Russian grand duke (1827–1892)
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (
Russian : Великий князь Константин Николаевич ; 21 September 1827 – 25 January 1892) was the
Emperor 's
Viceroy of Poland from 1862 to 1863 and a
general admiral of the
Imperial Russian Navy .
Early life
Konstantin Nikolayevich was born as the second son of
Nicholas I and his wife,
Charlotte of Prussia , daughter of
Frederick William III of Prussia and his first wife,
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz .
Biography
The Grand Duke was a supporter of the liberal (sometimes referred to as "enlightened") bureaucrats during the period of his brother
Alexander II 's great reforms. He served as chairman of the
Imperial Russian Geographical Society (founded in 1845). The Geographical Society was subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was home to a conspicuous number of
liberal bureaucrats [
ru ] , including
Nikolai Miliutin .
In addition to his support of and participation in the 1861
emancipation of the serfs , the Grand Duke also instituted reforms in the
Imperial Russian Navy from 1854.
Konstantin's brother, Alexander II of Russia was supposed[
by whom? ] to have said: "Let the Poles have their own court and intrigues." Though the Grand Duke tried to show a liberal attitude towards the Poles, his efforts came too late and he was recalled with the outbreak of the
January Uprising in 1863.
Marriage and issue
In the
Winter Palace in
St Petersburg , on 11 September 1848, Konstantin married
Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg , daughter of
Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife,
Duchess Amelia of Württemberg . They had six children:
At the end of the 1860s, Konstantin embarked on an affair, having an illegitimate daughter, Marie Condousso.
Konstantin had five illegitimate children with his mistress Anna
Kuznetsova (1847–1922); they bore the last name Knyazev:
Sergey Konstantinovich Knyazev (1873–1873); died as an infant.
Marina Konstantinovna Knyazeva (8 December 1875 – 8 June 1941); married Alexander Pavlovich Erchov on 23 April 1894. They had nine children.
Anna Konstantinovna Knyazeva (16 March 1878 – 5 February 1920); married Nicholas Lialine on 17 April 1898. They had three children.
Izmail Konstantinovich Knyazev (2 August 1879 – 1885); died of
scarlet fever .
Lev Konstantinovich Knyazev (April 1883 – 1885); died of scarlet fever.
Konstantin was the paternal great-great-grandfather of King
Charles III of the United Kingdom, since his daughter Olga married
George I of Greece , whose son
Andrew married
Princess Alice of Battenberg , and they became the parents of
Philip , Charles' father. Through
Constantine I of Greece , another son of Olga and George I, Konstantin is also the paternal great-great-grandfather of
Queen Sofía of Spain , mother of King
Felipe VI .
In fiction
The Grand Duke is a central character in Act III of the novel Forty-Ninth
[1] by Boris Pronsky and Craig Britton. In the book, Konstantin is the brains behind the liberal reforms of his brother, Russian Emperor Alexander II, as well as the
sale of Alaska to the United States.
Honours
National orders and decorations
Knight of St. Andrew , 1827
Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky , 1827
Knight of the White Eagle , 1827
Knight of St. Anna , 1st Class, 1827
Knight of St. George , 4th Class, 1849
Knight of St. Vladimir , 1st Class, 1853
Knight of St. Stanislaus , 1st Class, 1865
Foreign orders and decorations
Sweden-Norway :
[2]
Kingdom of Prussia :
[3]
Denmark :
Knight of the Elephant , 23 July 1844
[4]
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach :
Grand Cross of the White Falcon , 19 September 1846
[5]
Ernestine duchies : Grand Cross of the
Saxe-Ernestine House Order , October 1846
[6]
Württemberg :
Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown , 1846
[7]
Kingdom of Hanover :
[8]
Netherlands : Knight of the
Military William Order , 3rd Class, 30 August 1849 ;
[9] Commander, 3 June 1857
[10]
Austrian Empire :
[11]
Kingdom of Bavaria :
Knight of St. Hubert , 1849
[12]
Duchy of Parma :
[13]
Oldenburg :
Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig , with Golden Crown, 9 March 1853
[14]
Grand Duchy of Hesse : Grand Cross of the
Ludwig Order , 18 February 1857
[15]
Kingdom of Sardinia :
Knight of the Annunciation , 26 February 1857
[16]
French Empire : Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour , May 1857
[17]
Belgium : Grand Cordon of the
Order of Leopold (military), 1 June 1857
[18]
Baden :
[19]
Kingdom of Saxony :
Knight of the Rue Crown , 1857
[20]
Two Sicilies :
Grand Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit
[21]
Spain : Grand Cross of the
Order of Charles III , 15 November 1880
[22]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia
References
^ Boris, Pronsky; Britton, Craig. Forty-Ninth . pp. 114–171.
