We continue to publish materials about the little-known pages of the life and way of life of the Russian people. Today we will talk about the current situation of the Russian aristocracy - the descendants of the pre-revolutionary nobility.

There are four and a half thousand people in the Russian Nobility Assembly

Tell us about the activities of the Russian Nobility Assembly. Does the status of "nobleman" exist today, and in what form?

Although the history of noble assemblies in Russia should be counted from Catherine the Great's charter of 1785, the Noble Assembly, as a public organization in modern Russia, was formed in 1990. On May 10, 1990, about 50 people, mostly members of a certain friendly circle, gathered in Moscow and established the Union of descendants of the Russian nobility – Russian Nobility Assembly” (this is our full name). Let me remind you that the Soviet Union was still in the yard with the leading role of the CPSU. Actually, it wasn't that scary anymore. perestroika», « Gorbachev”, etc., but still a certain courage of these pioneers must be given credit. Remember, the following year there was an August coup, and God knows how the country's development would have gone if it had succeeded.

The fact that the Nobility Assembly arose in Moscow was read by my grandmother in " Evening”, and I literally went to register the next day. This was my reaction and the reaction of many hundreds of people who seemed to be waiting for this moment, for others it was more expectant. Nevertheless, in the 1990-1991s, a very noticeable flow of people reached out to us. VOOPIIK(The All-Russian Society for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments) gave us a small room in the former Znamensky Monastery on Varvarka (then it was still called Stepan Razin). And sometimes we took in the bell tower. So, I remember, there was a queue for each of the 4-5 genealogists who were receiving. Then the flow became a little less, but never dried up. It doesn't stop even now. Today, the Russian Nobility Assembly consists of about four and a half thousand people. Is it a lot or a little? Rather, not enough. Because this is hardly more than 2-3% of those who could join us. The question of Christ comes to mind:

Haven't ten been cleansed, where are the nine?

Unfortunately, both at the beginning of the era and now, people very quickly forget what they should remember. Good to remember. Causes? On the one hand, for more than 70 years of Soviet power, executions, persecutions, exiles, camps and total fear in many noble families, the tradition was literally interrupted - there was simply no one left who could pass it on. Therefore, now there are a large number of nobles who are sincerely unaware of their origin.

Another situation - a person knows that he is a nobleman, but the family spoke about it in a whisper, with an eye to the walls that have ears. And this fear has so entered into the flesh, blood and subconsciousness of post-Soviet people that it has become psychologically impossible for many to declare themselves a nobleman. Several people told me exactly the same story. The older generation, having learned that their children or grandchildren had joined the Nobility Assembly, took their heads in horror:

You are crazy! We'll all be shot!

There is also a third reason. Many believe that since we live in the 21st century, the nobility is a page turned long ago, it is somehow ridiculous and absurd to recall this. It's like putting on a top hat or fanning yourself with a fan. Yes, I know that I'm a nobleman, that's all, no one else needs to know this, Well, maybe I'll tell the children - so, as a joke. This is a very common reaction.

There is another typical excuse, typical mainly for the descendants of aristocratic families. “Why should I join? Whether I am a member of the Assembly of Nobility or not, I am Prince Trubetskoy and will remain Prince Trubetskoy. I know my ancestors, it is important for me, but it is indecent to boast of origin in front of others. Why, one wonders, before 1917, being a member of the Assembly of Nobility was considered natural for a nobleman and was not associated with pride in any way?

And finally, perhaps the most important reason is laziness. Forcing people to apply to the archive, go to the registry office, rummage through their own family documents is sometimes an absolutely impossible task. In part, of course, I can understand these people: they do not have enough money to live, there are a lot of problems around, and here they are also forced to go somewhere, write something and even pay for something. At the same time, the Noble Assembly throughout the years of its existence provided free methodological assistance and helped in finding the necessary documents.

And yet there were also lazy ones. As a result, now the Russian Noble Assembly consists of 70 regional branches, scattered not only throughout the modern Russian Federation from Königsberg to Sakhalin and from Petrozavodsk to the Crimea and Kuban, but throughout the entire territory of the Russian Empire, including Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Baltic countries and Transcaucasia. Several branches also appeared in foreign countries - in Australia, Bulgaria, California. As I said, approximately 4,500 people are currently members of the Assembly. Of course, more entered, many have, alas, died. We often say - and we do not sin against the truth - that there are about 15 thousand of us with family members. These are descendants of both the male and female lines. The former are full members of the Assembly (and, in the legal sense, nobles), the latter are associate members.

From the point of view of issues of restitution, it is absolutely the same, the inheritance of property goes along any line. From the point of view of the nobility's legislation, this is wrong, we understand this very well and deliberately went for this wrongness, because after 70 years of the Soviet "skating rink" it was impossible to do otherwise. Indeed, often the tradition of the nobility was transmitted precisely through mothers and grandmothers, because fathers and grandfathers died in the revolution or the Civil War, died in exile, in prisons, camps. Agree that men die more often than women, and it is women who then pass on the tradition to their children and grandchildren.

If we ignore the women's line, then it will not only be unfair, but we will also lose a large share of the most valuable information. Some births in the male knee completely stopped during the years of Soviet power, and if we say: “ we are not interested in you, you are not nobles”, then we will lose a huge layer of documents, which from a historical point of view is simply criminal.

Rurikovich is not as small as it might seem

Name several known genera, whose representatives are now alive.

These are Counts Bobrinskys - direct descendants of Catherine II and Grigory Orlov, princes Gagarins, Trubetskoys, Obolenskys, Volkonskys, Khovanskys, many princes Golitsyns, Counts Sheremetevs, Tolstoy and Tolstoy-Miloslavskys, Apraksins, Tatishchevs, Efimovskys, Kamenskys, Komarovskys, noblemen Naryshkins, Lopukhins .

No Yusupovs?

There are no Yusupovs in principle. The princes Yusupovs were cut short in the male knee at the end of the 19th century. The daughter of the last Prince Yusupov, Zinaida Nikolaevna, having married Count Sumarokov-Elston, by the Highest Decree gave him her last name, and they began to be called Princes Yusupovs, Counts Sumarokov-Elston. Moreover, only the eldest representative of the family was called Prince Yusupov. The famous Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, the murderer of Rasputin, the son of Zinaida Nikolaevna, had a brother - Nikolai Feliksovich, he was simply called Count Sumarokov-Elston. Nicholas had no children (he died in a duel very young), and Felix Feliksovich from Nicholas II's niece, Irina Alexandrovna, had only a daughter, Irina, who died in 1983. Now her daughter Xenia Nikolaevna Sfiris, nee Countess Sheremeteva, is alive, but the Yusupov princes are no more.

If we ignore the princes and counts, then in the Nobility Assembly there are many representatives of the old untitled surnames: Aksakov, Bezobrazov, Beklemishev, Berdyaev, Bibikov, Verderevsky, Vorontsov-Velyaminov, Glinka, Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Golovin, Grigorov, Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Zagryazhsky, Karamzin , Kvashnins-Samarins, Korsakovs, Lopatins, Nakhimovs, Olenins, Olsufyevs, Olferyevs, Osorgins, Ofrosimovs, Passeki, Pereleshins, Raevskys, Rzhevskys, Skaryatins, Khitrovo, Khrushchovs, Chebyshevs, Chelishchevs, Chichagovs ... Of course, there are many Polish gentry, there are Georgian families and the Baltic Germans - von Essen, von Bergi, von Vietinghoff. In Russia, unlike Western Europe, there were not so many titled families, about 1%, in the west this percentage is much higher, thanks to the once branched feudal system that existed.

Are there any descendants of the Rurikoviches and Gediminoviches in the world now?

Certainly. The princes Golitsyn, Trubetskoy, Khovansky, already mentioned by me, are the Gediminoviches. Of the Rurikids, these are the princes Gagarins, Volkonskys, Khilkovs, Vadbolskys, the untitled Karpovs and Counts Tatishchevs. Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Shakhovskoy - leader of the Union of Russian Nobles in Paris.

In general, there are not so few Rurikovichs as it might seem. The Gorchakov princes live in South America, the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes in France, and the Lobanov-Rostovsky princes in England. There are a lot of Obolensky princes. The second leader of the Russian Nobility Assembly was Prince Andrei Sergeevich Obolensky.

And what kind do you belong to?

To the Shcherbachev family, as follows from my last name. This is the sixth part of the noble family tree of the book of the Kaluga province, the pillar nobility, that is, relatively ancient - the family is 500 years old. In general, the usual Russian kind. According to legend, he comes from a native of the Golden Horde, but in reality - from Dmitry Shcherbach, who served as an interpreter at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. In the Time of Troubles, my direct ancestor, the voivode Przemysl, accepted a crucified death from " thieves and Cossacks» Ivan Bolotnikov. And in 1613, one of the Shcherbachevs signed a letter of election to the kingdom of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov.

