Mikhail Alexandrovich (1878-1918), Grand Prince

Categories / Capital/Personalia
MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH (1878, St. Petersburg - 1918), Grand Prince, Lieutenant General (1916), Adjutant General (1914), Member of the State Assembly (from 1901). Emperor Alexander III's youngest son, brother of Emperor Nicholas II; in 1899-1904, he became heir to the Russian Throne. Served in the Cavalry Guard. In 1912, he entered a morganatic marriage with N.S. Wulfert (1880-1952, from 1916 Countess Brasova) against Emperor Nicholas II's wishes, and lived abroad until 1914. During the First World War (1914-18), he commanded the Caucasian Natives (Wild) Division, then the Caucasian Corps. From January 1917, he was Cavalry Inspector General. On 2 March 1917, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated in favour of Mikhail Alexandrovich. Mikhail Alexandrovich renounced the throne, handing over the question of Russia's future state structure to the Constituent Assembly at the apartment of Prince Putyatin (12 Millionnaya Street) on 3 March 1917. During General L. G. Kornilov's attack on Petrograd (August, 1917), Mikhail Alexandrovich was arrested by order of the Provisional Government, but released soon afterwards. At the end of October 1917, he was arrested again by order of Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, and from that point on lived at Gatchina as a civilian, taking no part in political life. In April 1918, he was exiled to Perm by order of the Council of People's Commissars; on the night of 13 June 1918, he was killed by local Bolsheviks. He owned a private residence at 54 Angliiskaya Embankment. In 1981, he was glorified by The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

References: Скорбный путь Михаила Романова: от престола до Голгофы: Документы. Материалы следствия. Дневники. Воспоминания. Пермь, 1996; Crawford R., Crawford D. Michael and Natasha: The life and love of the last tsar of Russia. London, 1997.

Y. A. Kuzmin. Alexander III, Emperor
Kornilov Lavr Georgievich
Mikhail Alexandrovich, Grand Prince
Nicholas II, Emperor
Putyatin P.P., Duke
Wulfert Natalia Sergeevna
Angliiskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 54
Millionnaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 12
Скорбный путь Михаила Романова: от престола до Голгофы: Документы. Материалы следствия. Документы. Воспоминания. Пермь, 1996
Crawford R., Crawford D. Michael and Natasha: The life and love of the last tsar of Russia. London, 1997 State Assembly
Provisional Government of 1917