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Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by EmilySarah99 (talk | contribs) at 11:06, 1 March 2023 ((Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at ru:Матюшкина, Михаил Павлович; see its history for attribution.)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Pavlovich.

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich
Portrait by George Dawe
Born(1798-02-08)8 February 1798
Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died9 September 1849(1849-09-09) (aged 51)
Warsaw, Congress Poland
Burial16 September 1849
Peter and Paul Cathedral
SpousePrincess Charlotte of Württemberg
IssueGrand Duchess Maria Mikhailovna
Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mikhailovna
Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna
Grand Duchess Alexandra Mikhailovna
Grand Duchess Anna Mikhailovna
Nadezhda Mikhailovna Yunina
HouseHouse of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
FatherPaul I of Russia
MotherSophie Dorothea of Württemberg
ReligionRussian Orthodox

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia (Russian: Михаи́л Па́влович; Mikhail Pavlovich) (8 February 1798 [OS 28 January][1] – 9 September 1849 [OS 28 August]) was a Russian grand duke, the tenth child and fourth son of Paul I of Russia and his second wife, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, who took the name Maria Feodorovna. He was the younger brother of two Tsars, Alexander I and Nicholas I, and the disputed Tsar Konstantin I.

Early Life

Mikhail was the only one of his siblings to be 'born in the purple', that is born whilst his father was Tsar. His god parents were his older brother, Alexander, and his sister, Alexandra, who stood in for thier grandmother Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt.[2]

Michael and his youngest siblings were brought up in a strict environment, which corporal punishment played a big part. He was tutored by General I. M. Lamzdorf, but was primarily taught by his mother. Maria Feodorovna who taught her sons science in an attempt to persuade them from building military careers.[3] Ultimately, this would be of no use, as Michael and his brother Nicholas I, had a penchant for all things military. At the age of sixteen, Michael took part in the campaign against Napoleon.[4]

Michael took part in supressing the Decembrist revolt following the sudden death of Alexander I. When the news reached him, Michael was in Warsaw. The next day he left for Saint Petersburg with a letter from Grand Duke Konstantin, renouncing his right to the throne. Upon his arrival, he learnt that the oath of allegiance to Konstantin had already been sworn. He returned to Warsaw and attempted to convince his brother to come to the capital to no avial. Returing early on 14th December, he found that ranks of the artillery had sworn the oath to Nicholas I, causing those sworn to Konstantin to mount a coup d'état. The coup was crushed by 3rd January. Those who took part were imprisoned, sentanced to death, or exiled to Siberia.[5] The Grand Duke was a member of the commission of inquiry into he uprising, and argued for Wilhelm Küchelbecker, who was sentanced to death for attempting to kill the grand duke, to be commuted to imprisonment and hard labour, which was successful.

Between 1826 and 1828, he fought in the Russo-Turkish War as Commander of the Guards Corps[4] and in the November Uprising. As a result of his assult on Warsaw, he was awarded the rank of Adjutant general.

Marriage and Family

Elena Pavlovna in middle age.

Michael remained unmarried until the age of twenty-six. Empress Maria Feodorovna found him a wife in Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (1807–1873), daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen, and was a granddaughter of the Empress' brother. In 1822, Michael travelled to Stuttgart to get to know the princess, who was described by many as charming in every way. By all accounts, Michael was not fond of his fiancee, most likley due to the influence of his brother Konstantin and his hatred of German princesses after his failed marriage with Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

Regardless of his personal opinion, he obeyed his mother's wishes and married Charlotte who took the name Elena Pavlovna[6] in St. Petersburg, 19 February 1824.

Relations between the couple did not become warmer. Michael's innatention to his wife, whom he avoided at all costs, shocked even Konstantin, who wrote "The position (of Elena Pavlovna) is insulting to female pride and to the delicacy that is generally characteristic of women. This is a lost woman if the deplorable situation in which she is not changed."