But, of course, the most famous representative of our family was Adjutant General Dmitry Grigoryevich Shcherbachev, commander of the Romanian Front in the First World War - you can find him in literally all encyclopedias.

Estate marriages - a rare phenomenon

Tell me, how does the aristocracy live in other countries, for example, in France? I heard that the Western aristocracy exists in a very closed regime. Any attempts of modern nouveaux riches to join this society are suppressed.

What you describe is quite consistent with the situation in France and the UK. In general, in Great Britain, the nobility as an institution is fully operational. When you become the eldest of the family, you are a lord and sit in the House of Lords. Yes, in England, as far as I know, there are a number of societies where you cannot enter for any money unless someone takes you there.

There are several noble societies in Italy. Some hold more or less open events. For example, the ball "Il cento e non piu cento", that is, "A hundred and a little not a hundred" in Casale Monferrato (Piedmont). Its history goes back to the distant Middle Ages, when the city was engulfed in a war between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. Finally, they managed to agree that a ball would be held as a sign of reconciliation, to which one hundred people from the aristocracy and one hundred from the bourgeoisie would come, but on the eve of the ball, someone unexpectedly died ...

This ball was remembered in the 19th century, it was revived, and since then it has been held annually. Both the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy are invited there - mainly, of course, Italian, but also from all over the world. As for the Russian Nobility Assembly, we have not only balls, but almost all events are open.

Is there a dress code for balls?

Of course, there is a dress code: Black Tie, that is, a tuxedo for men, a long dress for women. No wigs or other frills. There are sometimes masquerade balls, but quite rarely. Remember " War and peace”, the first ball of Natasha Rostova. How were the characters in the novel dressed? In the clothes that existed in their era, and not the way they dressed, for example, under Peter I or Ivan the Terrible.

In honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, there was a historical ball in costumes from the era of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. But it was a very special, unique ball. The last thing we would like is for the ball to be museumified. In our opinion, ballroom culture should be a part of life - that's exactly what it was in Russia in the 19th century.

But are there families or people who are trying to arrange dynastic marriages, when they are looking for suitors from a noble family for their daughters?

This is a hot topic. The late Count Nikolai Nikolaevich Bobrinsky, the first chairman of the Admission Committee of the Nobility Assembly, told me, then still very young: “ One of the goals of the Nobility Assembly should be the conclusion of class marriages". I was a little surprised back then. It should be noted that several such marriages were concluded in the Assembly of the Nobility. But if we talk about statistics, then, unfortunately, these are exceptions to the rule. So this mission, in my opinion, has not yet been completed.

Abroad, the situation is not much better. In recent years, even in the royal dynasties, there has been a tendency to enter into non-dynastic marriages. This game of pseudo-democracy does not at all benefit the monarchist idea; on the contrary, it destroys it. Thank God, the situation is better in lower dynasties. Especially in Germany. There are many princely families, including mediatized ones (with dynastic status), which follow the tradition and enter into equal marriages.

If we talk about France, then there the revolution happened a very long time ago, and, in addition to the nobility, what can be called “ old bourgeoisie". If not for the revolution of 1917, then in Russia we would have revered bourgeois families, such as the Morozovs, Ryabushinskys, Tretyakovs and others.

Today, Russian nobles are not involved in politics

What role could the descendants of nobles play in the development of our society and state?

Legitimate question. The Noble Assembly should exist not only for itself. Although this is also important. When people came to the Nobility Assembly in the 1990s, they felt an amazing, unique atmosphere, it seemed to them that they had returned to their home, to their relatives. Don't they deserve it?

I remember Irina Vladimirovna Trubetskaya, who spent almost half of her life in exile and camps. She smoked Belomor, but at first glance one could understand that she was a real aristocrat in front of you, she had such a core, such an inspired face. For the sake of bringing such people together, it made sense to create a Noble Assembly. The 1990s were quite cannibalistic, and we had an oasis where a person felt warm.

But you are absolutely right, the Assembly of the Nobility also feels its social mission. First of all, cultural and educational. At one time, the Assembly of the Nobility and its then vice-leader S. A. Sapozhnikov initiated, I think, a very successful book project " Russia forgotten and unknown”, within the framework of which more than 100 books were published on the history of the White movement, emigration, famous names and figures of the Russian Empire, such phenomena of Russian life as mercy and charity, etc. In addition, the Assembly of the Nobility holds scientific conferences on topical issues, most often in cooperation with reputable scientific organizations - the Russian State Library, the Historical Museum, the Institute of Russian History, etc.

We don't do politics. Why? The nobles are accustomed to what they do, to do well. In the 18th and 19th centuries, we managed to get involved in politics quite well, but now there are no prerequisites for this - and why are we going to get into it? I do not rule out that everything will change. History in our country is unpredictable. What matters is that we are. As long as we exist, we will bear witness to the thousand-year history of Russia, of the real Russia, which was not born in 1917 or 1991. This is our main task in the Russian Federation, which, according to the historian S. V. Volkov, “ not Russia yet».

STATE AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CONCEPT
RUSSIAN NOBLE ASSEMBLY
(2nd edition)

“The road will be mastered by the walking one ...”

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1.1. We, representatives of the Russian noble families, announced on May 10, 1990, the restoration, and proclaimed our main goals the resurrection of destroyed and lost spiritual, moral, cultural and material values, the restoration of the interrupted historical continuity of generations and the ideals of morality, Christian tolerance, respect traditional for the Russian state to the individual, enlightened patriotism and sacrificial service to the Fatherland.

1.2. The historical vocation of the Russian nobility has always been service to the state. The nobility developed as an estate of defenders and servants of the Fatherland, who highly raised the importance of feelings of duty and honor. Guided by these feelings and our own vision of state and socio-political ideals, we are in favor of the revival of Russia as a great Power, harmoniously absorbing in modern conditions all the best traditions and qualities that emerged during its almost 12-century existence.

1.3. Our country arose at the junction of several great civilizations and, having repulsed all the aggressions directed at it from the east, south and west, thanks to its unique geopolitical position and the efforts of all the peoples inhabiting it, it itself became a great civilization. By the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was an advanced state for its time - a parliamentary monarchy with a highly developed economy, an active political life, humane legislation, a high level of citizenship, spirituality and brotherhood of people.

The evolutionary development of the state was forcibly interrupted by the revolutions of 1917, carried out by radical political elements who managed to captivate Russian society with false ideals of establishing social justice according to the recipes of communist doctrine.

We must state that the destruction of the Russian state took place under the conditions of nihilism that had been planted in the country for a long time, and representatives of all classes, not excluding the nobility, were involved in this process to one degree or another.

1.4. Having withstood with all the people all the tests sent down by the Almighty, we now set ourselves the following main tasks: to contribute to the revival of the moral and spiritual foundations of Russian society and the state, the formation of public consciousness on the principles of traditionalism, the faith of ancestors and enlightened patriotism, the revival and strengthening of Russian statehood on the basis of historical Russian state traditions and principles, restoration of Russian historical traditions of state administration and local self-government.

1.5. Protesting against the imposition on our society of the feeling that the Russian peoples are doomed to imitate the Western world with its so-called “universal values”, “unified ideology”, globalism and tolerance, we stand for all-round support and priority for the national identity of cultural traditions, ethical ideals and eternal spiritual values ​​of peoples Russia, for the revival and strengthening in our life of the Faith of the ancestors as a proven means of restoring morality and morality in society.

1.6. Without binding ourselves to the framework of any specific political parties, we set ourselves the task of uniting persons belonging to the Russian nobility and descendants of Russian noble families who have retained their self-identification as representatives of the estate that for centuries has created, strengthened and protected the Russian state, its cultural and scientific potential, for the restoration and continuation of the historical continuity of generations, for the establishment both in our own environment and in society as a whole of a sense of ownership in the history and future of our Fatherland, for common deeds for the good of Russia. At the same time, we are confident that the consolidation of persons belonging to the Russian nobility and descendants of Russian noble families is possible only on the basis of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, the Faith of the ancestors, and the traditions of faithful service to their Fatherland.

1.7. We announce that Russian Nobility Assembly, its regional branches (regional Nobility Assemblies) and the Council of the United Nobility are the successors of the organizational structures and activities of the Union of United Noble Societies, provincial Nobility Assemblies, respectively, at the place of registration of the currently formed Noble Assemblies and the Council of the United Nobility that existed in Russia until February 1917.

1.8. We declare that Russian Nobility Assembly is a traditionalist organization that deeply respects the Russian spiritual and cultural heritage, the traditions of the historical Russian statehood, while it does not dogmatize specific forms and does not bow to the ideas of the past, but is ready to use all the richness of the historical experience of the country and the people, perceiving it in a dynamic development.

