Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia

Early life

Konstantin Nikolayevich was born as the second son of Nicholas I and his wife, Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and his first wife, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Biography

The Grand Duke was a supporter of the liberal (sometimes referred to as "enlightened") bureaucrats during the period of his brother Alexander II's great reforms. He served as chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (founded in 1845). The Geographical Society was subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was home to a conspicuous number of liberal bureaucrats, including Nikolai Miliutin.

In The Hague in June 1841, 13-year-old Konstantin met the pianist Anton Rubinstein during a performance for King William II. The two struck up a friendship, and Konstantin would become an important patron.

In addition to his support of and participation in the 1861 emancipation of the serfs, the Grand Duke also instituted reforms in the Imperial Russian Navy from 1854.

Konstantin's brother, Alexander II of Russia was supposed to have said: "Let the Poles have their own court and intrigues." Though the Grand Duke tried to show a liberal attitude towards the Poles, his efforts came too late and he was recalled with the outbreak of the January Uprising in 1863.

Marriage and issue

In the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, on 11 September 1848, Konstantin married Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife, Duchess Amelia of Württemberg. They had six children:

Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich of Russia (1850–1918)

Olga Konstantinovna, Queen of the Hellenes (1851–1926)

Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna of Russia (1854–1912)

Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (1858–1915)

Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich of Russia (1860–1919)

Grand Duke Vyacheslav Konstantinovich of Russia (1862–1879); died of brain hemorrhage

At the end of the 1860s, Konstantin embarked on an affair, having an illegitimate daughter, Marie Condousso.

Konstantin had five illegitimate children with his mistress Anna Kuznetsova (1847–1922); they bore the last name Knyazev:

Sergey Konstantinovich Knyazev (1873–1873); died as an infant.

Marina Konstantinovna Knyazeva (8 December 1875 – 8 June 1941); married Alexander Pavlovich Erchov on 23 April 1894. They had nine children.

Anna Konstantinovna Knyazeva (16 March 1878 – 5 February 1920); married Nicholas Lialine on 17 April 1898. They had three children.

Izmail Konstantinovich Knyazev (2 August 1879 – 1885); died of scarlet fever.

In fiction

The Grand Duke is a central character in Act III of the novel Forty-Ninth by Boris Pronsky and Craig Britton. Konstantin is the force behind the liberal reforms enacted by his brother, Alexander II, as well as the sale of Alaska to the United States.

Honours

National orders and decorations

Knight of St. Andrew, 1827

Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1827

Knight of the White Eagle, 1827

Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 1827

Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 1849

Knight of St. Vladimir, 1st Class, 1853

Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 1865

Foreign orders and decorations