Matilda Kshesinskaya children and grandchildren. Queen of intrigues: how prima ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya became the wife of Grand Duke Andrei Romanov

July 10 Matilda The first time they tried to get to our house last spring. It is the Leningrad regional committee that allocates a little land to each for certain merits. They gave me the keys and the address: Komarovo, dacha No. 19, ask further. (This is just on the border between Komarovo and Repino.)

Kshesinskaya Matilda Feliksovna present. name and surname Maria Krzhesinskaya; 19 (31) 8.1872 - 12/6/1971 Leading ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater (since 1890). The best roles are Aspicia ("The Pharaoh's Daughter"), Lisa ("Vain Precaution"), Esmeralda ("Esmeralda"). Author of "Memoirs" (Paris, 1960). From 1920 - for

Publishing house "Tsentrpoligraf" released "Memoirs" famous ballerina. Despite the fact that this book of memoirs was written jointly with her husband, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, in it Matilda Feliksovna quite frankly talks about her romance with the Heir, the future emperor, relations with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and other fans, many of whom offered the stage star not only their love, but also the marriage union. publishes excerpts from these memoirs.

As a fourteen-year-old girl, I flirted with the young Englishman MacPherson. I was not fond of him, but I liked to flirt with a young and elegant young man. On my birthday, he came with his fiancee, it hurt me, and I decided to take revenge. I could not miss this affront for nothing. Having chosen the time when we were all together and his fiancee was sitting next to him, I inadvertently said that I like to go for mushrooms in the morning before coffee. He kindly asked me if he could come with me. This was all I needed - it means it pecked. I replied in the presence of the bride that if she gave him permission, then I had nothing against it. Since this was said in the presence of all the guests, she had no choice but to give the required consent. The next morning we went with McPherson to the forest for mushrooms. He gave me here a lovely ivory purse with forget-me-nots - a gift quite suitable for a young lady of my age. We picked mushrooms poorly, and by the end of the walk it seemed to me that he had completely forgotten about his bride. After this walk in the forest, he began to write me love letters, sent me flowers, but I soon got tired of this, since I was not fond of him. It ended with the fact that his wedding did not take place. It was the first sin on my conscience.

(after graduation performance)

The emperor sat at the head of one of the long tables, to his right sat a pupil who was supposed to read a prayer before dinner, and another was supposed to sit on the left, but he pushed her away and turned to me:

And you sit next to me.

He pointed out to the heir a place nearby and, smiling, said to us:

Just don't flirt too much.

In front of each device was a plain white mug. The heir looked at her and, turning to me, asked:

You probably don’t drink from such mugs at home?

This simple question, so trifling, remained in my memory. Thus began my conversation with the Heir. I don't remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the Heir. Like now, I see him Blue eyes with such a kind expression. I stopped looking at him only as the Heir, I forgot about it, everything was like a dream. Regarding this evening, in the Diary of Emperor Nicholas II, under the date March 23, 1890, it was written: “Let's go to a performance at the Theater School. There was a small play and a ballet. Very good. Dinner with pupils. So I learned many years later about his impression of our first meeting.

We were more and more attracted to each other, and I increasingly began to think about getting my own corner. Meeting with parents became simply unthinkable. Although the Heir, with his usual delicacy, never openly spoke about it, I felt that our desires coincided. But how do you tell your parents? I knew that I would cause them great grief when I said that I was leaving my parents' house, and this tormented me endlessly, because I adored my parents, from whom I saw only care, affection and love. Mother, I told myself, would still understand me as a woman, I was even sure of this, and I was not mistaken, but how can I tell my father? He had been brought up with strict principles, and I knew that I was dealing him a terrible blow, given the circumstances under which I left the family. I was aware that I was doing something that I had no right to do because of my parents. But... I adored Nicky, I only thought about him, about my happiness, even if it was brief...