1.9. We declare that Russian Nobility Assembly, recognizing the enduring spiritual and moral significance of the Approved Diploma of the Great Local Church and Zemsky Sobor of 1613 on the calling of the House of Romanov to the kingdom, the Act of Succession to the Throne of 1797, the Manifesto of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of 1924 on his acceptance of the Imperial title in exile and other dynastic acts regulating legal status of the House of Romanov, is a legitimist organization, that is, honoring the legitimate Russian Imperial House as a historical institution and one of the main pillars of modern civil society and remaining faithful to its Head. Now the legitimate Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov is Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, and Her legitimate heir is His Imperial Highness the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich.

1.10. Although Russian Nobility Assembly- the organization is non-political and does not set itself the goal of coming to power, we not only reserve the right to speak out, including in the media, on the most important issues in the life of Russia and other states that were part of a single Power, but also intend to invariably actively participate in public and state activities in all its most important areas.

1.11. We consider it important in every possible way, patiently and persistently to form elements of harmony and unity in the main directions of the socio-political activities of various movements and organizations that stand in the position of restoring and developing Russian statehood. We stand for the priority of national and public interests. Wherein Russian Nobility Assembly open to cooperation with all forces, all state, political and public organizations that set themselves the goal of contributing to the revival, strengthening, prosperity and greatness of the Russian State and the territories of the historical Russian State, the prosperity and well-being of our peoples. Unacceptable for Russian Nobility Assembly, for our cooperation are only totalitarian organizations and parties adhering to the theomachist ideology, participation in whose activities we consider incompatible with membership in.

1.12. We believe that people of duty and honor of all strata of society, relying on the experience of national history, creatively assessing the multivariate possibilities of the present and future, are able to make a significant contribution, and, perhaps, play a decisive role in the revival of the Fatherland.

In this activity, we are guided by the provisions set out in the following sections of our Concept.

2. PRIORITY OF MORALITY AND SPIRITUALITY

2.1. “A political fortress is strong only when it rests on moral strength...”, - said V.O. Klyuchevsky. Only the unity of state and moral principles allowed our state, from ancient times to modern history, to overcome the most serious crises when such unity was broken. However, several generations of our compatriots grew up in the conditions of propaganda of a distorted Russian history, ignorance of the principles of education and the effective development of a multinational, multiform and multi-confessional state, which was our Russia.

2.2. Our acquisition of truth is not a search for abstract intellectual truth and, moreover, not an empty copying of an alien scheme, but a search for truth as a path in life, a combination of truth-truth with truth-justice.

2.3. We are convinced that the prosperity and greatness of our Fatherland is possible only on the path of moral revival and the establishment in society of the priorities of spiritual, moral and cultural values ​​traditional for Russia, spiritual and religious education.

We believe that Faith is a guarantee of morality and moral principles, the predictability of behavior and the stability of people's existence. Modern traditionalists, and indeed all citizens who sincerely care about the good of their Fatherland, regardless of their current state affiliation and nationality, need to adopt, preserve and re-feel in themselves the depth of the Faith of our ancestors, their benevolence, all-forgiving love, respect for traditions, stability , family, motherland.

At the same time, we state that despite the difficult period experienced by our country in the 20th century, most members of our noble union were brought up in the spirit of respect for the Faith of their ancestors.

2.4. The Russian nobility has historically developed as a multinational and multi-confessional estate corporation, and Russian Nobility Assembly respects the confession of the Faith of their ancestors by members of our organization.

We consider only militant atheism and belonging to extremist and totalitarian sects to be unacceptable. Propaganda against theomachy that offends the feelings of the majority of members of our noble union is incompatible with membership in Russian Nobility Assembly.

2.5. With respect for all religions of the peoples of Russia (Christianity, Islam and other confessions), the Russian Noble Assembly emphasizes the special role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the centuries-old history of our Fatherland and the enduring importance of Christian values ​​in the revival of the Russian state. Orthodoxy, as the religion of the bulk of the Russian population, has always been a spiritual source that nourished the Russian statehood.

The Russian Orthodox Church is Russian Nobility Assembly the main and indisputable moral arbiter.

2.6. Therefore, in the revival of the Faith and, first of all, Orthodoxy, we see the most important element of the spiritual revival of Russia.

In the name of this, we consider it necessary:

• to provide the Church with the opportunity to occupy a proper authoritative place in society and the state;
• to return to the Church churches and all the surviving property that she owned before the Bolshevik coup, taking into account their museum value and preservation;
• provide all possible assistance in the restoration of temples and shrines of all confessions;
• to introduce the teaching of the fundamentals of spiritual (religious) knowledge and the study of the religions prevailing on the territory of our country in general educational institutions;
• restore the institution of military priests;
• give an unambiguous assessment of the godless totalitarian regime and eliminate the attributes of reverence and symbols of the enemies of the Russian statehood and faith;
• return the former names unworthy of the renamed cities, streets, other geographical and other objects;
• perpetuate the memory of the fighters for Russian statehood and the Faith, who opposed the totalitarian regime and suffered from it;
• develop and implement a comprehensive program for the preservation and restoration of the national cultural and historical heritage of the country;
• develop a methodology for the spiritual education of children and youth in the spirit of the truth about historical Russia;
• carry out relevant publishing activities.

2.7. In general, the most important and priority task for Russian Nobility Assembly there should be the development of fruitful cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church and the provision of all possible assistance and support to her in her great salvific mission. The Russian Nobility Assembly sees its special role in strengthening the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church and overcoming the consequences of the tragic rift that divided the Russian world into "metropolis" and "abroad"

2.8. All-round assistance in educating a new highly moral generation of Russian citizens should become the most important area of ​​activity for modern Russian Nobility Assembly. This upbringing should harmoniously combine enlightened patriotism, Faith, respect for historical Russia, and citizenship.

2.9. With our life, appearance, deeds, we must return to the public consciousness of Russians the images of a nobleman and a citizen worthy of emulation, especially in matters of nobility, honor, duty, broad education, impeccable breeding, civil and human dignity.

3. LEGITIMACY

3.1. The revival of Russia is unthinkable without a return to the forcibly interrupted legal tradition and legitimacy, outside the continuity of more than a thousand years of Russian statehood. Based on this, Russian Nobility Assembly proposes to introduce into the Constitution of Russia a provision stating that Russia (the Russian Federation) is the successor not only of the USSR, but also of the Russian Empire. The Russian Nobility Assembly proposes to introduce an article into the Russian Constitution calling for the voluntary and peaceful reunification of the peoples of the Russian Empire and the USSR.

3.2. The February revolution and the Bolshevik coup of 1917 were the greatest catastrophe for Russia. As a result, the power in the country ended up in the hands of the enemies of the Russian statehood, which led to the destruction of the historical Russian State. Whatever changes the totalitarian regime established by the communists underwent in the future, it always remained inherently anti-Russian, since its existence was based on class misanthropic principles, directly opposite to those on which Russia stood. Hostility to historical Russia was the cornerstone of his ideological concept.

3.3. Russian Nobility Assembly proceeds from the historical experience of the twentieth century, which indicates that the legitimate and legitimate development of states is possible in a political system with a predominance of non-extremist political parties. The natural, historically emerged core of such a system, a consolidating force and a banner so necessary for such a multinational and multi-confessional country as Russia, is called upon to become a legitimate hereditary monarchy, capable of adequately and in the long term to ensure and symbolize the national unity of the state. And Russian Nobility Assembly offers our society just such a form of nationwide consolidation.

3.4. We believe that the restoration of the monarchy in Russia would best meet the interests of the country and the peoples inhabiting it, since:

• Monarchy is the heritage and result of the centuries-old historical development of the country, the embodiment of the deep foundations of national consciousness, it is not identified with the state regime of any particular historical era and can in our time become the same life-giving source of state existence that it was in Kyiv, Moscow and St. Petersburg;
• Alien to narrow political, social, professional, national and other predilections, the authority of the Supreme Power of the Monarch can become a force that ensures the prosperity and development of free and healthy political thought, reflecting the aspirations of Russians striving to return their Motherland to its original creative path;
• the hereditary and therefore independent and incorruptible Supreme Power of the Monarch is capable of being a force that morally unites the country and serves as a guarantor of the protection of the national interests of its peoples;
• monarchy is a reliable alternative to any form of totalitarian regime;
• Possessing people's trust, the Monarch as the Supreme Arbiter, Conscience and Symbol of the state is compatible with any form of administrative, social and economic structure that recognizes private property and universal moral principles.

3.5. Wherein Russian Nobility Assembly realizes that the restoration of the monarchy in our country must take place in a non-violent way, with the achievement of the proper level of churching of the people, the blessing of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and with the consent of the majority of Russian society in this.

3.6. However, regardless of these conditions, the legitimate Russian Imperial House, the Head and Members of which, being citizens of the Russian Federation, are still forced to permanently reside abroad, must be recognized as a historical institution that has made an invaluable contribution to the creation, strengthening, development and greatness of the Russian State.

