Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (russian: Князь Фе́ликс Фе́ликсович Юсу́пов, Граф Сумаро́ков-Эльстон, Knyaz' Féliks Féliksovich Yusúpov, Graf Sumarókov-El'ston; – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat from the
Yusupov family who is best known for participating in the assassination of
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the ...
and for marrying
Princess Irina Alexandrovna, a niece of
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
.
Early life
He was born in the
Moika Palace
The Palace of the Yusupovs on the Moika (russian: Дворец Юсуповых на Мойке), known as the Moika Palace or Yusupov Palace, is a former residence of the Russian noble House of Yusupov in St. Petersburg, Russia, now a museum. ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the capital of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
.; born c. 1522 – 23 April 1586), also known as Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, who was a prominent
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were ...
of the
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
. His grandson
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantin ...
(Tsar 1613-1645) founded the
Romanov dynasty
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...
of Russian
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
s. Anastasia and Marfa were the paternal aunts of
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
Michael I of Russia
Michael I ( Russian: Михаил Фёдорович Романов, ''Mikhaíl Fyódorovich Románov'') () became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia.
He ...
of Russia and the paternal nieces of
Tsaritsa
Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mon ...
Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva of Russia. His father was Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, the son of Count
Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston.
Zinaida Yusupova
Princess Zinaida Nikolayevna Yusupova (russian: Зинаи́да Никола́евна Юсу́пова; 2 September 1861 – 24 November 1939) was an Imperial Russian noblewoman, the only heiress of Russia's largest private fortune of her ti ...
, his mother, was the last of the
Yusupov line, of
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different origin, and very wealthy. For the Yusupov name not to die out, his father (1856, Saint Petersburg – 1928, Rome, Italy) was granted the title and the surname of his wife, Princess Zinaida Yusupova, on 11 June 1885, a year after their marriage, but effective after the death of his father-in-law in 1891.
The Yusupov family, one of the richest families in Imperial Russia, had acquired their wealth generations earlier.; born c. 1522 – 23 April 1586), also known as Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, who was a prominent
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were ...
of the
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
. His grandson
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantin ...
(Tsar 1613-1645) founded the
Romanov dynasty
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...
of Russian
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
s. Anastasia and Marfa were the paternal aunts of
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
Michael I of Russia
Michael I ( Russian: Михаил Фёдорович Романов, ''Mikhaíl Fyódorovich Románov'') () became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia.
He ...
of Russia and the paternal nieces of
Tsaritsa
Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mon ...
Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva of Russia. It included four palaces in Saint Petersburg, three palaces in Moscow, 37 estates in different parts of Russia, on the Crimea (at
Koreiz,
Kökköz and
Balaklava
Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...
), coal and iron-ore mines, plants and factories,
flour mills
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
and oil fields on the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
. His father served between 1886 and 1904 as an adjutant to
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (''Сергей Александрович''; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of hi ...
was appointed
General-Governor of Moscow (with the support of
Grand Duke Nikolas Nikolaevich).
Felix led a flamboyant life. As a young man, he
cross-dressed
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
, wearing ball gowns and his mother's jewelry to public events. From 1909 to 1913, he studied Forestry and later English at
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
, where he was a member of the
Bullingdon Club
The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club is known to select it ...
,
[Prince Yusupoff Defended in Rasputin Case - Fellow-Collegian at Oxford Tells of Nobleman's Career There, and Says It Is Impossible to Associate Him with a Murder](_blank)
14 January 1917 The New York Times and established the Oxford Russian Club. Yusupov was living on 14
King Edward Street
King Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England.
To the east is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford University. To the west ...
, had a Russian cook, a French driver, an English valet, and a housekeeper, and spent much of his time partying. He owned three horses, a
macaw
Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild.
Biology
Of the many differ ...
, and a bulldog called Punch. He smoked
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitoring ...
