Romanov Dmitry Konstantinovich (June 1, 1860, Strelna, near St. Petersburg - January 28, 1919, Petrograd), Grand Duke, His Imperial Highness, third son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, grandson of Nicholas I. Chief of the 16th Mingrelian Grenadier Regiment named after himself, aide-de-camp to His Imperial Majesty. He served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment until 1893, when, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed commander of the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. Knight of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class; Star of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. The youngest son of Konstantin Nikolaevich and Alexandra Iosifovna, like all Konstantinovichs, was tall and thin. He got very good education, was well versed in classical literature, took part in home performances; took violin lessons (his music teacher was E.K. Albrecht). Many found in him extraordinary acting abilities. He never married and was known as an ardent misogynist. He transferred his unspent love to his nephews and nieces - the children of his brother Konstantin. At first he was trained for a naval career, but he had a passion for horses and eventually transferred to serve in the cavalry. In 1880, he built himself a two-story dacha in Krasnoe Selo. At the dacha there was a stable and an exercise yard for horses. Here he spent the summer with his regiment. In November 1881 Alexander III appointed Dmitry Konstantinovich to the post of adjutant in the imperial retinue. On April 6, 1889, the Grand Duke was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed commander of the 2nd Squadron of the Horse Guards. On December 10, 1892, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and, thanks to his impeccable service, after some time he received command of the Horse Grenadier Life Guards Regiment. In 1913, he presided over the All-Russian Trotter Exhibition in Kyiv. Russian horse breeding at the beginning of the 20th century owes its successes to a large extent to the Grand Duke, as well as to the army’s great need for horses. Near Poltava, he had his own stud farm, where he bred trotters, which were highly valued in the Russian army.
The Grand Duke was unable to take part in the war with Germany due to myopia, which by 1914 had turned into almost complete blindness. He was engaged in training cavalry in the rear. By decree of March 26, 1918, Dmitry Konstantinovich was deported to Vologda, and then transferred under arrest to Petrograd. He lived in the same cell with his cousin Georgy Mikhailovich. Nearby, in the next cell, Dmitry’s nephew, Gabriel Konstantinovich, was placed; they sometimes managed to see each other. On January 9, 1919, the Presidium of the Cheka (Peters, Latsis, Ksenofontov and secretary O. Ya. Murnek took part in the meeting) issued a resolution: “The verdict of the Cheka against persons of the former imperial pack is to be approved by reporting this to the Central Executive Committee.” Dmitry Konstantinovich, along with Pavel Alexandrovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgy Mikhailovich, was taken to Peter and Paul Fortress and on one of the nights of the last ten days of January 1919 they were shot as hostages in response to the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany. The execution squad was commanded by a certain Gordienko, a prison warden who at one time received valuable gifts from His Majesty’s Cabinet. In the last minutes, Dmitry Konstantinovich prayed earnestly, repeating: “Lord forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing...”. The message about the execution of the Grand Dukes was published on January 31, 1919 in Petrogradskaya Pravda. Probably buried in a mass grave on the territory of Hare Island. The Grand Duke was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church abroad in the host of the New Russian Martyrs on November 1, 1981. Rehabilitated posthumously by decision of the Prosecutor General's Office Russian Federation June 9, 1999.
I. V. Popov
New Martyr of Petrograd
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
Seek first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
(John XV,27)
Do not touch My anointed.
(Ps. 104.15)
Adjutant General of His Imperial Majesty's retinue, chief manager of the state horse breeding, lieutenant general of the cavalry, commander of the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was a true Christian, distinguished in his life by a high spiritual mood. He lived less than 59 years - almost as long as was given for earthly life to his heavenly patron, St. Demetrius of Rostov - and in 1919 he ended his life as a martyr, being shot by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd, in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I and cousin of Emperor Nicholas II, was born on June 1/14, 1860 in the Strelna estate, Peterhof district, St. Petersburg province. His father, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (09/09/1827 - 01/13/1892), was an admiral general of the Russian fleet and headed the naval department, and also presided over State Council. The mother of the Grand Duke was Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna (01/16/1830 - 06/23/1911), née Princess of Saxe-Altenburg. Dmitry was the fifth child in the family.
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich describes the birth of his son in his diary: “At exactly half past ten the voice of a child was heard. This moment is unimaginable. Involuntarily, thoughts turn to gratitude to the Creator, and tears come to the eyes. Mikhailova announced that this was a son, and we named him Demetrius after the saint of Rostov. By eleven o'clock... the child was washed. He is a nice big boy with a pretty little mouth... He (Emperor Alexander II - I.P.) appointed him chief of the Mingrelian Grenadier Regiment and enrolled him in Guards crew and the Horse Guards... I am incredibly happy and grateful to the Lord God for His blessing...”
When a year had passed since the birth of his son, another entry appeared in the diary of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich: “June 1, 1861. Today is Ascension and at the same time our dear Demetrius is 1 year old. We went to mass in Feodorovsky Posad with all the children and there they included Kostya and Dimitri, who were so sweet.”
In an atmosphere of family peace, love and prosperity, with parental prayers, surrounded by kind Russian nannies, the August children grew up, taught responsibility before God and Russia from an early age.
