Sometimes Ksenia Alexandrovna managed to collect all her children, who had long since flown out from under their mother's wing, in London. Such family gatherings were the biggest holiday for her.

In Britain. Late 1930s. Grand Duke. Ksenia with children

Ksenia Alexandrovna died in April 1960 in the Wilderness House house on the territory of the Hampton Court palace complex, where she moved after the death of King George V. According to her dying will, the body of the Grand Duchess was transported to the south of France and on April 29, 1960 was buried in the Roquebrune cemetery, next to her beloved husband, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.

Children of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. Irina, Andrey, Fedor, Nikita, Dmitry, Rostislav and Vasily.

IRINA

Irina was the first-born and only daughter of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the niece of Emperor Nicholas II, thus being the granddaughter of Alexander III by her mother, and the great-granddaughter of Nicholas I by her father. She was born on July 3, 1895 in Her Imperial Majesty's Own dacha "Alexandria" (Peterhof), which was announced by the Nominal Supreme Decree of the same day; baptized on July 12 of the same year in the palace church of Alexandria, among her godparents were Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Her parents since 1906 often spent time in the south of France, so the family called Irina Irene(Irene) in the French manner. Irina was rightfully considered one of the most beautiful brides of the Russian Empire.

Irina in 1914 - just like her mother, at the age of nineteen - married Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov Jr., who was destined to become famous as a participant in the murder of Grigory Rasputin. Felix quarreled with Rasputin, since the latter was against his marriage to the daughter of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Irina. The plan of Yusupov's marriage to Grand Duchess Irina was intended to pour the untold wealth of the Yusupov princes into the possessions of the Romanov family. The Yusupov princes were of Tatar origin. Therefore, Rasputin often said that Russian blood did not flow in their veins, and advised Nikolai not to marry Irina to Felix Yusupov, since he could not be a husband at all. According to some reports, Yusupov was cured by the elder Rasputin from the sin of Sodom.

In 1913, Alexander Mikhailovich started a conversation with the Yusupov family about the wedding of his daughter Irina and their son Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, and they happily agreed. Her future husband, Prince Felix Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, was one of the richest people of that time, he became the sole heir to the Yusupov family fortune after the death of his older brother Nikolai in 1908. When Irina's parents and grandmother, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, learned of the rumors about Felix, they also wanted to cancel the wedding. However, in February 1914 the wedding took place. At the wedding, Irina was in a simple dress, instead of the traditional court dress in which other brides of the Romanovs got married, since she was not the Grand Duchess, but the Princess of Imperial Blood - her father was only the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, and therefore his children, great-grandchildren of the emperor , did not receive the grand ducal title.

Grigory Rasputin was assassinated in order to gain access to the royal Romanov family. According to the main version, Yusupov was the main organizer of the murder. According to modern research, Yusupov was a decoy and a decoy, and not a direct killer, which in no way justifies his terrible sin of betraying an old man to kill and complicity in it. Grigory Rasputin was killed by a British spy Oswald Rayner with a control shot in the forehead. Oswald Reiner is by no means a new figure in this case: he is repeatedly mentioned in the memoirs of Felix Yusupov. The day after the murder, the prince writes, he dined with Reiner, who "knew about the plot and came to find out the news." Yes, and the memoirs of Yusupov, published in 1927, were written in collaboration with Reiner. If you look at the title page, you will see that it was translated into English by… Reiner. Thus, the co-author of the "truthful" memoirs of Felix Yusupov was the British intelligence itself. Now this service is known as MI6.

After the assassination of Grigory Rasputin, Irina and Felix had to move to their father's estate Rakitnoye in the Kursk province. The couple had one daughter, Irina Feliksovna Yusupova, who was born in St. Petersburg on March 21, 1915.

Grand Duke Irina Alexandrovna with her daughter

Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on her knees great-granddaughter (daughter of Grand Duke Irina Alexandrovna), Irina Alexandrovna and Grand Duke. Xenia Alexandrovna.

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, wife of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich with his daughter Irina Alexandrovna and granddaughter Irina Feliksovna.

Irina Alexandrovna died 3 years after the death of her husband, on February 26, 1970 at the age of 74.

Irina Feliksovna Yusupova, daughter of Irina Alexandrovna

Her daughter, Irina Feliksovna, in Paris on June 19, 1938, married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetyev (October 28, 1904 - February 5, 1979). The sister of Count Sheremetev was married to another prince of imperial blood, Roman Petrovich, who was the nephew of the Italian queen by his mother. In this regard, after the wedding, the newlyweds settled in Rome, where on March 1, 1942 their daughter Xenia was born. Irina Feliksovna died on August 30, 1983 in the city of Cormey (France). She was buried in Paris at the Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery in the same grave with her parents and husband.

Original taken from andanton to Grand Duchess

In a small attic above a Chinese shop - 50 years ago in this house there was a hairdressing salon for three chairs, which was maintained by Russian emigrants Martemyanovs - in the poorest district of Toronto, on November 24, 1960, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Romanova, the sister of Nicholas II Romanov, who was born in Peterhof, died in June 1882. Her father is Emperor Alexander III, her mother is Empress Maria Feodorovna, nee Princess Dagmar of Denmark.

Portrait of a young Olga Romanova by Serov.

Two circumstances prompted me to this small investigation. First, one day, while walking through the halls of the huge Ontario Museum, I came across a beautiful crystal vase for champagne and discovered with amazement that it actually belonged to the royal family. A few years later, I read an essay about the house of Princess Olga Romanova on Tchaikovsky (formerly Sergievskaya) Street in St. Petersburg and an even more amazing essay by the same author “Two Gatchina novels”. The last work describes events so curious and at the same time little known that I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with it before continuing to read my report.

However, often the stories in Russian about the fate of the Grand Duchess' family and her life in Canada are replete with multiple inaccuracies, which is quite understandable: where is Petersburg, and where is Toronto? I realized that I could easily fill this gap in just a few hours. But before sharing my findings, I want to draw a very quick dotted line after almost 150 years, connecting imperial St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century with modern Toronto.

So, the imperial family, 1893.
The little boy on the left is Mikhail, who for the sake of his love renounced all the honors and privileges of the imperial family. Shot by the Bolsheviks in Perm in 1918.
In the center above the father and to the right of the mother is the eldest son, the future Nicholas II. The same fate, only killed in Yekaterinburg.
A girl between her father's knees - Olga Romanova. Miraculously escaped, lived in Denmark, died in Canada.
Next to her sister Xenia. Apparently, in her character and habits, Ksenia was by no means similar to Olga, but, despite this, the Romanov sisters were very friendly. Ksenia died in London in the same 1960 a few months before Olga.
The young man on the right, Grand Duke George Romanov, died suddenly in 1899 as a result of childhood tuberculosis.

Now there are about 60 direct descendants of the Romanovs in the world, scattered across different countries. 3/4 of them are descendants of Xenia and Olga. It turns out that the granddaughter and great-grandchildren of Olga Alexandrovna Romanova, who peacefully live an absolutely inconspicuous life in the suburbs of Toronto, are much closer to the direct branch of the Romanov family than the all-Russian famous Kirillovichs, who trace their ancestry from Alexander II, and not III. This conclusion was somewhat unexpected for me.

Grand Duchess Olga Romanova had two sons, Tikhon and Gury. Their paternal surname is Kulikovsky. Both served as officers in the Danish army (in the photo, O.A. with his sons in the form of Danish officers). After the capture of Denmark by the Germans, Tikhon visited the Gestapo a couple of times on suspicion of connection with the resistance, was interned in German special camps. Judging by the sources, Tikhon was a more passionate figure, and he was more interested than his brother in representing his branch in the Romanov family. He died in 1993 and is buried with his mother and father in Toronto. The descendants of Tikhon Nikolayevich firmly settled in Canada. And Gury was married to a Danish woman, by the way, the direct heiress of Vitus Bering (how bizarrely the cards get in the way!), And he married her even before moving to Canada. Shortly before his mother's death, Gury divorced his first wife, and she returned to Denmark. Subsequently, all the children of Guria moved back to Denmark with their mother. From the following marriages, Guria had no children of his own. Gury himself also died and was buried near Toronto. Therefore, the descendants of Olga Alexandrovna are citizens of two countries - Canada and Denmark.

About the miraculous salvation of O.A. a lot has been written with a family from revolutionary Russia. Their way to Denmark was more than not easy. But I want to leave this story out of brackets, otherwise the story will be too long. Since 1930 they lived in the suburbs of Copenhagen on a secluded farm. The sons went to an ordinary Danish school, but at home they were taught Russian, of course. O.A. I have always been good at drawing. This gift erupted from her at a fairly early age. Subsequently, her drawings and watercolors brought her quite a tolerable income, sufficient for a modest life. Everything went relatively well until 1948, if war and the internment of sons can be considered the norm. But the dangers that the Germans threatened the family paled in comparison to the threat that the Russians brought with them.