,
danced tango and became friendly with Luigi Franchetti, a piano player, and Jacques de Beistegui, who both moved in. At some time, Yusupov became acquainted with
Albert Stopford
Albert Henry Stopford (16 May 1860 – 10 February 1939), known as Bertie Stopford, was a British antiques and art dealer specialising in Fabergé and Cartier (jeweler), Cartier and diplomatic courier; he was an intimate of the Romanovs. He res ...
and
Oswald Rayner
Oswald Rayner (29 November 1888, in Smethwick, Staffordshire, England – 6 March 1961, in Botley, Oxfordshire, England)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 was a British Secret Intellige ...
, a classmate. He rented an apartment in
Curzon Street
Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running a ...
,
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...
, and met several times with the ballerina
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...
, who lived in
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
.
Marriage
The engagement took place in the fall of 1913 in the Yusupov Palace in
Koreiz. Back in Saint Petersburg, he married
Princess Irina of Russia
Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Ирина Александровна; – 26 February 1970) was the only daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Rus ...
, the Tsar's only niece, in the
Anichkov Palace
The Anichkov Palace, a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, stands at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka River.
History 18th century
The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira (1682?-1745), ...
on 22 February 1914. The bride was wearing a
veil
A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...
that had belonged to
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
. The Yusupovs went on honeymoon to the Crimea, Italy, Egypt, Jerusalem, London, and
Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which beca ...
in Germany, where his parents were staying. No one suspected that this was the last grand wedding in the Russian Empire.
World War I
When World War I broke out in August 1914, both were briefly detained in Berlin. Irina asked her relative,
Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia
Duchess Cecilie Auguste Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (20 September 1886 – 6 May 1954) was the last German Crown Princess and Crown Princess of Prussia as the wife of Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, the son of German Emperor Wilhelm II.
Cecilie ...
, to intervene with
Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Kaiser refused to permit the Yusupov family to leave but offered them a choice of three country estates to live in for the duration of the war. Felix's father appealed to the Spanish ambassador in Germany and won permission for them to return to Russia via neutral Denmark to the
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
and from there to Saint Petersburg. The Yusupovs' only daughter, Princess
Irina Felixovna Yusupova
Countess Irina Felixovna Sheremeteva (née Princess Yusupova; russian: Графиня Ирина Феликсовна Шереметева née Княгиня Юсупова; 21 March 1915, Petrograd, Russian Empire – 30 August 1983), known af ...
, nicknamed Bébé, was born on 21 March 1915. Bébé was largely raised by her paternal grandparents until she was nine. She was very spoiled by them. Her unstable upbringing caused her to become "capricious," according to Felix. Felix and Irina, raised mainly by nannies themselves, were ill-suited to take on the day-to-day burdens of child-rearing. Bébé adored her father but had a more distant relationship with her mother.
After the death of his brother, Felix was the heir to an immense fortune. Consulting with family members about how best to administer the money and property, he decided to devote time and money to charitable works to help the poor. The losses at the
Eastern Front were enormous, and so Felix converted a wing/floor of the
Liteyny House
Liteyny (russian: Лите́йный) may refer to:
*Liteyny Avenue, Saint Petersburg, Russia
*Liteyny Bridge, Saint Petersburg, Russia
*Liteyny Municipal Okrug
Liteyny Municipal Okrug (russian: муниципа́льный о́круг Ли� ...
into a hospital for wounded soldiers.
Career
Felix was able to avoid entering military service himself by taking advantage of a law exempting only-sons from serving. Irina's first cousin,
Grand Duchess Olga, to whom she had been close when they were children, was disdainful of Felix: "Felix is a 'downright civilian,' dressed all in brown, walked to and fro about the room, searching in some bookcases with magazines and virtually doing nothing; an utterly unpleasant impression he makes – a man idling in such times," Olga wrote to Nicholas on 5 March 1915 after paying a visit to the Yusupovs.
"Yusupov's plan, as he described it in his book, was to seek closer acquaintance with the healer
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the ...