Three generations of the family of the Grand Dukes Konstantinovich were sailors and horse guards. This left an imprint on the life and games of children. The father certainly wanted one of his sons to choose the navy, where he himself served, as his place of service, thereby continuing the tradition.
In Strelna, in front of the palace, at the descent from the terrace, a pier was built. From here you could go straight through the canals into the bay. A team of sailors was assigned to the children, and a training mast was built on the southern side of the palace, imitating the rigging of a sailing ship. In 1872, brothers Dmitry and Konstantin, while serving on the training frigate Peresvet, became acquainted with the ports of the Gulf of Finland. In the summer of 1874, Dmitry and Vyacheslav served on the Varyag ship.
However, the naval career, which from childhood was determined by his father’s will, did not become the main one for either Konstantin or Dmitry. Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, as a young man, wanted to join the cavalry, in which he was inclined to serve. In addition, he became very seasick in the water, so in the end he was allowed to leave the navy and serve in the horse grenadiers.
In his native Strelna, not far from the palace, there was a stable yard, which formed a single whole with the estate and provided everything necessary for horse riding, carriage rides, dressage and learning all the intricacies of equestrian business. For Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, the Horse Guards, where he had been a member since the day of his birth, became both a service and a favorite activity, to which he devoted himself with all his soul.
In the summer of 1878, the young Grand Dukes Konstantin and Dmitry Konstantinovich, Sergei and Pavel Alexandrovich, accompanied by the future chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev (1827–1907), who at that time taught law to the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and members of the imperial retinue committed a journey into the interior of Russia, sailing along the Neva, Volkhov and other northern rivers, canals and lakes and visiting Pskov, Novgorod, Shlisselburg and Valaam. Having grown up, the brothers raised their children and nephews in the same traditions. Their destinies did not turn out at all the way they wanted. But they all fulfilled the main behest of the family - service to the Motherland, Russia.
WITH early age the children in the family of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich were instilled with sincere and deep religiosity, in the atmosphere of which their lives took place in the St. Petersburg Marble Palace, in Strelna, in Pavlovsk and in Oreanda - the Crimean estate of the Grand Duke near Yalta. In each palace or estate there was a house or separately built church: in the Marble Palace - the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in the Konstantinovsky Palace - St. Equal App. Constantine and Helena, later - St. Blgv. Alexander Nevsky, as well as the ancient court church of the Transfiguration of the Lord with the chapel of St. Dmitry of Rostov - in Strelna; St. Equals. Mary Magdalene and St. App. Peter and Paul - in Pavlovsk; Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Oreanda.
The grandchildren of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich were brought up in the same spirit. The brother of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (poet K.R.), had nine children: John, Gabriel, Tatiana, Konstantin, Oleg, Igor, Georgy, Natalia and Vera, in whose upbringing, especially the older ones, “uncle ", Grand Duke Dmitry, took an active part (Dmitry Konstantinovich did not have his own family).
In this sense, the role of the “uncle” is difficult to overestimate. An extremely gifted man, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich held responsible government positions: he was the President of the Academy of Sciences, the Chief of the Military educational institutions, chairman of the Russian Musical Society, founder and de facto leader of the Women's Pedagogical Institute, commander of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards, and then a company of the Izmailovsky Regiment, organizer of the famous “Izmailovsky Leisure”, poet, translator, actor, playwright. Therefore, due to his workload and numerous public responsibilities, he was often absent from home.
From the memoirs of Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich: “Father was very strict with us, and we were afraid of him. “I can’t” or “I don’t want” should not have existed for us. But my father developed independence in us: we had to do everything ourselves, keep the toys in order, put them in their place ourselves. My father hated it when people inserted into Russian speech foreign words, he wanted our first language to be Russian. That’s why we had Russian nannies, and everything was done in Russian.<…>The nursery was arranged and decorated in Russian style. All our rooms also bore Russian names: bedchamber, promenade, soap room (bath). In the walkway, the windows were located below the floor, and between the windows and the floor there were gratings, in front of which there were plants.
In the corner of the promenade hung a large image of the Vladimir Mother of God, on it was a towel embroidered with multi-colored silks and gold, trimmed at the ends with ancient lace. A large lamp always glowed in front of the image.<…>
In my father's prayer room<…>Between the office and the corridor there were many images hanging and a lamp was always glowing. Every day they brought to the chapel from our home church an icon of the saint whose day it was. These icons, all in the same style, were given to my father by my uncles Sergei Alexandrovich and Pavel Alexandrovich.<…>
Every day before we were put to bed, Uncle Dmitry Konstantinovich, my father’s younger brother, came to see us. He also lived in the Marble Palace and served at that time in the Horse Guards. We loved our uncle very much, ran to meet him and threw ourselves on his neck...
In the evenings, when we children went to bed, father and mother came to us to be present at our prayer. First, my older brother Ioanchik, and after him I knelt in front of the icon case in our bedroom and read prescribed prayers, among other things, and a prayer to the Guardian Angel, which, according to family legend, Emperor Alexander II read as a child. Father demanded that we know the troparia of the twelve feasts by heart and read them on the appointed days. Often uncle (father’s younger brother, the Great) was present at our evening prayer; when we made mistakes, our parents or uncle corrected us.”
