The biography of this noble family is rooted in the history of the Arab Caliphate: the origin was from the legendary Abu Bakr, father-in-law and closest associate of the Prophet Muhammad. In the era of the fall of the Caliph's power, the ancestors of the future Yusupovs in different years ruled Damascus, Antioch, Iraq, Persia and Egypt. In the history of the family, legends about the close friendship of their ancestors with the great conqueror Tamerlane remained: the temnik of the Golden Horde Edigei, having organized a coup d'état in 1400, managed to raise international prestige and increase the political influence of the disintegrating Tatar-Mongolian state. The founder of the Yusupov family is Yusuf-Murza, the bey of the Nogai Horde (great-grandson of Edigey), a consistent opponent of the expansion of the Muscovite kingdom in the middle of the 16th century. His daughter, Syuyumbike, played an important role in the tragic story of the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, becoming the ruler of the khanate after the death of her husband, the only woman who ever held such an important post. By the way, her real name was Syuyuk, and Syuyumbike, which means "beloved lady", she was nicknamed locals for special kindness and responsiveness to his subjects.

The Yusupov clan traces its origins to the Khan of the Nogai Horde

The legends associated with the biography of this woman say: once Ivan the Terrible, having learned about the extraordinary beauty of Queen Syuyumbike, sent his matchmakers to Kazan, however, she refused to obey the requirements of the Russian Tsar. Then the enraged Ivan decided to take the city by force - if Syuyumbike did not agree to marry him, he threatened to destroy Kazan. After the capture of the city by Russian troops, its ruler, in order not to surrender to the invaders, threw herself from the tower, which today bears her name. According to other sources, the Kazan ruler was captured and forcibly taken away with her son to the Moscow kingdom - it is from this moment that the official genealogy of the Yusupov family begins.

Modern image of Queen Syuyumbike

The next important stage in the formation of this noble family was the transition to Orthodoxy, the circumstances of which played a tragic role in the history of the dynasty. The great-grandson of Yusuf Bey Abdul-Murza (great-grandfather of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov) received Patriarch Joachim on his estate in Romanov (now the city of Tutaev, Yaroslavl region) and, not knowing the restrictions of Orthodox posts, fed him a goose, which he mistook for fish. However, the owner's mistake was revealed, and the angry church hierarch, returning to Moscow, complained to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, and the monarch deprived Abdul-Murza of all awards. In an effort to regain his former position, he decided to be baptized, taking the name Dmitry and the surname in memory of Yusuf's ancestor - Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov. So he earned royal forgiveness, while receiving the title of prince and returning all his fortune. However, the decision of Abdul Mirza cost dearly to his entire family: one night a prophecy was sent to him that from now on, for the betrayal of his true faith, in each generation there will be no more than one male heir, and if there are more, then no one will live longer than 26 years . This terrible curse haunted the Yusupov family to the very end.

Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov

The Yusupovs have always been at the center of the most dramatic events in history. Russian Empire. The ill-fated Murza Abdul-Dmitry took part in the Streltsy uprising, when, together with his Tatar warriors, he guarded the duumvirate of the juvenile heirs of Alexei Mikhailovich. His son, Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov, became famous in the Petrine campaigns, having gone through all the hardships of war near Azov, Narva and Lesnaya together with the future emperor. Already after the death of Peter, Catherine I noted his merits, awarding him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, and Tsar Peter II granted Grigory Dmitrievich an old Moscow mansion in Bolshoi Kharitonievsky Lane, elevated him to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and bestowed the position of senator, with estates in the Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan provinces.

According to legend, the Yusupov curse was associated with baptism into Orthodoxy

His son, Boris Grigoryevich, rose under Anna Ivanovna to the position of a real privy councilor, becoming the director of Russia's first privileged educational institution for children of the nobility - the land gentry corps. By the way, Boris Grigorievich was known as a great theater-goer: Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, the founder of Russian dramaturgy and patron of the first domestic public stage, began his career in the educational theater organized under his supervision.

Boris Grigorievich Yusupov

The son of Boris Grigorievich - Nikolai Borisovich - was the famous Catherine's nobleman, at one time even being in the status of the empress's favorite (for a long time in his office there was a picture depicting him and Catherine in the image of naked Apollo and Venus). This representative of the Yusupov family actively corresponded with the enlighteners Voltaire and Diderot, and the playwright Beaumarchais even dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. Thanks to the nobility of origin and brilliant court position, Nikolai Borisovich managed to personally meet with all the main arbiters European history turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries: with Joseph II, Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Napoleon. The prince was a passionate admirer of art and managed to collect in his luxurious palace an art collection that can be compared with the masterpieces of the Louvre or the Hermitage. When this venerable nobleman received all the posts and awards possible in the Russian Empire, a special type of award was established especially for him - a precious pearl epaulette. Nikolai Borisovich also became famous for his extraordinary female hunting: in the newly built Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow (which contemporaries called "Russian Versailles") hung 300 portraits of women who could boast of acquaintance with a prominent nobleman. Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, having visited Arkhangelskoye, left the following description of the owner of a luxurious estate: “On the street his eternal holiday, in the house an eternal triumph of celebrations ... Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating.”

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov

The memory of the birth curse did not fade away: the bride of the son of Nikolai Borisovich, Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova, flatly refused to "give birth to the dead", giving her husband full carte blanche - "let the yard girls be pregnant." In 1849, her husband dies, and the 40-year-old widow turns into a real socialite, about whose novels the entire St. Petersburg society gossiped. It came to a secret wedding with the captain of the French guard Louis Chauveau, who was 20 years younger than her. Escaping from the dissatisfaction of the imperial court with such a misalliance, Yusupova goes to Switzerland, where she acquires the title of Count Chauveau and Marquis de Serres for her husband.

Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova

The last representative of the female branch of the Yusupov family - Zinaida Nikolaevna - was one of the most beautiful women of his time. The heiress of a huge fortune was in her youth a very enviable bride, whose hands were asked even by the heirs of the European ruling dynasties, but the proud girl wanted to choose a husband according to her own taste. As a result, her choice fell on Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, who immediately after his marriage received the princely title and the post of commander of the Moscow Military District. The main activity that occupied Zinaida Nikolaevna was charity: under her patronage were numerous shelters, hospitals, gymnasiums, churches throughout the country.

The last descendant of the Yusupovs died in 1967 in Paris.

During Russo-Japanese War Yusupova was the head of the military hospital train right on the front line, and sanatoriums and hospitals for the wounded were organized in the palaces and estates of the family. Knowing Zinaida Nikolaevna from adolescence Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich wrote: “A woman of rare beauty and deep spiritual culture, she courageously endured the hardships of her enormous fortune, donating millions to charity and trying to alleviate human need.” The life of the last Yusupovs was seriously overshadowed by the death of their eldest son, Nikolai: he died in a duel in 1908, competing with Count Arvid Manteuffel for the hand of the fatal beauty Marina Alexandrovna Heiden. Note that Nikolai Yusupov was supposed to be 26 years old in six months ...