At the state level (by a decree of the President of Russia, by a Law adopted by the Federal Assembly of Russia or otherwise), an official Status of the Russian Imperial House must be adopted, allowing the Members of the Imperial Romanov Dynasty not only to live with dignity in Russia, but also to symbolize continuity with a long history, contributing to the maintenance of social , the religious and national world in modern Russia, the preservation of a single civilizational and cultural space of all the peoples of the historical Russian State, making an important contribution to the revival of the spiritual foundations of society, the development of culture and art, the preservation of natural resources, the improvement of the institutions of the rule of law and civil society.

3.7. For the most Russian Nobility Assembly the legitimate Head of the Russian Imperial House is the Source of Honor.

Outside of serving the Russian Imperial House, outside of the Highest omophorion of the Head of the Russian Imperial House over the Russian nobility itself, which historically has always been an open class, loses the meaning and perspective of its existence, since in itself it does not have the right to annoble, incorporate new members into the noble community, approve coats of arms , the final approval of the rights associated with noble dignity, and so on.

3.8. Russian Nobility Assembly corporate public organization and does not require from its members common political, including monarchical views, a single ideological commitment. However, persons entering the Russian Nobility Assembly must respect the recognized Russian Nobility Assembly Head and Members of the Russian Imperial House. Disrespectful attitude, insulting statements towards the Head and Members of the Russian Imperial House are incompatible with membership in Russian Nobility Assembly.

3.9. Service to the Russian Imperial House, assistance in its activities, all-round assistance in the integration of the Russian Imperial House into the life of modern Russia are the most important and priority tasks. Russian Nobility Assembly.

4. STATE UNITY

4.1. Historical Russia was not a random mechanical union of peoples and territories, but a naturally formed integral cultural and political organism that developed within the objectively necessary geographical boundaries. Russia has never known national oppression, the numerous peoples inhabiting it had the opportunity to preserve their identity and develop their national culture.

4.2. The dismemberment of Russia according to the national principle, carried out by the Bolsheviks, into union and autonomous republics and the drawing of artificial borders along the living body of the country aimed at destroying its historically established unity and ultimately led to its current disintegration into a dozen and a half independent states.

4.3. Russian Nobility Assembly recognizes the newly independent states as an existing reality, is ready to communicate and cooperate with their state and public structures on the basis of respect, compliance with international law and diplomatic rules, as well as the national legislation of these states.

4.4. However, we consider such disunity and isolation to be a temporary phenomenon and disadvantageous in economic, socio-political, cultural terms for the vast majority of citizens living on the territory of historical Russia, which does not meet the long-term interests of the fraternal peoples.

4.5. Proceeding from this, we believe that in the future it is correct and logical to restore in one form or another the state unity of the territories and peoples of the historical Russian State. In doing so, we take into account the following circumstances:

• the peoples of historical multinational Russia, being under Russian cultural and political influence, developed harmoniously in all directions before the revolution and were loyal to the Supreme Power; as the economic and spiritual-moral revival of Russia can count on the restoration of such loyalty and trust;
• the state-political isolation of a number of territories of historical Russia, hastily proclaimed by their political leaders and national radical forces, inevitably led to the disruption of the most important economic ties and a decrease in the living standards of the population;
• the high historical, economic and cultural connectedness of the territories of historical Russia, the wide settlement of various peoples and nationalities in all its regions makes us see the continuation of integration processes as a pillar of the development of a unified statehood of all the peoples of historical Russia.

4.6. We believe and emphasize that the state, interstate or supranational unity proclaimed by us must be achieved peacefully, on the basis of the voluntary consent of all subjects of the unification process, as a community of peoples, closely united by a common history and economy.

4.7. Wherein Russian Nobility Assembly opposes the unification and uniformity of national regions, for the principle of their identity, plurality of ways, diversity of ethnic groups, confessions.

4.8. The task of the regional Noble Assemblies, revived or formed in the new independent states of the Near Abroad and included in a single Russian Nobility Assembly, - by their own example, using the methods of "people's diplomacy" to demonstrate their interest in broad interaction with public structures of other independent countries that were previously part of a single state, proving the possibility and advantages of unity.

4.9. In any conditions Russian Nobility Assembly will provide all possible moral support to the Russian and Russian-speaking communities, wherever they are. We are ready to act as mediators and arbitrators in various interethnic conflict situations, defending the principles of unity, speaking out against any signs of national, religious, linguistic and other discrimination.

5. LEGAL ORDER

5.1. The arbitrariness of the totalitarian regime and its heirs must be replaced by a firm government firmly based on laws that are binding on all legal entities and individuals, regardless of belonging to the political circles currently in power.

At the same time, on the basis of universal consent, a smooth, without interethnic and social confrontations, a real transition to a full-fledged civil law-based state should be ensured.

5.2. The triumph and universality of the execution of the law must be ensured by a strong executive power with direct subordination to it along the vertical of all lower structures. Speaking for the establishment of strong state power, we proceed from the fact that such power should be the triumph of law and serve as protection against any arbitrariness.

5.3. We are supporters of the consistent implementation of political reforms and freedoms, first proclaimed in Russia by Emperor Alexander II and developed by his Son and Grandson.

5.4. At the same time, without denying the importance of building a civil society in the country, we argue that rights and freedoms without duties, not supported by a moral imperative, a sense of duty and responsibility, sooner or later will inevitably lead the world to a spiritual and then a material crisis, as already happened many times in history.

5.5. In the field of local government, the proven experience of zemstvos at various levels should be actively used.

5.6. The Armed Forces of the country should be built on the basis of the traditions of the Russian Army and Navy, with the restoration of their paraphernalia and symbols, the return of historical names to military units, ships, etc. Russian Nobility Assembly intends to continue to actively cooperate with the Armed Forces.

5.7. In the field of judiciary, it is necessary to develop the best principles and traditions of the judicial system that existed in Russia.

Strict and real enforcement of court decisions must be achieved by both private individuals and state structures and bodies, up to criminal liability for non-compliance; ensured the real independence of judges from local and federal authorities, including economic and domestic independence, while at the same time reporting in accordance with the law.

5.8. In the field of education and training of new generations, all the achievements of the system of classical education should be restored, taking into account modern experience.

Russian Nobility Assembly considers itself entitled to create its own certified training system.

5.9. We proclaim traditionalism, stability and harmony as the main qualities of a rule of law state and consider it necessary to put an end to discrimination in the legal rights of citizens of historical Russia.

All representatives of the first Russian emigration, who were forced to leave the country, and their descendants should be recognized as Russian citizenship by a single legal act, regardless of whether they filed any petitions and applications, only on the basis of the fact that they themselves or their ancestors belonged to Russian citizenship before 1917. To take advantage of this act or not will remain the right of each such representative of the Russian Diaspora.

Ways must be found to compensate all persons who suffered from totalitarianism, especially in the first years of the Bolshevik regime, the documents of the repressive bodies concerning them must be made public, and the places of burials established.

5.10. In the field of mass media, equal opportunities must be steadily ensured for all public and political movements that recognize the legal norms of activity. Russian Nobility Assembly At the same time, it will seek appropriate opportunities for disseminating its ideas and its vision of the further development of the state.

6. ECONOMIC FREEDOM

6.1. We proceed from the fact that the right to property is sacred and inviolable. Outside of this principle, building an efficient economy is impossible. Economic freedom and freedom of entrepreneurial activity are the main conditions for the effective development of the country's economy.

6.2. All types of property, including state, corporate (in particular, joint-stock companies), collective (in the form of communal property common in Russia, or "mir") or private, must enjoy equal respect and equal protection of the law. The creation of a multi-structural free economy is in the best interest of the economic revival of Russia.

6.3. At the same time, state control should be maintained over the most significant, from the state point of view, industries, primarily defense enterprises, land use and subsoil exploitation.

6.4. The most important condition for the economic upsurge of Russia is the revival among Russian industrialists and all citizens of labor morality, the skills of responsible work, which pre-revolutionary Russia had in all its estates.

6.5. The key to the success of any activity can only be the right balance of tradition and innovation. Any ongoing transformations, whether political, economic or social, should not interrupt the continuity of Russian society, Russian civilization with the age-old national spiritual and moral foundations and the traditional way of life in favor of the artificial imposition of foreign orders.

6.6. To stabilize the domestic economy, we consider it necessary to introduce a system of national protectionism, which consists in supporting the state and / or large domestic financial and industrial firms, primarily domestic industry and responsible capital, and creating preferential conditions for their development compared to foreign ones.

6.7. The land should be given to the peasants and those who are capable of cultivating it, in line with the continuation and development of the ideas of Stolypin's agrarian policy.

It is necessary to encourage and provide priority conditions for acquiring land to those descendants of Russian farmers and landowners who have retained the ability and desire to work on the land; Russian emigration should be encouraged to return to Russia by creating favorable conditions for them to acquire property in the country and participate in the revival of national entrepreneurial activity.