At the end of the war, the Soviet Army captured the Danish island of Bornholm (a photo of an abandoned obelisk with a star from this island appeared in the comments below). For Denmark, the neighborhood with an armed Soviet garrison was, to put it mildly, frightening. The USSR did not try to annex the island and was ready to give it up, but set a condition: all Russian defectors and the emigrants who helped them were to be extradited to the Soviet authorities. The Danes agreed to this condition. The Soviet embassy compiled lists, and the Danish government obediently deported everyone, including even those born in Denmark, to certain death. A mortal threat hung over the Kulikovsky-Romanov family, and O.A. turned to her English relatives for help. They offered them a choice of Australia, South Africa or Canada. The Romanovs sensibly judged that Canada's climate was closest to what they were accustomed to. They were evacuated first to London, where Olga saw Xenia for the last time, and then they were transported by ship to Montreal, and from there by train to Toronto. So they ended up here. Gury soon got a job at the University of Ottawa to teach Russian. He taught Russian, in particular, to Canadian Air Force pilots. During the Cold War, military pilots had to know Russian. Tikhon worked for the Ontario Provincial Road Construction Department in Toronto. God works in mysterious ways.

As in Denmark, the Kulikovskys settled on a remote farm in Campbellville on the Niagara Fault. The idea was to live quietly and peacefully by farming. But the sons were very mediocre farmers, and Olga Alexandrovna and her husband no longer had the strength to maintain a rural lifestyle. Shortly before the death of her husband, O.A. sold the farm.

The Niagara Fault is one of the most beautiful places in Ontario. From Lake Erie to Lake Huron stretches a chain of hills covered with forests. The famous waterfall makes noise at the very edge of this fault. But he is not alone. In the forests, there are a lot of streams and rivers, and picturesque waterfalls are a well-known attraction for Toronto residents. And birch trees grow in these forests.

There are few birches in Ontario, they are hot here. But there are few in the parks near Campbellville. I think Olga Alexandrovna was pleased to walk in this forest.

Olga Alexandrovna Romanova with her husband for a walk in the vicinity of their farm in Campbellville, Ontario.

I have been to Campbellville many times. There is absolutely nothing to photograph there. It's just a crossroads with a few houses and a railway station in the middle of woods and fields. Numerous farms are scattered around the so-called center. One of them belonged to OA and her husband. But, alas, I did not find the farm itself. Her address is nowhere to be found. This farm has an interesting history. Olga Alexandrovna sold it to a very famous and outstanding person, Baron von Richthofen, the nephew of the “Red Baron”, the famous ace pilot of the First World War. Relations with Hitler at Richthofen's nephew did not work out. During the Reich, this man walked a string, miraculously escaped arrest and a concentration camp. He was well acquainted with many participants in the assassination attempt on Hitler, and after this attempt failed, he was forced to flee his estate. Subsequently, he ended up in a concentration camp already with the British, fell ill with typhus and almost died when he was accidentally discovered by two Germans - members of the Resistance who fought on the side of the British. With their submission, Baron Richthofen was rescued and transported to Canada. Having bought a farm from the daughter of the Russian emperor, Baron Richthofen started breeding thoroughbred trotters, then he struck up the idea of ​​building a large professional hippodrome, and gradually, through the mediation of Richthofen, Ontario horse breeding gained worldwide recognition. Now Richthofen is greatly revered and glorified in every possible way in articles on Canadian horse breeding. Richthofen's descendants still live on this farm and breed horses in the same way. I found their phone number, but I was too shy to call. Usually in Canada you can find out the address by phone, but in this case the information about the address turned out to be closed.

This photo was taken either before the sale of the farm, or immediately after.

From Campbelville, Olga Alexandrovna and her husband moved to the village of Cooksville. Now from here to the center of Toronto is a stone's throw, 20 minutes on the highway. It's closer than my house. Then, in 1957, there was a natural village here, and the street leading to the house had not yet been asphalted. Naturally, there was no multi-storey building behind the ravine either.

The house is very small, very modest. Nearby are mansions much cooler in size and rank. The family lived on what they managed to get out of Olga Alexandrovna's paintings. Gradually, the property, taken out first from Russia, then from Denmark, was also sold. Behind the house is a ravine with a stream flowing through it. What-no, but still nature. Meanwhile, in this house there were very eminent guests. For example, the young Prince Trubetskoy, who served on a Canadian Navy ship in Hamilton, came several times. Appearing for the first time, he confused Olga Alexandrovna with a maid. Although the Grand Duchess never had any maids in Canadian emigration. Once, a powerful string of limousines drove along the highway near the house of the Kulikovsky-Romanovs: some duchess from London came to Canada. She wished to visit her eminent relative. On this occasion, the street that runs past Romanova's house was urgently asphalted. The neighbors were very happy. They invited O.A. and in Toronto for big receptions.

But most often Olga Alexandrovna went to the city on church affairs.

The Russian Orthodox parish of Toronto was housed in a small church. The community was extremely poor and small in number. The history of this church is a history of incredible deprivation and self-denial of parishioners. It's quite touching to read all of this. The appearance of the Grand Duchess was received with great enthusiasm. O.A. she used her influence, helped with funds, painted pictures and icons, which she then presented to the parish.

She was buried in this church.

In 1962, the city bought the church from the community and donated the building to the expanding university. Now it is a theater-studio. And the temple moved and now occupies a more decent room:

The building behind the temple also belongs to the church. Perhaps the pastor lives there.

I was interested in this temple because I hoped to see the drawings of the Grand Duchess inside. But, as usual, when I arrived, the church was closed. It is very difficult for me to get to it, and I abandoned this venture.

Olga Alexandrovna's husband died a year and a half before her, in 1958. He was seriously ill for a long time. In the attic, in which O.A. lived the last year of her life, she took very few things, including one photograph of Kulikovsky.

And soon after his death, Olga Alexandrovna herself developed cancer. She was treated in one of the central hospitals, and already in a hopeless condition she was discharged into the hands of the Martemyanovs, who knew her from parish affairs. I think, although I don't know for sure, the reason for this decision was that the house in Cookesville was located too far from the hospital, and therefore O.A. decided not to return to it.

Once upon a time, the entire Winter Palace was at her service. At the end of her life, she was left with one attic in half of the old house, under the windows of which the Toronto tram rumbled.

This is how the last monastery of the last Romanova looked like in the 60s.

At the North York Cemetery in Toronto, this burial in the Russian sector is one of the most prominent.

Olga Aleksandrovna Romanova, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kulikovsky and Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky are buried under this cross. Pay attention to the inscription under the cross. The letters H.I.V. obviously read "Her Imperial Highness". For the completely dull, there is also in English: "Her Imperial Highness".

The inscription on the stone briefly conveys the history of wanderings and the degree of relationship of Olga Alexandrovna with the royal houses of Europe. Elizabeth II, she is a cousin. The very last line in italics reads "The Last Grand Duchess of Russia."

There are quite a lot of interesting things around. I will give only two photos just for your reference:

Basically, that's the whole story. But it remains to be said about the crystal vase for cooling bottles of champagne, exhibited in the Museum of Ontario, which began my interest in this topic. Here she is:

The plate is engraved: “From the sincerely and deeply devoted and loving sisters and doctors of the Evgeniinsky hospital. Proskurov 07/11/1915”

Like all women of the imperial family, Olga Alexandrovna took nursing courses and went to the front near Kyiv. She worked at the Evgenyinsky hospital in the city of Proskurov - now it is Khmelnitsky (the word “Proskurov” is written on the vase). The crystal is inlaid with silver. Khlebnikov's workshop, in which this vase was made, competed with the Faberge workshop in the market of expensive products. By the way, working in the hospital was by no means a sinecure. All the Romanovs, including Empress Maria Feodorovna herself, participated in surgical operations and postoperative care for soldiers to the fullest. Of course, it's not that they earn a crust of bread in the hospital, but the work was not for show and not for the public.

Photo from the hospital, 1915.

This vase (as touchingly written in the annotation, “refrigerator”) surfaced at one of the auctions in 2007. Olga Alexandrovna sold things all her life, and after her death, her heirs also sometimes released this or that thing for sale. In this case, the Canadian government intervened in the auction. For some reason, this particular vase was declared the cultural heritage of the country, and its export was prohibited under the relevant law on cultural property. The museum purchased the vase for $200,000, of which the federal government gave $97,000 and the rest was collected through private donations. The vase is in the museum on the fifth floor. Come take a look just in case.

In November 2014, this report had an unexpected sequel.

estana11 kindly sent me a link to an article in the National Post on November 21, 2014. It turns out that the house in which Olga Romanova died was put up for sale. For us, this is a unique opportunity to look inside this house. Those who know English - you better read the article in the original, and for the lazy, I will briefly tell you what new I learned from this note. Let's go back to the photo of the house.

Firstly, the main question was resolved, the left or right half of the house belonged to the Martemyanov family, and in which of the two attics the sister of the last emperor of All Russia died. Left. I went to this house several times, photographed it from different angles and compared it with archival footage and scraps of information. Sometimes it turned out that it was right, sometimes it was left. Now both halves are painted with the same white paint, so that they are completely indistinguishable.

Here's a more recent photo. You see, the barbershop in the right half has already gone bankrupt and closed.