Portrait of Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova by Valentin Serov

AT last years before the revolution, Zinaida Nikolaevna began to actively criticize Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for her fanatical passion for Rasputin, which led to a complete break in relations with the royal family, which had already deteriorated due to the recent family scandal. About their last meeting in the summer of 1916 and the “cold reception”, the son of Zinaida Nikolaevna, Felix, wrote: “... the queen, silently listening to her, got up and parted with her with the words: “I hope I will never see you again.” Shortly after the beginning of the February Revolution, the Yusupovs left Petersburg and settled in the Crimea. Before the capture of Crimea by the Bolsheviks, on April 13, 1919, they left Russia (together with the family of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich) on the British battleship Marlborough and emigrated to Italy.

Yusupov dynasty

The ancient Russian family of the Yusupov princes comes from Yusuf (killed in 1556), the sultan of the Nogai horde. His great-great-grandfather Edigei Mangit, the sovereign Nogai prince (died at the beginning of the 15th century), was a military leader under Tamerlane. Yusuf-Murza had two sons: Il-Murza and Ibrahim (Abrey), who were sent to Moscow in 1565 by the murderer of their father, Uncle Ishmael. Their descendants in the last years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich received holy Baptism and were written Yusupovo-Knyazhevs until the end of the 18th century, and after that they simply became the Yusupov princes. Two branches of the Yusupov princes descended from Il-Murza, one of which died out in XVIII century, after the death of his descendant in the fifth generation of Prince Semyon Ivanovich. From Ibrahim comes the younger branch of the Yusupov princes.

This family was famous and very rich. The Yusupovs had houses and estates in Moscow and St. Petersburg. One of the most famous is the Arkhangelsk estate, which they bought from the Golitsyn princes. The Yusupovs for a long time (1730-1917) also owned the Spasskoye-Kotovo estate near Moscow (Dolgoprudny), in which there was a church in honor of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which became the resting place of many members of this grand ducal family.

Spasskoye was conceived as a second Arkhangelsk. This is evidenced by the remains of dug ponds, slender linden alleys, ancient plans of the estate that have survived to this day. But after the revolution, the estate was destroyed and plundered, as, indeed, most of the wealth of the Yusupov family.

The princely family has acquired a special honor and position in society since the time of Peter the Great. Combat General Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov was awarded the right to establish the family order of the Yusupov princes, included in the 3rd part of the General Armorial.

Grigory Dmitrievich (1676 - 1730) began to serve under Peter the Great as a steward; participated with him in the Azov campaigns; fought with the Swedes near Narva, Poltava and Vyborg; under Catherine I he was a senator, under Peter II - the first member of the state military college. He had a son, Boris, who inherited his vast fortune.

Boris Grigoryevich Yusupov (1696 - 1759), being a high-ranking and rich royal nobleman, bought the village of Spasskoye-Kotovo in the Moscow region (now it is the city of Dolgoprudny). Boris Grigoryevich in the reign of Anna Ioannovna and under Ivan Antonovich was the Moscow governor, under Elizaveta Petrovna - a senator, president of the commerce college and chief director cadet corps, for nine years he managed the land gentry corps.

Having acquired an estate on the Klyazma River, he began rebuilding, consecrating and restoring the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands, already built at that time. In 1754, the prince drew attention to the chapel built “from ancient times by the former owners of the village” (the boyars Repnins), which by that time had not been illuminated and was used for “laden church utensils and sacristy, and in which there are no signs of both the throne and the altar and signs there were no churches."

Therefore, by the spring of 1755, a Throne and an altar were arranged in the temple.

In May 1755, the minister of the house, B.G. Yusupov, Shcherbachev turned to the Moscow Ecclesiastical Consistory with a request to consecrate the aforementioned chapel “in the name of Our Lady of Vladimir” and received a decree on consecrating it on the newly issued antimension by the archpriest of the Great Assumption Cathedral with the brethren.

Boris Grigoryevich, who made a great contribution to the development of the Spasskoye estate, died in 1759 and was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. Since then, his widow, Irina Mikhailovna, nee Zinoviev (1718 - 1788), became the owner of the Spasskoye-Kotovo estate in the Moscow region. They had five children: four daughters (Princesses Elizaveta, Alexandra, Anna and Avdotya) and one son Nikolai, cornet of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.

Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova lived in Spasskoye and managed it for almost 30 years after her husband's death. At her disposal, as it is written in the "Economic Notes" of the Moscow province for 1766 - 1770, in the village of Spasskoye-Kotovo, Voskresensky district, there is "a stone church of the Savior of the Image Not Made by Hands, a wooden master's house, a garden with prolific trees."

In 1772, one of the daughters of Boris Grigorievich and Irina Mikhailovna, Anna Borisovna Protasova, died. In this regard, in the northern Vladimir aisle, near the left kliros, a crypt was built under the floor, in which she was buried.

Upon her death, Irina Mikhailovna was buried next to her daughter in the crypt of the temple. Cast-iron boards and a marble urn were placed over the ashes of both. So the modest manor church turned into the family burial vault of the Yusupov princes.

Since then, the only son of Boris Grigoryevich and Irina Mikhailovna, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, has become the owner of the village of Spasskoye.
Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750 - 1831) from 1783 to 1789 was an envoy in Turin, from where he brought M. Poltev's painting "The Shroud", then a senator. Emperor Paul I made him Minister of Appanages, and Alexander I - a member of the State Council.
Yusupov spent several years in Europe "for his personal education". In 1791 he was appointed director of theaters. Three times he was appointed Supreme Marshal (Chairman of the Coronation Commission) upon accession to the throne of emperors: in 1796 - at the coronation of Paul I, in 1801 - at the coronation of Alexander I and in 1826 - at the coronation of Nicholas I. In addition, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov held the following positions: in 1797 he was the chief director of the Manufacture College; in 1802 - a member State Council; in 1812, during the war between Russia and France, a member of the Committee for the Order of Troop Food in Moscow; in 1817 - the head of the Expedition of the Kremlin building, as well as over the workshop of the Armory, and since 1823 he was again a member of the State Council.

Nikolai Borisovich was the most famous and wealthy nobleman of the "Golden Age" of Catherine. The prince lived in his ancient chambers in Moscow, in Kharitonevsky Lane. But most of his fortune went to Arkhangelsk, where he received the reigning persons more than once.

Arkhangelsk. Church of St. Michael the Archangel

Special mention must be made of the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, which has now become a manor-museum.

“Russians feel the beauty of nature, they even know how to decorate it. For example, the village of Arkhangelskoye, 18 versts from Moscow, can surprise the British lord himself with the taste and splendor of its gardens; happy, rare location still elevates their beauty, - "wrote the famous historian of those years N. M. Karamzin in his famous book" Journey around Moscow ".

Arkhangelsk is a phenomenon of exceptional significance in the history of Russian culture. Thanks to its beauty and variety of collections, the manor has gained worldwide fame. Built on the high bank of the Moskva River, the Church of Michael the Archangel (2nd half of the 17th century), the Grand Palace (late 17th - early 19th centuries), decorated with marble sculpture of terraces like a magnificent frame, a strict regular park with the Small Palace "Caprice ”, pavilions and commemorative columns, the famous Theater covered with old trees of the landscape park with the scenery of the famous artist P. Gonzaga preserved in it, the tomb - “Colonnade” (1916, architect R. I. Klein) turned Arkhangelskoye into one of the most beautiful places suburbs.