The most beautiful pedagogical plans cannot be realized without daily loving and demanding fatherly guidance. It is not for nothing that Prince Gabriel calls uncle Dmitry Konstantinovich, who almost constantly lived with his brother’s family, “second father.”
Traditional family music playing, reading together, walking, skiing, on boats, in carriages, games - these signs of home life were traditional for many St. Petersburg families, but the level of education and the widest range of interests of the parents set the scale of life for growing children. Undoubtedly, “uncle” followed family traditions of upbringing and education, combining a thorough and thoughtful system of studies with viewing the best examples of world culture on trips, visits to monasteries and cities, and reading literary works in the original language.
The love of children of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was unostentatious and truly Christian: not sharing the democratic trends of the mentor of the younger nephews of General N. N. Ermolinsky, he did not argue with a point of view that was unusual for him, but relied on God’s providence, not considering himself absolutely right.
Due to his character, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was not born for leadership. We can only assume there are wonderful things about him spiritual qualities, personal inclinations that did not manifest themselves outwardly as brightly as those of his father, grandfather or brother Konstantin. It is not without reason that in his study of names, priest Pavel Florensky speaks ambiguously about the name Dmitry, which comes from “Demeter” (Greek) - Earth: “Tenderness, silence and meek peace, shining like one heavenly image from the depths of one’s own being, to which there is no access... but the time will come - it will turn out to be everything. But to do this, you need to descend to it, into the bottomlessness of yourself - perhaps the latter is nothing other than death.” And fate, which spoiled him so much in childhood, led him to a tragic death, in which he remained faithful to the purest, spiritual sides of his image, for the time being hidden from prying eyes.
“Dmitry has a significant character and overall appearance, in some of his capabilities often exceeding the measure of humanity and even humanity. But he himself often creates an obstacle to the outward manifestation and consolidation of this immensity in life...” Dmitry’s closeness to his mother and thus his inclusion in the family orbit is especially noted. It is difficult to say that all this fully corresponds to the personality of the Grand Duke, but his affiliation, devotion to the family, and especially to the family of his brother Konstantin, is covered quite well in the book of memoirs of his nephew.
At the same time, along with the modesty, even shyness of the Grand Duke, one is struck by his firmness and certainty in moral guidelines, especially in family, extremely difficult and delicate situations. So, when in 1916 Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich took part in the murder of G. E. Rasputin, the sympathy of many in 1916–1917. were on the side of the young Grand Duke (by the way, later, after the revolution, he sincerely repented of what he had done). Most members of the imperial family signed a letter to the emperor asking for pardon for Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, although many later regretted this action. Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, who was not in St. Petersburg at that moment, upon his arrival in the capital, on the contrary, did not make any statements, but in fact demonstrated his loyalty to the oath given to the emperor, remaining one of the few who were completely faithful to the sovereign. The nephew of the Grand Duke Gabriel Konstantinovich recalled: “I think that if my uncle had been in Petrograd at that time, he himself would not have signed, and would not have allowed my mother, Aunt Olya, my brothers and I to sign this letter.”
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was not only a brilliant horseman, but also the chief of the Cavalry Grenadier Regiment (1892–1903), stationed in Peterhof, a major general. He received this title at the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II in 1896. At all parades, Dmitry Konstantinovich always followed Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. Behind him were mounted grenadiers on black horses wearing black helmets with a transverse hairline. According to the memoirs of Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich, “the uncle was very impressive in front of the horse grenadiers, especially when he came to the Sovereign at a field gallop. He and his horse were one, the horse walked under him like clockwork. It was completely unnoticeable how the uncle controlled her.” According to the memoirs of General A. A. Mosolov, who served as the head of the office of the Minister of the Imperial Court and knew the Grand Duke closely, Dmitry Konstantinovich “due to his modest character, was known to few people in Russia, although he was distinguished by rare qualities; the Grand Duke never played a political role. He was comprehensive educated person and an interesting conversationalist... He got along with few people in the regiment. The reason for this was terrible shyness and pedantic distribution of the day. All his time was spent on service studies, reading and self-education, as well as carefully attending divine services. In addition, the Great strictly adhered to the “dry regime” - not drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages - and avoided any more or less frivolous conversations. Therefore, he attended only official meetings.
Already commanding the Horse Grenadier Regiment, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich became convinced that the “dry regime” was preventing him from getting closer to the officers and asked his mother for permission to drink wine. After this, he soon became friends with the regiment and had a wonderful influence on the officers who sincerely loved him.”
Dmitry Konstantinovich was an expert in horse breeding, the owner of the existing and now famous Dubrovsky stud farm in the Mirgorod district of the Poltava province, founded by the Grand Duke himself and maintained at his expense. The stud was for trotting and riding, for the breeding of purebred Oryol trotters and riding Oryol-Rastopchints. According to the Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich himself, they set a goal “to create a breeding ground for Russian breeds of riding and trotting horses, as well as to breed small heavy draft horses capable of carrying heavy loads and having fast gaits, as the most suitable for improving peasant horse, which in peacetime works in the field, and in wartime it completes convoys and artillery. In addition, schools were founded at the plant: veterinary paramedic, blacksmith and saddlery - to train young people, specialists capable of holding responsible and independent positions in zemstvos and private stud farms.” There was also a school for young riders who trained horses according to the Filis system, and a prize stable.
