#Natalia Brasova

[the-last-tsar]

Grand Duke Michael and wife Natalia Brasova.

[otmaaromanovas]

Mikhail Alexandrovich with his step-daughter, Natalia Sergeievna, whom he accepted as his own child

"Having kissed us both, Uncle Misha went away. He never came back. Thus, almost casually, there went out of my life a man whom I shall always love and who I regard more than anybody else as my parent. I owed and owe everything to him"

Natalia writes very fondly about Mikhail, whom she called 'Uncle Misha, in her memoirs, 'Step-Daughter of Imperial Russia'.

"Then eventually I met the Grand Duke. He came to tea one summer afternoon- I was decked out in a white silk smock, which I secretly thought rather plain, my two long straight black plaits were undone, my nails cleaned, and I was ushered in. To my immense surprise and disappointment, I did not see anybody resembling Jehovah, but a very slim and tall young man, with the thinnest waist and a charming smile, rose from a chair and said "So that's it, is it? My God, what eyes!". I was completely tongue-tied and speechless, even the gift of a large box of delicious sweets could only produce a very inaudible thank you." "Now he was part of the household and I accepted him quite normally and was told to call him Uncle Misha. I soon lost my shyness of him and used to clamber on his knee and follow him about..."

Mikhail wrote about Natalia often in his diary, affectionately calling her 'Tata':

"...we slid down the hill to the greatest pleasure of Tata and Baby." "At 9 1/4 Tata and I went to the Farm, rode from there on horseback through Remiz past the tea house. Farther along we crossed the railroad and rode past Paritz, Kolpano and to Priorat. By the guard house near Warsaw Station we got into an automobile and went home." "...In the morning Tata and I took a ride on horseback at the Zoo."

Sources:

Step-Daughter of Imperial Russia, Natalia Majolier

Michael Romanov : Brother Of The Last Tsar, Diaries And Letters, 1916-1918, Helen Azar , and Nicholas B.A. Nicholson

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

First of all, I wanted to thank you for the interesting posts and photos you publish💋❤

My question is, did tsar Nicholas II ever meet his nephew George, son of grand duke Michael ?

or did OTMA ever meet their cousin?

Hello anon! Thank you for the compliments! I’m so glad you enjoy my blog! So for a brief rundown of who this George person is, he was OTMAA’s uncle (and Nicky’s brother) Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich’s son from his morganatic marriage to Countess Natalia Sergeyevna Brasova. Mikhail and Natalia cherished their young son and Mikhail and Georgy met several times before Misha was executed in 1918.

Georgy was born on July 24th 1910 when Olga was 14, Tatiana was 13, Maria was 11, Anastasia was 9, and Alexei was 5. Because Georgy was the product of a morganatic marriage, a marriage not getting approval from the monarch, and going against the laws of the Russian Orthodox Church, Nicholas most likely would not have allowed his children to meet their cousin.

Nicholas was a VERY faithful man and took morganatic marriages VERY seriously. He was very close to Misha and felt probably very betrayed by his actions. Because of this, Nicky would’ve not wanted to meet Georgy and would’ve kept his children away from him. I’m not 100% sure if they did happen to meet in the 7 years before they were killed. There is a chance though!

I think that @otmaaromanovas could go digging a lot more into if they ever possibly had met because she is a queen when it comes to letters and diaries!

Thank you for asking and sorry this took a long time to answer!

[ykzzr]

George Mikhailovich Brasov

(1910-1931)

The only son of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his later wife, Natalia Brasova, George was born in his mother's apartment in Moscow on August 6, 1910.

Tsar Nicholas II granted his younger brother's son the Mikhailovich peerage and title of Brasov by his decree of 13 November 1910 and on 26 March 1915 George was elevated to the rank of Count of the Russian Empire.

On the night of 12–13 June 1918, George's father grand duke mikhail was shot dead on the outskirts of Perm by the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police.

After the revolution in the spring of 1918, the seven-year-old was taken abroad under false documents under the guise of the son of an Austrian war officer. He lived with his mother in the UK and lived in a rented house at Wadhurst, Sussex, from Easter 1919. In 1927, due to financial problems, his mother relocated to Paris but he remained in England to finish his school year. He then went to another boarding school, École des Roches in Verneuil, Normandy, and then the Sorbonne in July 1931, Count Brasov succeeded in passing his first session at the Sorbonne.

George was an excellent athlete, and was particularly fond of technology and had inherited it from his father. He was a brilliant driver when it came to cars and dreamed of sports cars, but it is unfortunate that he inherited almost nothing from his father's huge fortune.

A picture of George in 1928 when he was 18 years old.

Nicholas II's cousin, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who had styled himself emperor in exile, in 1928 granted George Brasov and his mother princely titles.

After the death of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1928, George received a third of her fortune in her will, with which Natalia bought the latest model of a Chrysler sports car as a reward for him after passing the university exam.

In the new car, Georges and his friend, 19-year-old Edgar Moncanar from the Netherlands, decided to take a trip south from Paris to Cannes.