The artistic appearance of the estate, which belonged to the princes Golitsyn until 1809 and then acquired “for fun, and not for profit” by the richest Russian nobleman, collector and patron of the arts, Prince N. B. Yusupov, was already determined in the 18th century; its heyday falls on the first third of the 19th century. The process of building and decorating the estate was carried out thanks to the talent of the architects de Gerne, Trombaro, Pettondi, Gonzaga, Beauvais, Tyurin and the high professionalism of the serf masters.

The estate constantly attracted the attention of contemporaries. AT different time it was visited by outstanding figures of Russian culture: historian and writer N.M. Karamzin, poets A.S. Pushkin and P.A. Vyazemsky, writers A.I. Herzen and N.P. Ogarev, artists V.A. N. Benois, K. E. Makovsky, K. A. Korovin, musicians K. N. Igumnov and I. F. Stravinsky. The Arkhangelskoye estate and members of the Russian imperial family did not ignore. Alexander I and Nicholas I, Alexander II and Alexander III have repeatedly visited here. There is also a temple-monument to Catherine II. Arkhangelskoye is especially valuable for its famous collections. The imagination of the guests of the estate was struck by the collections presented here: works by outstanding painters of the 17th - 1st half. XIX centuries .. (A. Van Dyck, D.B. Tiepolo, F. Boucher, J. Robert, P.A. Rotari and others), an extensive collection of objects of decorative and applied art, among which a special place is at the porcelain and crystal factories of the book. Yusupov in the village of Arkhangelskoye, a rare collection of sculpture (7th century BC - early 20th century) and a unique manor library that has survived to this day (more than 16 thousand volumes of Russian and Western European authors).

All enlightened people know about Arkhangelsk, but few even those who were interested in the Yusupov dynasty know about the Spasskoye-Kotovo estate near Moscow, about its role in the life of Nikolai Borisovich. The oblivion of this place is all the more strange because this one of the most famous princes of the family is buried there.

Under Nikolai Yusupov, at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries, the Spasskoe-Kotovo estate experienced an unprecedented flourishing: a regular layout was created there with "pre-shpekt" alleys, orchards, dug ponds. A brick factory was built in the village. In the refusal books for 1799 it is written: “In the village of Spasskoye, Kotovo, too, the stone church of the Savior of the Image Not Made by Hands with a chapel of the Vladimir Mother of God, a wooden house with wooden services. Legular garden with ranzherei, with fruitful trees, four ponds, brick factories.

In his youth, Prince Nicholas traveled a lot and was received by many of the then rulers of Europe. It is known that Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov had a short friendship not only with statesmen but also with people of art.

Relations with the outstanding, world-famous Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837) deserve special attention. When the poet was still a child, the Pushkin family lived for some time in the Yusupovs' house, in Kharitonevsky Lane. Alexander Pushkin was the same age as Nikolai Yusupov's son, Boris. About Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, Alexander Sergeevich still had childhood impressions. As a young man, Pushkin visited Arkhangelsk more than once. The ambitious owner even erected a monument to the great poet in this estate, made by an unknown sculptor.

Many people know the ode of A. S. Pushkin "To the nobleman", written by him in 1830, dedicated to N. B. Yusupov. In it, he creates the appearance of two eras that have replaced each other, gives a description of the lifestyle of the nobleman, Yusupov, who traveled the whole world. In all historical and linguistic references it appears that the first part of the poem is written about Arkhangelsk:

Freeing the world from the northern shackles,
Only on the fields, flowing, marshmallow dies,
As soon as the first linden turns green,
To you, friendly descendant of Aristipus,
I come to you; see this palace
Where is the architect's compass, palette and chisel
Your learned whim was obeyed
And inspired in magic competed.

Yes, it is written about Arkhangelsk, but not in Arkhangelsk. The linguistic certificate says: "In one of the estates near Moscow."
Lime alleys. Kotovo.

In the year the poem was written, Arkhangelsk was rebuilt after a huge fire. Nikolai Borisovich himself lived out his last years in Spasskoye, where he was buried. So it’s not Kotovsky lindens that turn green in the first lines of Pushkin’s message “To the nobleman”?

In the book of A. S. Pushkin “Refutation of Criticism” there are such lines: “Returning from under Arzrum, I wrote a message to Prince Yusupov. In the light, it was immediately noticed, and they were ... dissatisfied with me. Secular people have high degree this kind of flair. This made the nobleman call me for dinner on Thursdays ... ”(1830). At this time, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov lives in Spasskoye-Kotovo. Perhaps it was here that Pushkin visited on Thursdays! It is a pity that this fact is forgotten and is not considered historically valuable.

In 1831, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov died and was buried behind the altar of the northern aisle of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov

A chapel-tomb was built over his grave. It closely adjoined the apse of the northern aisle.

The heir to the untold wealth of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was his only son, Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov (1794 - 1849). He was a less emotional person and less in love with art. He no longer lived in Arkhangelskoye, but, while in Moscow, he stayed in Spasskoye. He began to transport the artistic values ​​​​of Arkhangelsky to his St. Petersburg possessions, until the Emperor found out about this and forbade him to "rob himself."

Boris Yusupov took up further transformations of the village of Spasskoe-Kotovo. Under him, a project was created for a new chapel in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The aisle will be built on the site of the broken southern part of the bypass gallery, symmetrically to the northern Vladimir aisle, but it will be consecrated after the death of Boris Nikolaevich - in 1853. In addition, Boris Yusupov began the construction of a wooden almshouse in the name of the Holy Martyr Tatyana for seven cells "for the care of his courtyard people", the completion of which, apparently due to his death, dragged on until 1859.

Prince Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov, real state councilor, chamberlain, is buried in the crypt of the Church of the Savior. An inscription written by him during his lifetime is carved on his tomb: “Here lies a Russian nobleman, Prince Boris, Prince Nikolaev, son of Yusupov. Born 1794, July 9th. Attributed: "He died on October 25, 1849." Written at the bottom in French was his favorite saying: "Honor above all things."

Prince Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov was married twice. The first time was with Princess Praskovya Pavlovna Shcherbatova (1795-1820), with whom they had no children in common. She rests at the left kliros in the quadrangle of the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

The second time the prince was married to Zinaida Ivanovna Naryshkina, from whom he had a son, Nikolai (1831-1891), who became master of ceremonies and chamberlain of the Imperial Court, the last hereditary prince in the male line of the Yusupov princes. By special order of the tsar, he was allowed to transfer his title to his daughter, Zinaida Nikolaevna, so that the well-known princely surname would not sink into the ages.

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova She married a descendant of the Prussian kings, Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston, who took the title and became Prince Yusupov. They owned Arkhangelsk and Spassky until 1917. From this marriage two sons were born: Nicholas and Felix. In 1908, Nikolai was killed in a duel, and Felix Felixovich Prince Yusupov Count Sumarokov-Elston (1887-1967) remains the only heir in the Yusupov family. Now the princely title and surname of the Yusupovs could only pass to the eldest in the family from his descendants.