For almost 30 years of managing the Dubrovsky stud farm, with persistent work, brilliant results have been achieved. The number of horses was increased to six hundred. By 1913, the plant became profitable and even began to generate income, as a result of which Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich considered it possible to bequeath it to the State Horse Breeding. In April 1917, already under the Provisional Government, the Dubrovsky plant was voluntarily transferred by the Grand Duke to the state.
In the fall of 1913, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich presided over the All-Russian Horse Show in Kyiv. His authority as an expert on horse breeding and his belonging to the August family naturally assumed his leadership in this event.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was unable to go to the front in the active army, since by this time his eyesight had deteriorated significantly. However, his spiritual mentoring strengthened his nephews who fought at the front - princes Gabriel, Oleg († 1914), John, Igor and Konstantin Konstantinovich. Walking the hardest roads of war, now advancing, now retreating as part of the Russian army in East Prussia, they were grateful to “uncle’s school.” From the memoirs of Prince Gabriel: “... All three of us once sent a telegram to our uncle that we were thinking about him with gratitude and following his advice: after all, for two years in a row, living in Pavlovsk, we rode horseback with him every day in any weather and were generally under his supervision . I owe it to him, in particular, that I knew how to dress according to the weather.”
The retreat took place through forests, swamps, and off-road terrain. Under Prince Igor Konstantinovich, a horse died, pulled into a quagmire, he himself almost completely disappeared under water and was rescued in last moment. “Uncle’s” school saved their lives this time too, but God’s providence had His own plan for these young officers - pious, brotherly, brave, talented... Three of them - John, Konstantin, Igor - would die in 1918, being buried alive Bolsheviks in an abandoned mine near the Ural city of Alapaevsk.
True, deep faith fueled the broad charity of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich. In 1916, in memory of those who died in the First world war under Lvov Prince K. A. Bagration-Mukhransky († 1915), the husband of his niece, Princess Tatyana Konstantinovna, Dmitry Konstantinovitch established a hospital for soldiers in Strelna. His funds supported the court church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Strelna, the oldest on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland; house church in the Great Strelninsky (Konstantinovsky) Palace; The Alexander Nevsky Church of the Strelna Brotherhood for the neighbor, the Assumption Church at the Strelna cemetery, and the construction of the garrison church in Strelna (1917) and other churches was underway.
In 1905, after a fire in the Second Athos Dormition Monastery in the Caucasus, near Pyatigorsk, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich sought the allocation of 30 thousand rubles from the Chapter of Orders for the restoration of the monastery, the patron of which, with the blessing of Fr. John of Kronstadt he was a member since 1901.
In 1916, Dmitry Konstantinovich donated a plot of land in Strelna for the establishment of a metochion of the Kazan Amvrosieva Shamordino convent. While visiting his brother on the Pryski estate in the Kaluga province, he often visited the Optina Hermitage and the Shamordino Monastery, spiritually connected with the Optina elders. In the fall of 1916, Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (junior) came to Petrograd to lay the foundation for the Shamordino courtyard. The consecration of the chapel followed in 1917. From 1916 to the 1920s. The sisters of the monastery planned to move from the St. Petersburg side to the Strelninsky courtyard the Holy Trinity Peter's Cathedral, which stood on Trinity Square and burned down in a fire in 1913, and then an exact copy of it was built next to it. However, due to the revolution and subsequent events, this, in all likelihood, was never achieved. The sisterhood existed in Strelna until the 1930s, when, after the closure of the monastery and its courtyard, the nuns were expelled from the outskirts of St. Petersburg to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
The Grand Duke provided significant assistance to the Alexander-Oshevensky, Spaso-Preobrazhensky Kargopol and Paleostrovsky male monasteries of the Olonets diocese, donated funds for the construction of churches in the village of Klevichi, Demyansky district, Novgorod province, in the village of Peschanaya Buda, Gomel district, Mogilev province, the Holy Trinity Church in Galernaya Harbor and many other temples.
One day, the Grand Duke instructed General A. A. Mosolov, who also served in the horse grenadiers, to transfer quite a significant amount to maintain a poor church in the village through which they were passing. He remarked to him: “With such generous gifts, your specific income will probably not be enough.” “We are given specific money not so that we can sybaritize on it, but to maintain prestige with widespread help and good deeds,” answered the Grand Duke. He also helped a lot to the Kronstadt Charitable Society. Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna and the orphanage he founded, the Kronstadt Women's Gymnasium. Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, Strelna School, Orthodox Palestine Society, Strelna Brotherhood for Neighbors and the Orthodox Brotherhood of St. Demetrius of Rostov in Yaroslavl.
In addition, he provided great support to public education, promoting the opening of a men's gymnasium and a primary women's school in Strelna (1912–1913), supported a parochial school in the village. Olshanka of the Lubensky district of the Poltava province, contributed to the Blagoveshchensk officer hospital of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, provided assistance to the Strelninsky branch of the Guardianship of People's Sobriety.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich loved to make pilgrimage trips around Russia, visiting monasteries. He visited Valaam, the Sarov and Optina deserts, and Kerzhenets. In February 1905, Dmitry Konstantinovich made a horseback journey - a pilgrimage across the ice of Lake Ladoga to Valaam.