I found a small, charming mansion at No. 18 Angliisky Prospekt, which belonged to Rimsky-Korsakov. It was built by the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich for the ballerina Kuznetsova, with whom he lived. It was said that the Grand Duke was afraid of assassination attempts, and therefore there were iron shutters in his study on the first floor, and a fireproof cabinet for jewelry and papers was built into the wall.

The heir often began to bring me gifts, which at first I refused to accept, but, seeing how it upset him, I accepted them. The gifts were good, but not large. His first gift was a gold bracelet with a large sapphire and two large diamonds. I engraved on it two especially dear and memorable dates to me - our first meeting at the school and his first visit to me: 1890-1892.

I hosted a housewarming party to celebrate my move and start independent living. All the guests brought me housewarming gifts, and the Heir presented eight gold, jeweled vodka cups.

After the move, the Heir gave me his photograph with the inscription: “My dear lady,” as he always called me.

In the summer I wanted to live in Krasnoye Selo or near it, in order to be able to see the Heir more often, who could not leave the camp to meet with me. I even found myself a pretty dacha on the shores of Lake Duderhof, very convenient in every respect. The Heir did not object to this plan, but I was given to understand that it might cause unnecessary and undesirable talk if I settled so close to the Heir. Then I decided to rent a dacha in Koerovo, it was a large house built in the era of Empress Catherine II and had a rather original triangle shape.

On April 7, 1894, the engagement of the Heir to the Tsesarevich with Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was announced. Although I knew for a long time that it was inevitable that sooner or later the Heir would have to marry some foreign princess, nevertheless, my grief knew no bounds.

After his return from Coburg, the Heir did not visit me again, but we continued to write to each other. My last request to him was to allow him to write to him as before on "you" and to address him in case of need. The Heir replied to this letter with remarkably touching lines, which I remember so well: “Whatever happens to me in my life, meeting with you will forever remain the brightest memory of my youth.”

In my grief and despair, I was not alone. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, with whom I became friends from the day when the Heir first brought him to me, stayed with me and supported me. I never had a feeling for him that could be compared with my feeling for Nicky, but with all his attitude he won my heart, and I sincerely fell in love with him. That faithful friend, as he showed himself these days, he remained for life, and in happy years, and in days of revolution and trials. Much later, I learned that Nicky asked Sergey to watch over me, protect me and always turn to him when I need his help and support.

The touching attention on the part of the Heir was his expressed desire that I stay to live in the house that I rented, where he visited me so often, where we were both so happy. He bought and gave me this house.

It was clear to me that the Heir did not have what it took to reign. It cannot be said that he was spineless. No, he had character, but he didn't have something to make others bend to his will. His first impulse was almost always correct, but he did not know how to insist on his own and very often yielded. I told him more than once that he was not made for kingship, nor for the role that, by the will of fate, he would have to play. But never, of course, did I convince him to renounce the Throne. Such a thought never crossed my mind.

The coronation celebrations scheduled for May 1896 were approaching. Everywhere there was a feverish preparation. At the Imperial Theater, the roles for the upcoming parade performance in Moscow were distributed. Both troupes had to be united for this exceptional occasion. Although Moscow had its own ballet troupe, artists from the St. Petersburg troupe were sent there in addition, and I was one of them. I was supposed to dance the ballet "Flora Awakening" there in ordinary performances. However, I was not given a role in the ceremonial performance, for which they staged new ballet, "Pearl", to the music of Drigo. Rehearsals for this ballet have already begun, the main role was given to Legnani, and the rest of the roles are distributed among other artists. Thus, it turned out that I was not supposed to participate in the ceremonial performance, although I already had the title of a ballerina and carried a responsible repertoire. I considered this an insult to myself in front of the whole troupe, which, of course, I could not endure. In complete desperation, I rushed to the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich for help, since I did not see anyone around me to whom I could turn, and he always treated me cordially. I felt that only he alone would be able to intercede for me and understand how undeservedly and deeply offended I was by this exclusion from the ceremonial performance. How and what, in fact, the Grand Duke did, I do not know, but the result was quick. The Directorate of the Imperial Theaters received an order from above that I take part in the ceremonial performance at the coronation in Moscow. My honor was restored, and I was happy, because I knew that Nicky had done this for me personally, without his knowledge and consent, the Directorate would not have changed its previous decision.