ISBN
9798201386238 .
^
Sveriges och Norges Statskalender (in Swedish), 1876, pp.
473 ,
717 , retrieved 20 February 2019 – via runeberg.org
^
"Königlich Preussische Ordensliste" , Preussische Ordens-Liste (in German), 1 , Berlin:
4 ,
11 ,
934 , 1886
^ Jørgen Pedersen (2009).
Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 468.
ISBN
978-87-7674-434-2 .
^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1859), "Großherzogliche Hausorden"
p. 12
^ Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1847), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p.
27
^ Württemberg (1869).
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1869 . p.
31 .
^
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für das Königreich Hannover . Berenberg. 1854. pp.
33
63 .
^
"Militaire Willems-Orde: Romanov, Constantin Nicolajevitsj" [Military William Order: Romanov, Konstantin Nikolaevich]. Ministerie van Defensie (in Dutch). 30 August 1849. Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^
"Militaire Willems-Orde: Romanov, Constantin Nicolajevitsj" [Military William Order: Romanov, Konstantin Nikolaevich]. Ministerie van Defensie (in Dutch). 3 June 1857. Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^
"Ritter-Orden" , Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie , 1892, pp.
67 ,
69 , retrieved 2 November 2019
^ Bayern (1867).
Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern: 1867 . Landesamt. p.
9 .
^
Almanacco di corte (in Italian). 1858. pp.
240 ,
318 . Retrieved 24 April 2019 .
^
Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: 1879 . Schulze. 1879. p.
31 .
^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen ",
p. 10
^ Luigi Cibrario (1869).
Notizia storica del nobilissimo ordine supremo della santissima Annunziata. Sunto degli statuti, catalogo dei cavalieri . Eredi Botta. p. 116.
^ M. & B. Wattel. (2009). Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers . Paris: Archives & Culture. p. 515.
ISBN
978-2-35077-135-9 .
^ Ferdinand Veldekens (1858).
Le livre d'or de l'ordre de Léopold et de la croix de fer . lelong. p.
213 .
^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1858), "Großherzogliche Orden"
pp. 34 ,
48
^
Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1865/66 . Heinrich. 1866. p. 4.
^ Napoli (Stato) (1857).
Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno ... Stamp. Reale. p. 406.
^
"Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III" , Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish), 1887, p. 158, retrieved 21 March 2019
Chavchavadze, David. The Grand Dukes . Atlantic, 1989.
ISBN
0-938311-11-5
Ferrand, Jacques, Descendances naturelles des souverains et grands-ducs de Russie, de 1762 à 1910 : répertoire généalogique ,1995.
King, Greg, and Wilson, Penny. Gilded Prism . Eurohistory, 2006.
ISBN
0-9771961-4-3
Van Der Kiste, John. The Romanovs 1818–1959 . Sutton Publishing, 1999.
ISBN
0-7509-2275-3 .
Zeepvat, Charlotte. Romanov Autumn . Sutton Publishing, 2000.
ISBN
0-7509-2739-9
External links
1st generation 2nd generation 3rd generation 4th generation 5th generation 6th generation 7th generation 8th generation 9th generation 10th generation
1 born a Grand Duke, but stripped of his title by
Alexander III 's
ukase of 1886, limiting the style to sons and male-line grandsons of a tsar
2 title of pretence granted by Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich as claimant to the Russian throne
3 title of pretence granted by Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich as claimant to the Russian throne
International National People Other