After the death of Grand Duke Constantine, he transferred his brother's manuscripts and library to the Winter Palace. In 1915–1916 he promotes the opening of agricultural educational institutions in the village of Dobroy, Novgorod district and province (now Tosnensky district, Leningrad region). In addition, the Grand Duke credits from his funds the development of many undertakings and projects in medicine, education, the development of cultural agriculture, and art.
During the First World War, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich initiated and financed the introduction of new and improved stretchers for the wounded throughout the Russian army, and was the trustee of the noble military hospital train No. 170/20 named after the Grand Duke. With his funds, linen was sewn and food packages for the front were completed; in Strelna, he opened three infirmaries: in memory of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, in the name of Prince Bagration-Mukhrani near the northern greenhouses and train No. 85 named after Prince Oleg Konstantinovich for recovering lower ranks.
A heavy blow for Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was the “great bloodless” revolution, which culminated in the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II in Pskov, torn out by traitors, on March 2, 1917. “Lent (1917 - I.P.), - recalls Prince Gabriel, - we, as always, fasted in the church of the Marble Palace. At the litanies, instead of the Sovereign, Empress and Heir, the Provisional Government was commemorated. The uncle who used to be baptized at this time has now stopped doing so.”
Later, in the same 1917, the Grand Duke acquired a modest house for himself - from the architect L. Ilyin on Aptekarsky Island (Pesochnaya Embankment, 24), where he lived until March 1918 with his sister Olga Konstantinovna, Queen of the Hellenes. At this time, he visited the Ioannovsky Monastery located nearby on Karpovka, and later, while in captivity, he repeatedly asked his free relatives and friends to light candles and pray at the tomb of the Holy Right. John of Kronstadt, whom the Grand Duke knew closely and revered during his lifetime.
In March 1918, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was exiled to Vologda along with the Grand Dukes Georgy Mikhailovich and Nikolai Mikhailovich, where he lived with Princess Tatyana Konstantinovna, who voluntarily accompanied him in exile (later the abbess of the Olivet Convent Tamara († 1979)), her children Teimuraz and Natalya, as well as a few faithful servants.
At the end of the summer of 1918, the Bolsheviks returned them to Petrograd, where they were placed in the House of Pre-trial Detention on Shpalernaya. Here they were joined by Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich and Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich, who were arrested in Petrograd. The latter was encouraged by Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich in captivity. To console and strengthen the spiritual strength of the young prince, the “uncle” wrote and gave him to his cell Psalm 90, “Alive in the Help of the Most High,” which Prince Gabriel learned by heart and repeated in prayer.
While in captivity, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich sent to pray and light candles in front of the image of the Savior with the Crown of Thorns, revered in the Romanov family, in the Chapel of the Savior in the house of Peter the Great, as well as at the tomb of the Holy Right. John of Kronstadt. He did not bother to soften his fate, did not look for patrons among “those in power,” but prayed - prayed until the last moment.
At the end of 1918, when all of Russia was already drenched in blood - the Bolsheviks carried out the terrible “Red Terror” - the Grand Dukes were transferred from Shpalernaya and imprisoned in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Here, on January 11/24, 1919, the four Grand Dukes were shot by personal order of Zinoviev in the courtyard of the fortress and buried, probably on its territory in an unknown grave, since they were killed like countless ordinary victims of the Chekists: without trial, without any charges being brought. , completely openly. Officially, the Bolsheviks announced that the grand dukes were shot as “hostages” for the murder of the leaders of the German communists Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Germany. This excuse was enough.
According to the guards, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich walked from the cell to be executed with a prayer, repeating: “Forgive them, Lord, they do not know what they are doing” (Luke: XXIII, 34). The seriously ill Pavel Alexandrovich lay on a stretcher, and Nikolai Mikhailovich joked with the executioners, holding his beloved kitten in his arms...
In 1994, Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya-Romanova took the initiative to install a worship cross at the site of the execution of the Grand Dukes. After the murder of Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich by revolutionaries in 1905, a memorial worship cross, cast according to the model of V. M. Vasnetsov, was installed at the site of his martyrdom in the Moscow Kremlin. Demolished on the personal orders and with the participation of Lenin in 1918, this cross has now been restored and installed on the territory of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, where the tomb of the Romanov boyars is located and where the honorable remains of the Grand Duke were transferred in the 1990s. It seems that it would be a sacred duty to erect a similar cross to the great princes-new martyrs in the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Fortress.
At the end of the 1990s. on the basis of the Russian Law “On the rehabilitation of victims political repression“a decision was made to rehabilitate the executed Grand Dukes Dmitry Konstantinovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Georgy Mikhailovich.
In 1999, on the day of the 80th anniversary, in the prison courtyard of the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where, apparently, the great princes were shot, a memorial service was held for the murdered and a prayer service for the new martyrs and confessors of Russia.
On January 30, 2004, a memorial plaque in honor of the four executed Grand Dukes was unveiled in the Peter and Paul Fortress of St. Petersburg. Memorial plaque was created on the initiative of the rector of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Abbot Alexander (Fedorov), with funds donated by parishioners. The board project was developed by students of the Faculty of Architecture of the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. I. E. Repin by Kirill Yakovlev and Dmitry Lipovtsev. A plaque made of white Carrara marble is placed on one of the pylons in the interior of the Grand Ducal Tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral - the resting place of members of the House of Romanov.
