Prince Felix Yusupov
Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston (17 October 1856 – 10 June 1928), later known as Prince Yusupov after his marriage, was a Russian statesman, nobleman and general. From 1915, he was Governor-General of Moscow, a post previously held by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov. He was the father of Nicholas and Felix Yusupov. Count Felix was born as the third of seven children to Felix and Elena Sumarokov-Elston, and named after his father. His godmother was Dolly de Ficquelmont. His father had been an illegitimate child of questionable birth. A popular theory, repeated by the family itself, was that Felix Elston's father was Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. It was also claimed that the name "Elston" was derived from "elle s'étonne" (she is surprised), a supposed reaction of his birth mother. Only a month before his birth, Felix' father had obtained special permission to add his father-in-law's surname Sumarokov to his own, as his father-in-law had no sons. Felix was raised with his brothers Sergei (1853–1881) and Paul (1855–1938) in preparation for a military career. He studied at the Page Corps and passed his final exams in 1876. After serving in Odessa for three years, he was promoted to the Chevalier Guard Regiment. In 1882, Count Felix was present at a reception meant to introduce Prince Alexander of Battenberg to Russia's wealthiest and most eligible heiress, Zinaida Yusupova. Zinaida and Felix met and fell in
love and married in Saint Petersburg on 4 April 1882 to the disappointment of Zinaida's father, who had hoped for a royal son-in-law. Only ten months after the wedding, their first son Nicholas was born. Two more sons died in infancy, followed by the birth of Felix in 1887. The pair had over fifty estates and palaces but mostly lived at the Moika Palace, their Crimean Palace and Arkhangelskoye. Like his father before him, Felix was granted the right to bear his wife's name and title and bestow it upon their sons in addition to his own title. Felix was ill-equipped to manage his wife's immense fortune and made many bad investments. His younger son later wrote in his memoirs: "Our relations with our father were always very distant. They merely consisted of kissing his hand in the morning and evening. He knew nothing of life and neither my brother nor I ever talked frankly with him." From 1883 to 1885, he worked at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which he was made adjutant to Grand Duke Sergei, a position he would hold for almost twenty years, until Sergei's assassination in 1905. That year, he was made a major general to Nicholas II. From 1908, he was left in charge of the Imperial Cavalry.
The 1st Leib-Dragoon Moscow Regiment was a cavalry unit of the Russian Imperial Army. From 1813 to 1856 the regiment was part of the 1st Dragoon Division, from 1856 it was part of the 1st Cavalry Division. 20 January 1700 - The highest command to Admiral Boyar F. A. Golovin on the formation of a dragoon regiment from the noble undergrowth. 1 February 1700 - Beginning of formation (in the village of Preobrazhensky at the Preobrazhensky dragoon regiment). At first it was named as the Preobrazhensky Dragoon Regiment, then General Veide's Dragoon Regiment. 22 August 1700 - As part of Brigadier Veide's division, it marched to Narva, arriving at the camp in early October. November 1700 - Participated in the Battle of Narva. December 1701 - As part of the cavalry of B. P. Sheremetev participated in the "Swedish
campaign" and attack on the main forces of the Swedes under the command of Schlippenbach at the v. Erestfer. 18 July 1702 - Participated in the battle of Gummelshof. 11 August 1702 - Raided the town of Volmar, which he captured and burned, defeating the Swedish garrison standing there. 27 June 1709 - Participated in the Battle of Poltava. 1711 - Participated in the Prut campaign. 1723 - Participated in the campaign at Derbent, Goryachy well, in Kabarda. 1735-1739, 1768-1774 and 1787-1791 - Participated in the Russian-Turkish wars. In 1799 - Participated in the Swiss campaign in the corps of Lieutenant-General Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1806-1807 - Participated in the battles of Golymyn, Preisisch-Eylau, Heilsberg, Friedland. In 1809 - Participated in the Austrian campaign as part of the corps of General of Infanteria Prince Golitsyn. 1812 - Participated in the Patriotic War as a member of the 2nd Cavalry Reserve Corps of Barclay de Tolly's Western Army. 26 August - Participated in the Battle of Borodino in the area of Raevsky Battery, took part in the famous cavalry attack led personally by Barclay de Tolly. 29 August - Participated in the battle of Krymskoye. 26 October - Participated in the battle of Dorogobuzh. 4 November - Participated in the battle of Krasnoye (the regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel Zalessky was seriously wounded). 1813-1814 - Participated in foreign campaigns. In 1828-1829 - Participated in the Russian-Turkish war. 1853-1856 - Participated in the Crimean War in the Danube theatre. 5 February 1855 - Participated in the storming of Evpatoria. In 1877-1878 - Participated in the Russian-Turkish war as part of the detachment of General Skobelev 2nd. 8 January 1878 - Together with the St. Petersburg lancer regiment occupied Adrianople, capturing 26 guns, for which he was awarded the George Standard.
