Prince John Constantinovich of Russia (russian: Иоанн Константинович; 5 July 1886 – 18 July 1918), sometimes also known as Prince Ivan or Prince Johan, was the eldest son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia by his wife, Yelizaveta Mavrikievna, née Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. He was described by contemporaries as a gentle, religious person, nicknamed "Ioannchik" by his relatives.

Early life

Imperial Monogram of Prince John Constantinovich of Russia

Ioann Konstantinovich was born as a

Grand Duke of Russia This is a list of those members of the Russian Imperial Family who bore the title ''velikiy knjaz'' (usually translated into English as grand duke, but more accurately grand prince). This courtesy title was borne by the sons and male-line grands ...

with the style Imperial Highness, but at the age of 9 days, a

Ukaz In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts ...

of his cousin Emperor

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

stripped him of that title, as the Ukaz amended the House Law by limiting the grand-ducal title to grandsons of a reigning emperor. As a result, he received the title Prince of the Imperial Blood (Prince of Russia) with the style

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjecti ...

. He once entertained the possibility of becoming an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, but eventually fell in love with Princess Helen of Serbia, the daughter of King Peter I of Serbia and his wife

Princess Zorka of Montenegro Princess Zorka of Montenegro (Serbian Cyrillic: Кнегиња црногорска Зорка; 23 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._11_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...

, niece of Grand Duchess Militza and

Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

. They married on 2 September 1911, and Helen took the name Princess Yelena Petrovna of Russia. As a daughter of the reigning King, after the marriage, she retained her style of Royal Highness and as such she had the right to receive foreign diplomats in her own right, unlike her husband. They had a son, Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich (20 January 1914 – 18 June 1973), and a daughter, Princess Yekaterina Ivanovna (12 July 1915 – 13 March 2007), who was the last member of the Imperial Family to be born before the fall of the dynasty, and was ultimately to become the last surviving uncontested dynast of the

Imperial House of Russia 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 th ...

Revolution and death

Prince Ioann fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

of 1914-1918, was decorated as a war hero, and was at the front when the Russian Revolution of 1917 started. In April 1918 the Bolshevik authorities exiled him to the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

, and in July the same year had him murdered in a mineshaft near

Alapayevsk Alapayevsk (russian: Алапа́евск) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha rivers. Population: 44,263 ( 2002 census); 50,060 ( 1989 census); 49,000 (1968). History Alapayevsk is on ...

, along with his brothers Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich and Prince Igor Konstantinovich, his cousin Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, and other relatives and friends. His body was eventually buried in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, in the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Mission, which was destroyed in 1986 to build a park. His sister Princess Vera Konstantinovna, mother Grand Duchess Yelizaveta Mavrikievna and wife Princess Yelena Petrovna left Russia in April 1919 with help from the King of Norway. His daughter Princess Yekaterina married Ruggero,

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Farace di Villaforesta. Yekaterina lived in

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and later in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

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where she died in 2007. His sister Princess Vera Konstantinovna, the youngest daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, died in New York in 2001, aged 94.

Early life

Revolution and death

Ancestry

See also