Varvara Petrovna Mikhailova She served as a nanny for two generations in the family of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, raising his children and grandchildren. The traditions of the family were supported to a large extent by the fact that the nannies - Vava (V.P. Mikhailova) and Atya (Anna Aleksandrovna Belyaeva, later nun Anastasia, who labored in the Lesna Mother of God Convent in Kholm Rus, Privislinsky region) - raised the children of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, did not leave the family, but remained to live in it “at rest,” receiving a pension and subsequently giving their hearts to the next generation.
1857–1861: Correspondence of Emperor Alexander II with Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. Diary of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. M., 1994. pp. 250–251.
Right there. P. 324.
Nowadays it is the Stables Building, located on the territory of the State Complex “Palace of Congresses”.
According to other sources, the temple was consecrated in the name of St. Demetrius of Rostov; For the history of the house church of the Constantine Palace, seeIn this collection there is an article by O. Bogdanova and G. N. Eregina: _____
See: Neva Orthodox Land: Directory. St. Petersburg, 2000. P. 39.
For the history of the temple in Oreanda, seeIn this collection there is an article by N.V. Antonova: ____.
In the Marble Palace: memoirs. M., 2001. P. 8–18.
Florensky P. The name is destiny. M., 1993. pp. 85–86.
Cm.: Gabriel Konstantinovich, Grand Duke. In the Marble Palace: memoirs. M., “Zakharov”, 2001.
Right there. P. 295.
Right there. P. 37.
Mosolov A. A.., general. At the court of the last Emperor. St. Petersburg, 1992. WITH. ___
RGIA. F. 532. Op. 1. D. 249. L. 19–26.
Gabriel Konstantinovich, Grand Duke. Decree. op. P. 232.
On the charity of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, see also the article by T. A. Ganf in this collection, p. ____.
D. Khaluzi, Volkhonskoe highway, 32/50; there is now a school on this site. Maybe expand the link?
Denisov L. I. Orthodox monasteries Russian Empire. St. Petersburg, 1908. S. ___
On the history of the founding of the Shamordinsky metochion in Strelna, see the article by T. I. Ganf in this collection. WITH. ___ .
RGIA. F. 532. Op. 1. D.188. L. 70.
Mosolov A. A.., general. At the court of the last Emperor. St. Petersburg 1992. WITH. __
Gabriel Konstantinovich, Grand Duke. Decree. op. P. 298.
Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich(1863–1919) - son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, grandson of Nicholas I, adjutant general, lieutenant general, was at the Commander-in-Chief Headquarters. The famous numismatist, author of the famous publication “Russian Coins of the 18th–19th Centuries,” initiator of the publication of the 15-volume “Corpus of Russian Coins of the 18th–19th Centuries,” headed the Russian Museum from 1895.
Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich(1859–1919) - son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, grandson of Nicholas I, adjutant general, historian, chairman of the Russian Geographical (since 1892) and Russian Historical (since 1910) societies, Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Berlin (1910) and Doctor of Russian History at Moscow University (1915), author best biography Alexander I, collector. The Academy of Sciences petitioned for the release of Nikolai Mikhailovich, and Gorky personally asked Lenin, who replied: “The revolution does not need historians.”
Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich(1860–1919) - fifth son of Emperor Alexander III, cavalry general, honorary chairman of the Russian Society for the Protection of Public Health.
Later, on October 22, 1918, after numerous petitions from his wife, A.R. Nesterovskaya, Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich was released from prison due to illness and left Russia, miraculously avoiding death.
According to information from V.V. Antonov based on a request from the FSB Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich- third son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, grandson of Nicholas I.
Chief of the 16th Mingrelian Grenadier Regiment named after himself, aide-de-camp to His Imperial Majesty. He served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment until 1893, when, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed commander of the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment.
Knight of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class; Star of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
Biography
The youngest son of Konstantin Nikolaevich and Alexandra Iosifovna, like all Konstantinovichs, was tall and thin. He received a very good education, was well versed in classical literature, and took part in home performances; took violin lessons (his music teacher was E.K. Albrecht). Many found in him extraordinary acting abilities.
He never married and was known as an ardent misogynist.
He transferred his unspent love to his nephews and nieces - the children of his brother Konstantin. At first he was trained for a naval career, but he had a passion for horses and eventually transferred to serve in the cavalry.
In 1880, he built himself a two-story dacha in Krasnoe Selo. At the dacha there was a stable and an exercise yard for horses. Here he spent the summer with his regiment.
In November 1881, Alexander III appointed Dmitry Konstantinovich to the post of adjutant in the imperial retinue.
On April 6, 1889, the Grand Duke was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed commander of the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.
On December 10, 1892, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and, thanks to his impeccable service, after some time he received command of the Horse Grenadier Life Guards Regiment.
In 1913, he presided over the All-Russian Trotter Exhibition in Kyiv. Russian horse breeding at the beginning of the 20th century owes its successes to a large extent to the Grand Duke, as well as to the army’s great need for horses. Near Poltava, he had his own stud farm, where he bred trotters, which were highly valued in the Russian army.