In 1917, Felix Feliksovich emigrated to France and never returned to Russia. Felix Yusupov married Princess Irina (1887-1970), daughter of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, niece of Nicholas II. From their marriage, a daughter, Irina (1915-1983), was born, in the marriage of Sheremetyev. Her daughter Xenia (born in 1942, married Sfiri) and granddaughter Tatyana (born in 1968) live in Greece.

based on http://www.spas-neru.orthodoxy.ru

The history of the Yusupov family

According to documents, the biography of the princely family is rooted in the Baghdad caliphate of the 10th century, where the ancestors of the Yusupovs were emirs, sultans, supreme dignitaries and military leaders. In the XII century, the descendants of one of the powerful branches of this family moved to the shores of the Azov and Caspian Seas. Two centuries later, their descendant, the brave commander of Timur Edigei, founded the Nogai Horde. In the middle of the 16th century, under his great-great-grandson Khan Yusuf, the Nogai Horde reached its peak. Two sons of Yusuf appeared in Moscow in 1563 at the court of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In 1681, the great-grandson of Khan Yusuf received Orthodox baptism with the name Dmitry.

During the Streltsy rebellion of 1682, Prince Dmitry Yusupov led a military detachment of Tatars to the Trinity Lavra to protect the infant tsars John and Peter Alekseevich, for which he was granted lands in the Romanovsky district (now Yaroslavl region) into hereditary possession.

His son Gregory became an associate of Peter the Great and a brave warrior who participated in all Peter's battles. For military prowess and special merits, Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov received huge land holdings in the fertile provinces of Russia. The service to the imperial throne was continued by his son Boris Grigoryevich and grandson Nikolai Borisovich - the eldest.

() was sent by Peter I to France to study. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, he was appointed Moscow Governor-General, then Chief Director of the Ladoga Canal. Under Elizaveta Petrovna, he received the rank of real privy councilor and the post of president of the commerce college, for 9 years he headed the first land gentry cadet corps in Russia.

His son - Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov () - became one of the most prominent characters in the history of the Russian Empire in the period from Catherine the Great to Nicholas I.

He spent a decade and a half in Europe, traveling for educational purposes. At Leiden University, Prince Yusupov is taking a course in law, philosophy and history. In The Hague he meets Diderot, in London he meets Beaumarchais. In Paris, the 25-year-old Russian aristocrat is presented to the Court of Louis XVI and visits Voltaire himself.

Russian public service he is the director of the Imperial Hermitage, the director of the Imperial theatres, the glass and porcelain factories, the tapestry manufactory, since 1823 Prince Yusupov has been a member of the State Council. An unprecedented fact in the history of the Russian Empire is associated with his name: as the supreme marshal of the coronation, Yusupov three times for 29 years led the coronation ceremony of three monarchs - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. In 1830 he was granted by Emperor Nicholas I the rarest distinction - epaulette studded with pearls and diamonds.

The prince's wife was Tatyana Vasilievna, nee Engelhardt. She remained in the memory of her contemporaries as an intelligent and hospitable hostess of an exquisite salon. Her chosen circle of friends included Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Krylov, Pushkin.

The representative of the next generation, Prince Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov () purchased a house on the embankment of the Moika River in 1830. During the seven years of perestroika, the mansion turned into a vast luxurious palace. transports to the new St. Petersburg house an invaluable art collection of paintings, marble, porcelain, collected by his father, the eldest.

The wife of Boris Nikolaevich, Princess Zinaida Ivanovna (), nee Naryshkina, who was called a "star of the first magnitude" by her contemporaries, became the wonderful mistress of the palace on the Moika. Among her enthusiastic admirers were crowned persons - the Russian Emperor Nicholas I and the French Emperor Napoleon III.

The son of Zinaida Ivanovna, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (), referred to in the genealogy as the "junior" (in contrast to the legendary grandfather), became the full owner of the palace in the mid-1850s.

Having received his education at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, Yusupov Jr. began his career in the office of Emperor Nicholas I, to whom he was brought up as a godson. This was followed by a long stay in Europe, where he carried out the diplomatic missions of the Sovereign. Upon returning to Yusupov, the younger married Countess Tatiana Ribopierre. The Yusupovs had beautiful daughters Zinaida and Tatyana.

Nikolai Borisovich made a brilliant court and civil career. He devoted his free time to music and composition, having an outstanding talent in this area of ​​art. was an honorary member of the Paris Conservatory, the Roman Academy of Music, the Munich Art Society, sent a lot of money to charity and patronage, especially after the death of his wife and youngest daughter Tatyana.

The daughter of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr. Zinaida () with her rare beauty and high spiritual qualities stood out from the galaxy of famous beauties of the noble class.

Zinaida Nikolaevna was extremely generously gifted both by nature and fate. Representatives of the noblest families of Europe wooed the heiress of the fantastic wealth of their ancestors. The chosen one was Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, in whose veins, according to family legend, the blood of Field Marshal Kutuzov and the Prussian King Frederick William IV flowed. Having married in 1882 Princess Zinaida Yusupova, who became the only representative of the family after the death of her father, he received permission from the Emperor for himself and his wife to be called Princes Yusupov Counts Sumarokov-Elston.

By the beginning of the 20th century, while remaining the largest landowners in Russia, the Yusupovs became successful industrialists. They own brick, sawmills, textile and cardboard factories, mines. Among the wealth of the family, art collections of unheard-of value and palaces of unprecedented beauty stood out - Moscow in Kharitonevsky lane, near Moscow in Arkhangelsk, Korean in the Crimea and St. Petersburg on the Moika. Understanding the historical and artistic value of their treasures, the Prince and Princess Yusupovs in 1900 made a will, in which they wrote: “in the event of a sudden cessation of our kind, all our movable and immovable property, consisting in collections of fine arts, rarities and jewelry .. ... bequeathed to the property of the state ... ". Fortunately, the oldest family did not die out, although the family suffered a sad loss. At the age of 25, Nikolai, the eldest son of the Yusupovs, died in a duel.

The fate of the youngest son Felix (), his actions, shocking the generally accepted secular rules, his reputation as a frivolous rake, Zinaida Nikolaevna was very worried. The desire of the son to settle down and marry was received by the parents with great joy. Princess imperial blood Irina Alexandrovna was a brilliant match for a descendant of the ancient and noble family of the Yusupovs. The parents of the newlywed - the grandson of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and daughter Alexander III Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna contributed to the conclusion of this marriage. On March 21, 1915, Irina Feliksovna Yusupova was born in an old St. Petersburg house on the Moika. The godparents of the girl were Emperor Nicholas II and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The newborn princess became the last offspring of the Yusupov family, who was born on Russian soil.

After the murder of the royal favorite, Gregory was sent into exile to his estate Rakitnoye in the Kursk province (now Belgorod). At the end of March 1917, the family returned to Petrograd and, soon, both the Yusupovs, the eldest and the young, left the anxious capital to find refuge in their Crimean estates.

In the spring of 1919, the Red troops approached the Crimea. On April 13, 1919, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and her relatives, among whom were the Yusupovs - Irina, Felix, their four-year-old daughter, Zinaida Nikolaevna, Felix Feliksovich - Sr., left their homeland. Long years of exile began, as Felix Yusupov would later write, "the vicissitudes and torments of our life in a foreign land."

Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich - the elder settled in Rome. Irina and Felix Yusupov first settled in London, two years later they moved to Paris, buying a small house in the Boulogne-sur-Seine area. The acquisition turned out to be part of the once vast possession of the magnificent Zinaida Ivanovna Princess Yusupova, Felix's great-grandmother.

