Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskaya (russian: О́льга Александровна Юрьевская; 7 November 187310 August 1925) was the

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...

daughter of

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

by his mistress (later his wife), Princess Catherine Dolgorukova. In 1880, she was legitimated by her parents'

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

. After her father's

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

in 1881, her mother brought her up in France. In 1895, she married a German nobleman, becoming Countess Merenberg, and spent most of the rest of her life in Germany.

Early life

Olga was born at

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 ...

, Russia, on 7 November 1873, while her mother was still the

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

of Tsar Alexander II. Her parents' morganatic marriage on 6 July 1880 legitimated her, and she acquired the surname of Yurievsky, the title of Princess ('' knyagina'') and the style of Serene Highness ('' Svetlost''). Her father was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

in March 1881, when she was seven, and after that her mother took her three surviving children, Olga,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, and

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, to live in France. A second brother, Boris, had died in infancy.John Bergamini, ''The Tragic Dynasty: A History of the Romanovs'' (1969), pp. 370 & 464

France and Germany

Olga's mother took a house in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and later others on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

. In 1891, she bought a house in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

which she called the Villa Georges, in the boulevard Dubouchage. In France, the family was able to afford some twenty servants and a private railway carriage.Raymond de Ponfilly, ''Guide des Russes en France'' (Horay, 1990), p. 407: "Villa Georges : boulevard Dubouchage, n° 10 Villa achetée en janvier 1891 par la princesse..." However, the immediate family of the new 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 Pola ...

, looked on Catherine and her children with some disdain.Sergei Mironenko, Andrei Maylunas, tr. Darya Galy, ''A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story'' (Doubleday, 1997, ), p. 133 On 12 May 1895, in Nice, Olga married Count George-Nicholas von Merenberg (1871–1948), a grandson of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, becoming Countess Merenberg and the sister-in-law of

Sophie of Merenberg Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, Countess de Torby (1 June 1868 – 14 September 1927), was the elder daughter of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and his morganatic wife, Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (who had been granted the title of ...

, the morganatic wife of

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was raised in the C ...

. Catherine asked the Tsar to be the sponsor of the wedding, but his mother, Maria Feodorovna, was appalled by the idea, so Nicholas declined. He later recalled that Catherine had been offended. Most of the rest of Olga’s life was spent in Germany, including the war years of 1914 to 1918. She had three children, one of whom died in infancy, and herself died in 1925 at Wiesbaden, aged 51.

Children

*Count Alexander Adolf (1896–1897) * Count George Michael (1897–1965), who married firstly in 1926 (divorced 1928) Polett von Köver de Györgyös-Szent-Miklos, and secondly in 1940 Elizabeth Müller-Uri (1903–1963) ** Countess Clotilde von Merenberg (born 1941), married 1965 Enno von Rintelen ***Alexander Enno von Rintelen (born 1966) ***Georg Nicholas von Rintelen (born 1970) ***Gregor von Rintelen (born 1972) * Countess Olga Ekaterina Adda (1898–1983), who married in 1923 Count Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov (1900–1980) **Alexander Mikhailovich Loris-Melikov (born 1926), married in 1958 Micheline Selina Pryunier ***Anna Alexandrovna Loris-Melikova (born 1959) ***Dominika Alexandrovna Loris-Melikova (born 1961) ***Natalya Alexandrovna Loris-Melikova (born 1962) ***Mikhail Alexandrovich Loris-Melikov (born 1964)

Ancestors

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yurievskaya, Olga 1874 births 1925 deaths 19th-century women from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian women People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd German countesses Russian princesses Morganatic issue of Romanovs Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany House of Romanov in exile Daughters of Russian emperors Children of Alexander II of Russia Illegitimate children of emperors