By the time the order was received from the Court, the ballet "Pearl" was fully rehearsed and all the roles were distributed. In order to include me in this ballet, Drigo had to write additional music, and M.I. Petipa put on a special pas de deux for me, in which I was called the "yellow pearl": since there were already white, black and pink pearls.

In the previous season, the stage did not captivate me, I almost did not work and did not dance as well as I should have, but now I decided to pull myself together and began to study hard in order to be able, if the Sovereign came to the theater, to please him with my dancing. During this season, 1896/97, the Tsar and the Empress attended the ballet almost every Sunday, but the Directorate always arranged for me to dance on Wednesdays when the Tsar was not at the theater. At first I thought it was happening by accident, but then I noticed that it was done on purpose. It seemed to me unfair and extremely insulting. Several Sundays passed like this. Finally, the Directorate gave me a Sunday performance; I was supposed to dance Sleeping Beauty. I was quite sure that the Sovereign would be at my performance, but I found out - and everything is recognized very quickly in the theater - that the Director of Theaters persuaded the Sovereign to go to Mikhailovsky Theater to see a French play which he had not seen the previous Saturday. It was perfectly clear to me that the Director had deliberately done everything possible to prevent the Sovereign from seeing me, and for this purpose persuaded him to go to another theater. Then I could not stand it and for the first time used the permission of the Sovereign given to me to directly address him. I wrote to him about what was happening in the theatre, and added that it was becoming completely impossible for me under such conditions to continue to serve on the Imperial stage. The letter was handed over personally to the Sovereign by Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.

This season, four Grand Dukes: Mikhail Nikolaevich, Vladimir Alexandrovich, Alexei and Pavel Alexandrovich showed me touching attention and presented me with a brooch in the form of a ring studded with diamonds, with four large sapphires, and a plaque with their names engraved on it was attached to the case.

In the summer of the same year, when I was living at my dacha in Strelna, Niki, through Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, told me that on such and such a day and hour he would ride with the Empress past my dacha, and asked me to be sure to come to this time in your garden. I chose a spot in the garden on a bench where Nicky could see me clearly from the road he was supposed to be taking. Exactly on the appointed day and hour, Nicky drove with the Empress past my dacha and, of course, saw me perfectly. They drove slowly past the house, I stood up and made a deep bow and received an affectionate response. This incident proved that Nicky did not hide his past attitude towards me at all, but, on the contrary, openly showed me sweet attention in a delicate way. I did not cease to love him, and the fact that he did not forget me was a tremendous consolation to me.

The tenth anniversary of my service on the Imperial stage was approaching. Usually, artists were given a benefit for twenty years of service or a farewell when the artist left the stage. I decided to ask for a benefit performance for ten years of service, but this required special permission, and I turned with this request not to the Director of the Imperial Theaters, but personally to the Minister of the Imperial Court, Baron Fredericks, dear and nice person who always treated me kindly and favored me. When I had an appointment with the Minister, I thought very carefully about my dress in order to make the best possible impression on the Minister. I was young and, as they wrote in the newspapers at that time, slender and graceful. I chose a light gray woolen dress that hugged my figure, and a three-cornered hat of the same color. Although it may seem impudent on my part, I liked myself when I looked in the mirror - pleased with myself, I went to the Minister.