In the archive photo, she was also on the right. This was the main reason for thinking that Olga Alexandrovna Romanova's last resort was on the right, because the Martemyanovs' business was connected with this barbershop. But this is some ancient history that I can’t unearth anymore.

Secondly, you can look into the attic itself with the help of a National Post reporter. As of November 2014 it looks like this:

Not to say luxurious. And the tram rumbles under the window. Olga Romanova slept in this room on a cot.

Further, the article cheerfully tells that Olga Romanova was born in Peterhof (a picture of the Grand Cascade with a palace is given), and on her 19th birthday she was presented with a palace on the current Tchaikovsky Street, in which there were 200 rooms and 47 windows along the facade, and in the service of there were 70 people there. At current prices, the newspaper estimates the value of the gift at $453 million.

The last abode of Olga Alexandrovna was also put up for a considerable amount (I would even say disproportionately large), but still it is 1000 times less: 539 thousand Canadian dollars, that is, about half a million American.

Hallway in the house, shot from the stairs. From the real estate site, I stole another picture of the kitchen:

You can also see the area of ​​the rooms there; they are quite small. Only this information will disappear from access after the house is sold, so it makes no sense to give a link to it.

Recalls the grandson of Zinaida Martemyanova Nikolai Baryshev (Nick Barisheff), who was 15 years old in 1960:

"We bought this house for $13,000 and it needed a lot of renovation. In 1968 my mom sold it and we bought an apartment."

Olga Alexandrovna Romanova (June 13, 1882, Peterhof - November 24, 1960, near Toronto) - Grand Duchess of the Romanov family, known as a talented artist, trustee and philanthropist.

The youngest child and youngest daughter of the Russian Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna after Nicholas, Alexander, George, Xenia and Mikhail. In honor of her birth on June 13, 1882, 101 cannon shots were fired from the bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg and throughout Russia. Byzantines called children like her purple-gene, and Russians called porphyry-born. On earth, count them on the fingers, because they were to be born to the anointed of God, that is, to the reigning emperor.

Maria Fedorovna with Olga (pictured on the left) and with all the children (pictured on the right).


Empress Maria Feodorovna considered her daughter an ugly duckling with an unbearable character - the girl preferred to rush around in games with her brothers, and not carry baby dolls in strollers. On the advice of her aunt, Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of Great Britain, Olga was brought up by the English governess Elizabeth Franklin. “Nana throughout my childhood was for me a protector and adviser, and later a faithful friend. I can't even imagine what I would do without her. It was she who helped me survive the chaos that reigned during the years of the revolution. She was an intelligent, brave, tactful woman; although she performed the duties of my nanny, both my brothers and sister experienced her influence, ”recalled Olga Alexandrovna.




Family of Emperor Alexander III. Olga in the center with her father, Alexander III. From left to right: Grand Duke Mikhail, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nicholas (Nicholas II), Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke George. 1888
The imperial family was under the threat of terrorist attack, therefore, for security reasons, Olga was brought up in the Gatchina Palace, 80 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. Olga and her sister lived in a simple, strict environment. They slept on hard camp beds, got up at dawn and washed themselves with cold water, ate oatmeal for breakfast.


Nicholas, George, Maria Feodorovna, Olga, Mikhail, Xenia and Emperor Alexander III.


Olga, Mikhail, Georgy and Maria Fedorovna. / Olga with her brother Mikhail.
The sisters were educated at home. They were taught history, geography, Russian, English and French, drawing and dancing. From an early age they were taught equestrian sports, and they became skilled riders. The imperial family was religious and strictly observed Great Lent. Holidays were spent in Peterhof and with my grandmother in Denmark. Olga's relationship with her mother was difficult. Her relationship with her father and the youngest of the brothers, Mikhail, was especially warm. They often spent time together, walking in the forests of Gatchina.


Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna on the deck of a ship at sea. 1887
For the first time, Olga left the Gatchina Palace in the early autumn of 1888 for a trip to the Caucasus. On October 29, on the way back, in the area of ​​​​the small station Borki, the royal train derailed. At this time, the royal family was in the dining room. The car was torn apart, the heavy iron roof sagging inward menacingly. The emperor himself held the roof of the car so that his family would not suffer, and this affected his health - there would be complications in the kidneys, which would lead to death. Little Olga was thrown out of the car by an explosion. She was so frightened that she ran away from the train, shouting, "Now they will come and kill us all." A six-year-old child, of course, knew nothing about revolutionaries and terrorists, but by the word THEY Olga meant something terrible.


The collapse of the imperial train. October 29, 1888


In 1894, the emperor fell seriously ill, and a trip to Denmark was cancelled. On November 13, at the age of 49, Alexander III died. Olga was very upset by the loss. “My father was everything to me. No matter how busy he was with his work, he gave me half an hour every day ... And one day dad showed me a very old album with amazing drawings depicting an invented city called Mopsopolis, in which Pugs live ... He showed me secretly, and I was delighted with the fact that my father shared with me the secrets of his childhood, ”recalled Olga Alexandrovna.


Serov Valentin Alexandrovich. Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Romanova. 1893
She, like her father, did not like balls, dresses, jewelry. Her favorite dress was a linen sundress, in which she painted. The Empress taught Olga, like a royal daughter, to all these external attributes, Maria Feodorovna was most worried that the children did not violate etiquette. Olga was supposed to be published in the summer of 1899, but due to the death of her brother, Georgy Alexandrovich, the publication was postponed for a year. Olga retained negative memories of this event. As she later admitted to her official biographer Jan Vorres: "I felt like an animal on display in a cage for all to see."


Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich with Olga.
In 1901, Olga was appointed honorary commander of the 12th Akhtyrsky Hussars. The regiment was famous for its victory over Napoleon at the battle of Kulm, and its members wore special brown dolmans.


Grand Duchess Olga with her governess Mrs. Franklin (left), and in the uniform of the 12th Akhtyrsky Hussars (right).
In the imperial family, all children studied painting, but only Olga began to do it professionally. Her teachers were teachers of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, in particular V. Makovsky, S. Zhukovsky, S. Vinogradov. In the 1900s, the Grand Duchess held art vernissages in the Gatchina Palace, where not only her works were presented, but also paintings by young artists.


“Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, among all the persons of the imperial family, was distinguished by her extraordinary simplicity, accessibility, and democracy. In her estate in the Voronezh province, she was completely deprived: she walked around the village huts, nursed peasant children. In St. Petersburg, she often walked, drove simple cabs, and she loved to talk with the latter very much, ”said Protopresbyter Georgy Shavelsky.


Annoyed by the fact that by the age of eighteen, as usual in fairy tales, Olga had not turned into a beautiful swan, and even defiantly adhered to some special views on life, Maria Feodorovna considered it best to marry her daughter. Most often, husbands for royal daughters were found among other reigning royal houses, which actually meant parting with their homeland. But Olga categorically refused this option. This meant that the prince should be found in Russia. And such an option was found ... The Russified branch of the German princes of Oldenburg lived in Russia since the time of Emperor Nicholas I and were relatives of the Romanovs. Empress Maria Feodorovna was friends with Princess Eugenia of Oldenburg (nee Leuchtenberg). The only son of Princess Eugenie and her husband Alexander of Oldenburg, Prince Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (1868-1924), was by no means an enviable groom (he was 14 years older than 18-year-old Olga). But that was not the most important thing. “Not a young groom” was far from being a man, he was not at all interested in women, he loved cards, wine and ... men.


Olga Alexandrovna with her first husband, the Duke of Oldenburg.
Secretary of State Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov wrote: “The Grand Duchess is ugly, her upturned nose and generally Mongolian type of face are redeemed only by beautiful eyes, kind and intelligent eyes, looking directly at you. Wanting to live in Russia, she opted for the son of Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg. With his nobleness and the significance of his financial condition, the prince is mediocre in all respects, and in his appearance below a mediocre person; despite his years, he has almost no hair on his head and generally gives the impression of a frail, far from breathing health and in no way promising a numerous offspring of a person. Obviously, considerations alien to the success of marital cohabitation were put in the foreground here, which one will almost have to regret in time.


Olga Alexandrovna Romanova with Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg.
On July 27, 1901, in the Gatchina Palace Church, Olga Alexandrovna was married to Prince Peter Alexandrovich, Duke of Oldenburg. In the evening after the betrothal, she wept with her brother Michael. The couple lived in the Baryatinsky mansion (46-48 on Sergievskaya Street, now Tchaikovsky). Peter and Olga were each other's second cousins ​​and fourth cousins: Olga's father, Emperor Alexander III, was a cousin of Peter's mother and a second cousin of Peter's father. Thus, the spouses had two common ancestors - two Russian emperors Paul I and Nicholas I.


Neradovsky Pyotr Ivanovich Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1905
The husband was quite pleased that, in the eyes of the entire baptized and unbaptized world, he was the husband of the sister of the sovereign of all Russia. And in the shortest possible time he left a fabulous sum in gambling houses - a million gold rubles belonging to his wife. And Olga remained a virgin. In April 1903, the 22-year-old Grand Duchess met Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, captain of the Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. It was love at first sight, and she carried this love throughout her life. She asked her husband to give her a divorce, but he said that he would return to this conversation in 7 years. Peter made a compromise: he invited Kulikovsky to become his adjutant and move to their house on Sergievskaya. Olga and Nikolai waited 13 years. This love triangle has been a mystery to everyone for a long time. Olga Alexandrovna recalled the period of marriage with the Prince of Oldenburg: “We lived with him under the same roof for 15 years, but never became husband and wife.”