His wife tried to adapt to her husband's tastes, but found it difficult to restrain herself on matters of principle. She wished Michael would play a more serious role in state affairs given his position and strong relationships with both Nicholas and Konstantin, but he remained devoted to the army. The Grand Duke was a favourite amongst the Imperial Family. A kind man in essence, he was not know to be a pleasant communicator, and was often percieved as 'ill-mannered'. Despite his opinions of his wife, he resigned himself to marriage and "forgave her that she was chosen to be his wife"

The couple would have five chilren, all daughters, four of which would predecease them, including two who died in infacy:[7]

Michael had a daughter with a mistress, Karolina Karlovna Stieglitz:

Through his daughter Ekaterina, Mikhail is the third great-grandfather of Duke Georg Borwin of Mecklenburg who is the current head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Mikhailovsky Palace

Former Mikhailovsky Palace pictured in a postcard from the beginning of the 20th century.

Since his birth, the Grand Duke's father Paul I, had been setting aside money to fund a palace fit for a son born to a reigning tsar. Paul I didn't manage to finish building the palace before he was assasinated in 1801 when Michael was three. The palace was then gifted to him by Alexander I.

The Mikhailovsky Palace was built by Carlo Rossi between 1819–1825, where Michael and his family would live. Upon the death of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the Pavlovsk Palace was bequeathed to Mikhail. He and his wife visited the palace often. After his death, the Mikhailovsky Palace was sold to the treasury, and is now owned by the Russian Museum.

Illness and Death

Though the Grand Duke appeared strong, he was not particularly healthy. In 1819 he suffered a serious illness which he was treated for in the hot springs of Karlovy Vary. in 1837 he was reated for several months at European restorts, regardless he still suffered. Michael often laughed at his doctor's recomendations and didn't always follow them. Nicholas I wrote “The imminent arrival of Mikhail Pavlovich, instead of joy, is rather in grief for us, for he returns without finishing his treatment, which he will have to start again, if, as it should be believed, he does not change his way of life and bad habits here.”

The death of his daughter, Elizaveta in 1845, during childbirth, was a shock to the family. The following year, his eldest daughter, Maria, died, aged 21, in his arms whilst in Vienna after suffering from ill health her entire life. Michael began to suffer nose bleeds, and suffered from a nervous breakdown three years later.

Despite his declining health, the Grand Duke insisted on travelling to Warsaw in July of 1849 to attend to his guards and grenadier corps. During an inspection, his hand began to turn numb and he was rushed to the Belvedere palace. For two and a half weeks Michael was paralyzed and fought for his life. His wife and daughter, Ekaterina arrived in Warsaw and spent his last days at his bedside. Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich died 9 September 1849.

The body of the Grand Duke was taken by steamer from Stettin to St. Petersburg for his burial at the Peter and Paul Cathedral on 16 September. The army and guards wore mourning clothes for three months, and the Imperial Family mourned for a whole year. His death seemed to have a great impact on Nicholas I, who easily tired, and turned grey.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ RGIA. F. 516 (Camer-Fourier journals). Op. 1 (28/1618), D. 85 (Chamber-Fourier Journals of the Court Court. Ceremonial. 1798)
  2. ^ Newspaper "St. Petersburg Vedomosti". No. 12. Tuesday 9th day 1798. pp. 243 - 245.
  3. ^ "РОМАНОВЫ В ЖИВОПИСИ (ЧАСТЬ 9 - Вел.князь МИХАИЛ ПАВЛОВИЧ, сын ПАВЛА I). Обсуждение на LiveInternet - Российский Сервис Онлайн-Дневников". www.liveinternet.ru. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Михаил Павлович". www-rulex-ru.translate.goog. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. ^ Andrew A. Gentes, "Other Decembrists: The Chizov Case and Lutskii Affair As Signifiers of The Decembrists in Siberia", Slavonica, Vol. 13, No. 2, (2007): 136
  6. ^ Zeepvat, Charlotte (2001). Romanov Autumn: Stories from the Last Century of Imperial Russia. p. 20. ISBN 9780750927390.
  7. ^ "Просмотр документа - dlib.rsl.ru". 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  8. ^ TsGIA SPb. f. 19. op.127. file 2194. Metric books of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva.

External links

Media related to Michael Pavlovich of Russia at Wikimedia Commons

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