On the way from Paris to Cannes, the car skidded near Sens, while Edgar was driving, they crashed into a tree, Edgar was killed, Georges was taken to the hospital in Auxerre, the capital of the Ayon department, and Natalia rushed to be at the bedside.

Photo of George accident near the Burgundian city of Sens, department of Yonne, about 120 kilometers southwest of Paris.

The next morning, July 22, 1931, George died without regaining consciousness, the last descendant of Emperor Alexander III, the son of almost the last emperor of Russia, with only three days left until his 21st birthday.

Natalia brought the young man's body to Paris and buried it in the Passy cemetery, and bought herself a place nearby. At the funeral ceremony, she appeared calm and reserved, but paler than usual. A funeral was arranged for young George, worthy of a person of imperial blood, but this led to the bankruptcy of his mother, who remained penniless throughout his life until her death.

In 1952, his mother died from cancer, and she was interred beside him in a grave marked by a Slavonic cross of stone on a marble tomb.

Written on their tombstones “the wife and son of Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia”.

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his son, Count George Brasov

Above is a photo of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his son George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov, Misha's only child with Natalia Sergeyevna, whom he married morganatically (and who was created Countess Brasova by Tsar Nicholas II after the marriage.)

Misha named the boy after his brother, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich (who died at age twenty-eight.) Unfortunately, George Mikhailovich also died young; he was in a fatal car accident at age twenty.

I had never seen this picture of them. Count Brasov's mother, Natalia, died of cancer. She bankrupted herself, giving her son a funeral worthy of a person of his station. Geoge was buried in the Passy Cemetery in Paris, and his mother was buried next to him when she died.

Although he had no rights of inheritance because he was the fruit of a morganatic marriage, Count George Mikhailovich was Alexander III's last direct male heir.

[imperial-russia]

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich with his morganatic wife Natalia Brasova and a friend

[n-rnova]

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich Romanov(Left), Count George Mikhailovich Brasov(Middle,son of GD Michael), Countess Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya, Countess Brasova(Right)(Wife).

At the beginning of 1908, Michael began a friendship with Natalia Sergeyevna Wulfert, the wife of a fellow officer; she was previously divorced and had a young daughter by her first husband. Their relationship deepened, and by the summer of the following year, they were lovers. By that winter, Natalia was separated from her husband and living in an apartment in Moscow paid for by Michael. When the Tsar became aware of the situation, he had his brother transferred to the Chernigov Hussars at Orel, but Michael traveled from Orel to Moscow several times a month to visit Natalia. She gave birth to their son in July of 1910. (As this occurred - before - her divorce from Wulfert, the eventual divorce decree was back-dated.) The baby George - named after Michael's dead brother - was given the surname "Brasov" derived from the name of Michael's estate Brasovo, in acknowledgement of his paternity. The following year the Tsar permitted Natalia to move to Brasovo, granting her the surname "Brasova".

In September, the couple again went abroad, again followed by the Okhrana. While in Berlin, they announced that they would drive to Cannes. But, eluding the secret police, they made a diversion to Vienna, where they were secretly married in the Serbian Orthodox Church, on October 16th. A few days later, they arrived at Cannes, where they were joined by the two children. Two weeks after the wedding, Michael wrote to his mother and brother to inform them; they were, not surprisingly, horrified and angry. The Tsar was particularly upset as his son was in the midst of his most serious haemophiliac episode, and Michael had explained that it was just that dire situation that had spurred his decision to marry: his actions would remove him from the succession and, should the young Tsarevich die, he couldn't be separated from Natalia and their child. In a series of decrees between December and January 1913, Nicholas relieved Michael of his command, banished him from Russia, froze all his assets there, and seized control of his estates. Michael and Natalia - who would not be styled Grand Duchess, but called Madame or Countess Brasova - lived in French and Swiss hotels for the next six months. They were visited by sympathetic friends and relatives, including his sister Xenia. In July they met the Dowager Empress in London; according to the Grand Duchess Xenia's diary, her mother told Natalia "a few home truths". Not long after, Michael took a one-year lease on Knebworth House, a furnished and staffed estate twenty miles north of London. Michael's finances were nonetheless uncertain since he had to rely on funds released at the Tsar's command, as his brother still controlled all his estates and assets.

[romanovsmurdermystery]

On the image: on the left: the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and on the right, P. L. Znamerovsky the head of the gendarme department of the Baltic railway roads who lived in Gatchina where Mikhail Alexandrovich lived too. (Perm, March 1918)

Not Mr. Johnson but P. L. Znamerovsky

One of the most intriguing discoveries that I made in my research and investigation of the case of the disappearance of Nicolas II and his Family was in connection to the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and the photograph that is shown and included into many sites and publications - see the photograph attached to the post.