From 1904 to 1906, Duke Peter served in Tsarskoye Selo, a palace complex south of St. Petersburg. In Tsarskoye Selo, Olga became close to her brother Nikolai and his family. Olga valued her relationship with the royal daughters. From 1906 to 1914 she took her nieces to parties and balls in St. Petersburg. She especially loved Anastasia. Through her brother, she met Rasputin, but did not recognize him, although she did not openly show her hostility.


Shtember Viktor Karlovich. Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1908
The course of the Russo-Japanese War and the dissatisfaction of the population with the political course caused constant unrest and speeches. On the Annunciation in 1905, a gang of terrorists opened fire on the Winter Palace. Shards of glass fell on Olga and the Dowager Empress. Three weeks later, during Bloody Sunday, at least 92 people were killed by the Cossacks during the suppression of the uprising. A month later, Olga Alexandrovna's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was killed. Constant popular performances, the escape of Grand Duke Michael for the sake of a morganatic wedding and his own unsuccessful marriage affected Olga Alexandrovna's health.




Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1915
During the First World War, Olga was a nurse in the hospital she founded. The captain of the 2nd rank of the Guards crew Sablin Nikolai Vasilievich wrote: “A charming woman, a real Russian person, of amazing charm ... Olga Alexandrovna is a cordial comrade of our officers. How many secrets, secrets, sorrows, novels of our youth the princess knows!


Olga Alexandrovna goes with her hospital to the front. Before that, she escorted Nikolai Kulikovsky there. She came to her husband and said that she was leaving him forever. In 1915 the couple separated; Olga had no children from her first marriage. On August 27, 1916, Emperor Nicholas II approved the decision of the Holy Synod, recognizing her marriage to the Prince of Oldenburg as annulled. Nicholas II, came to inspect the hospital, which Olga equipped in Kyiv at her own expense. At the end of a short stay, the tsar gave his sister his photograph and a handwritten letter in English so that others could not read it, dissolving her marriage to the Prince of Oldenburg and blessing her marriage to Colonel Kulikovsky.


Nicholas II, Olga Alexandrovna in the hospital. Kyiv. 1916


Maria Fedorovna, Nicholas II, Olga Nikolaevna, Olga Alexandrovna, Tatyana Nikolaevna, Ksenia Alexandrovna with Vasily. Kyiv, 1916


Olga with her husband, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kulikovsky, and her mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
On November 4, 1916, in the church of St. Nicholas in Kyiv, Olga Alexandrovna was married to Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, who became her husband and friend until the end of her days.


Olga Alexandrovna and N.A. Kulikovsky after the wedding. Kyiv, 1916
After the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne in 1917, many members of the imperial family, including the emperor himself and his immediate family, were placed under house arrest. The Dowager Empress, Grand Duke Alexander and Olga Alexandrovna moved to the Crimea to Xenia Alexandrovna. They lived in the estate of Alexandria, about 12 kilometers from Yalta.


Olga Alexandrovna with her second husband Nikolai Kulikovsky.
On August 12, 1917, Olga gave birth to her first child, who was named in honor of Tikhon of Zadonsk, a saint venerated at Olga Alexandrovna's Olga Alexandrovna estate. Empress Maria Feodorovna wrote about it this way: “At times, when it seems that it is no longer possible to endure all this, the Lord sends us something like a ray of light. My dear Olga gave birth to a baby, a little son, who, of course, brought such unexpected joy to my heart ... ".


Father and son (N. A. Kulikovsky with first-born Tikhon). Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.
Back in 1905, General Aleksey Nikolaevich Kuropatkin, who knew Olga’s simplicity and democratic taste, jokingly said that she was “with red”: “My next meeting with led. Princess Olga Alexandrovna was on November 12, 1918 in the Crimea, where she lived with her second husband, captain of the hussar regiment Kulikovsky. Here she is even more relaxed. It would be difficult for those who did not know her to believe that this was the Grand Duchess. They occupied a small, very poorly furnished house. The Grand Duchess herself nursed her baby, cooked and even washed clothes. I found her in the garden, where she carried her child in a stroller. She immediately invited me into the house and there she treated me to tea and her own products: jam and biscuits. The simplicity of the setting, bordering on squalor, made it even more sweet and attractive.


The Romanovs were isolated from the world and knew practically nothing about the fate of the Emperor. In February 1918, most of the imperial family moved from Ai-Todor to Dulber, where Grand Dukes Nikolai and Peter were already under house arrest. Olga Alexandrovna and her husband stayed in Ai-Todor. The Yalta Revolutionary Council “sentenced” the entire Romanov family to death, but the execution of the sentence was delayed due to rivalry between the revolutionary councils.


Olga Alexandrovna with her son Tikhon.
By April 1918, the Central Powers had invaded Crimea and the revolutionary guards were replaced by German guards, but the detention regime became looser. In November 1918, after capitulation in the First World War, the German troops left the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire. The territory temporarily came under the control of allies loyal to the white movement, and members of the Imperial family were given the opportunity to leave the country. The Empress Dowager with her family and friends left on the British ship Marlborough. By that time, Nicholas II had already been killed, and the family rightly considered that his wife and children were killed with him. Mikhail, beloved brother, was killed in the Perm region in June 1918.


Self-portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.
At the beginning of 1919, when Ukraine was captured by the Bolsheviks, and the Don and Kuban were captured by the Whites, Olga Alexandrovna and her husband decided to leave the Crimea and go to Rostov, where General Denikin's headquarters were located. The family was accompanied by the personal bodyguard of the Empress of the Kuban Cossack Timofey Ksenofontovich Yashchik, a native of the village of Novominskaya. Denikin did not accept them. Timofei Yaschik did not know what to do next and brought them to Novominskaya. Here in 1919 the second son, Gury, was born to the spouses. The child was named after Gury Panaev, an officer of the Akhtyrsky regiment, who was killed during the First World War. The children of Olga Alexandrovna, although they were the grandchildren of the emperor, did not belong to the royal blood, since their father was a simple nobleman.


In the late autumn of 1919, the Cossacks reported that a red siding had appeared not far from Novominskaya. The Kulikovskys got together at half an hour, wrapped the children in blankets, collected their belongings, which they could take with them, and left the village. Only in February of the 20th year, the Romanov-Kulikovskys managed to board an English ship and leave their homeland forever. The ship was full of refugees, they, along with other passengers, occupied a cramped cabin. “I could not believe that I was leaving my homeland forever. I was sure that I would be back, - Olga Alexandrovna recalled. “I had a feeling that my flight was a cowardly act, although I came to this decision for the sake of my young children. And yet I was constantly tormented by shame. Through Constantinople, Belgrade and Vienna, in 1920 they finally reached Denmark.


Guri in a wheelchair. Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.


Self-portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1920
The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna lived in one of the outbuildings of the royal palace of Amalienborg in the immediate vicinity of her own nephew, King Christian X, who did not hide his dislike for his destitute relatives. The financial situation of the fugitives was in a state of disarray. Things worsened thanks to the thoughtless generosity of Maria Feodorovna. Thousands of Russian emigrants wrote to her from all over the world and asked for help, and the Empress considered it her duty to satisfy all their requests. During this period, the family of Olga Alexandrovna settled down together with Maria Feodorovna.


Tikhon and Gury. Watercolors by Olga Alexandrovna.
For some time, many wealthy friends of Empress Maria Feodorovna provided her with financial support, but the situation worsened every day. To reduce costs, Maria Fedorovna, together with her court, to
unspeakable joy of King Christian X, moved to the palace of Videre. Gury and his brother attended an ordinary Danish school. But in addition to the Danish education, the sons of the Grand Duchess studied at the Russian school in Paris, at the church of St. Alexander Nevsky.


Tikhon and Gury Kulikovsky on the veranda of the Videre Palace.


Olga Alexandrovna with her sons in Denmark.
In 1925, Olga Alexandrovna left her family for 4 days in order to go to Berlin. Anna Andersen, who pretended to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, had been in the hospital for several years. Everyone dissuaded Olga Alexandrovna from the trip, but she decided to put an end to this story. She so wanted to believe that her beloved niece and goddaughter was alive. But when she arrived in Berlin, she saw the impostor and realized that she was being forced to play the role of Anastasia.


Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna with her beloved niece Anastasia.
After the death of Maria Feodorovna in October 1928, Christian sent his cousin, Prince Axel, with an urgent request to the Grand Duchess and her household to immediately leave the palace. A Danish millionaire, Mr. Rasmussen, came to the aid of Olga Alexandrovna. He had a large estate not far from Widöre, and he hired Colonel Kulikovsky, an excellent connoisseur of horses, to manage his stables. The Grand Duchess and her husband happily moved to the estate.


Olga Alexandrovna with her husband Nikolai Kulikovsky.