In 1928, Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, Sr., died. He was buried in Rome. Zinaida Nikolaevna moved to her son in Paris. In 1938, the daughter of Felix and Irina married Count Nikolai Sheremetev. The young settled in Rome, where Nikolai's parents lived. There, in 1942, their daughter Xenia was born.

In 1941, the Yusupovs bought a modest house on Rue Pierre Guerin in central Paris. Here they arranged for themselves a small cozy dwelling, which is still owned by their granddaughter Ksenia.

In the early 1950s Felix Yusupov took up writing memoirs. His first book, The End of Rasputin, was published as early as 1927. Now he has written two volumes, Before the Exile. and "In Exile". Neither Zinaida Nikolaevna, nor Felix Feliksovich and Irina Alexandrovna, nor their daughter Irina survived until the end of the exile. All of them found rest in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

Granddaughter Ksenia first visited the homeland of her ancestors in 1991. In 2000, by presidential decree Russian Federation Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sheremeteva, in the marriage of Sfiri, in response to her request, was granted Russian citizenship. In 2005, Felix's great-granddaughter Tatiana also visited the palace.

The Yusupov family is very ancient. Its history goes back to the Muslim Middle Ages, to the Baghdad Caliphate of the 10th century. This is evidenced not only by family traditions, but also by the ancient family document “The family tree of the Yusupov princes from Abubekir”. The chronicle is dated 1602 and is kept in the Russian state archive ancient acts in Moscow. The text is illegible, with losses. Perhaps that is why many historians called the legendary Abu Bakr (Abubekir) (572-634), a friend and father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, who was elected the first caliph of the Islamic state after his death, as the ancestor of the Yusupovs.

However, in 1866-67. prince N.B. Yusupov Jr. amended this version. ATIn his historical work “On the family of the Yusupov princes,” he wrote that his ancestor was the father-in-law of the same name Mohammed three centuries later, Abubekir ben Raiok, who also ruled over all Muslims. Caliph al-Radi bi-l-lah (934-940) granted his supreme commander all power in the spiritual and temporal sense, as well as the right to dispose of the treasury. The governor of Babylonia and the ancestor of the Yusupovs were treacherously killed while sleeping in 942.

family tree of the genus Yusupov

Twelve generations of Abu Bakr's descendants lived in the Middle East. They were sultans, emirs, caliphs throughout the space from Egypt to India.

One of them, the third son of Sultan Babatyukles, who ruled in Mecca, is Termes, in the 12th century. went with people devoted to him to the north and settled between the Don and the Volga, and then between the Volga and the Urals.

His offspring is legendary Edigey (1340s-1419), ally of Tamerlane and murderer of Tokhtamysh, founded at the beginning of the 15th century. Nogai Horde. The great-great-grandson of Edigei, Khan Yusuf (1480s-1555) lived for 20 years and corresponded with Ivan the Terrible. Under him, the Nogai Horde reached the peak of its power, the "Tsar of All Russia" recognized its sovereignty and regularly bought hardy steppe horses from the Nogais - the main wealth of the nomads. However, having conquered Kazan, Ivan the Terrible captured the queen of the Kazan kingdom Syuyumbeka, the daughter of Khan Yusuf. Angry, the ruler of the Nogai Horde wanted to terminate the peace treaty with Russia. Yusuf's brother, Ishmael, prevented this. He killed the Khan, and Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov-Knyazhevo (? -1694) (Abdul-Murza), the great-grandson of the Nogai Khan Yusuf, who converted to Orthodoxy in 1681, sent his two sons, Il-Murza and Ibragim-Murza, to Moscow as a guarantee peace.

John IV granted the descendants of Yusuf many villages and villages in the Romanov district (now the Tutaevsky district of the Yaroslavl region). Thus began the service of the Yusupovs in Russia.

The grandson of Il-Murza Abdul-Murza fought for his new homeland with the Commonwealth, Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. Under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, he duringDuring the Great Lent, out of ignorance, he fed Patriarch Joachim, who had come to visit, with a goose. The patriarch praised the "fish", after which Abdul-Murza boasted of his cook, who can cook a goose "for fish". Joachim and the king, when they found out about what had happened, were terribly angry. Abdul-Murza thought hard for three days and decided to accept Orthodoxy. During the ceremony, he received the name Dmitry and the title "Prince" instead of the Tatar "Murza", was forgiven and saved from ruin.

On the same night, according to family tradition, the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream and cursed the Yusupov family for apostasy. According to the curse, from now on, in each generation, only one man had to live to the age of 26 years. And so it happened.

During the Streltsy rebellion of 1682, Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov led a detachment of warriors and Tatars to the Trinity Lavra to protect the infant tsars John and Peter Alekseevich, for which he was granted estates in the Romanovsky district in hereditary possession.

His son - Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730) - one of the closest associates of Peter I. A brave warrior, he fought for his emperor in many battles:Azov campaigns, the siege of Narva, the capture of the Nienschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva, the battle near the village of Lesnoy. Grigory Dmitrievich also participated in civil cases: he led the creation of a rowing flotilla in Nizhny Novgorod, controlled the supply and financial support of the Russian army, and conducted an investigation in the search commissions on abuses. When Peter I died, three people were the first to follow his coffin: His Serene Highness Prince A.D. Menshikov, Count F.M. Apraksin and Prince G.D. Yusupov.

Favored the prince and subsequent emperors. Catherine I awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. The grandson of Peter I - Peter II - granted Grigory Dmitrievich an old Moscow mansion in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky lane, elevated him to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment and approved him as a senator. Since 1727, Yusupov became a leading member of the Military Collegium, and shortly before his death, he was promoted to General-in-Chief by Empress Anna Ioannovna.

The largest land grants in the history of the family were made to Prince Grigory Dmitrievich. Under various rulers, he received estates in the Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Kursk, Kharkov, Voronezh and Yaroslavl provinces from the possessions of the disgraced princes Koltsov-Masalsky and Menshikov.

His son - Boris Grigorievich (1695-1759) - in 1717 among 20 Russian noblemensons was sent by Peter I to study in France - in the Toulon school of midshipmen. However, he did not inherit his father's warlike nature and preferred civilian service to military service. During the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, Boris Grigorievich was appointed Governor-General of Moscow (1740), and under Elizabeth Petrovna he received the status of a real privy councilor, served as chief director of the Ladoga Canal, president of the Commerce Collegium, director of Russia's first land gentry cadet corps - a privileged educational institution for noble children. In the performance of his service, Boris Grigorievich was noted for his initiative to connect the Ladoga Canal with the Volga and Oka, introduced improvements in the methods of production of Russian cloth at state-owned factories, and also contributed to the theatrical activities of students of the cadet corps. Among the latter then was A.P. Sumarokov, an outstanding playwright in the future. The stage experiences of noble children delighted Elizaveta Petrovna so much that in 1756 she issued a decree on the establishment of the first Russian public theater.

The son of Boris Grigorievich, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751-1831), was especially famous for his disposition to art, a brilliant nobleman of the “Golden AgeCatherine" and one of her many favorites, and perhaps for some time a lover. In any case, a picture hung in his office, in which he and Catherine II were depicted naked in the form of Apollo and Venus.