He greeted me very nicely and complimented me about my toilet, which he really liked. It gave me great pleasure that he appreciated my dress, and then I boldly turned to him with my request. He immediately kindly agreed to report it to the Sovereign, since the issue of appointing a benefit outside the general rules depended solely on the Sovereign. Seeing that the Minister was in no hurry to let me go, I told him that it was only thanks to him that I was doing well 32 fouettes. He looked at me in surprise and inquiringly, wondering how he could help me with this. I explained to him that in order to do a fouette without moving from one place, it is necessary to have a clearly visible point in front of you at every turn, and since he is sitting in the very center of the stalls, in the front row, even in a dimly lit room on his chest there is a bright stand out for their brilliance of the order. The Minister liked my explanation very much, and with a charming smile he accompanied me to the door, once again promising to report my request to the Sovereign and letting me know that, of course, there would be no refusal. I left the Minister caressed and very happy. Of course, I received a benefit performance, and again my unforgettable Nicky did it for me. For my benefit performance, I chose Sunday, February 13, 1900. This number has always brought me happiness.

Artists usually received on the day of their benefit performances from the Cabinet of His Majesty the so-called Royal Gift, mostly a patterned gold or silver thing, sometimes decorated with colored stones, depending on the category of the gift, but always with the Imperial eagle or crown. Men usually received gold watches. These gifts did not differ in special grace. I was very afraid that I would receive such an ornament that would be unpleasant to wear, and I asked through Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich to do everything possible so that I would not be rewarded with such a gift. Indeed, on the day of the benefit performance, the Director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Volkonsky, came to my dressing room and handed me a Tsar's gift: a lovely brooch in the form of a diamond snake coiled into a ring and in the middle a large cabochon sapphire. Then the Sovereign asked Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich to tell me that he chose this brooch together with the Empress and that the snake is a symbol of wisdom...

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich immediately made a huge impression on me that first evening that I met him: he was amazingly handsome and very shy, which did not spoil him at all, on the contrary. During dinner, he accidentally touched a glass of red wine with his sleeve, which tipped over in my direction and spilled over my dress. I was not upset that the wonderful dress was lost, I immediately saw in this an omen that this would bring me a lot of happiness in life. I ran upstairs to my room and quickly changed into a new dress. The whole evening went surprisingly well, and we danced a lot. From that day on, a feeling crept into my heart that I had not experienced for a long time; it was no longer an empty flirtation...

During the summer, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich began to come more and more often to rehearsals at the Krasnoselsky Theater. Our beautiful dramatic actress Maria Alexandrovna Pototskaya, who was a great friend of mine, teased me, saying: “Since when did you start getting into boys?” He was actually six years younger than me. And then he began to come to me all the time in Strelna, where we spent such a wonderful and nice time. I remember those unforgettable evenings that I spent in anticipation of his arrival, walking in the park with moonlight. But sometimes he was late and arrived when the sun was already beginning to rise and the fields were fragrant with the smell of cut hay, which I loved so much. I remember the day of July 22, the day of the angel of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, his mother. On her name day, a picnic with music and gypsies was always arranged in Ropsha. He could not come to me in Strelna early, but he promised to come anyway, unless they stayed there too late, returning to his place back in Krasnoye Selo. With excitement, I was waiting for him, and when he appeared, my happiness knew no bounds, especially since I had no confidence that he would be able to call on me. The night was wonderful. We sat on the balcony for long hours, now talking about something, now listening to the singing of waking birds, now the rustle of leaves. We felt like in paradise. This night, this day we never forgot, and every year we celebrated our anniversary.

Upon arrival in Paris, I felt unwell, invited a doctor who, after examining me, said that I was in the very first period of pregnancy, about a month in total, by his definition. On the one hand, this news was a great joy for me, and on the other hand, I was at a loss as to what I should do when I returned to St. Petersburg. Then I remembered the bite of a monkey in Genoa, whether this bite would affect the appearance of my child, as they said that a strong impression is reflected in the child. After spending a few days in Paris, I returned home, I had to go through a lot of joyful things, but also a lot of hard ones ... In addition, I had a difficult season ahead, and I did not know how I would endure it in such a state.