Olga Alexandrovna with her sons Tikhon and Gury.
Soon the legal rights of the Grand Duchess to the palace of Videre were confirmed. She was able to sell it and purchase the estate with the proceeds. But all this took almost four years. It was not until 1932 that she and her family became owners of the large Knudsminne farm in a town called Ballerup, about fifteen miles northwest of Copenhagen. The happiest period of her life began. Olga Alexandrovna was able to return to painting again. Her paintings began to buy. The Grand Duchess was friends with the outstanding Danish artist, landscape master P. Mensted, with whom she went to sketches together. The works of the 1930s and 1940s depict scenes of peaceful and prosperous rural life. Olga often gave her paintings to relatives and friends both from the Romanov family and other royal families.


Olga Alexandrovna with her husband N.A. Kulikovsky and sons Tikhon and Gury.


Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna. Portrait of son Tikhon. 1940


Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna with her sons Tikhon and Gury (officers in the Danish army).
Both of her sons, Tikhon (1917-1993) and Gury (1919-1984), having completed their education, entered the service of the Danish Royal Guard. Soon both of them married Danish girls.
On May 10, 1940, Gury Nikolayevich married Ruth Schwartz (02/06/1921 - 07/22/2015), the daughter of a small merchant in Ballerup. The couple had a daughter, Ksenia (07/29/1941) and two sons, Leonid (05/2/1943 - 09/27/2015) and Alexander (born 11/29/1949). In 1956, Gury and Ruth Kulikovsky divorced. A few years later he married Aza Gagarina (b.1924).
Tikhon Nikolaevich in 1942 married Agnet Petersen (1920-2007). Divorced in 1955, there were no children from the marriage. On September 21, 1959, in Ottawa, he married Livia Sebastian (June 11, 1922 - June 12, 1982), from marriage he had one daughter, Olga Tikhonovna (b. January 9, 1964). On June 8, 1986, in Toronto, he married Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina (b. September 20, 1926).


Olga Alexandrovna with her husband N.A. Kulikovsky.


The Kulikovsky family having breakfast on the veranda of their home in Ballerup.


Portrait of granddaughter Xenia. Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.
The Nazi invasion of Russia led to terrible complications in the life of the Grand Duchess. Having refrained from participating in politics all her life, Olga Alexandrovna found herself drawn into a dangerous cycle of intrigue. She was Russian and felt obliged to help her compatriots who donned German uniforms in the hope that with the victory of Hitler in Russia communism would be ended. After the defeat of Hitler, many Russians who fought on his side came to Kundsminne, hoping to gain asylum. The Communists repeatedly demanded that the Danish authorities extradite the Grand Duchess, accusing her of helping her countrymen take refuge in the West, and the Danish government at that time could hardly have resisted the Kremlin's demands.


The Kulikovsky family before leaving for Canada. 1948
A threat hung over the life of the Grand Duchess and her loved ones. The atmosphere in Ballerup became more and more tense, and it became obvious that the days of Olga Alexandrovna's family in Denmark were numbered. It was not very easy for the Grand Duchess, who was sixty-six years old, to break away from her habitable place. In the spring of 1948, with great difficulty, the Romanov-Kulikovskiys sold their estate and were able to move to Canada, settled in the village of Cooksville, now merged with the city of Mississauga, near Toronto, where Tikhon Nikolayevich worked for many years in the Department of Highways of the province of Ontario. Gury Nikolaevich became a talented teacher, taught Slavic languages ​​and culture in Ottawa. He also taught Russian to Canadian pilots, believing that during the Cold War, a Canadian soldier should know Russian.


Olga Alexandrovna, Leonid Kulikovsky, Ruth Kulikovskaya and Gury Kulikovsky.
Olga Alexandrovna lived in Canada under the surname Kulikovsky (Olga Alexandrovna Kulikovsky), nevertheless continuing Russian traditions, celebrating all Orthodox holidays. A neighbor's child once asked if it was true that she was a princess, to which Olga Alexandrovna replied: “Well, of course, I'm not a princess. I am the Russian Grand Duchess." Olga Alexandrovna was vitally close to virtually every royal family in Europe. In 1959, the English Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip visited Toronto, only 50 people were invited to dinner, including Olga Alexandrovna, who is now called the last Grand Duchess.


Often Olga Alexandrovna heard the banal accusation that the Romanovs were Russians only by name, to which she invariably answered: “How much English blood flows in the veins of George VI? It's not about the blood. It’s about the soil on which you grew up, the faith in which you were brought up, the language you speak.” During these years, the idea arose to proclaim Olga the Empress. It goes without saying that the unambitious and very modest Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna flatly refused such an offer.


She died in 1960, at the age of 78, 2 years after her husband. She was buried in an Orthodox church in Toronto, where the officers of the 12th Akhtyrsky E.I.V. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Regiment, whose chief she became back in 1901, stood guard at the coffin. Buried at York Cemetery (English) Toronto.


The family grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna at the North York cemetery in Toronto.


Commemorative plaque on the grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.
Gury Nikolaevich Kulikovsky died on September 11, 1984 in Brookville and was buried at the Oakland cemetery. His widow, Aza Gagarina, lives in Brookville. None of the children of Gury Nikolaevich remained in Canada, all of them, together with their mother, after the divorce of their parents, returned to Denmark.
Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky died on April 8, 1993, after a second heart operation. The funeral service was held April 15 at Holy Trinity Church in Toronto. The burial took place on the same day at York Cemetery, in the north of Toronto, next to her parents. The samples of his blood taken during the operation were preserved and became a strong argument in the identification of the remains of the Imperial family.
**Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna left memoirs, the literary record of which was made by Jan Vorres.
** In the Danish city of Bollerup (Danish), where she lived with her husband and children from 1930 to 1948, a museum of Olga Alexandrovna was created.
** In 2003, a documentary film "Olga - the last Grand Duchess" was filmed jointly by Russia, Denmark and Canada (dir. Sonya Westerholt)
** In Vladivostok, on Okeansky Prospekt, there is the 35th hospital named after Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, opened in 1901 and built with the money of the merchant Skidelsky.
**In January 2011, a unique exhibition of watercolors by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was held at the Romanov Museum in Kostroma.

Oldenburg - German dukes and duchesses of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty, direct direct heirs of the Russian imperial family. Representatives of the German Oldenburg dynasty owned the thrones in Denmark and Greece, in Norway and Sweden, and since 1761 in Russia.

For the first time, the Oldenburg family became related to the house of the Romanovs during the time of Peter I, when his daughter Anna Petrovna married Duke Karl-Friedrich of Holstein, the native nephew of the Swedish King Charles XII on the line of his mother Sophia Hedviga.

This dynastic marriage forever connected Peter I and Charles XII, the dynasty of the Russian Romanov tsars and one of the branches of the Oldenburg family - the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty of dukes and duchesses. A son was born from the marriage - Karl Peter Ulrich (Peter III), who was simultaneously the heir to the Swedish and Russian thrones.

In 1761, the Holstein-Gottorps, represented by Peter III, reigned in Russia and began to bear the surname of the Romanov dynasty of Russian tsars. But a year later they lost the throne.

From 1762 to 1796, Russia was ruled by the wife of Peter III - Catherine II (Princess Sophia-Frederika-Augustina-Tserbskaya), a representative of the Anhalt-Tserbskaya line of the ancient German Ascanian dynasty. After her death, the Holstein-Gottorps return to the Russian throne in the person of Paul I (1796-1801) and govern Russia until the spring of 1917, until the abdication of Nicholas II from the Russian throne (March 2, 1917). The beginning of the Russian line of princes of Oldenburg was laid by Peter-Friedrich-Georg (1784-1812), who married the daughter of Paul I Catherine (1788-1819).

The dynasty was continued by their son, a prominent statesman Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg (1812–1881), a family whose merits were highly appreciated in Russia.

For his centenary in 1889, a monument with the inscription "To the Enlightened Benefactor Prince P. G. Oldenburg" was erected in St. Petersburg with public donations.

His son Alexander Petrovich (1844-1932) with his wife Evgenia Maksimilianovna (1845-1925), and then his grandson Pyotr Alexandrovich (1868-1924) with his wife Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960), owned the Ramon estate.

Evgenia Maksimilianovna Oldenburgskaya

The owner of the estate, Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Oldenburg (1845-1925), nee Princess Romanovskaya, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, Princess of Beauharnais, was the granddaughter of Nicholas I, niece of Alexander II.

Having bought the estate in 1878, Evgenia Maksimilianovna, in addition to building her own palace, created a developed infrastructure in Ramon.

In 1880, a two-story building of a sugar factory was erected, equipped with new steam-powered technological equipment, producing 205 centners of sugar per day, and by the beginning of the new century - 150 thousand poods of sugar per year.

In 1891, in addition to the granulated sugar production, a refinery was opened, which produced cone-shaped sugar "heads". In 1900, a 3-storey extension of the Steam Candy and Chocolate Factory of Her Imperial Majesty Princess E.M. Oldenburgskaya.

According to the price list of 1906, it produced over 400 names of sweets, chocolate and other confectionery products. Fruit from the orchards of the Bunin economy served as raw materials and was additionally purchased from the population. At international exhibitions in Paris, Brussels, London, the factory was awarded gold medals.