, and win his confidence. He asked Rasputin to cure a slight malady from which he suffered." These sessions stopped early January 1915 when according to
Maurice Paléologue
Maurice Paléologue (13 January 1859 – 23 November 1944) was a French diplomat, historian, and essayist. As the French ambassador to Russia (1914-1917), he supported the Russian mobilization against Germany that led to World War I and likewise p ...
the most absurd stories were spread about Alexandra Feodorovna, Rasputin was accused of selling out to Germany, and the tsarina was called nothing but "German" (in first place her birth nationality). The men did not meet for almost two years. In February 1916 Felix began studies at the elite
Page Corps
The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurispr ...
military academy and tried joining a regiment in August.
The Memoirs by M. Paléologue
The incessant retreat in Galicia and the rumours of heavy losses gave rise to a lot of swearing and gossip, according to A.
Spiridovich
Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovich (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Спиридо́вич; 1873–1952) was a police general in the Russian Imperial Guard. He became a historian after he had left Russia.
Life
Spiridovitch was bor ...
.
On June 19, 1915, after anti-German pogroms in Moscow, which he could not quickly stop, he was dismissed from the post of chief of the Moscow Military District, and on September 3, 1915 — from the post of commander-in-chief over Moscow.
Killing of Rasputin
Early November 1916 Felix Yusupov approached the lawyer
Vasily Maklakov
Vasily Alekseyevich Maklakov (Russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Маклако́в; , Moscow – July 15, 1957, Baden, Switzerland) was a Russian student activist, a trial lawyer and liberal parliamentary deputy, an orator, and one ...
, who agreed to advise Felix. It seems Yusopov then asked Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin, an army officer in the
Preobrazhensky Regiment
The Preobrazhensky Life-Guards Regiment (russian: Преображенский лейб-гвардии полк, ''Preobrazhensky leyb-gvardii polk'') was a regiment of the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Russian Army from 1683 to 1917.
The ...
who was recovering from injuries and a friend of his mother.
Grand Duke Dmitri received Yusupov's suggestion with alacrity, and his alliance was welcomed as indicating that the murder would not be a demonstration against the
omanovdynasty. On 20 November Felix visited
Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich ( rus, Влади́мир Митрофа́нович Пуришке́вич, p=pʊrʲɪˈʂkʲevʲɪt͡ɕ; , Kishinev – 1 February 1920, Novorossiysk, Russia) was a far-right politician in Imperial Russia, no ...
, who had delivered an angry anti-Rasputin speech in the Duma on the day before, and quickly agreed to participate in the murder.
On the night of 29/30 December (
NS) 1916, Felix, Dmitri, Vladimir Purishkevich, assistant Stanislas de Lazovert, and Sukhotin killed Rasputin in the Moika Palace under the pretense of a
housewarming party. A major reconstruction of the palace had almost been finished, with a small room in the basement carefully furnished. Perhaps some women were invited but Yusupov did not mention their names; Radzinsky suggested Dimitri's step-sister
Marianne Pistohlkors
Marianne von Pistohlkors (born Marianna Erikovna von Pistohlkors; June 30, 1890 – May 14, 1976) was a Russian-born aristocrat and later an actress. She was a suspected co-conspirator in the murder of Grigori Rasputin. As the first wife of Coun ...
and film star
Vera Karalli. Smith came up with
Princess Olga Paley
Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (2 December 1865 – 2 November 1929) was the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.
Early life and first marriage
She was born as Olga Karnovich in Saint Petersburg, the daught ...
and Anna von Drenteln. Somewhere in the building were a
major-domo
A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...
and a
valet
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...
, waiting for orders.
According to both Yusupov and Purishkevich, a
gramophone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
in the study played interminably the
Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolution. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state anthem of Connecticut. Its ...
when Rasputin came in. Yusupov mentions in his unreliable memoirs, he then offered Rasputin tea and
petit fours laced with a large amount of
potassium cyanide
Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications inc ...