6.9. In order to preserve the national cultural heritage of the country, part of the property that previously belonged to the Russian nobility (estates, etc.), and is now in disrepair, could be transferred for management Russian Nobility Assembly, the regional Assembly of Nobility or another noble financial and economic organization (fund, bank) so that these cultural values ​​\u200b\u200bcan be restored and be in the possession of both a noble public organization and, possibly, private individuals.

7. METHODS OF ACTIVITY

7.1. Activity Russian Nobility Assembly is carried out in full compliance with the current legislation of the states where its members live.

7.2. The main motive of all actions Russian Nobility Assembly there must be a search for ways to accord and unity of the peoples of historical Russia.

7.3. In practice Russian Nobility Assembly such forms of public discussion as holding discussions, up to national ones, conferences, round tables, etc., with the involvement of highly qualified experts, should be widely used.

7.4. Goals and means of activity Russian Nobility Assembly should be equally noble, pure and transparent.

The Russian Nobility Assembly (abbreviated RDS; full name - "Union of the Descendants of the Russian Nobility - Russian Nobility Assembly") is a corporate public organization that unites persons belonging to the Russian nobility, as well as descendants of Russian noble families, who documented and irrefutably proved their undoubted belonging to the Russian nobility.

Nobility meetings were canceled by the decree of the Central Executive Committee on 11/10/1917. The document itself was a unique source.

21) Structures and publications in genealogy: Russian Genealogical Society in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Genealogical Society (abbreviated RGS), founded in 1897 in St. Petersburg on the initiative of Prince A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky. The meetings of the society were held on Nadezhdinskaya street (now Mayakovsky street), 27.

The goal of the society is the scientific development of the history and genealogy of noble families (including the study of the genealogy of the service nobility of pre-Petrine Russia); in the field of studies of the Russian Geographical Society - research on heraldry, sphragistics (an auxiliary historical discipline that studies seals and their impressions on various materials), diplomacy and other historical disciplines. Chairman - Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich. The Russian Geographical Society included historians, court dignitaries, statesmen, representatives of provincial noble assemblies: N. P. Likhachev (one of the founders and actual head of the society), S. D. Sheremetev, G. A. Vlasyev, D. F. Kobeko, N. V. Myatlev, V. V. Rummel and others In 1901-130 members (in 1898-23). The main works of the members of the society were published in 4 issues of Izvestia (1900-11). The archives of the Russian Geographical Society kept ancient letters, columns, documents of the 16th-18th centuries. from the family archives of the Osorgins, Tyrtovs, Musin-Pushkins and others (now in the archives of Leningrad and Moscow). In 1919, the Russian Geographical Society entered the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture, and was renamed the Russian Historical and Genealogical Society; ceased to exist in 1922.

22) Structures and publications in genealogy: Historical - Genealogical Society in Moscow. The Historical Genealogical Society in Moscow, founded in 1904 and restored in 1990, is a voluntary scientific and public organization and aims to continue the traditions of historical and genealogical research, the scientific development of problems of domestic genealogy, the study of the history of genera and families, mutual assistance in genealogical research, popularization and promotion of genealogical knowledge and genealogy as a branch of historical science.

Goals and objectives

1. Takes care of the preservation of family archives and collections, describes and publishes them in compliance with the rules established for this subject.

2. Collects and processes materials on history, genealogy, heraldry and related disciplines.

3. Collects a library, archive and museum on all subjects that meet the objectives of the Society.

4. Arranges public meetings with reports and lectures and organizes exhibitions on issues that meet the objectives of the Society.

5. Conducts genealogical and heraldic expertise and consultations on these issues.

6. Interacts with archives, museums, libraries and other institutions and organizations (including foreign ones) on issues that meet the objectives of the Society, and provides its members with the opportunity to study in archives, libraries and museums.

7. Uses the right of editorial and publishing activities, publishes (in the manner prescribed by law) its own journal and the works of its members and other printed and visual materials on genealogy, heraldry and related disciplines, republishes works on these and other problems related to the subject matter of the Society's knowledge.

8. Orders the execution of genealogical research and other work on the above issues in Russia and abroad and fulfills orders from Russian and foreign citizens and organizations, and also acts as an intermediary in the execution of such orders.

9. Finances genealogical programs, research, expeditions, participates in the implementation of similar programs organized by other scientific and public centers, organizations and individuals (including foreign ones).

10. Opens its branches in other cities.

11. Issues prizes and medals for works that meet the objectives of the Society.

12. Creates a computer data bank on genealogy, heraldry and related disciplines and organizes an information center.

23) "Historical Genealogy"

The journal "Historical Genealogy" is published by the Center for Genealogical Research in Yekaterinburg. This journal publishes articles on topical issues of genealogy, introduces processing of genealogical sources (Nobelization documents). The articles contain information about the fate of certain noble families (the fate of the Romanovs), about the fate of certain families. On the development of French families, regarding immigrants.

Oleg Shcherbachev: It is not only possible, but also necessary, to be proud of the glory of our ancestors...

Interview of the Leader of the Russian Nobility Assembly, the Leader of the Moscow Nobility Assembly Oleg Vyacheslavovich Shcherbachev to the columnist of the federal weekly Rossiyskie vesti.

To the 25th anniversary of the revival of the Russian Nobility Assembly

It seemed that after the revolution, the nobility in Russia was finally and irrevocably destroyed in Stalin's camps, the dungeons of the Lubyanka, disappeared in the "great dispersion" of emigration ... The nobles who remained in Russia at that troubled time buried St. George's crosses, Annas and Stanislavs, with with tears in their eyes, they burned family albums with photographs of grandfathers in uniforms and grandmothers in evening dresses, tore up church records and letters of nobility ...

With the fall of the Soviet regime, they started talking about the revival of cultural and historical traditions, the restoration of the lost continuity of generations, it became possible to remember their roots, ancestors ... And it turned out that they could not completely destroy the nobility - in Russia there were still nobles who were born before the revolution, during many families preserved the memory of noble ancestors, family seals and family traditions were preserved ... On May 10, 1990, the All-Russian public organization "Union of the Descendants of the Russian Nobility - the Russian Nobility Assembly" was created in Moscow (abbreviated name - Russian Nobility Assembly, RDS).

Since then, a quarter of a century has passed ... About the plans that came true and those that did not come true, about what the Russian noble corporation lives today, the observer of Rossiyskiye Vesti talked with the Leader of the Russian Nobility Assembly, the Leader of the Moscow Nobility Assembly Oleg Vyacheslavovich Shcherbachev.

First of all, I want to congratulate you on the 25th anniversary of the revival of the Russian Noble Society. How justified the hopes with which it was created, what has been done over the years? I would like to know what the nobility corporation represents today and what is its size?

Thank you for your congratulations! Of course, for the centuries-old history of the Russian nobility, twenty-five years is a very short period of time, but for us this is a very significant date ... Let's remember how it all began ... At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, our country experienced a very interesting, turning point. Indeed, at that time there were many hopes and illusions, various parties, movements, public organizations, and foundations arose and disappeared without a trace. The Russian Nobility Assembly, which was revived on May 10, 1990, is still active and, I am sure, with God's help it will exist for a long time to come. I think that after 10 or 20 years, it would be much more difficult to revive the Nobility Assembly. After all, at that time people born in the Russian Empire were still alive, they remembered it, they remembered the horrors of the Red Terror, the executions of relatives, prisons, exiles, camps, hardships. They stood at its origins, gave it a moral and religious basis.

Now they like to say: Russia is a great country with a common history... The country is certainly great, and the history is great, but at the same time tragic and catastrophic. And one of the main tasks of the Russian Noble Assembly is to testify to this history, which we have been doing all these 25 years, publishing books, newspapers, almanacs, doing scientific work, holding conferences. A lot has been done in this field. I would especially like to note the book series “Forgotten and Unknown Russia” (the authors of the project are S.A. Sapozhnikov, one of those who stood at the origins of our organization, now the honorary leader of the Moscow Nobility Assembly, and V.A. Blagovo). To date, more than 100 books have been published on various aspects of Russian history, the White movement, and emigration. The series is available in all major libraries, not only in our country, but also abroad. In my opinion, this is already something to be proud of.

Today, the Russian Nobility Assembly is an all-Russian public organization with 70 branches operating in the regions of the Russian Federation, and practically throughout the entire territory of the historical Russian state. In this sense, it is also, one might say, a unique association. A sacramental question about the number ... I will not dissemble, there are not very many of us: about four and a half thousand (with family members - about 12,000). According to my estimates, this is no more than 2-3% of those who could join us.

This begs the question: where are the other 98%?