In 1901, the Grafskaya - Ramon railway line was put into operation. This made it possible to export products by rail, to transfer the plant from wood fuel to Donetsk coal, to use the estates of landowners located on the Anninskaya railway line as suppliers of cheap sugar beets.

A water tower and a water pipeline were put into operation, the electrification of the enterprise and the estate began, and an exemplary cattle fattening farm was founded.

A stud farm complex was rebuilt, including stables, a veterinary clinic, an arena, a carriage house, and carpet workshops were opened. By 1901, the estate consisted of 7 thousand acres of land with an eight-field crop rotation. Its borders reached the banks of the Don. The organization and management of the economy were based on scientific achievements.

With the help of the agronomist Klingen, Prince Peter Aleksandrovich of Oldenburg (1868 - 1924) organized the work of an experimental field, which in 1902 became part of the experimental fields of the All-Russian Society of Sugar Manufacturers, a meteorological station operated. Much attention was paid to the development of school education and health care.

In 1880, a school and a hospital were opened, exemplary canteens and dormitories for factory artisans and engineers began to operate, workers were given court orders for housing construction.

In 1887, a three-storey palace in the spirit of Western European medieval architecture was erected on the estate (an architectural monument of the 19th century). The princess was actively involved in the public life of the province and actually headed the provincial charitable society.

Under the patronage of Evgenia Maximilianovna there were many art, medical and educational societies in Voronezh: the community of sisters of mercy, the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium and the Nikolaev Men's Progymnasium, a circle of drawing lovers.

For her activities, she was awarded the Order "For Immaculate Service to the Fatherland in the Field of Charity and Education."

Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgsky

Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgsky was a member of the State Council, commander of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, was a trustee of the St. Petersburg Imperial School of Law, an orphanage of Prince Peter Georgievich Oldenburgsky.

During the First World War, he was appointed Supreme Head of the sanitary and evacuation unit of the Russian army. In addition to military and state duties, he became famous for founding the Institute of Experimental Medicine on Aptekarsky Island in St. Petersburg and a climatic station-sanatorium in Gagra on the Black Sea coast.

Pyotr Alexandrovich Oldenburgsky

Pyotr Alexandrovich Oldenburgsky (1868-1924), the son of Evgenia and Alexander, graduated from the School of Law, was in military service.

From February 1894 he was assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. Peter was the patron of the Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy in St. Petersburg, the founder of the "Committee to Perpetuate the Memory of Russian Soldiers in the War of 1904-1905", an honorary member of the Voronezh Brotherhood of Saints Mitrofan and Tikhon.

In Ramon, Peter organized an experimental field where grain and vegetable crops were grown.

Subsequently, it began to serve scientific purposes. At the beginning of the century, this field was included in the "Network of Experimental Fields of the All-Russian Society of Sugar Producers".

Olga Alexandrovna Oldenburgskaya

In 1901, Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg became the husband of the daughter of Alexander III, the sister of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960).

Olga Alexandrovna Oldenburgskaya was a trustee of several institutes for noble maidens, the Society of Sisters of Mercy, the Society for Assistance to the Poor and the Disabled, and schools for peasant children.

During the First World War, for personal courage, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was awarded the St. George medal - one of the signs of the St. George Order.

In Ramon, Olga, together with her husband, equipped the Olgino estate, where a summer palace, living quarters and outbuildings were erected, organized the work of a school and a hospital, helped the peasants, and was a godmother to many children. In 1902, Olga acquired the Olenin estate in Starozhivotinny.

In 1908, Evgenia Maksimilianovna and Alexander Petrovich left Ramon forever, settling in St. Petersburg. In 1917 they left for Finland and then for France. Peter and Olga remained on the estate.

In 1914, Olga Aleksandrovna Oldenburgskaya left Ramon to work in a hospital and help the wounded on the fronts of the First World War.

In 1916, the marriage of Olga and Peter of Oldenburg was annulled. Olga married Nikolai Kulikovsky. In March 1917 they moved to the Crimea and then to the Kuban. They had two sons: on August 12, 1917, Tikhon and on April 23, 1919, Gury. In 1921, Olga and Nikolai Kulikovsky left for Denmark, in 1948 they moved to Canada.

Peter of Oldenburg lived in Ramon until 1917, in the same year he left for his parents in France. In 1922, Peter married Olga Vladimirovna Serebryakova (1878-1953).

Olga Alexandrovna Romanova (June 13, 1882, Peterhof - November 24, 1960, near Toronto) - Grand Duchess of the Romanov family, known as a talented artist, trustee and philanthropist.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

The youngest child and youngest daughter of the Russian Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna after Nicholas, Alexander, George, Xenia and Mikhail. In honor of her birth on June 13, 1882, 101 cannon shots were fired from the bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg and throughout Russia. Byzantines called children like her purple-gene, and Russians called porphyry-born. On earth, count them on the fingers, because they were to be born to the anointed of God, that is, to the reigning emperor.

Maria Fedorovna with Olga (pictured on the left) and with all the children (pictured on the right).

Empress Maria Feodorovna considered her daughter an ugly duckling with an unbearable character - the girl preferred to rush around in games with her brothers, and not carry baby dolls in strollers. On the advice of her aunt, Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of Great Britain, Olga was brought up by the English governess Elizabeth Franklin. “Nana throughout my childhood was for me a protector and adviser, and later a faithful friend. I can't even imagine what I would do without her. It was she who helped me survive the chaos that reigned during the years of the revolution. She was an intelligent, brave, tactful woman; although she performed the duties of my nanny, both my brothers and sister experienced her influence, ”recalled Olga Alexandrovna.

Family of Emperor Alexander III. Olga in the center with her father, Alexander III. From left to right: Grand Duke Mikhail, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nicholas (Nicholas II), Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke George. 1888

The imperial family was under the threat of terrorist attack, therefore, for security reasons, Olga was brought up in the Gatchina Palace, 80 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. Olga and her sister lived in a simple, strict environment. They slept on hard camp beds, got up at dawn and washed themselves with cold water, ate oatmeal for breakfast.

Nicholas, George, Maria Feodorovna, Olga, Mikhail, Xenia and Emperor Alexander III.

Olga, Mikhail, Georgy and Maria Fedorovna. / Olga with her brother Mikhail.

The sisters were educated at home. They were taught history, geography, Russian, English and French, drawing and dancing. From an early age they were taught equestrian sports, and they became skilled riders. The imperial family was religious and strictly observed Great Lent. Holidays were spent in Peterhof and with my grandmother in Denmark. Olga's relationship with her mother was difficult. Her relationship with her father and the youngest of the brothers, Mikhail, was especially warm. They often spent time together, walking in the forests of Gatchina.

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna on the deck of a ship at sea. 1887

For the first time, Olga left the Gatchina Palace in the early autumn of 1888 for a trip to the Caucasus. On October 29, on the way back, in the area of ​​​​the small station Borki, the royal train derailed. At this time, the royal family was in the dining room. The car was torn apart, the heavy iron roof sagging inward menacingly. The emperor himself held the roof of the car so that his family would not suffer, and this affected his health - there would be complications in the kidneys, which would lead to death. Little Olga was thrown out of the car by an explosion. She was so frightened that she ran away from the train, shouting, "Now they will come and kill us all." A six-year-old child, of course, knew nothing about revolutionaries and terrorists, but by the word THEY Olga meant something terrible.

The collapse of the imperial train. October 29, 1888

In 1894, the emperor fell seriously ill, and a trip to Denmark was cancelled. On November 13, at the age of 49, Alexander III died. Olga was very upset by the loss. “My father was everything to me. No matter how busy he was with his work, he gave me half an hour every day ... And one day dad showed me a very old album with amazing drawings depicting an invented city called Mopsopolis, where Pugs live ... He showed me secretly, and I I was delighted that my father shared with me the secrets of his childhood,” Olga Alexandrovna recalled.

Serov Valentin Alexandrovich. Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Romanova. 1893

She, like her father, did not like balls, dresses, jewelry. Her favorite dress was a linen sundress, in which she painted. The Empress taught Olga, like a royal daughter, to all these external attributes, Maria Feodorovna was most worried that the children did not violate etiquette. Olga was supposed to be published in the summer of 1899, but due to the death of her brother, Georgy Alexandrovich, the publication was postponed for a year. Olga retained negative memories of this event. As she later admitted to her official biographer Jan Vorres: "I felt like an animal on display in a cage for all to see."

Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich with Olga.

In 1901, Olga was appointed honorary commander of the 12th Akhtyrsky Hussars. The regiment was famous for its victory over Napoleon at the battle of Kulm, and its members wore special brown dolmans.

Grand Duchess Olga with her governess Mrs. Franklin (left), and in the uniform of the 12th Akhtyrsky Hussars (right).

In the imperial family, all children studied painting, but only Olga began to do it professionally. Her teachers were teachers of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, in particular V. Makovsky, S. Zhukovsky, S. Vinogradov. In the 1900s, the Grand Duchess held art vernissages in the Gatchina Palace, where not only her works were presented, but also paintings by young artists.

“Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, among all the persons of the imperial family, was distinguished by her extraordinary simplicity, accessibility, and democracy. In her estate in the Voronezh province, she was completely deprived: she walked around the village huts, nursed peasant children. In St. Petersburg, she often walked, drove simple cabs, and she loved to talk with the latter very much, ”said Protopresbyter Georgy Shavelsky.

Annoyed by the fact that by the age of eighteen, as usual in fairy tales, Olga had not turned into a beautiful swan, and even defiantly adhered to some special views on life, Maria Feodorovna considered it best to marry her daughter. Most often, husbands for royal daughters were found among other reigning royal houses, which actually meant parting with their homeland. But Olga categorically refused this option. This meant that the prince should be found in Russia. And such an option was found ... The Russified branch of the German princes of Oldenburg lived in Russia since the time of Emperor Nicholas I and were relatives of the Romanovs. Empress Maria Feodorovna was friends with Princess Eugenia of Oldenburg (nee Leuchtenberg). The only son of Princess Eugenia and her husband Alexander of Oldenburg, Prince Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (1868-1924), was by no means an enviable groom (he was 14 years older than 18-year-old Olga). But that was not the most important thing. "Not a young groom" was far from being a man, he was not at all interested in women, he loved cards, wine and ... men.

Olga Alexandrovna with her first husband, the Duke of Oldenburg.

Secretary of State Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov wrote: “The Grand Duchess is ugly, her upturned nose and generally Mongolian type of face are redeemed only by beautiful eyes, kind and intelligent eyes, looking directly at you. Wanting to live in Russia, she opted for the son of Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg. With his nobleness and the significance of his financial condition, the prince is mediocre in all respects, and in his appearance below a mediocre person; despite his years, he has almost no hair on his head and generally gives the impression of a frail, far from breathing health and in no way promising a numerous offspring of a person. Obviously, considerations alien to the success of marital cohabitation were put in the foreground here, which one will almost have to regret in time.

Olga Alexandrovna Romanova with Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg.

On July 27, 1901, in the Gatchina Palace Church, Olga Alexandrovna was married to Prince Peter Alexandrovich, Duke of Oldenburg. In the evening after the betrothal, she wept with her brother Michael. The couple lived in the Baryatinsky mansion (46-48 on Sergievskaya Street, now Tchaikovsky). Peter and Olga were each other's second cousins ​​and fourth cousins: Olga's father, Emperor Alexander III, was a cousin of Peter's mother and a second cousin of Peter's father. Thus, the spouses had two common ancestors - two Russian emperors Paul I and Nicholas I.

Neradovsky Pyotr Ivanovich Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1905

The husband was quite pleased that, in the eyes of the entire baptized and unbaptized world, he was the husband of the sister of the sovereign of all Russia. And in the shortest possible time he left a fabulous sum in gambling houses - a million gold rubles belonging to his wife. And Olga remained a virgin. In April 1903, the 22-year-old Grand Duchess met Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, captain of the Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. It was love at first sight, and she carried this love throughout her life. She asked her husband to give her a divorce, but he said that he would return to this conversation in 7 years. Peter made a compromise: he invited Kulikovsky to become his adjutant and move to their house on Sergievskaya. Olga and Nikolai waited 13 years. This love triangle has been a mystery to everyone for a long time. Olga Alexandrovna recalled the period of marriage with the Prince of Oldenburg: “We lived with him under the same roof for 15 years, but never became husband and wife.”

From 1904 to 1906, Duke Peter served in Tsarskoye Selo, a palace complex south of St. Petersburg. In Tsarskoye Selo, Olga became close to her brother Nikolai and his family. Olga valued her relationship with the royal daughters. From 1906 to 1914 she took her nieces to parties and balls in St. Petersburg. She especially loved Anastasia. Through her brother, she met Rasputin, but did not recognize him, although she did not openly show her hostility.

Shtember Viktor Karlovich. Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1908

The course of the Russo-Japanese War and the dissatisfaction of the population with the political course caused constant unrest and speeches. On the Annunciation in 1905, a gang of terrorists opened fire on the Winter Palace. Shards of glass fell on Olga and the Dowager Empress. Three weeks later, during Bloody Sunday, at least 92 people were killed by the Cossacks during the suppression of the uprising. A month later, Olga Alexandrovna's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was killed. Constant popular performances, the escape of Grand Duke Michael for the sake of a morganatic wedding and his own unsuccessful marriage affected Olga Alexandrovna's health.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1915

During the First World War, Olga was a nurse in the hospital she founded. The captain of the 2nd rank of the Guards crew Sablin Nikolai Vasilievich wrote: “A charming woman, a real Russian person, of amazing charm ... Olga Alexandrovna is a cordial comrade of our officers. How many secrets, secrets, sorrows, novels of our youth the princess knows!

Olga Alexandrovna goes with her hospital to the front. Before that, she escorted Nikolai Kulikovsky there. She came to her husband and said that she was leaving him forever. In 1915 the couple separated; Olga had no children from her first marriage. On August 27, 1916, Emperor Nicholas II approved the decision of the Holy Synod, recognizing her marriage to the Prince of Oldenburg as annulled. Nicholas II, came to inspect the hospital, which Olga equipped in Kyiv at her own expense. At the end of a short stay, the tsar gave his sister his photograph and a handwritten letter in English so that others could not read it, dissolving her marriage to the Prince of Oldenburg and blessing her marriage to Colonel Kulikovsky.

Nicholas II, Olga Alexandrovna in the hospital. Kyiv. 1916

Maria Fedorovna, Nicholas II, Olga Nikolaevna, Olga Alexandrovna, Tatyana Nikolaevna, Ksenia Alexandrovna with Vasily. Kyiv, 1916

Olga with her husband, Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, and her mother, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna.

On November 4, 1916, in the church of St. Nicholas in Kyiv, Olga Alexandrovna was married to Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, who became her husband and friend until the end of her days.

Olga Alexandrovna and N.A. Kulikovsky after the wedding. Kyiv, 1916

After the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne in 1917, many members of the imperial family, including the emperor himself and his immediate family, were placed under house arrest. The Dowager Empress, Grand Duke Alexander and Olga Alexandrovna moved to the Crimea to Xenia Alexandrovna. They lived in the estate of Alexandria, about 12 kilometers from Yalta.

Olga Alexandrovna with her second husband Nikolai Kulikovsky.

On August 12, 1917, Olga gave birth to her first child, who was named in honor of Tikhon of Zadonsk, a saint venerated at Olga Alexandrovna's Olga Alexandrovna estate. Empress Maria Feodorovna wrote about it this way: “At times, when it seems that it is no longer possible to endure all this, the Lord sends us something like a ray of light. My dear Olga gave birth to a baby, a little son, who, of course, brought such unexpected joy to my heart ... ".

Father and son (N. A. Kulikovsky with first-born Tikhon). Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.

Back in 1905, General Aleksey Nikolaevich Kuropatkin, who knew Olga’s simplicity and democratic taste, jokingly said that she was “with red”: “My next meeting with led. Princess Olga Alexandrovna was on November 12, 1918 in the Crimea, where she lived with her second husband, captain of the hussar regiment Kulikovsky. Here she is even more relaxed. It would be difficult for those who did not know her to believe that this was the Grand Duchess. They occupied a small, very poorly furnished house. The Grand Duchess herself nursed her baby, cooked and even washed clothes. I found her in the garden, where she carried her child in a stroller. She immediately invited me into the house and there she treated me to tea and her own products: jam and biscuits. The simplicity of the setting, bordering on squalor, made it even more sweet and attractive.

The Romanovs were isolated from the world and knew practically nothing about the fate of the Emperor. In February 1918, most of the imperial family moved from Ai-Todor to Dulber, where Grand Dukes Nikolai and Peter were already under house arrest. Olga Alexandrovna and her husband stayed in Ai-Todor. The Yalta Revolutionary Council “sentenced” the entire Romanov family to death, but the execution of the sentence was delayed due to rivalry between the revolutionary councils.

Olga Alexandrovna with her son Tikhon.

By April 1918, the Central Powers had invaded Crimea and the revolutionary guards were replaced by German guards, but the detention regime became looser. In November 1918, after capitulation in the First World War, the German troops left the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire. The territory temporarily came under the control of allies loyal to the white movement, and members of the Imperial family were given the opportunity to leave the country. The Empress Dowager with her family and friends left on the British ship Marlborough. By that time, Nicholas II had already been killed, and the family rightly considered that his wife and children were killed with him. Mikhail, beloved brother, was killed in the Perm region in June 1918.

Self-portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

At the beginning of 1919, when Ukraine was captured by the Bolsheviks, and the Don and Kuban were captured by the Whites, Olga Alexandrovna and her husband decided to leave the Crimea and go to Rostov, where General Denikin's headquarters were located. The family was accompanied by the personal bodyguard of the Empress of the Kuban Cossack Timofey Ksenofontovich Yashchik, a native of the village of Novominskaya. Denikin did not accept them. Timofei Yaschik did not know what to do next and brought them to Novominskaya. Here in 1919 the second son, Gury, was born to the spouses. The child was named after Gury Panaev, an officer of the Akhtyrsky regiment, who was killed during the First World War. The children of Olga Alexandrovna, although they were the grandchildren of the emperor, did not belong to the royal blood, since their father was a simple nobleman.