. According to the diplomat,
Maurice Paléologue
Maurice Paléologue (13 January 1859 – 23 November 1944) was a French diplomat, historian, and essayist. As the French ambassador to Russia (1914-1917), he supported the Russian mobilization against Germany that led to World War I and likewise p ...
—who in later years rewrote his diary—they discussed spirituality and occultism; the antique dealer
Albert Stopford
Albert Henry Stopford (16 May 1860 – 10 February 1939), known as Bertie Stopford, was a British antiques and art dealer specialising in Fabergé and Cartier (jeweler), Cartier and diplomatic courier; he was an intimate of the Romanovs. He res ...
wrote that politics was the issue. After an hour or so, Rasputin was fairly drunk. Still waiting for Rasputin to collapse, Yusupov became anxious that Rasputin might live until the morning, leaving the conspirators no time to conceal his body. Yusupov went upstairs and came back with a revolver.
Rasputin was hit at close range by a bullet that entered his left chest and penetrated the stomach and the liver. The wounds were serious, and Rasputin would have died in 10–20 min, but he succeeded in escaping outside. A second bullet from a distance with a firearm lodged into his spine after penetrating the right kidney. Rasputin fell in the snow-clad courtyard and his body was taken inside. It is not clear whether or not Yusupov beat Rasputin with a sort of
dumb bell
The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand.
History
The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...
. It is also not clear if it was Purishkevich who shot him point-blank into the forehead. A curious policeman on duty on the other side of the Moika had heard the shots, rang at the door, and was sent away. Half an hour later, another policeman arrived, and Purishkevich invited him into the palace. Purishkevich told him that he had shot Rasputin and asked him to keep it quiet for the sake of the Tsar. The conspirators finally threw the corpse from
Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge
The Great or Bolshoi Petrovsky bridge is a bridge across Little Nevka in St. Petersburg, Russia, connecting Petrovsky Island with Krestovsky Island and passing over a small nameless islet on Little Nevka. It is very near the mouth of the rive ...
into an ice hole in the
Malaya Neva
The Little Neva or Malaya Neva (russian: Ма́лая Нева́) is the second largest distributary of the river Neva. The Neva splits into Great Neva (the southern armlet) and Little Neva (the northern armlet) near the Spit of Vasilievsky ...
.
On the Empress's orders, a police investigation commenced and traces of blood were discovered on the steps to the back door of the Yusupov Palace. Prince Felix attempted to explain the blood with a story that one of his favourite dogs was shot accidentally by Grand Duke Dmitri. Yusupov and Dmitri were placed under house arrest in the
Sergei Palace. (The upper levels of the palace were occupied by the British embassy and the
Anglo-Russian Hospital
The Anglo-Russian Hospital was a hospital in Petrograd set up during the First World War. It was called 'The (British) Empire's Gift to Our Russian Allies' and was founded in 1915 and was closed in 1918.
Lady Muriel Paget and Lady Sybil Grey he ...
.
[M. Nelipa, p. 108.])
The Empress had refused to meet the two but said that they could explain what had happened in a letter to her. She
wanted both shot immediately, but she was persuaded to back off from the idea.
Without a trial, the Tsar sent Dmitri to the front in Persia; Purishkevich was already on his way to the front in Romania. The Tsar banished Yusupov to his estate in
Rakitnoye, Belgorod Oblast
Rakitnoye (russian: Ракитное) is an urban-type settlement in Belgorod Oblast, Russia and the administrative center of Rakityansky District and Rakitnoye urban settlement. Population:
Located on the banks of the Dnieper River, Rakitnoye ...
.
Yusupov published several accounts of the night and the events surrounding the murder. Recent authorities have cast doubt on Yusupov's account (see
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the ...
).
According to Maklakov, Yusupov was not the mastermind. Fuhrmann thinks that Yusupov was the man who hatched the plot and who carried it out. "The clumsy way the assassination was carried out shows it was the work of an amateur." Fuhrmann also thinks Yusupov's "...candid Memoirs were corroborated by the other conspirators."
Exile
One week after the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...