Before Lent, they gave a pretty little ballet "Mr. Dupre's Disciples", in two scenes, staged by Petipa to music. I danced the role of Camargo, and in the first act I had a charming soubrette costume, and in the second - tunics. The stage was close to the chairs in the first row, where the Sovereign with the Empress and members of the Imperial family were sitting, and I had to think very carefully about all my turns so that my changed figure would not catch my eye, which could be seen only in profile. This show ended the season. I could no longer dance, it was the sixth month. Then I decided to transfer my ballet "La Bayadère". I was with her in the most better relations, she constantly visited my house, had a lot of fun and was fond of the Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich, who called her "angel". From the day she left the school (1899), the public and ballet critics immediately drew attention to her and appreciated her. I saw in her the beginnings of a major talent and foresaw her brilliant future.

My son was born, it was early in the morning of June 18, at two o'clock. I fell ill with a high temperature for a long time, but since I was strong and healthy by nature, I began to recover relatively soon. When I was somewhat stronger after childbirth and my strength was restored a little, I had a difficult conversation with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. He knew perfectly well that he was not the father of my child, but he loved me so much and was so attached to me that he forgave me and decided, in spite of everything, to stay with me and protect me as a good friend. He feared for my future, for what might await me. I felt guilty before him, because the previous winter, when he was courting a young and beautiful Grand Duchess and there were rumors about a possible wedding, I, having learned about this, asked him to stop courtship and thereby put an end to unpleasant conversations for me. I adored Andrei so much that I did not realize how guilty I was before the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.

A difficult question confronted me, what name to give my son. At first I wanted to call him Nikolai, but I couldn’t, and didn’t have the right to do this, for many reasons. Then I decided to name him Vladimir, in honor of Father Andrei, who always treated me so cordially. I was sure that he would have nothing against it. He gave his consent. The christening took place in Strelna, in a close family circle, on July 23 of the same year. The godparents were my sister and our great friend, Colonel, who served in Her Majesty's Life Guards Lancers Regiment. According to custom, I, as a mother, did not attend the christening. On this day, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich presented Vova with a wonderful cross made of dark green Ural stone with a platinum chain. Alas, this precious gift remained in my house in St. Petersburg. In the summer, when I was already up, the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich visited me. I was still very weak and took him lying on the couch and holding my baby in my arms in swaddling clothes. The Grand Duke knelt before me, touchingly consoled me, stroked my head and caressed me... He knew, he felt and understood what was going on in my soul and how difficult it was for me. For me, his visit was a huge moral support, it gave me a lot of strength and peace of mind.

In my home life, I was very happy: I had a son whom I adored, I loved Andrei, and he loved me, the two of them were my whole life. Sergey behaved infinitely touchingly, he treated the child as his own and continued to spoil me very much. He was always ready to protect me, as he had more opportunities than anyone else, and through him I could always turn to Niki.

At Christmas, I arranged a Christmas tree for Vova and invited Rockefeller's little granddaughter, who lived in our hotel and often played with Vova, digging in the sand on the seashore. This little Rockefeller gave Vova knitted shoes. Unfortunately, we did not meet her anywhere else and completely lost sight of her.

All my life I have loved building. Of course, my house in St. Petersburg was the largest and most interesting building in my life, but there were also less significant ones. So, in Strelna, at the dacha, I built a lovely house for my power station with an apartment for an electrical engineer and his family. At that time there was no electricity anywhere in Strelna, not even in the palace, and my dacha was the first and only one with electric lighting. Everyone around me envied me, some asked to give them part of the current, but I barely had enough station for myself. Electricity was then a novelty and gave a lot of charm and comfort to my dacha. Then I built another house in Strelna, in 1911, about which it is worth saying a few words. My son, when he was twelve years old, often complained that he did not see me much at home because of my long rehearsals. As a consolation, I promised him that all the money raised during this season would be used to build him a small house in the country, in the garden. And so it was done; with the money I earned, I built a children's house for him with two rooms, a salon and a dining room, with dishes, silver and linen. Vova was wildly delighted when he examined the house, surrounded wooden fence with a gate. But I noticed that, going around the rooms and the whole house, he was preoccupied with something, as if looking for something. Then he asked me where the restroom was. I told him that the cottage is so close that he can run there, but if he really wants to, then I will dance a little more, so that it is enough to build a latrine. This plan did not come true - war broke out.