"The messenger of a young crowned wife," in Pushkin's words, was friends with Voltaire, Diderot and Beaumarchais. Beaumarchais dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. In Europe, Yusupov was received by all monarchs: Joseph II in Vienna, Frederick the Great in Berlin, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. The prince amassed a brilliant collection of Western European paintings and sculpture contemporary to him, comparable, according to the art critic and artist Alexander Benois, with similar departments of the Louvre and the Hermitage. He was in correspondence and friendship with the greatest masters of the French and Italian schools: J.-B. Grezom, J.-L. David, J. Vernet, G. Robert. The Russian aristocrat quickly earned a reputation as a "connoisseur of the arts." Catherine II took advantage of the prince's connections and entrusted him with the purchase of paintings for the recently created Hermitage, as well as the study of porcelain in Europe. Yusupov acquired the best works art for Russia and at the same time for himself. For example, in Italy, he convinced Pope Pius VI to give permission for the complete copying of the famous loggias of Raphael. Later, he moved copies to St. Petersburg.

Returning to Russia, the prince occupies a number of responsible government posts. At various times, he served as director of the Hermitage, imperial theaters, glass and porcelain factories, tapestry manufactory, president of the Manufactory College, minister of appanages, head of the Expedition of the Kremlin buildings and the Armory. Since 1823 N.B. Yusupov is a member of the State Council. The only one in history, he was the supreme marshal at the coronation of three Russian emperors - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. When this nobleman received all conceivable posts and awards, a precious pearl epaulette was established especially for him.

Having married a relative of the Most Serene Prince Grigory Potemkin, the prince leaves her and the children in St. Petersburg, and he himself moves to Moscow. Not the last role in the tripplayed the famous womanly dignitary. This feature was noted by many contemporaries. In his estate hung 300 portraits of women, whose favor he enjoyed. All of Moscow was full of stories about the love affairs of the elderly prince. In addition to cohabitation with many of his serf actresses, Yusupov had another house opposite the palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky, surrounded by a high stone wall, where a seraglio with 15-20 of his most pretty courtyard girls was located. In addition, the prince openly supported the famous dancer Voronina-Ivanova, to whom he presented rare diamonds as a benefit performance.

Having moved to Moscow, Yusupov buys the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow from Prince Golitsyn and completes the creation of the “Russian Versailles” begun by the former owner. He transports here his huge collection of works of art, lays out a park, builds new buildings. The life of Nikolai Borisovich in his old age was a typical example of the life of a brilliant nobleman of Catherine's times. “Surrounded by marble, painted and lively beauty,” according to Herzen, “the old skeptic and epicurean Yusupov ... magnificently went out for 80 years ...” A fish with golden earrings at the gills swam in the fountains of Arkhangelsk, and a hand-held eagle flew up to the spire after a certain period of time . It was rumored that Prince Yusupov, while in Paris, took the elixir of eternal youth, because he did not seem to age. At the age of 80, Nikolai Borisovich had an 18-year-old mistress from a serf theater troupe. The sybarite nobleman went into debt to maintain his pleasures and died quite suddenly from a cholera epidemic. Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, having visited Arkhangelsk, left the following characterization of Yusupov: “On the street his eternal holiday, in the house an eternal triumph of celebrations ... Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating.”

His son - Boris Nikolaevich (1794-1849) - is the complete opposite of his father.He was distinguished by remarkable practical acumen, and showed indifference to the arts. The new owner of Arkhangelsk disbanded the theater troupe, rented out the porcelain factory and buildings, and moved the collection of paintings to St. Petersburg to the newly acquired mansion at 94 Moika Street. Herzen complained that the estate near Moscow was turning from "a beautiful flower into a garden plant." True, a garden plant, for all its non-aesthetics, brings practical benefits, unlike a beautiful flower. The “art connoisseur” Nikolai Borisovich left to his descendants not only “483 paintings and 21 marble statues”, but also almost two and a half million different debts, and the richest of the Yusupov estates were unprofitable by the time of his death. Having entered into inheritance rights, Boris Nikolayevich became the owner of about 250 thousand acres of land and over 40 thousand peasants. A straightforward, sincere, patriotic, religious, active and very practical man, he gave his yard boys to study crafts, not literacy, took care of their religious education, and considered learning dances and music superfluous. Under him, the profitability of Yusupov estates increased sharply.

The wife of Boris Nikolaevich, nee Naryshkina, was a very beautiful lady. 15 years younger than her husband, she led a secular salon life, and after his death she leftmarried a young French nobleman, accepted a new citizenship and settled in her own mansion in the middle of the royal park in Boulogne.

The son of Prince Boris, Nikolai, named after the legendary grandfather, is the last representative of the Yusupov family in the male line. Having been educated at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, he made a good court career - he was promoted to actual state councilors and granted to the chamberlains of the highest court. All free time the prince devoted himself to his various hobbies. The artistically gifted and subtle nature of Nikolai Borisovich Jr. combined a passion for collecting, music, history and philosophy. The prince was a member of the Paris Conservatory, the Roman Academy of Music, and the Munich Art Society. In 1866-67. he published a two-volume historical work "On the family of the Yusupov princes." N.B. died. Yusupov Jr. in 1891 abroad, where he spent a considerable part of his life, carrying out diplomatic missions of the court.

The health of the last Yusupov, like the health of his wife, Tatyana Alexandrovna, nee Ribopierre, was rather fragile, in addition, the spouses were brought to each other by cousins. They had two beautiful daughters. The youngest, Tatyana, died of typhus at the age of 22. In the light, it was rumored that from that time on, the Yusupov family curse extended to the female half.

Seven years before his death, N.B. Yusupov Jr. petitioned the highest name for permission to transfer his name, title and coat of arms to his son-in-law - the husband of his eldest daughter. The chosen one of Zinaida Nikolaevna (1861-1939) was Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, a cornet of the Cavalry Guards Regiment and, according to rumor, a descendant of M.I. Kutuzov and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The count, a tall, stately brunette with an energetic gait, belonged to the highest military aristocracy: from 1911 he was the general of His Majesty's retinue, in 1914 he was appointed chief of the Moscow military district and governor-general of Moscow. Zinaida Nikolaevna chose him solely at the call of her heart, because at one time representatives of the most noble families of Europe, not excluding the reigning families, for example, two French infantes or the Bulgarian Crown Prince Batenberg, wooed her. At the end of the XIX century. The Yusupovs owned fabulous wealth and one of the largest landed estates in the country. In terms of capital, they occupied one of the first places in the empire; in 1900, the value of their real estate was 21.3 million rubles.

The more significant is the step taken by the Yusupovs in 1900. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich bequeathed all the artistic values ​​​​of the family in the event of its sudden termination in favor of the state. These are extensive collections of art and jewelry, palaces in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Arkhangelsk, as well as a number of estates in Central Russia.

A large role in making this decision belonged to Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna.A beauty, a subtle spiritual woman, she possessed exceptional spiritual qualities which was recognized by many contemporaries. During her reign, all the Yusupov estates were restored. Arkhangelskoe came back to life again, grand dukes began to visit there, and, as in the old days, famous artists and cultural figures used to visit here. The Moscow Palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky underwent artistic restoration and came to life after a long break. In 1912, at the expense of the family, the Roman Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts named after Emperor Alexander III in Moscow (now the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) was created. The artist Valentin Alexandrovich Serov, who painted only people he liked, created portraits of the Yusupovs and their two sons. He repeatedly visited Arkhangelsk and left the following opinion about Zinaida Nikolaevna: "a glorious princess ... there is something subtle, good in her ... she generally understands."

