Konstantin Nikolaevich (1827-1892), Grand Prince

Categories / Army. Navy/Personalia
Categories / Capital/Personalia
KONSTANTIN NIKOLAEVICH (1827, St. Petersburg - 1892, Pavlovsk), Grand Prince, General Admiral (1831), Adjutant General (1852), honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1844), member of the State Assembly (1850). Second son of Emperor Nicholas I. He was brought up under the supervision of Admiral F.P. Litke, served in the Navy from 1834. In 1853-81 Konstantin Nikolaevich was the Head of the Ministry of Naval Affairs and the Navy (with the rank of Minister Admiral Plenipotentiary). In 1858 emancipated the Okhta settlers, subject to the Naval Ministry. Under Konstantin Nikolaevich the establishment of a steam powered armoured military fleet was launched, the foundation of ship-building industry was laid, consisting of, among others, Baltic Plant and Obukhovsky Plant in St. Petersburg. From 1860 served as chairman of the Principal Committee for Peasants' Affairs, in 1861-81 – as Chairman of the Principal Committee on Rural Development, contributing significantly to preparing and implementing the Peasant Reform of 1861. In 1865-81 Konstantin Nikolaevich served as chairman of the State Assembly, actively supported reform. His palace was one of the centers of public life in St. Petersburg in the 1860-70s. After the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander III, Konstantin Nikolaevich resigned from all posts, except for his position as Chairman of the Alexandrovsky Committee for the War-Wounded. He was first chairman of the Russian Geographic Society, chairman of the Russian Archeological Society (1852) and Russian Musical Society (1873), honorary member of St. Petersburg University (1848), full member of the Imperial Philanthropic Society (1853), trustee of the Society for the Welfare of the Poor (1853). Owned the Marble Palace, Pavlovsk, farmstead of Strelna. Buried in SS. Peter&Paul Cathedral, and in 1909 was re-buried in the Grand Princes Burial Vault.

Reference: Кони А. Ф. Великий князь Константин Николаевич // Великая реформа: Рус. о-во и крестьянский вопрос в прошлом и настоящем. М., 1911. Т. 5. С. 34-51; Шевырев А. П. Русский флот после Крымской войны: Либеральная бюрократия и мор. реформы. М., 1990; Несин В. Н., Сауткина Г. Н. Павловск Императорский и Великокняжеский, 1777-1917. СПб., 1996; Воронин В. Е. Великий князь Константин Николаевич: Становление гос. деятеля. М., 2002.

Y. A. Kuzmin. Alexander II, Emperor
Alexander III, Emperor
Konstantin Nikolaevich, Grand Prince
Litke Fedor Petrovich
Nicholas I, Emperor
Воронин В.Е. Великий князь Константин Николаевич: Становление гос. деятеля. М., 2002
Кони А. Ф. Великий князь Константин Николаевич // Великая реформа: Рус. о-во и крестьян. вопрос в прошлом и настоящем. М., 1911
Шевырев А. П. Русский флот после Крымской войны: Либеральная бюрократия и мор. реформы. М., 1990
Несин В. Н., Сауткина Г. Н. Павловск Императорский и Великокняжеский, 1777-1917. СПб., 1996 Russian Academy of Sciences
State Assembly
Ministry of the Navy
Obukhovsky Plant
Baltic Shipyard and Machine-Building Plant
Russian Geographical Society
Musical Society, The Russian
State University, St. Petersburg
Marble Palace