Contrary to prior belief, Mikhail Alexandrovich is pictured on this photo NOT with his secretary Nikolai Nikolaevich Jonson (Johnson), but with P. L. Znamerovsky, the head of the gendarme department of the Baltic railway roads who lived in Gatchina where Mikhail Alexandrovich lived too.

The original photograph does not state the name of the person but has a writing at the back:

'April 9 - 1918 - Perm. We had our photograph taken at the Hay Market, while walking around the city. The photo was developed in 19 minutes. Signature. I haven’t shaved since the day I left Gatchina (February 22 – March 7)'

The clarification of who is on the photograph with Mikhail Alexandrovich is made by a note N198 which is attached to the case F. R9440. Op.1 D.1. (GARF)

It says: 'To the judicial investigator for the most important cases. In addition to my request, I ask you to notify me if the corpses of Znamerovsky and Lebedeva are identified. I am enclosing a photo of P. L. Znamerovsky taken together with the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. When the need has passed, I humbly ask you to return the photo to me or to the relatives of P. L. Znamerovsky: his son, brother and sister live in Petrograd. The photo was taken by some amateur in March 1918, apparently at the Hay Market. K. A. Simonova. Address: Kungurskaya, 8, apt. 1'

The above information was discovered in the GARF archives, in the case F. R9440. Op.1 D.1., by Ilya Chishko in September 2016. Of his discovery he informed a journalist Lubov Markova who wrote an article about it in the magazine 'New Companion' dated 20 March 2018.

On the image: On the left: Natalia Sergeevna Brasova, the wife of the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and Mikhail Alexandrovich, far right - Nikolai Nikolaevich Jonson (Johnson), the secretary of the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich (Nice, France)

[officialroyalty]

Countess Natalia Sergeievna Brasova, morganatic daughter-in-law of Alexander III

[lesyoussoupoff]

"The marriage of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and Madame Woulfert, which took place in the autumn, distressed the whole Imperial family and particularly the Dowager Empress. The Grand Duke Michael was the Tsar's only brother and, after the Tsarevich, heir to the throne. After his marriage he was obliged to leave Russia and live abroad with his wife who was given the title of Countess Brassoff. Their only son was killed in an automobile accident, soon after the Revolution. Morganatic marriages such as this did great harm to the prestige of the Imperial family. The private lives of those who may be called upon to reign should be governed by the interests of their country and by the duties incumbent upon their rank. Noblesse oblige."-Prince Felix Youssoupoff, Lost Splendor 

[historicwomendaily]

requested by @moonlight-circus​

↳ natalia brasova, countess brasova

[venicepearl]

Natalia Brasova, Countess Brasova (27 June 1880 – 26 January 1952) was a Russian noblewoman who married, as her third husband, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia.

[empress-alexandra]

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich with his wife Natalia, countess Brassova, 1916.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich x Natalia Sergeyevna Brasova (edit)

“For some reason I can't write at all today, yet I so want to express all the feelings, which are pouring from my heart I so want to tell you of my boundless love and devotion. If only you knew, my dearest, how worn out I am by this life without you, without tenderness, without love!”

— Mikhail Alexandrovich to Natalia Sergeyevna Brasova, July 6 1915

Made by me using iMovie

[ykzzr]

Natalia Brasova with her children Natalia and George 1920s

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich (1878 -1918): Affairs of the heart

Misha (or "Floppy," as his sister Olga called him) was the youngest son and fifth child of Emperor Alexander III and, without a doubt, his favorite son. He grew up to be handsome and intellectually unremarkable...some, such as Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, thought that this lack of talent was a facade and that the young man was quite intelligent but preferred to live the life of a playboy and remain uninvolved in affairs of state.

Affairs of the heart turned out to be a big problem for Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, as he seemed to have always chosen the "wrong partner" (from a dynastic point of view.) I blame Dagmar (Empress Maria Feodorovna) for that; as second or third in the succession line most of his adult life, she should have secured a proper marriage for him. But her desire to keep her children close to her overruled her mind.

These are the women Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich fell in love with:

Princess Beatrice of Saxe Coburg and Gotha - a beautiful young lady and very appropriate by rank but a first cousin of Michael's (daughter of Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, only sister of Alexander III.) The Russian Orthodox Church did not permit marriages among first cousins, and Nicholas II refused to authorize the marriage.

Alexandra Kossikovskaya (known as Dina) - a lady in waiting for his sister Olga and definitely out of the question as a marriage prospect.

Natalia Sergeyevna Wulfert (later Countess Natalia Brasova); was a very beautiful, already divorced woman with a daughter. When she met Michael, Natalia was married (second husband) to one of the officers under Mikhail. Natalia eventually divorced her second husband (she was already pregnant with a son by the Grand Duke), and they married without the Tsar's permission.

Given the cruel fate that awaited this young man, I am glad he got to marry and have a son, even if Nicky, Alix, Dagmar, Xenia, and even Olga were scandalized by his choice of bride.

Photographs: 1. Mikhail in a field of flowers; 2. Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; 3. Dina; 4. Natalia Wulfert (later Countess Brasova)