The fate of her children was dramatic and even tragic. The eldest son - Nikolai -
versatile gifted young man, as if once again confirming the family
the legend of the curse , was killed in a duel over a woman aged 25. During a duel with Count Meineifel, Nikolai deliberately fired twice into the air. As a sign of this tragic event, the Yusupovs order the architect Klein, the author of the Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka, a tomb church in Arkhangelskoye. The building has 26 pairs of columns - the fatal number of the genus.

The fate of the youngest son - Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston Jr. (1887-1967) - is full of ups and downs. A handsome man and a master of outrageousness, a reveler and a frivolous rake, he was one of the main scandalous heroes of secular bohemia prewar years. In 1914, Felix married the fragile princess of imperial blood "with a cameo profile" Irina Alexandrovna. For the young, a mansion in St. Petersburg was being completed, and soon a girl was born to them - Princess Irina Feliksovna. Further developments more like an action-packed detective story.

In November 1916, Felix Yusupov organizes the assassination of the royal favorite GrigoryRasputin. In addition to him, the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, the famous politician V. Purishkevich, the front-line lieutenant A. Sukhotin and the military doctor S. Lazovert are participating in the conspiracy. Yusupov, under some pretext, brings the "old man" to the mansion on the Moika, after which he feeds him cakes with potassium cyanide. The murder turned out to be very bloody and difficult, as if marking the near future of the country. Rasputin does not die for a long time - he is repeatedly shot, beaten, and eventually thrown into the icy river. The Empress is furious - she demands the execution of Felix. But Nicholas II exiles him to the Rakitnoye estate in the Kursk province, where the mother and wife of the young prince immediately arrive. Here they learned about the February Revolution and the abdication of the sovereign.

Until the spring of 1919, the whole family lived in the Crimean estate of the Romanovs, Ai-Todor. Earlier on the peninsula, the Yusupovs owned a palace in Koreiz near Yalta, as well as an estate in Kokkozy. Now the Bolsheviks are in charge there - the time of the "Red Terror" has come. The situation is very unstable and resembles anarchy. Felix visits Petrograd and Moscow several times to hide part of the wealth. Together with the butler Grigory Buzhinsky, he makes several hiding places in the palaces on the Moika and Bolshoi Kharitonevsky. The Yusupovs hope to return. After the Bolsheviks tortured Buzhinsky, and all the treasures were found and expropriated. And in 1919, returning to the Crimea, Felix took out two of the best portraits by Rembrandt from his collection.

In April 1919, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna and her relatives, including the Yusupovs, left Russia. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich Sr. settled in Rome. Irina and Felix Yusupov settled first in London, then moved to Paris, buying a small house in Boulogne-sur-Seine.

Felix Feliksovich Sr. died in 1928. His wife moved to his son in Paris. The well-known fashion salon IRFE gathered in Felix's house, here one could meet Kuprin, Bunin, Teffi, Vertinsky and many others. The owner of the salon, a tall, slender man "with an iconic face of Byzantine writing," was known as "the man who killed Rasputin." Rich American women did everything possible to get to know him. The prince himself missed Russia and wrote memoirs that ended up in Hollywood and became the basis for the film.

Since the late 1930s Yusupov repeatedly received Nazi offers of cooperation, which he rejected. They retaliated by not returning the wealth stored in the Berlin banks. After the war, the Yusupovs finally went bankrupt.

In 1967, at the age of 80, Felix Yusupov died in Paris. A few months before his death, he adopted an 18-year-old Mexican, Victor Contreras, who later became a famous sculptor and painter.

The daughter of Felix and Irina, the younger Irina, married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev. The newlyweds settled in Rome, where in 1942 their daughter Xenia was born. It was she who, after more than 70 years of emigration, managed to set foot on Russian soil. In the spring of 1991, she stepped over the threshold of the palace on the Moika, where five generations of her ancestors lived. Three years later, Princess Xenia attended the funeral liturgy in a dilapidated family church in the village of Spasskoye near Moscow - five burials of the Yusupovs were preserved here. The same number of graves of an ancient family are located in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the vicinity of Paris.

In 2000, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sheremeteva, married to Sfiri, in response to her request, Russian citizenship was granted. In 2004, in the family of Tatyana, the only daughter of the princess, the first-born was born - the girl Marilya. The ancient line continues.

At the very end of the 19th century, Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova commissioned a painting from the increasingly popular artist Serov. More precisely, paintings, since she needed portraits of all members of her family.

Valentin Alexandrovich was famous for the fact that he extremely disliked writing "the rich, famous and swaggering", but he liked the princess and her family. The artist gallantly remarked that if all rich people were the same, then there would be no injustice and misfortune in the world. The princess sadly replied that not everything in life is measured by money. Alas, the history of the Yusupov family was so complex and tragic that it had every reason to be sad.

Origin of the genus

The origin of the family was very ancient. Even at the end of the 19th century, when among the highest nobility of the Russian Empire there were more and more people from the environment of wealthy merchants and manufacturers, the Yusupovs remained not only rich, but also honored their family, knew a lot about their ancient roots. In those years, not everyone could boast of this.

So, the history of the Yusupov family begins with Khan - Yusuf-Murza. He, knowing full well about the glory of Ivan IV the Terrible, did not at all want to quarrel with the Russians. Desiring reconciliation with the formidable sovereign, he sent his sons to his court. Ivan appreciated this behavior: the heirs of Yusuf were not only showered with villages and rich gifts, but also became "forever masters of all Tatars in the Russian land." So they found a new homeland.

So the Yusupovs (princes) appeared. The history of Russian births has been replenished with another glorious page. The progenitor of the family himself ended badly.

Khan knew perfectly well that in distant and alien Muscovy his sons would be much better off. Only they managed to cross the limits of their former state how their father was treacherously stabbed to death by his own brother. The history of the Yusupov family says that the tribesmen were so furious at the news that the sons of the murdered khan had converted to Orthodoxy that they asked one of the most powerful steppe sorceresses to put a curse on their entire family. It was terrible.

Curse of the Kind

The Yusupovs themselves passed on the words of the curse from generation to generation: “And let only one of the family live up to 26 years old. And so be it, until the whole race is rooted out.” Superstitions are superstitions, but the words of such an ornate spell came true without fail. No matter how many women from this family gave birth to children, only one of them always lived to the ill-fated 26 years and more advanced age.

However, modern historians say that the family must have had some kind of genetic disease. The fact is that the “family curse of the Yusupov princes” did not begin to manifest itself immediately, no matter what the legend says. One child began to survive only after Boris Grigorievich (1696-1759). Until then, there is no information about the small number of surviving heirs, which suggests a hereditary disease. This suspicion is confirmed by the fact that everything was much better with girls in the family - they lived to adulthood much more often.

Since then, each head of the family had only one son. Because of this, throughout the XVIII-XIX centuries, the family was actually on the verge of complete extinction. However, this sad circumstance also had its positive side: unlike all other princely families, which late XIX centuries, for the most part, completely squandered their fortunes, the Yusupovs had more than everything in order with money.

