the heir Alexei. Before leaving, he submitted an invoice (to Colonel Kobylinsky ) for expenses. It turned out that the son of Nicholas II in July 1917 wore a boot more than 700 rubles. Colonel Kobylinsky was indignant and told the sailor Derevenko that they would not let him in Tobolsk . " Instead, the sailor of the Guards crew K. G. Nagorny went to Tobolsk ^[1] .

After the imperial family left for exile, A.E. Derevenko and his family also left the capital and went on vacation to the Olonets province . At the same time, he continued to maintain regular contact with both the ranks of the former Chancellery of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and with Tobolsk. Several of his letters survived, sent to Petrograd to the clerk of the Chancellery of the Empress Nikitin and the camera-frau of the Empress Geringer. They cover the period from September 1917 to March 1918 and are mainly devoted to descriptions of various material difficulties and a request for cash payments. But there are references to Tobolsk in them. In a letter to Goeringer dated September 21, 1917, Derevenko wrote: “I received a letter from Tobolsk, everyone is healthy, some wanted to go, but they were told that there was no free space. I don’t know when I will get to Tobolsk? On duty, Maria Fedorovna! ” In a letter dated November 14, 1917, he wrote: “ Received a letter from Nagorny on November 10. All are healthy. He writes that until spring there will be no change for anyone ... It’s hard for me now to live. It’s a pity that I didn’t leave for Siberia! ” In letters to Nikitin written between January and March 1918, he wrote that “I receive everything from Tobolsk, thank God, safely, I don’t know when I will get there? I am waiting for an order ” ^[1] .

His further fate is not known for certain. According to some reports, he died of typhus in Petrograd in 1921 ^[1] .

A.E. Derevenko had three sons: Alexei - 1904, Sergey - 1908 and Alexander - born in 1912. All of them were godchildren of the Empress and the Crown Prince, which meant that children were paid for education at the expense of the royal family and that in the future a favorable career start would be ensured. The two eldest sons of the uncle, together with the son of Dr. V.N. Derevenko, Kolya, were tsesarevich’s comrades in children's games ^[1] .

A. E. Derevenko was one of the colorful figures in the royal environment. Memoirists invariably mentioned him. VV Shulgin , who knew well the life of the peasants of the Volyn province, where he owned the estate, in his book “Days” described A. E. Derevenko’s meeting with the deputation of the Volyn peasants who arrived at an audience with Nicholas II ^[1] :

Sailor Derevenko ... who heard that the Volyn peasants were introducing themselves, wanted to see their own ... And he too - “left” ... Handsome, just like the first lover from the Little Russian troupe (raven’s hair, and his face was white, as if he used creme Simon) , he, slipping on the parquet, went out, stretching out his hands - “graciously”: Hello, fellow countrymen! Well, how are you there? ... It was very funny ...

- Shulgin V.V. “Days”

He was one of the characters in the novel "Unclean Force" by the writer BC Pikul . In it, the writer gave the “uncle” such a characteristic, which, according to the historian I. V. Zimin, is quite accurate ^[1] : “Having got on free grub, Derevenko, the son of a Ukrainian farmer, immediately showed what he was capable of. In one week, he ate himself so that the uniform cracked, and even the breasts appeared on the sailor, as if on a breadwinner . ” The incident at Gronscher Island was described in the novel as follows: “At that moment, someone tears his son out of her hands and hides with him ... in the abyss! Not soon on the surface of the sea, already far from the boat, the baleen muzzle of a sailor appeared, who, holding the boy above the water, swam back to the "Standard", on which the hole had already been closed up . "

• Zimin I.V. Nannies and teachers // Children's World of Imperial Residences. Life of monarchs and their environment . - 1st. - M .: Centerpolygraph, 2010 .-- 576 p. - (Everyday life of the Russian imperial court). - ISBN 978-5-227-02410-7 .

• Manovtsev A.A. On the birthday of Tsesarevich: regal mischief (neopr.) . Online edition of Tatyana’s Day / Taday.ru (August 11, 2011). Date of treatment July 2, 2013. Archived July 5, 2013.
• Savchenko P. Light Boy // Holy Trinity Monastery "Light Boy". Collection of articles about Tsarevich-Martyr Alexei and Other Royal Martyrs: Collection. - Jordanville, NY: Printshop of St. Job of Pochaev, 1999-01-01. - ISBN 9780317292299 .
• Taneeva A.A. Heir Alexei Nikolaevich (neopr.) . Website of the Society of Remembrance of the Holy Royal Martyrs and Anna Taneyeva in Finland (December 21, 2011). Date of treatment July 2, 2013. Archived July 5, 2013.