At that time, my dear admirer was almost a boy. His sister, the beautiful Irina, later Countess Vorontsova-Dashkova, drove everyone crazy. My acquaintance with Volodya Lazarev, as we all called him, was amusing. It happened at a masquerade at the Maly Theater, where I was invited to sell champagne. I had a very beautiful dress that evening: a black satin tight skirt, a bodice of white chiffon that covered the shoulders and waist with a scarf, a large neckline, and a huge bright green bow at the back. This dress was from Paris, from Burr. On the head - a Venetian net of artificial pearls, falling on the forehead with a bunch of white "paradis" feathers attached at the back. I put on my emerald necklace, and on the bodice a huge diamond brooch with diamond threads hanging like rain and attached in the middle a large emerald and egg-shaped diamond; I had a chance to please the public.

At the party, I first appeared in a black domino, under a mask with thick lace, so that they would not recognize me. The only thing that was visible through the veil was my teeth and the way I smiled, and I knew how to smile. I chose Volodya Lazarev as the subject of my intrigue, who struck me with his almost childlike appearance and cheerfulness. Knowing more or less who he was, I began to arouse his curiosity, and when I saw that he was really intrigued, I disappeared into the crowd and, quietly leaving the hall, went to change into evening clothes. Then I returned to the ball and went straight to my table to sell champagne, pretending that I had just arrived. Volodya Lazarev came up to my table without knowing me. Of course he didn't recognize me. But the trouble was that when I was under the mask, he drew attention to my teeth, which were visible through the veil, and kept repeating: "What teeth ... what teeth ..." I, of course, was afraid to smile now , serving him wine, but no matter how hard I tried to restrain myself and make a serious face, I still smiled, and then he instantly recognized me: “What teeth!” he shouted with joy and laughed heartily. Since then, we have become great friends, had fun together, survived the revolution together, fled Russia together and met again in exile as old friends.

In 1911, I was celebrating my twentieth anniversary of service on the Imperial stage, and I was given a benefit performance on this occasion.

During the first intermission, the Director of the Imperial Theaters, Telyakovsky, presented me with a Tsar's gift on the occasion of my anniversary. It was an oblong diamond eagle of Nikolaev times in a platinum frame and on the same chain to wear around the neck. On reverse side there was no nest of stones to be seen, as is usually done, but everything was completely sealed with a platinum plate in the shape of an eagle, and on it was engraved the outline of an eagle and its feathers of remarkably fine and original work. Below the eagle hung a pink sapphire set in diamonds. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich also came at the first intermission and told me that the Emperor had told him that he was interested in whether or not I would wear his present on stage. Of course, after that I immediately put it on and danced the pas de deux in Paquita in it. In the second intermission, that is, after Paquita, with an open curtain, I was honored with a deputation from the artists of all the Imperial Theaters, that is, ballet, opera, drama and the French Theater.

A long table was placed across the entire width of the stage, on which gifts were displayed in an absolutely incredible amount, and flower offerings were arranged behind the table, forming a whole flower garden. I now remember all the gifts, let alone count them, except for two or three of the most memorable ones. In addition to the Tsar's gift, I received:

From Andrei - a marvelous diamond headband with six large sapphires according to the design of the headdress made by Prince Shervashidze for my costume in the ballet "The Pharaoh's Daughter".

Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich gave me a very valuable thing, namely, a Faberge mahogany box in a gold frame, in which a whole collection of yellow diamonds, wrapped in paper, was packed, ranging from the smallest to the very largest. This was done so that I could order a thing for myself according to my taste - I ordered a “plakka” from Faberge to wear on my head, which turned out remarkably beautiful.

In addition, also from the public, a diamond watch in the form of a ball, on a chain of platinum and diamonds. Since more money was collected by subscription than these items were worth, gold cups were bought at the very last minute with the surplus, as the money came in, and quite a lot of them accumulated.

From Muscovites I received the "surte de table", a mirror in a silver frame in the style of Louis XV with a silver vase for flowers on it. The names of all the persons who took part in the gift were engraved under the vase, and it was possible to read all the names in the mirror without lifting the vase.

It seems to me that on that day I also received from Yu.N. A gray crystal sugar bowl in a silver frame by Faberge. After the coup, this sugar bowl remained in my house in St. Petersburg, and I accidentally found it in Kislovodsk in a silver shop. She was, apparently, stolen from me and sold, and so, passing from hand to hand, reached Kislovodsk. When I proved to the police that this was my thing, they returned it to me, and I still have it here in Paris.

Shortly after my birthday, August 27, Andrei left for Kyiv to attend large maneuvers in which the regiment of which he was chief took part. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. arrived in Kyiv on this occasion. Stolypin, Minister of Finance Count V.N. Kokovtsov and a significant part of the Sovereign's retinue. In the early days, there were maneuvers in the vicinity of the city and a tour of the historical places of Kyiv. On September 3, a parade performance was scheduled at the city theater. In the morning, alarming information was received from the police that terrorists had arrived in Kyiv and there was a danger of assassination if they could not be arrested in time. All police searches were in vain, and anxiety intensified among the Sovereign's guards. The police considered the passage of the Sovereign from the palace to the theater to be the most dangerous moment, since the path was known to everyone, but everyone arrived safely. During the second intermission, tea was served to the Sovereign in the antechamber. The Empress did not come to the theater, only the senior Grand Duchesses were there. At this moment from auditorium there was a terrible crack, and then frantic screams. Not knowing what was the matter, the Sovereign said: “Is it really the bed that failed?” - the noise and crackling were incomprehensible. But when everyone rushed back, they saw that P.A. Stolypin, holding his hand to his chest, from which blood flowed through his fingers. Seeing the Sovereign, Stolypin raised his hand, making a gesture for the Sovereign to leave the box, and began to baptize him. Stolypin was surrounded by nearby people to support him, as he began to weaken rapidly, his face turned deathly pale, and he fell unconscious on an armchair. Further, according to Andrei, it was difficult to make out what was happening. Everyone was shouting, some were running somewhere, officers with swords unsheathed pursued someone and in the aisle, almost at the exit from the hall, they caught and wanted to stab.

It turned out later that the murderer of Stolypin Bogrov was caught and badly beaten in the passage. It was he who let the police know about the arrival of terrorists in Kyiv, since he had previously served as an informer in the police, was removed and again received just before the Kyiv celebrations. The police searched in vain all day for the terrorist, not knowing that he was in front of them. He asked to be allowed into the theater on the pretext that he knew the terrorists by sight, and if one of them penetrated the theater, he would point him out to security agents. The police let him through as their agent into the theater hall, where no one paid any attention to him, and he approached Stolypin completely unhindered and calmly and fired at him point-blank and just as calmly began to move away when he was seized.

P.A. Stolypin was immediately taken to private clinic, where, after examining the wound, the doctors expressed fear that he would not survive, as the liver was affected. For five days Stolypin struggled with his almost hopeless condition, and on September 8 (21) he died.

The news of the assassination attempt on Stolypin reached us in St. Petersburg the next morning, and I involuntarily thought about how tragically unlucky my poor Nicky was. He suffered blow after blow: he lost his father so early, got married on such sad, mourning days, the coronation was overshadowed by the Khodynka disaster, he lost his best Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Lobanov-Rostovsky, who died shortly after his appointment, and now he is losing his best his Minister, who suppressed the revolutionary outbreak of 1905.