Family well-being

However, problems with the gene pool did not affect material well-being. By the revolution, the Yusupov family was only a little "poorer" than the Romanovs themselves. Although the history of the Yusupov family transparently hints that in fact the family was much richer than the imperial family.

Only according to official information, the distant descendants of Yusuf owned more than 250 thousand acres of land, they also owned hundreds of factories, mines, roads and other profitable places. Every year, the profit from all this exceeded 15 million (!) Gold rubles, which, in terms of modern money, exceeds 13 billion rubles annually.

The luxury of the palaces that belonged to them aroused envy even among families whose ancestors came from the time of Rurik. So, in the St. Petersburg estate, many rooms were furnished with furniture that previously belonged to the executed Marie Antoinette. Among their property were such paintings that even the Hermitage collection would consider it an honor to get them into its collection.

In the caskets of women from the Yusupov family, jewelry, previously collected all over the world, lay casually. Their value was incredible. For example, the "modest" pearl "Pelegrin", with which Zinaida Nikolaevna can be seen in all the paintings, was once an accessory to the famous Spanish crown and was a favorite decoration of Philip II himself.

However, everyone considered their family happy, but the Yusupovs themselves were not happy about this. The history of the family has never been distinguished by an abundance of happy days.

Countess de Chauveau

The grandmother of Zinaida Nikolaevna, Countess de Chauveau, probably lived through the most happy life(compared to other women in the family). She came from an ancient and noble family of the Naryshkins. Zinaida Ivanovna was married off to Boris Nikolaevich Yusupov at a very young age.

She gave birth to her mature husband, first a son, and then a daughter, who died in childbirth. Only later did she find out that all the Yusupovs faced this. The history of the family impressed the young girl so much that she flatly refused to give birth: “I don’t want to produce dead people.”

About the hardships of family life

She immediately declared to her husband that he was free to run after all the yard girls, she would not force him to. So they lived until 1849, until the old prince died. The princess at that time was not even forty years old, and therefore she, as it is now customary to say, "indulged in all serious things." In those years, gossip about her adventures was transmitted throughout the empire, to say nothing of St. Petersburg!

But the most scandalous episode in her biography was a passionate passion for one young Narodnaya Volya. When he was imprisoned in her, she abandoned all the balls and masquerades, by hook or by crook trying to soften the prison regime for her lover.

new husband

In those years, and for lesser sins, one could fly out of high society, but Zinaida Ivanovna was pitied: after all, the Yusupovs! The incredible story had its continuation, but for a long time it was believed that the princess's whims were over. Her revelry suddenly stopped, the woman lived a complete recluse for a long time. Then she meets a handsome, well-born, but completely ruined Frenchman, falls in love and leaves Russia forever. She abandoned the "cursed surname" and became the Comtesse de Chauveau, Marquise de Serres.

strange find

Everyone forgot about this strange and stupid story, but then a revolution broke out. The Bolsheviks were well aware of the wealth of the family, since the curse of the family of the princes Yusupov, even in Moscow, was on everyone's lips. They assumed that the "crazy potbelly woman" could well hide her jewelry somewhere in her former home on Liteiny Prospekt, and therefore all its premises literally rattled by the millimeter. An absolutely incredible find awaited them: they discovered a secret room, the door to which was walled up.

There was a coffin in the room, in which the embalmed body rested. young man. We can safely assume that the clue to the missing Narodnaya Volya has been found. Most likely, the countess could not get a review of the sentence, and therefore went on a spree. Only by ransoming the body of her executed lover did she manage to calm down.

Zinaida Ivanovna, as we have already said, had an only son. Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov himself had three children at once. The eldest was the son Boris. There were two daughters - Zinaida and Tatyana. No one was surprised that Boris died at an early age from scarlet fever. Parents were consoled only by the fact that their daughters grew up beautiful and were completely healthy. It was only in 1878 that misfortune befell Zinaida.

New trouble

The family lived in their Arkhangelsk estate in the autumn of that year. Nikolai Borisovich, being constantly busy in the service, came home rarely and not for long. Tatyana preferred to read, and Zinaida loved to take long horseback rides. One day she hurt her leg. The wound was tiny and did not seem to pose any danger, but by evening the girl had a fever.

Dr. Botkin, hastily called to the estate, made a disappointing diagnosis. Blood poisoning in those days ended only in death. By morning, Zinaida's temperature did not subside, she fell into unconsciousness. It seemed that the family of the Yusupov princes would soon suffer another loss.

John of Kronstadt: a phenomenon

Subsequently, Zinaida recalled that in that strange and unsteady state that separated reality from dreams, she dreamed of St. John of Kronstadt, with whom her family had long been friends. When she suddenly regained consciousness, the elder was urgently summoned to the estate. He prayed for her, and the girl quickly recovered. That's just the sad story of the princely family of the Yusupovs did not end there. At 22, Tatyana died of measles.

procreation

It is not surprising that the old prince passionately desired the marriage of his daughter. Zinaida Nikolaevna then recalled that her father, who by that time had become ill a lot, was very afraid not to live to see the appearance of his grandchildren.

Soon a candidate was found. Young Yusupova was betrothed by the Bulgarian prince Battenberg, who was a direct relative of the imperial couple. In the retinue of the prince was a modest young man Felix Elston, whose duties included introducing the future bride to the groom. And then thunder struck. Felix and Zinaida fell in love literally at first sight, and the feelings were mutual. Soon the young people got married.

Nikolai Borisovich at first almost fainted from such an extravagant decision of his daughter, but he did not dare to argue with his only heiress. Just a year later, the young couple had their first child, who was named Nikolai in honor of his grandfather.

New upheavals

The boy was very reserved and unsociable, the princess tried all her life to bring him closer to her, but did not achieve much success. On Christmas Day 1887, a little boy said to his mother with icy calm, "I don't want you to have other children." It soon turned out that one of the nannies told him that the Yusupovs were a cursed family. The stupid woman was immediately fired. Zinaida, who by that time was expecting the birth of her second child, thought with fear how his older brother would meet him.

At first, everything indicated that the boy hated his younger brother Felix. Only when he was ten years old did they begin to communicate normally. But all contemporaries noted that the relationship between the two young princes was just like a strong friendship, but not brotherly love. So the history of the Yusupov family continued. The discussion of the terrible curse that hung over their family gradually faded away. But then came 1908.

The death of Nicholas

Nikolai fell madly in love with Maria Heiden, who was soon to marry Arvid Manteuffel, and the wedding took place, as the young loved each other.

Despite the desperate exhortations of all his friends, the offended Nikolai followed them on their honeymoon. The duel was only a matter of time. It took place on June 22, 1908. Nikolai died six months before his twenty-sixth birthday. Parents almost went crazy with grief, and from now on all their thoughts were directed to young Felix. Unfortunately, the obvious happened: the spoiled boy became a "spoiled cherub", greedy and capricious.

However, the trouble was not in this, but in his exceptional extravagance. When the family sailed from blazing Russia in 1919, they had more than enough money. For just a couple of “small and faded” diamonds, Felix bought French passports for all his household members, they bought a house in the Bois de Boulogne. Alas, the prince did not give up the free life he led in his homeland. As a result, his wife and daughter Irina were buried right in the grave of Zinaida Nikolaevna. There was no money for the funeral. The lineage was completely broken.