There may be several reasons for this. First, the applicant to our organization must submit a convincing chain of documents. Some people are afraid of it. I understand perfectly well that most of the nobles who passed through the Soviet ice rink did not have any documents left. Thank God we managed to survive. So, you need to request archives. To some, this may seem difficult, if not hopeless. Those who are not afraid of difficulties are rewarded a hundredfold: they learned what they did not suspect. Family genealogy is an interesting science. We try to help everyone who comes to us, whether they are a descendant of the nobility or other classes, because even Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin said: “It is not only possible, but also necessary, to be proud of the glory of our ancestors; to disrespect it is shameful cowardice...

We should not forget the fact that for more than seventy years people have been trying to eradicate historical memory or distort it. A “bright future” loomed ahead, and behind - the “dark Middle Ages”, “prison of peoples”, “reactionary tsarist regime” ... Some clichés have already been forgotten, but don’t flatter yourself. The disease of historical amnesia is fraught with relapses.

Another reason why not everyone was in a hurry to join the Assembly of Nobles was rather banal: fear. And it's hard to blame someone here: people have experienced such that after that you can be silent for life, so as not to harm children, grandchildren, loved ones! The result is a tree without roots. And now such victims of fear and silence come, and there is no one to ask them ...

I'm glad they're coming. Maybe the flow of people wishing to join the Assembly is a little less now than in the early 1990s, but all the same, people are drawn to tradition, to the origins of our culture, to enduring moral values, to the concepts of honor, service, and duty. And we try to help them find their story.

You mentioned such concepts as honor and duty. Obviously, they cannot be forcibly instilled in a person, they are brought up by generations, like patriotism or Christian morality, which was absorbed with mother's milk. Did at least part of society manage to preserve these values ​​during the years of Soviet power, when the word "nobleman" was mentioned only as a swear word?

The concept of honor, especially noble honor, is very subtle. In Russia, it was formed in the XVIII - XIX centuries. In pre-Petrine Russia, there were completely different ideas about honor. And although the image of a knight is, of course, of Christian origin, one should not forget that it was honor that pushed many noblemen to actions that were spectacular, but not at all Christian. In the 19th century, the aristocracy in Russia was certainly not atheistic, but I would venture to say that religion was not the core of its life. The fruits of this "Petersburg religion" turned out to be tragic, and the depth of "folk Orthodoxy" in many respects turned out to be an illusion. Therefore, oddly enough, it was the 20th century that became the century of the return of nobles and intellectuals to the temple. In exile, the Church became a real center of crystallization of Russian life in exile. And in Soviet Russia, the clergy and the nobility turned out to be brothers in misfortune, outcasts and “disenfranchised”. Suffering requires reflection and justification, and outside of Christianity it is impossible. Long before 1990, the parishes of Elijah Obydenny, Nikola in Kuznetsy, Resurrection of the Word in Bryusov Lane became a kind of "Moscow noble assembly". When the "colossus" collapsed, and we witnessed the miracle of the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, this revival began, mind you, with the urban intelligentsia.

And now about patriotism. What kind of patriotism should be in Solovki, in Karlag, or even in the cramped room of a Moscow communal apartment left after the “condensation”? But love for the motherland is an indestructible feeling. Just understanding the motherland is deeply individual. Both in the Soviet Union and in the diaspora, the Russian nobleman was doomed to love his Fatherland in much the same way as Israel "on the rivers of Babylon." Of course, someone mimicked, someone assimilated, but someone remained faithful to that Russia, which his fathers and grandfathers once swore allegiance to and served, and, if necessary, went to his death.

The nobility in Russia appeared as a "serving" class, obliged to prove its loyalty to the sovereign - the Grand Duke, Tsar, Emperor by service. This is how the clan and caste backbone of the noble corporation was laid. Today, historical and political conditions have changed. Has the internal connection between the current representatives of the nobility and the descendants of Russian emperors been preserved?

Undoubtedly. Without respect for the historical dynasty and its legitimate Head, a full-fledged noble worldview is unthinkable. After all, our ancestors served the sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty for centuries. Already in the first year of the existence of the Russian Noble Assembly, its contacts began with the then Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, who, one might say, blessed our activities, signed the first Charter of the Noble Assembly. I consider this very important and symbolic: a man who was born in 1917 on the territory of the Russian Empire, lived his entire life in exile, and who for more than 50 years carried this heavy cross, this mission. The Grand Duke still happened to set foot on the land of his ancestors, on the day when the capital of the Russian Empire regained its historical name. Less than a year later, he passed away. A truly beautiful destiny, a truly legendary personality.

The Imperial House exists and will continue to exist... Today its Head is the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich - Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna. Call it a parallel reality, but anyway, the dynasty is a reality: legal, historical, sacred.
In the history of the Church, it happened more than once when a part of the hierarchy, and even a large part, veered into heresy. The mystical body of the Church is indestructible. And on earth, as long as at least one ordained bishop is alive, the apostolic succession continues. A dynasty is also a succession sanctified by law and the Church.

It must be said that the Russian Noble Assembly did a lot to return and reintegrate the Russian Imperial House into the public life of modern Russia, especially in the 1990s. The first visits of the current Head of the dynasty, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, were organized with the direct and active participation of the Russian Nobility Assembly and its leadership. It is also useful to recall this in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Assembly as one of the most important practical results of its activities.

The Empress Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna has publicly stated more than once that she is not going to enter into a political struggle in any form ... What is the attitude towards the policy of the Russian Nobility Assembly?

You are right, the head of the dynasty has repeatedly stated that she is not involved in politics. This is a fundamental position. A dynasty should unite, not divide. And this is also the principled position of the Russian Nobility Assembly. As a private individual, any nobleman, of course, has the right to join one party or another. But, as a public organization, as a class corporation, the Assembly of the Nobility was and remains out of politics. Which does not mean - out of public life. On the contrary, both the Russian Imperial House and the Russian Noble Assembly are simply obliged to participate in the formation of civil society, its value orientations, to stand guard over its moral principles, to cultivate a cultural field.

How are the relations of the noble community with the Russian Orthodox Church?

I think, like all normal Orthodox people... For the Russian Assembly of the Nobility, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the main moral authorities. But at the same time, I must emphasize that the nobility in the Russian Empire was multinational and multi-confessional. It remains so today. There are Catholics, Lutherans, and Muslims in the Assembly of Nobility. The Russian Empire was able, singling out Orthodoxy as a state religion, to preserve the national characteristics of its constituent peoples. Christianization, of course, was carried out, but quite skillfully and gently - in comparison with the "liberal" West, the same America, the religious policy of Russia was the height of tolerance. The Orthodox monarch was sincerely loved by the "white king" for all his subjects.

The re-establishment of the Assembly of the Nobility in modern Russia almost coincided in time with the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church. Of course, we understand that we are in different "weight categories", but we cannot but realize both the inextricable historical connection and the duty of cooperation. The late His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, who, let me remind you, was born in exile in Tallinn, and descended from the noble family of the Ridigers, was our honorary member and did a lot for the Nobility Assembly, especially at the stage of its formation. With the current Primate, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Nobility Assembly also has strong respectful filial bonds. As well as with many other hierarchs and clergymen.

In order to better acquaint the Moscow public, including members of the Assembly of Nobility, with true church life, with real representatives of, so to speak, the second estate, I recently launched the project “Estonia. Dialogue with a priest. And, I want to say, what a gallery of wonderful Moscow priests passed before us - smart, educated, versatile, deep and interesting interlocutors!

I repeat, the nobility and the clergy are called to be co-workers in the field of the revival of historical Russia. So it is today, and I hope it will be so in the future...

Representatives of the noble class faithfully served the Fatherland for generations ... During the Patriotic War of 1812, the Crimean campaign, the First World War, aristocratic youth voluntarily went to the front line, it was considered shameful to sit in the rear. It's hard to imagine this today. What, in your opinion, is the reason for the decline in patriotic feeling, the loss of moral guidelines, the sudden appearance of the ideals of a “consumer society”, etc.?

I don’t like it when they manipulate the absolutely vague term “national elite”. Who is this elite really? Senior officials? Oligarchs? Businessmen from culture? Bandits who profited from crime and privatization? It is difficult for me to agree that this is the Russian elite, especially if it keeps its capital in offshores and Swiss banks, and its offspring study in England - and not at all in order to return to their homeland with the acquired knowledge. These are nouveau riches. The real elite is formed not in five or even twenty-five years, but in generations and centuries.

The main task of the real Russian elite has always been serving the Fatherland. During the war of 1812, representatives of all aristocratic families were in the army, during the Great War the first to die were officers of the guard, who considered it beneath their dignity to bend under machine-gun fire. The elite of a society ceases to be such as soon as it opposes itself to this society. Despite the different social status, wealth, level of education, people should have a single system of values. In the 19th century, it was brilliantly formulated by Count S.S. Uvarov. God, Tsar, Fatherland - with these words, both the Grand Dukes and the peasants lived and died, together they made up great Russia. In this connecting beginning, the fundamental difference between estates and classes, groups, strata, and even now fashionable strata.