The Grand Duke was unable to take part in the war with Germany due to myopia, which by 1914 had turned into almost complete blindness. He was engaged in training cavalry in the rear.
By decree of March 26, 1918, Dmitry Konstantinovich was deported to Vologda, and then transferred under arrest to Petrograd. He lived in the same cell with his cousin Georgy Mikhailovich. Nearby, in the next cell, Dmitry’s nephew, Gabriel Konstantinovich, was placed; they sometimes managed to see each other.
On January 9, 1919, the Presidium of the Cheka (Peters, Latsis, Ksenofontov and secretary O. Ya. Murnek took part in the meeting) issued a resolution:
“The verdict of the Cheka against the persons of the former imperial pack must be confirmed by reporting this to the Central Election Commission.”
Dmitry Konstantinovich, along with Pavel Alexandrovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgy Mikhailovich, was taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress and on one of the nights of the last ten days of January 1919 they were shot as hostages in response to the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany.
The execution squad was commanded by a certain Gordienko, a prison warden who at one time received valuable gifts from His Majesty’s Cabinet. In his last minutes, Dmitry Konstantinovich prayed earnestly, repeating:
“Lord forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing...”
The message about the execution of the Grand Dukes was published on January 31, 1919 in Petrogradskaya Pravda.
Probably buried in a mass grave on the territory of Hare Island
The Grand Duke was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church abroad in the host of the New Martyrs of Russia on November 1, 1981.
Rehabilitated posthumously by a resolution of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation on June 9, 1999.
His father was Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich - the fifth child and second son of Emperor Nicholas I, General Admiral, and his mother was Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna (nee Alexandra Friederike Henriette Paulina Marianne Elisabeth, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg).
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was tall (more than 1 m 80 cm) and very thin. Another one of him distinctive feature He had a short haircut and a mustache, the ends of which he always curled upward.
Like all the children of the Grand Duke, Dmitry Konstantinovich received a good education, as a result of which he had solid knowledge of various areas, but especially classical literature. Like all members, he took part in home performances, in which he discovered his extraordinary talent as an actor.
Like his older brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich was supposed to follow in the footsteps of their father into the navy, but he preferred cavalry to this service, since from early childhood he was very fond of horses.
My military service He began in 1880, being enlisted in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, and by 1896 he commanded the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. And from 1903 to 19053 he commanded the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division.
In addition to combat positions, the Grand Duke for several years held the position of Chairman of the Commission for the acceptance of horses supplied by the Main Directorate of State Horse Breeding to army cavalry regiments, as well as a great many various honorary positions related to sports and horses.
The Grand Duke devoted all his energy to his passion for horses, for which he even had his own Dubrovsky Stud Farm, located near Poltava, where purebred trotters were raised. And it must be said that the trotters bred at his factory enjoyed constant success among officers of cavalry regiments, as they were famous for their beauty and strength.
Unlike his brothers, who started families and had children, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was not married and was known as a convinced misogynist. "Beware of skirts!" - was one of his main warnings. And since he had no children, he became the second father to the numerous sons and daughters of his older brother Konstantin, to whom he devoted a lot of time, teaching them horse riding and the basics of horse breeding.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich chose Crimea as his permanent place of residence, where he lived in a very modest country house, and when he came to St. Petersburg, he always stayed in the Marble Palace with his brother Konstantin Konstantinovich. And it will not be an exaggeration to say that Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was, perhaps, one of the most unassuming Members of the House of Romanov, as he always lived more than modestly, without scandals and enmity. And it must be said that the Grand Duke’s shyness became a proverb. So, for example, when traveling by train, he never got off at the stations, and if someone caught him by surprise, asking him to receive an official delegation, then in order to avoid a similar situation at the next station, he always lowered the curtains on the windows of the car.
Throughout his life, the Grand Duke was always guided by the behest of Emperor Nicholas I, who once said that: “Each of you must always remember that only with his life can he atone for the origin of the Grand Duke!”
Suffering from poor eyesight since childhood, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was almost blind by 1914 (due to this circumstance, he was forced to leave military service back in 1905), and therefore could not take an active part in the outbreak of the First World War. However, he still made his contribution to the cause of victory, supervising, as Adjutant General, the training of cavalry in cavalry units.
After the abdication of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II, the Grand Duke continued to wear military uniform, despite the fact that he was dismissed in April 1917. And when wearing it became unsafe, he came up with a paramilitary suit for him, which was similar to the clothes of a driver of that time: a leather double-breasted jacket, khaki breeches and high cavalry boots.
In April 1918, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was expelled with his cousins, Grand Dukes Nikolai and Georgiy Mikhailovich from Petrograd to Vyatka. Together with him, Princess Tatyana Konstantinovna (daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who lost her husband in 1915, died in battle on the Southwestern Front), went into voluntary exile with her young children. However, anticipating possible complications of the political situation in Soviet Russia, which could primarily affect members of the former Imperial House of Romanov, Dmitry Konstantinovich soon demanded her immediate departure abroad, entrusting all the care of her to his Administrator, Colonel A.V. Korochentsov.