, Nicholas abdicated the throne on 2 March. Following the abdication, the Yusupovs returned to the Moika Palace before they went to
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...
. They later returned to the palace to retrieve jewels (including the blue Sultan of Morocco Diamond, the
Polar Star Diamond
The Polar Star diamond is a 41.28 carat brilliant cushion-cut diamond, from the Golconda region in India. Its lower pavilion is arranged as an eight-pointed star, hence its name, from Polaris, the Northern Star. It is claimed that "the symmetr ...
, and the
Marie Antoinette Diamond Earrings
The Marie Antoinette Diamond Earrings are a pair of diamond earrings on permanent display in the Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States. They are so named for their assumed provena ...
) and two paintings by
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
, the sale proceeds of the paintings helped sustain the family in exile. The paintings were bought by
Joseph E. Widener in 1921 and are now in the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...
.
In Crimea, the family boarded a British warship,
HMS ''Marlborough'', which took them from
Yalta
Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...
to
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. On the ship, Felix enjoyed boasting about the murder of Rasputin. One of the British officers noted that Irina "appeared shy and retiring at first, but it was only necessary to take a little notice of her pretty, small daughter to break through her reserve and discover that she was also very charming and spoke fluent English."
From Malta, they travelled to Italy and then to Paris. In Italy, lacking a visa, he bribed the officials with diamonds. In Paris, they stayed a few days in the
Hôtel de Vendôme before they went on to London. In 1920, they returned to Paris, with Princess Irina giving birth to their only son there in 1922.
The Yusupovs lived in the following places in France:
* 1920–1939: 37, Rue Gutenberg then 19 rue de La Tourelle in
Boulogne-sur-Seine
Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and ...
* 1939–1940: they rented a mansion in rue Victor-Hugo,
Sarcelles
* 1940–1943: they moved to rue Agar and 65 rue La Fontaine (
16th arrondissement of Paris
The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''.
The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de T ...
)
* from 1943 until their deaths: 38 rue Pierre-Guérin (
Neuilly-Auteuil-Passy
Neuilly-Auteuil-Passy, sometimes also referred to just as Passy-Auteuil, refers to an area covering the westernmost part of the city of Paris and a neighbouring suburban community. This area is commonly known as one of the richest in Paris, with ...
)
The Yusupovs founded a short-lived
couture house,
IRFĒ, named after the first two letters of their first names. Irina modeled some of the dresses the pair and other designers at the firm created. Yusupov became renowned in the Russian émigré community for his financial generosity. Their philanthropy and their continued high living and poor financial management extinguished what remained of the family fortune. Felix's bad business sense and the
Wall Street crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
eventually forced the company to shut down.
(A new business under the same name was started by others in Paris in 2008.)
Lawsuits
In 1932, he and his wife successfully sued American film company
MGM, in the
English courts
The courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales.
The United Kingdom does not have a ...
, for
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
and
invasion of privacy
The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 194 ...
in connection with the film ''
Rasputin and the Empress''. The alleged libel was not that the character based on Felix had committed murder but that the character based on Irina, called "Princess Natasha" in the film, was portrayed as having been seduced by the lecherous Rasputin. In 1934, the Yusupovs were awarded £25,000 damages, an enormous sum at the time, which was attributed to the successful arguments of their barrister,
Patrick Hastings
Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings (17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was an English barrister and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General. He was educated at Charterhouse ...
. The
disclaimer
A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...
that now appears at the end of many American films, "The preceding was a work of fiction, any similarity to a living person ...", first appeared as a result of the
legal precedent
A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
set by the Yusupov case.
In 1965, Felix Yusupov also sued
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
in a New York court for televising a play based upon the Rasputin assassination. The claim was that some events were fictionalized, and under a New York state statute, his commercial rights in his story had been misappropriated. The last reported judicial opinion in the case was a ruling by New York's second-highest court that the case could not be resolved upon briefs and
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...
s but must go to trial. According to an obituary of CBS's lawyer, Carleton G. Eldridge Jr., CBS eventually won the case.