The House of Yusupov was a Russian princely family descended from the monarchs of the Nogai Horde, renowned for their immense wealth, philanthropy and art collections in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 14th century, Edigu, a Mongol from the Manghud tribe and one of Tamerlane's greatest strategists, settled on the north shores of the Black Sea, establishing the Nogai Horde and laying the foundations for the Crimean Khanate. Edigu's death was followed by infighting between his descendants, until, in the 15th century, Yusuf became the khan of the Nogai Horde. Yusuf allied himself with Tsar Ivan the Terrible, but the allies eventually became enemies. Yusuf's daughter Söyembikä was Queen of Kazan, and when Kazan was razed by Ivan, she was taken as prisoner to Moscow. After Yusuf died, another period of fighting between his descendants followed until the 17th century, when Abdul Mirza, another descendant, converted from Islam to Eastern Orthodox Christianity under the name of Dmitry. After the conversion, Tsar Feodor I bestowed upon him the title of Prince Yusupov. His descendant Prince Grigori Dmitrievich Yusupov (17 November 1676, Moscow - 2 September 1730, Moscow), General in Chief and Minister of Defence, was a friend of
Peter the Great and helped him with the construction of the Russian Navy. In 1720 he was given a fief, the country estate and manor house in Rakityansky District, formerly owned by Ivan Mazepa. Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (12 October 1827, Moscow – 31 July 1891, Baden-Baden), Marshal of the Imperial Court, was much like his uncle Nicholas I, a patron of the arts. He first served in Nicholas's chancery. Nikolai bought a large collection of jewellery, including a 36 carat (7.2 g) diamond known as the Morocco Sultan. The prince later spent much of his time in Southern Europe due to poor health, while also serving the tsar as a diplomat. While in Europe, he bought much to adorn his palace on the Moika, including collections of violins and paintings. He married Countess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribeaupierre (29 June 1828 – 14 January 1879), a lady-in-waiting to the Empress, daughter of Comte Alexandre de Ribeaupierre and his wife Ekaterina Mikhailovna Potemkina, another niece of Prince Potemkin. The prince was also a talented musician and composer and was a member of several musical societies. In 1866, he published a book about Yusupov family history, On the Family of the Yusupov Princes: A Collection of Their Life Stories, Charters and Letters of the Russian Sovereigns to Them. When Nicholas Yusupov died in 1891, he was succeeded by his daughter, Zinaida, who was considered a legendary beauty at the time, as well as one of the richest women in the country. Her suitors included the crown prince of Bulgaria. Princess Zinaida Nikolaievna Yusupova (2 September 1861, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 24 November 1939, Paris, France) married Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston (5 October 1856, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 10 June 1928, Rome, Italy), General-Governor of Moscow Military District (1915), son of Count Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston. They married on 4 April 1882 in Saint Petersburg. After his father-in-law died, Felix was granted special permission from Tsar Alexander III to carry the title Prince Yusupov and Count Sumarokov-Elston and to pass it to his and Zinaida's heir. Felix was appointed adjutant to the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in 1904 and commanded the cavalry of the Imperial Guards. At the beginning of World War I the Yusupovs owned more than 100,000 acres (400 km2) of land and their industries included sugarbeet factories, brick plants, saw-mills, textile and cardboard factories, mines and distilleries, in addition to more than 16 palaces and estates. The older son of Zinaida and Felix Sumarokov-Elston, Nikolay Felixovich Yusupov (1883–1908) was killed in a duel at the age of 25. Felix Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, the younger son of Zinaida and Felix Sumarokov-Elston. He is famous for his involvement in the murder of Grigori Rasputin. Felix Yusupov married Princess Irina, niece of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and a great-granddaughter of King Christian IX. After the murder of Rasputin he was exiled to the Crimea, but returned to St. Petersburg in 1917 to find the city in massive disorder after the February Revolution. He took with him some of his most precious paintings by Rembrandt and jewellery. In April 1919, he left Russia for Paris, never to return. His daughter, Irina, married Count Sheremetev's descendant. They moved to Greece with their children, although recently they were granted Russian citizenship by the Russian President. Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova died on 30 August 1983 at Cormeilles in France. She was buried alongside her paternal grandparents and her parents at the cemetery Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in Essonne, France.
Awards: Sash and star of the Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir, insignia and star of the Imperial Order of Saint Anna, star of the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus.