And, it must be said that the Grand Duke’s worries were not accidental. In July 1918, while in exile, he was arrested and transported to the Vologda prison, from where three weeks later he was transported to Petrograd, to the House of Preliminary Detention on Shpalernaya Street, where he was kept in the same cell with his cousin, Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich. And his nephew, Prince of the Imperial Blood Gabriel Konstantinovich, who was in the next cell (who escaped death through the efforts of A.M. Gorky), later recalled that his uncle, having learned that he had become a hostage, consoled him and said: “If it weren’t for the Lord’s will,” he said, quoting Borodino, “we wouldn’t have given up Moscow,” but what is our life in comparison with Russia, our Motherland?
They also say that the very religiously inclined Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich said before being executed: “Lord forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing...”
To date, the burial place of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich has not been identified.
In November 1981, by the decision of the Holy Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was canonized as the Holy New Martyrs of Russia who suffered from the godless power.
Posthumously rehabilitated on June 9, 1999 by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.
.
The third of four sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I.
Little Dmitry
Little Dmitry
Dmitry on the lap of his father Konstantin Nikolaevich With his brother Vyacheslav
With brother Konstantin
Born in Strelna, near St. Petersburg. At baptism, he was awarded the orders of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, St. Alexander Nevsky, White Eagle, St. Anna 1st class, St. Stanislav 1st class; Enlisted in the Guards crew and Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, appointed chief of the 16th Mingrelian Grenadier Regiment.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
Received a comprehensive home education; destined from childhood by his father, admiral general, for naval service, he was listed in Maritime School. According to the testimony of Lieutenant General A.A. Mosolov, “madly loving horses, the Grand Duke asked to become a horse guard, like his older brother, but his father declared that he should not even dare to dream of being a guard, but to train as a sailor. His Highness obeyed, put on a naval uniform and was sent on a training voyage
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
It turned out that he couldn’t stand the sea and suffered terribly from seasickness. Returning home, impressed by the troubles at sea, the Grand Duke, having prayed earnestly, went to his parent’s office. He knelt before his father and begged to be spared his naval service. Konstantin Nikolaevich did not want to hear anything. “And Nelson,” he said, “suffered from seasickness, but still became a famous admiral.” Finally, the mother took pity, and only after much begging did the strict parent agree to send Dmitry Konstantinovich to the Horse Guards.”
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich
Until 1892 he served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.
Since 1880, adjutant wing.
In 1892, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed commander of the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment. “In the regiment,” as A.A. Mosolov testified, “he got along with few people and did not play any outstanding role. The reason was terrible shyness and pedantic distribution of the day. All his time was spent on service studies, reading and self-education, as well as carefully attending divine services.
In addition, Dmitry Konstantinovich strictly adhered to the “dry regime”: he did not drink wine or other alcoholic beverages and avoided any more or less frivolous conversations. Therefore, he attended only official meetings... Already commanding the Horse Grenadier Regiment, Dmitry Konstantinovich became convinced that the “dry regime” was preventing him from getting closer to the officers, and asked his mother for permission to drink wine. After this, he soon became friends with the regiment and had a wonderful influence on the officers who sincerely loved him.”
In 1896 he was promoted to major general with enrollment in the Suite of E.I.V.
From May 1897 to November 1905, chief manager of the State Horse Breeding.
“Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich,” wrote A.A. Mosolov, “due to his modest character, was known to few people in Russia, although he was distinguished by rare qualities. The Grand Duke never played a political role... all the Konstantinovichs and especially Grand Duke Dmitry had long necks and tall stature... He was a comprehensively educated person and an interesting conversationalist, but in a conversation with him no questions should be touched upon modern politics, nor the psychology of women: Dmitry Konstantinovich was a definite sexist. His favorite topic of conversation was horses, horse breeding and horse breeding. He devoted himself completely to these two branches of the economy, thoroughly studied them and applied his knowledge... at the large Dubrovka stud farm he bought in the Poltava province... into which he invested all his wealth and all his energy.”
He gave him the same description and led him. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich: “Dmitry Konstantinovich was a convinced misogynist and a passionate cavalryman. “Beware of skirts,” “War with Germany is inevitable,” “I would like you to look at my yearlings.” Dmitry Konstantinovich was not interested in other topics.
All his life he remained a bachelor, but he had excellent horses. As for the war with Germany, which he predicted fifteen years in advance, his weakness of vision, which by 1914 turned into almost complete blindness, forced him to remain in the rear, cursing his fate and preparing the cavalry. Dmitry Konstantinovich’s greatest hobby was breeding a special breed of horses - the Oryol-Rostopchinskaya. Then the passion for cars was added to this
From 1914 he held the rank of cavalry general; was adjutant general. He was an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, patron Russian society patronage of animals.
After February Revolution 1917 he retired, but, as his nephew, Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich, recalled, “continued to wear a uniform with retired shoulder straps. When the shoulder straps could no longer be worn and they were severely persecuted for wearing them, the uncle put on civilian dress. He, however, did not want to wear an ordinary dress, because he could not stand it, and he came up with a suit similar to what drivers wear, that is, a single-breasted jacket with a stand-up collar, trousers like breeches and a winder. He ordered the tops of his high boots to be cut off and made boots out of them. The jacket, trousers and cap with a visor were brown. It turned out original and decent. He could walk like that without attracting anyone’s attention.”