In 1928, after Yusupov published his memoir detailing the killing of Rasputin, Rasputin's daughter,
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
, sued Yusupov and Dmitri in a Paris court for damages of $800,000. She condemned both men as murderers and said any decent person would be disgusted by the ferocity of Rasputin's killing. Maria's claim was dismissed. The
French court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
ruled that it had no jurisdiction over a political killing that had occurred in Russia.
Death
Irina and Felix were married for more than 50 years. When Felix died in 1967, Irina was stricken by grief and she died three years later, in 26 February 1970. He was buried in
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery, in the southern suburbs of Paris. Yusupov's private papers and a number of family artifacts and paintings are now owned by Victor Contreras, a Mexican sculptor who, as a young art student in the 1960s, met Yusupov and lived with the family for five years in Paris.
[''Secrets of an Exiled Prince'', Moscow Times, 11–17 April 2008.]
Some of the Yusupov possessions owned by Contreras were auctioned in November 2016 by Coutau Bégarie. This included correspondence with the family of his father's mistress, Zénaïde Gregorieff-Svetiloff.
Ancestors
Descendants
Descendants of Felix and Irina are:
*
Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova, (21 March 1915, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 30 August 1983,
Cormeilles-en-Parisis
Cormeilles-en-Parisis (, literally ''Cormeilles in Parisis'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in Northern France.
Inhabitants are called ''Cormeillais(e)''.
Neighbouring communes
* Argenteuil
* La Frette-sur-Seine ...
, France), married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev (28 October 1904, Moscow, Russia – 5 February 1979, Paris, France), son of Count Dmitry Sergeevich Sheremetev and wife Countess Irina Ilarionovna Vorontzova-Dachkova and a descendant of
Boris Petrovich Sheremetev
Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Граф Бори́с Петро́вич Шереме́тев, tr. ; – ) was an Imperial Russian diplomat and general field marshal during the Great Northern War. He became the first Russian count in ...
; had issue:
**Countess Xenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva (born 1 March 1942, Rome, Italy), married on 20 June 1965 in Athens, Greece, to Ilias Sfiris (born 20 August 1932, Athens, Greece); had issue:
***Tatiana Sfiris (born 28 August 1968, Athens, Greece), married in May 1996 in Athens to Alexis Giannakoupoulos (born 1963), divorced, no issue; married Anthony Vamvakidis and has issue:
****Marilia Vamvakidis (born 7 July 2004)
****Yasmine Xenia Vamvakidis (born 17 May 2006)
Works
*
**
**
*
**
*
Bibliography
*
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
Greg King (1994) ''The Last Empress. The Life & Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, tsarina of Russia''. A Birch Lane Press Book.
* Margarita Nelipa (2010) ''The Murder of Grigorii Rasputin. A Conspiracy That Brought Down the Russian Empire'', Gilbert's Books. .
*
Bernard Pares
Sir Bernard Pares KBE (1 March 1867 – 17 April 1949) was an English historian and diplomat. During the First World War, he was seconded to the Foreign Ministry in Petrograd, Russia, where he reported political events back to London, and worke ...
(1939) ''The Fall of the Russian Monarchy. A Study of the Evidence''. Jonathan Cape. London.
*
Vladimir Pourichkevitch (1924) ''Comment j'ai tué Raspoutine. Pages de Journal''. J. Povolozky & Cie. Paris
External links
''The Yusupovs' Palace on Moika, Saint Petersburg'' – Family nest until 1919''Lost Splendour'' – Yusupov's self-biography until 1919(online). Printed in 1952, .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusupov, Felix
1887 births
1967 deaths
20th-century Russian criminals
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
Morganatic spouses of Russian royalty
Criminals from Saint Petersburg
Russian murderers
Russian princes
Russian monarchists
Russian people of Crimean Tatar descent
Felix
White Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom
White Russian emigrants to France
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom
LGBT royalty
Bullingdon Club members
Nobility from Saint Petersburg