Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (; 23 August 1863 – 28 January 1919) was a Grand Duke of Russia, first cousin of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and a General in the Russian army. Born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

while his father was the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of Russian provinces of

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

, he was the second surviving son of

Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (25 October 1832 – 18 December 1909) was a Russian Empire Field Marshal, the fourth son and seventh child of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia. He was the first owner of the New Michae ...

and Princess Cecilie of Baden. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Prussia. His maternal grandparents were Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sophie of Sweden. On 29 January 1919, George was moved to

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, and in the early hours of the following day, he was shot there by a firing squad, along with his brother, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, and his cousins Grand Dukes Paul Alexandrovich and Dmitri Constantinovich.

Family

On 30 April 1900 at

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, Grand Duke George married Princess Maria, daughter of King George I of the Hellenes and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. Maria was George's paternal first cousin once removed. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna had two daughters: * Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia (20 June 1901 – 27 February 1974); married in 1922 Prince Paul Chavchavadze, with whom she had one son, Prince David Chavchavadze. * Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russia (22 August 1903 – 17 September 1965); married, firstly, in 1921, William Bateman Leeds, Jr., son of

Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark (born Nonnie May Stewart; 20 January 1878 – 29 August 1923) was an American-born heiress and member of the Greek royal family. She was married to Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, the youngest ...

; they divorced in 1930. Married, secondly, in 1946, Herman Jud. Xenia's only daughter, Nancy Leeds (1925–2006), married Edward Judson Wynkoop, Jr.

Honours and awards

The Grand Duke received several Russian and foreign decorations: ;Russian *Knight of the Order of St. Andrew *Knight of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky *Knight of the Order of St. Anna, 1st Class *Knight of the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

, 1st Class *Knight of the Order of the White Eagle ;Foreign *: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, ''1880'' *: Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, ''15 June 1884'' *

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

: Knight of the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle () was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I of Prussia, Friedrich I, King in Prussia, the ...

, ''16 September 1884'' *

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, ''1884'' *:pp. 6277
/ref> **Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, ''1885'' **Knight of the

Order of Berthold the First The Order of Berthold the First () was a dynastic order in the Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as par ...

, ''1885'' *: Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

, ''7 September 1900'' *: Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, ''13 July 1902'' – during a visit to Russia of King

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albania ...

*: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I

Ancestry

Notes

Bibliography

* Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia. ''Once a Grand Duke''. Cassell, London, 1932, ASIN: B000J3ZFL2 * Chavchavadze, David. ''The Grand Dukes'', Atlantic, 1989, *Cockfield, Jamie H. ''White Crow: The Life and Times of the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov 1859–1919''. Praeger, 2002, * Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia. ''A Romanov Diary: the Autobiography of the Grand Duchess Marie Georgievna of Russia''. Gilbert's Books, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:George Mikhailovich of Russia, Grand Duke 1863 births 1919 deaths People from Kvemo Kartli People from Tiflis Governorate Romanov, George Mikhailovich House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov Russian military personnel of World War I 19th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Murdered Russian royalty Victims of the Red Terror in Soviet Russia Executed people from Georgia (country) People executed by Russia by firing squad Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Executed Russian royalty Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress

Family

Honours and awards

See also

Ancestry

Notes

Bibliography