In the late autumn of 1919, the Cossacks reported that a red siding had appeared not far from Novominskaya. The Kulikovskys got together at half an hour, wrapped the children in blankets, collected their belongings, which they could take with them, and left the village. Only in February of the 20th year, the Romanov-Kulikovskys managed to board an English ship and leave their homeland forever. The ship was full of refugees, they, along with other passengers, occupied a cramped cabin. “I could not believe that I was leaving my homeland forever. I was sure that I would be back, - Olga Alexandrovna recalled. “I had a feeling that my flight was a cowardly act, although I came to this decision for the sake of my young children. And yet I was constantly tormented by shame. Through Constantinople, Belgrade and Vienna, in 1920 they finally reached Denmark.

Guri in a wheelchair. Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.

Self-portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. 1920

The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna lived in one of the outbuildings of the royal palace of Amalienborg in the immediate vicinity of her own nephew, King Christian X, who did not hide his dislike for his destitute relatives. The financial situation of the fugitives was in a state of disarray. Things worsened thanks to the thoughtless generosity of Maria Feodorovna. Thousands of Russian emigrants wrote to her from all over the world and asked for help, and the Empress considered it her duty to satisfy all their requests. During this period, the family of Olga Alexandrovna settled down together with Maria Feodorovna.

Tikhon and Gury. Watercolors by Olga Alexandrovna.

For some time, many wealthy friends of Empress Maria Feodorovna provided her with financial support, but the situation worsened every day. To reduce costs, Maria Fedorovna, together with her court, to
unspeakable joy of King Christian X, moved to the palace of Videre. Gury and his brother attended an ordinary Danish school. But in addition to the Danish education, the sons of the Grand Duchess studied at the Russian school in Paris, at the church of St. Alexander Nevsky.

Tikhon and Gury Kulikovsky on the veranda of the Videre Palace.

Olga Alexandrovna with her sons in Denmark.

In 1925, Olga Alexandrovna left her family for 4 days in order to go to Berlin. Anna Andersen, who pretended to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, had been in the hospital for several years. Everyone dissuaded Olga Alexandrovna from the trip, but she decided to put an end to this story. She so wanted to believe that her beloved niece and goddaughter was alive. But when she arrived in Berlin, she saw the impostor and realized that she was being forced to play the role of Anastasia.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna with her beloved niece Anastasia.

After the death of Maria Feodorovna in October 1928, Christian sent his cousin, Prince Axel, with an urgent request to the Grand Duchess and her household to immediately leave the palace. A Danish millionaire, Mr. Rasmussen, came to the aid of Olga Alexandrovna. He had a large estate not far from Widöre, and he hired Colonel Kulikovsky, an excellent connoisseur of horses, to manage his stables. The Grand Duchess and her husband happily moved to the estate.

Olga Alexandrovna with her husband Nikolai Kulikovsky.

Olga Alexandrovna with her sons Tikhon and Gury.

Soon the legal rights of the Grand Duchess to the palace of Videre were confirmed. She was able to sell it and purchase the estate with the proceeds. But all this took almost four years. It was not until 1932 that she and her family became owners of the large Knudsminne farm in a town called Ballerup, about fifteen miles northwest of Copenhagen. The happiest period of her life began. Olga Alexandrovna was able to return to painting again. Her paintings began to buy. The Grand Duchess was friends with the outstanding Danish artist, landscape master P. Mensted, with whom she went to sketches together. The works of the 1930s and 1940s depict scenes of peaceful and prosperous rural life. Olga often gave her paintings to relatives and friends both from the Romanov family and other royal families.

Olga Alexandrovna with her husband N.A. Kulikovsky and sons Tikhon and Gury.

Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna. Portrait of son Tikhon. 1940

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna with her sons Tikhon and Gury (officers in the Danish army).

Both of her sons, Tikhon (1917-1993) and Gury (1919-1984), having completed their education, entered the service of the Danish Royal Guard. Soon both of them married Danish girls.

On May 10, 1940, Gury Nikolayevich married Ruth Schwartz (02/06/1921 - 07/22/2015), the daughter of a small merchant in Ballerup. The couple had a daughter, Ksenia (07/29/1941) and two sons, Leonid (05/2/1943 - 09/27/2015) and Alexander (born 11/29/1949). In 1956, Gury and Ruth Kulikovsky divorced. A few years later he married Aza Gagarina (b.1924).

Tikhon Nikolaevich in 1942 married Agnet Petersen (1920-2007). Divorced in 1955, there were no children from the marriage. On September 21, 1959, in Ottawa, he married Livia Sebastian (June 11, 1922 - June 12, 1982), from marriage he had one daughter, Olga Tikhonovna (b. January 9, 1964). On June 8, 1986, in Toronto, he married Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina (b. September 20, 1926).

Olga Alexandrovna with her husband N.A. Kulikovsky.

The Kulikovsky family having breakfast on the veranda of their home in Ballerup.

Portrait of granddaughter Xenia. Watercolor by Olga Alexandrovna.

The Nazi invasion of Russia led to terrible complications in the life of the Grand Duchess. Having refrained from participating in politics all her life, Olga Alexandrovna found herself drawn into a dangerous cycle of intrigue. She was Russian and felt obliged to help her compatriots who donned German uniforms in the hope that with the victory of Hitler in Russia communism would be ended. After the defeat of Hitler, many Russians who fought on his side came to Kundsminne, hoping to gain asylum. The Communists repeatedly demanded that the Danish authorities extradite the Grand Duchess, accusing her of helping her countrymen take refuge in the West, and the Danish government at that time could hardly have resisted the Kremlin's demands.

The Kulikovsky family before leaving for Canada. 1948

A threat hung over the life of the Grand Duchess and her loved ones. The atmosphere in Ballerup became more and more tense, and it became obvious that the days of Olga Alexandrovna's family in Denmark were numbered. It was not very easy for the Grand Duchess, who was sixty-six years old, to break away from her habitable place. In the spring of 1948, with great difficulty, the Romanov-Kulikovskiys sold their estate and were able to move to Canada, settled in the village of Cooksville, now merged with the city of Mississauga, near Toronto, where Tikhon Nikolayevich worked for many years in the Department of Highways of the province of Ontario. Gury Nikolaevich became a talented teacher, taught Slavic languages ​​and culture in Ottawa. He also taught Russian to Canadian pilots, believing that during the Cold War, a Canadian soldier should know Russian.

Olga Alexandrovna, Leonid Kulikovsky, Ruth Kulikovskaya and Gury Kulikovsky.

Olga Alexandrovna lived in Canada under the surname Kulikovsky (Olga Alexandrovna Kulikovsky), nevertheless continuing Russian traditions, celebrating all Orthodox holidays. A neighbor's child once asked if it was true that she was a princess, to which Olga Alexandrovna replied: “Well, of course, I'm not a princess. I am the Russian Grand Duchess." Olga Alexandrovna was vitally close to virtually every royal family in Europe. In 1959, the English Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip visited Toronto, only 50 people were invited to dinner, including Olga Alexandrovna, who is now called the last Grand Duchess.

Often Olga Alexandrovna heard the banal accusation that the Romanovs were Russians only by name, to which she invariably answered: “How much English blood flows in the veins of George VI? It's not about the blood. It’s about the soil on which you grew up, the faith in which you were brought up, the language you speak.” During these years, the idea arose to proclaim Olga the Empress. It goes without saying that the unambitious and very modest Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna flatly refused such an offer.

She died in 1960, at the age of 78, 2 years after her husband. She was buried in an Orthodox church in Toronto, where the officers of the 12th Akhtyrsky E.I.V. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Regiment, whose chief she became back in 1901, stood guard at the coffin. Buried at York Cemetery (English) Toronto.

The family grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna at the North York cemetery in Toronto.

Commemorative plaque on the grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

Gury Nikolaevich Kulikovsky died on September 11, 1984 in Brookville and was buried at the Oakland cemetery. His widow, Aza Gagarina, lives in Brookville. None of the children of Gury Nikolaevich remained in Canada, all of them, together with their mother, after the divorce of their parents, returned to Denmark.

Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky died on April 8, 1993, after a second heart operation. The funeral service was held April 15 at Holy Trinity Church in Toronto. The burial took place on the same day at York Cemetery, in the north of Toronto, next to her parents. The samples of his blood taken during the operation were preserved and became a strong argument in the identification of the remains of the Imperial family.

**Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna left memoirs, the literary record of which was made by Jan Vorres.
** In the Danish city of Bollerup (Danish), where she lived with her husband and children from 1930 to 1948, a museum of Olga Alexandrovna was created.
** In 2003, a documentary film "Olga - the last Grand Duchess" was filmed jointly by Russia, Denmark and Canada (dir. Sonya Westerholt)
** In Vladivostok, on Okeansky Prospekt, there is the 35th hospital named after Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, opened in 1901 and built with the money of the merchant Skidelsky.
**In January 2011, a unique exhibition of watercolors by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was held at the Romanov Museum in Kostroma.