Why not now? Well, why should we be like this, after more than 70 years of communist ideology, built on the principles of atheism and proletarian internationalism? The Bolsheviks came to power on national betrayal, retained this power through national betrayal (remember the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) and brought up traitors, it is enough to name the phenomenon of Pavlik Morozov, the epidemic of whistleblowing that was raging at that time. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when a critical situation developed at the front, the official ideology had to be adjusted. Stalin remembered the names of Suvorov, Kutuzov, Nakhimov. But I would not flatter myself about the sincerity of this "turn", about which they now like to speculate.

Speaking of patriotism, one should not forget one important nuance, namely, that patriotism is love, love for the Motherland. But all love is waiting for reciprocal love. As for the current state, on the one hand, it abandoned the communist ideology, but, on the other hand, it did not recognize itself as the legal successor of historical Russia. This duality creates a value relativism, a "split of consciousness", which, obviously, does not contribute to the rise of patriotic feelings.

Maybe toponymy, symbolism is not the most important thing in this world, but you must admit that this is something that eats into our consciousness, sits on its subcortex. And although the Royal Passion-Bearers have long been glorified, Muscovites are forced to pass through the Voykovskaya station every day. Cleared images of the Savior Not Made by Hands and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the Kremlin towers crowned with five-pointed stars, and next to it lies the unburied body of the "eternally living" destroyer of Russia.

What, in your opinion, can serve as the basis of a national idea that can unite the disunited and largely morally disoriented Russian people?

We must understand that it is impossible to come up with a national idea. It is nurtured by the people - I repeat these words again - for generations and centuries. In addition, there is the concept of historical and religious vocation. As a person, so the people have their own cross. Attempts to reject it, to turn off the predestined path with God, are catastrophic. Russia was not just a monarchy for a thousand years, the majority of European states were monarchies. Russia itself, perhaps unwillingly, took over from Byzantium the mission of the Christian empire, the Third Rome. And thus she predetermined her fate. Like it or not, we must admit that we are an empire. And the Christian empire demands, of course, a Christian emperor, an anointed one.

I am not saying that in the 21st century it should be an absolute monarch, especially since by 1917 our monarchy was far from absolute. I'm talking about the monarch as a symbol of the nation. I may be asked the question: how is he, in fact, different from the president? Usually they answer this way: by the dynastic principle. Of course, this is a very important difference. When the heir to the throne is brought up from childhood as a future monarch, responsible for the fate of his country, which his ancestors have been improving since the founding of the state, and which he will then entrust to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, this guarantees stability and continuity.

But I would like to focus on the religious aspect. Have you ever thought about how priests, ordinary Russian priests who confess their sins almost daily, manage to endure all this calmly and not go crazy? After all, they are not professional psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts, who, by the way, break down much more often. For a religious person, the answer is obvious: the power of grace inherent in the gift of the priesthood... But after all, the hereditary monarch, by duty and right, receives a special, sacred gift in the sacrament of secondary chrismation. It is he who gives him the strength to bear the burden of power.

Almost a million Russian people belonging to the nobility, after the revolution, ended up in exile. Have contacts with emigrant noble assemblies been restored today?

The oldest organization of the Russian nobility - the Union de la Noblesse Russe - was created in Paris in 1925 from representatives of the provincial noble assemblies who were forced to leave their homeland. When the Russian Noble Assembly was formed in 1990, then, of course, contacts immediately began with this “Parisian” Union of Nobles. It could not be otherwise, because after the catastrophe of 1917, many families were separated by the "Iron Curtain". But one should not think that everything turned out so rosy. For a Russian emigrant, could there be anything good from the Soviet Union, even if it was the Assembly of the Nobility? But time heals, and gradually the wounds heal. Despite some differences in our statutes, good relations have developed between the organizations on the whole. An important milestone was 2013, when the delegation of the Union of Nobles, headed by its then chairman Kirill Vladimirovich Kiselevsky (alas, recently deceased), at the invitation of the Moscow Nobility Assembly, participated in a large program prepared by us dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. In the House "Russian Abroad" there was an evening from the cycle "Farewell, Russia - hello, Russia!", dedicated to the Union of Nobles - it was, in fact, our first joint action.

I have no doubt that our contacts will develop in the future as well. I also want to note that in some countries the Russian nobility was not united in any organizations, and they arose only in the 1990s already as branches of the Russian Nobility Assembly. So it was in Australia, in Bulgaria.

In the domestic press, it is customary to savor juicy details about the weddings of European crowned heads with emotion. At the same time, outright lies are often written about the current Russian Imperial House and all sorts of gossip is spread. How do you assess this trend?

To be honest, I don't see much difference between gossip and juicy details - it all fits into the general style of our modern press. Of course, I perfectly understand what you are talking about. The implication is this: there, in the West, monarchies are beautiful and good, but here, in Russia, this is absurd and atavistic. The question is why? Why, for example, the restoration of the monarchy in Spain is positive and relevant, while in Russia it is served with sauce: do you want to return the palaces to yourself? Or maybe even serfdom in addition? Moreover, the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna does not tire of repeating that she is against restitution and, moreover, does not claim the property of the dynasty.

Attacks on the Head of the Russian Imperial House are most often based on emotional and sometimes absurd arguments. No matter how much you refute them, they still pop up later and are presented as a sensation. What can be said here? It is pointless to explain anything to a person who does not want to understand. But it is necessary to methodically and honestly write the history of the Imperial House in exile, publish archival documents, photographs, letters - for thinking people.

On the Internet, you can find ads that guarantee the awarding of a "royal" order or a princely title for a certain amount. Do these proposals have anything to do with the Imperial House or the Assembly of Nobility?

Believe me, all such offers are pure fraud. Genuine awards are not bought on the Internet or in any other way, but are received for services to the state, the Church, the dynasty that has retained its historical identity. Only in this case, these are full-fledged awards, not trinkets.

The dynastic orders established by European monarchs in past epochs are preserved by the current heads of the crowned dynasties, even in the event of the loss of state power. Orders are bestowed by the Heads of the Italian, French, Portuguese and many other non-reigning dynasties. The list of dynastic orders published by the International Commission of Cavalier Orders and other authoritative scientific societies also includes the Russian imperial orders of the Romanov dynasty. The right to award imperial orders and bestow noble dignity is an inalienable historical prerogative of the Head of the Russian Imperial House. At present, imperial orders, as well as orders of the Russian Orthodox Church, do not have state status, and their awarding does not entail any privileges. They are only an honorary sign of respect and gratitude from the Russian Imperial House. I note that many well-known public figures, military leaders, clergy, people of culture are holders of imperial orders.

Is the current interest in the search for noble ancestors a kind of fashion - for many it is prestigious to have their own coat of arms, pedigree?

Prestigious and fashionable - not always bad. The bad thing is that fashion passes. And genealogy must be rooted in the people's consciousness. Peoples who honor their history, their traditions, cannot fail to know and respect their ancestors. We talked about patriotism. Through the history of one's family, one's own ancestors, the history of the country becomes close and dear - and isn't this the basis for true patriotism? Whoever your ancestors were - nobles, peasants, merchants, clergy - they are all worthy of memory, they all worked for the good of Russia. The main thing is that the passion for genealogy and heraldry should not lead to the temptation to rewrite history, in this case, your family history, the history of the family. If such a temptation touches someone's souls, let them think about the fact that fictional ancestors will not be able to pray for them ...

But my deep conviction is that there is also a religious aspect to genealogy. We are all descendants of Adam, a branch of a single human race. This understanding runs throughout the Bible. Open the New Testament. Where does it start? From the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

On October 2, 2010, the 65th anniversary of the Leader of the Russian Nobility Assembly (RDS) His Excellency Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Gagarin was celebrated in Moscow.

Representatives of the Church, state authorities, public organizations, relatives and friends of Prince Gagarin and many members of the Russian Nobility Assembly gathered to congratulate the hero of the day.

On behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Prince was congratulated by the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, Mitred Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who presented His Excellency with the icon of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Director of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House A.N. Zakatov read out congratulations to Prince Grigory Grigoryevich from the Empress Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and announced the Decree on awarding the hero of the day with the Sign with the monogram image of the Name of the Head of the Russian Imperial House of the 1st degree. On behalf of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Prince Gagarin was congratulated by a group of generals headed by Lieutenant General A.Ya. Kolomeichenko. At the same time, the head of the Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense for perpetuating the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, Major General A.V. Kirilin presented His Excellency with the medal "200 Years of the Ministry of Defense", which the prince was awarded for his active cooperation and interaction on the part of the RDS with the Russian Armed Forces. The rector of the Russian State University of Trade and Economics (RGTEU), which is under the highest patronage, Professor S.N. Baburin announced the decision of the Academic Council of the university to award Prince Gagarin with the Golden Badge of Honor named after Nikolai Rumyantsev. First Deputy Director of the Russian State Military Historical and Cultural Center under the Government of the Russian Federation G.I. Kalchenko, congratulating the hero of the day, presented him with a commemorative government medal for his contribution to the patriotic education of youth.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin congratulates Prince Gagarin

Professor S.N. Baburin congratulates Prince Grigory Grigorievich

Major General A.V. Kirilin congratulates His Excellency

There were congratulatory greetings from the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Russia V.E. Churov and Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of Russia on Public Associations and Religious Organizations S.A. Popov. Congratulations were delivered by the Deputy Head of the Office of the Public Chamber of Russia A.I. Kudryavtsev, Head of the Rossotrudnichestvo Department Yu.Yu. Didenko and others.

