Georgy Alexandrovich

As a child, George was healthier and stronger than his older brother Nikolai. He grew up a tall, beautiful, cheerful child. Despite the fact that George was the favorite of his mother, he, like other brothers, was brought up in Spartan conditions. The children slept in army beds, got up at 6 o’clock and took a cold bath. For breakfast, they were usually served porridge and brown bread; for lunch mutton cutlets and roast beef with peas and baked potatoes. Children had at their disposal a living room, a dining room, a playroom and a bedroom, all furnished with the simplest furniture. Only the icon adorned with precious stones and pearls was rich. The family lived mainly in the Gatchina Palace .

Family of Emperor Alexander III ( 1892 ). From right to left: George, Ksenia, Olga, Alexander III, Nikolai, Maria Fedorovna, Mikhail

The brothers had the same teachers, although they studied in different rooms. Among their mentors were the most respected professors. ^[3] Both brothers were fluent in English, fluent in French and German, and fluent in Danish. The boys were fond of shooting and fishing. George was predicted to have a career in the Navy until he contracted tuberculosis .

By the decision of his parents in 1890, George and his older brother went on a trip abroad, the final point of which was to become Japan . Maria Fedorovna hoped that the sun and sea air would benefit her son. However, about halfway in Bombay , George had an attack and was forced to return. Nikolai continued the journey without a brother.

In 1894, Alexander III unexpectedly died. Nicholas became emperor. Since he did not yet have children, George was declared heir to the prince .

However, George’s state of health remained poor. He lived in the Caucasus , in Abastumani . Doctors even forbade him to go to St. Petersburg for his father’s funeral (although he was present at the death of his father in Livadia). George's only joy was his mother's visits. In 1895, they traveled together to relatives in Denmark . There he had another attack. George was bedridden for a long time, until he finally felt better and returned to Abastumani.

Russian:

• Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (04/27/1871)
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (04/27/1871)
• Order of the White Eagle (04/27/1871)
• Order of St. Anne 1st Art. (04/27/1871)

foreign:

• Austrian Order of St. Stephen the Great Cross (1885)
• Danish Order of the Elephant (1889)
• Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece (1896)
• Italian Order of the Annunciation (1890)
• French Legion of Honor (1891)
• Greek Order of the Savior , 5th Art.

On June 28, 1899, at the age of 28, he suddenly died of tuberculosis on the road from the Zekarsky Pass back to Abas Tuman “on a bicycle with a gasoline engine ” in front of a Molokan Anna Dasoeva, according to an official notice in the government newspaper ^[4] . During the ride, the Grand Duke had bleeding from his throat, he got off the bicycle and lay down on the ground. They tried to help him through artificial respiration, but this did not help. The section revealed: an extreme degree of exhaustion, a chronic tuberculosis process in the period of cavernous decay, pulmonary heart (right ventricular hypertrophy), interstitial nephritis.

The news of the death of George was a heavy blow for the entire imperial family, and especially for Maria Fedorovna.

His burial was carried out according to the Highest Approved Ceremonial ^[5] : the remains were delivered to Borjomi by chariot, then by train to Batum , then on the squadron battleship George Pobedonostets to Novorossiysk , from where by train - to St. Petersburg, where the coffin with his arrived by body on July 12 and was placed in the Peter and Paul Cathedral ^[6] . The funeral service on July 14 was led by Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg (Vadkovsky) , the emperor and empress were present ^[7] ; buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral near the sarcophagus of his father.

In 1899, a chapel was erected near the resort village of Abastumani at the site of the death of the prince. ^[eight]

Nikolai always remembered George and especially his wonderful sense of humor. He wrote down his brother's best jokes on scraps of paper and collected them in a "box of curiosities." And years later, the king more than once used it to amuse loved ones. In 1910, the younger brother of George Mikhail , in memory of his brother, gave his newborn son the name George. Georgy Mikhailovich also did not live long and died in a car accident in 1931.

In honor of the prince, the Georgsfeld settlement in Transcaucasia founded in 1885 by German colonists was named (at present - the village of Cinarli in Azerbaijan )

In 1994, the body of Tsarevich George was exhumed to analyze DNA and compare it with the DNA of the remains of the royal family (see Romanov # Genetic Studies ). This solved the long-standing problem of finding the DNA of the closest relatives of the last emperor (foreign descendants refused to provide material). “From a medical, scientific, forensic, finally, point of view, the result was excellent. Full coincidence of the genotype of Georgy Aleksandrovich with the genotype of the so-called “skeleton No. 4" (under this number the remains of Nicholas II were listed), including even that doubled element in DNA ” ^[9] .

He is one of the main characters in the series of books "The Caucasian Prince" by Andrei Velichko . Also featured in the novel by V. S. Pikul “Unclean Force” and in the teenage novel by T. de Fombel “Wango”.

• Georgy Alexandrovich, son of Alexander III // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Abastumani and the Russian imperial family. Part 4
• Profile of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich on the official website of the RAS