The comrades-in-arms of the Movement “For Faith and Fatherland”, headed by the Chairman of the Guiding Center K.R. Kasimovsky, Member of the Republican Center G.N. Grishin and confessor of the Movement Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets), ranks of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House King of Arms S.V. Dumin and lawyer G.Yu. Lukyanov, head of the Moscow Department of the Russian Imperial Union-Order A.A. Patriotic War of 1812, headed by the Chairman of the Society V.I. Alyavdin, General Director of the company "Partnership of A.I. Abrikosov's sons" D.P. Abrikosov, President of the Society of Friends of the State Historical Museum A.A. Bondarev, President of the Moscow Interdistrict Bar Association S.B. Zubkov, representatives of the priesthood and figures of the Russian Orthodox Church, members of the Rectorate of the RGTEU and others.

Chairman of the Leading Center of the Movement "For Faith and Fatherland" K.R. Kasimovsky and Member of the Guiding Center G.N. Grishin congratulate Prince Grigory Grigorievich

And, of course, Prince Grigory Grigoryevich was congratulated by a numerous deputation of the RDS, headed by the First Vice-Leader of the RDS A.Yu. Korolev-Pereleshin, including the Vice-Leader of the Moscow Nobility Assembly (MDS) Professor P.V. Florensky, Leader of the Bashkortostan Nobility Assembly - Mejlis of the Tatar Murzas Z.Ya. Ayupov, Leader of the Perm Nobility Assembly A.A. Posukhov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.M. Lavrov, head of the pilgrimage section of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society S.Yu. Zhitenev, leader of the youth section of the RDS M.M. Volkova and many, many others.

Press service of the Movement "For Faith and Fatherland" ( [email protected] )

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
ABOUT THE LEADER
RUSSIAN NOBLE ASSEMBLY

Prince Grigory Grigorievich G A G A R I N E

Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Gagarin - Rurikovich, a direct descendant of the Russian Grand Dukes Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky, Vsevolod the Big Nest. Born October 2, 1945 in the suburbs of Paris, Villejuive, in a family of Russian emigrants. Baptized in the suburbs of Paris, Clichy, in the Church of the Holy Trinity in December 1945 in the presence of parents, relatives and friends. Father - Prince Grigory Borisovich Gagarin (1908-1993), son of Major General Prince Boris Vladimirovich Gagarin (1876-1966), World War I hero, awarded the Order of St. George 4th class and the golden St. George weapon. Prince B.V. Gagarin in exile was the chairman of the Union of Knights of St. George. Father of Prince G.G. Gagarina G.B. Gagarin first studied at the Cadet Corps, then graduated from the University of Liege and worked as a mechanical engineer. During World War II, he was in the Army of General Charles de Gaulle, was in a combat unit, which was one of the first to land in France, and had a number of military awards.

Mother Maria Fedorovna Karpova (1910-1998) is a representative of a well-known noble family descended from Rurik. Her grandfather, Gennady Fedorovich Karpov, a well-known historian, professor, after his death at Moscow University, a scholarship was established in his name for especially successful students. The mother of Prince G.G. Gagarin graduated from the Sorbonne and then worked as a class lady in a gymnasium in Paris. Mother was lucky to have H.I.V. Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, who entered the senior class of this gymnasium to pass exams for a certificate. During World War II, she also participated in the French resistance movement.

The parents of Prince G.G. Gagarin had known each other since the 1930s. They met again in France, immediately after the liberation of Paris from the German occupation in August 1944, decided to get married and got married at the end of 1944 in the suburb of Paris, Clichy. After the end of the war and the birth of their son, the parents of G.G. Gagarin, following the example of a significant part of the Russian emigration, wanted to return to their homeland in Russia. The mother of Grigory Grigoryevich especially insisted on this. However, the father of Grigory Grigorievich, having become acquainted by this time with the methods of work of the Soviet special services, who tried, through pressure and intimidation, to involve him in work with internees, realized what was waiting for him in the Soviet Union and changed his mind about returning to Russia under the communist regime. Grigory Grigoryevich's mother, however, did not agree with him and insisted on returning. There was a serious quarrel and the family broke up. Father G.G. Gagarin later lived and died in England. The mother of Grigory Grigoryevich married Grigory Erastovich Tulubyev (1897-1960), a hereditary nobleman, a former guards officer, a member of the White movement, who fought in the White Army with the rank of staff captain. From this marriage, in 1948, the half-brother of Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin, Andrey Grigorievich Tulubyev, was born.

A few years after the end of the war, Grigory Grigoryevich, together with his mother and stepfather, first moved to the German Democratic Republic, and then to Russia. They expected to settle in one of the capitals, but they were sent to the city of Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Region, on the border with Kazakhstan. The stepfather raised and raised Grigory Grigoryevich as his own son, never making a difference between him and his half-brother.

Prince G.G. Gagarin has two higher educations. In 1964 he entered the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute, where he graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1971 and was left to work at the department. Since that time he lived in Chelyabinsk. In 1993 he graduated from the Mining Faculty of the All-Union Correspondence Polytechnic Institute in Moscow. Worked as a researcher at the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute (1971–1986), head of a laboratory at the South Ural Trust for Engineering and Construction Surveys (1986–1992), chief specialist of the Spetszhelezobetonproekt design and technology institute (1992–2001), chief specialist of the building survey department and facilities at OOO South Ural Regional Technical Center Prombezopasnost (2001–2006).

Since 2007 - Head of the Department of Technical Development of Production, an expert in the inspection of buildings and structures of CJSC Uralspetsenergoremont-Holding. Since 2009 - Investment and Construction Advisor to the Rector of the Russian State University of Trade and Economics (Moscow).

In 1999, he applied for membership in the Russian Nobility Assembly (RDS). Accepted as a full member of the RDS, with an entry in the 5th part of the RDS Pedigree Book (diploma No. 2173). Even before the final entry into the RDS, Prince G.G. Gagarin began to organize the Chelyabinsk Regional Nobility Assembly, which he created in 1999 and, with some difficulty, was officially registered in early 2005 as a regional branch of the RDS. All these years (until 2009 inclusive) he was invariably the leader of the Chelyabinsk Nobility Assembly. Delegate of the 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th All-Russian Nobility Congresses. In May 2005, he was elected to the Council of the United Nobility, since that time he has actively participated in all meetings of the Council.

In August 2007, Grigory Grigoryevich was introduced to the Head of the Russian Imperial House H.I.V. Empress Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna. The candidacy of Prince G.G. Gagarin, as a possible future leader of the RDS, was approved by the Highest.

At the reporting and election 12th All-Russian Nobility Congress in May 2008, he was elected Leader of the Russian Nobility Assembly.

Prince G.G. Gagarin actively supported and continued the public-civil and cultural-educational activities of the RDS, which the organization had carried out in all previous years. After being elected the Leader of the RDS, he personally heads most of the programs and projects of the RDS.

Since 2008, he has been involved in the preparation and conduct of visits to Russia by the Head and Members of the Russian Imperial House, in the implementation of actions aimed at integrating the Russian Imperial House into the life of our Fatherland.

Since 2010, Prince G.G. Gagarin is a member of the Council of Orthodox Public Associations under the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society.

Awards:
- Russian Imperial House: Order of St. Anne, 2nd class (2009);
- Foreign: Order of Honor of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (2009); medal "20 years of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" (2010), medal "600 years of the city of Bendery" of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (2009).
- Russian Nobility Assembly: medal of honor (2nd degree, 2008) of the honorary award "In memory of the creation of the Union of Descendants of the Russian Nobility - the Russian Nobility Assembly".

Prince G.G. Gagarin is married. His wife, Princess Valentina Oskarovna, nee Bidlingmeier, comes from a family of German settlers in the Caucasus (born in 1948 in Kazakhstan), the wife's parents left for permanent residence in Germany in the late 1980s. The only daughter of Prince Grigory Grigorievich, Princess Maria Grigorievna, was born in 1972 in Chelyabinsk, graduated from a university in Germany, in Stuttgart, married to a German citizen, has a daughter, Anna (born in 2008).