At that time we could not even imagine what awaited him in the future and how terribly his fate would end. When the 1917 revolution broke out, many thought that if Stolypin had lived, he might have been able to stop it.

Matilda without embellishment: what kind of ballerina Kshesinskaya was in life

In Russia, after all, Alexei Uchitel's film "Matilda" was released - it would seem that an ordinary drama about the romance of the last Russian emperor and a ballerina, which suddenly and unexpectedly caused an unprecedented seething of passions, scandals and even serious death threats against the director and members of the film crew . Well, while the intrigued Russian public, in a state of some dumbfoundedness, is preparing to personally assess the source of the all-Russian hype, Vladimir Tikhomirov tells what Matilda Kshesinskaya was like in life.

Blue-blooded ballerina

According to the Kshesinsky family tradition, Kshesinskaya's great-great-great-grandfather was Count Krasinsky, who had enormous wealth. After his death, almost the entire inheritance went to his eldest son, great-great-grandfather Kshesinskaya, but his youngest son received practically nothing. But soon the happy heir died and all the wealth passed to his 12-year-old son Wojciech, who remained in the care of a French educator.

Uncle Wojciech decided to kill the boy in order to take possession of the fortune. He hired two killers, one of whom repented at the very last moment and told Wojciech's mentor about the conspiracy. As a result, he secretly took the boy to France, where he recorded him under the name Kshesinsky.

The only thing that Kshesinskaya has preserved to prove her noble origin is a ring with the coat of arms of the counts Krasinsky.

From childhood - to the machine

Ballet was Matilda's destiny from birth. Father, Pole Felix Kshesinsky, was a dancer and teacher, as well as the creator of a family troupe: the family had eight children, each of whom decided to connect his life with the stage. Matilda was the youngest. Already at the age of three she was sent to ballet class.

By the way, she is far from the only one of the Kshesinskys who has achieved success. For a long time, her older sister Yulia shone on the stage of the Imperial Theaters. And Matilda herself was called "Kshesinskaya Second" for a long time. Her brother Joseph Kshesinsky, also a famous dancer, also became famous. After the revolution, he remained in Soviet Russia, received the title of Honored Artist of the Republic. His fate was tragic - he died of starvation during the blockade of Leningrad.

Love at first sight

Matilda was noticed already in 1890. At the graduation performance of the ballet school in St. Petersburg, which was attended by Emperor Alexander III with his family (Empress Maria Feodorovna, four brothers of the sovereign with their spouses and still very young Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich), the emperor loudly asked: "Where is Kshesinskaya?" When the embarrassed pupil was brought to him, he held out his hand to her and said:

Be the adornment and glory of our ballet.

After the exam, the school gave a big gala dinner. Alexander III asked Kshesinskaya to sit next to him and introduced the ballerina to his son Nikolai.

Young Tsarevich Nicholas

I don’t remember what we were talking about, but I immediately fell in love with the heir, ”Kshesinskaya later wrote. - As now I see his blue eyes with such a kind expression. I stopped looking at him only as an heir, I forgot about it, everything was like a dream. When I said goodbye to the heir, who spent the whole dinner next to me, we looked at each other not the same as when we met, a feeling of attraction had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine ...

The second meeting with Nikolai happened in Krasnoye Selo. A wooden theater was also built there to entertain the officers.

Kshesinskaya, after talking with the heir, recalled:

It was the only one I could think of. It seemed to me that although he was not in love, he still felt attracted to me, and I involuntarily gave myself up to dreams. We never got to talk in private, and I didn't know how he felt about me. I found out later, when we became close ...

The main thing is to remind yourself

The romance of Matilda and Nikolai Alexandrovich began in 1892, when the heir rented a luxurious mansion for the ballerina on English Avenue. The heir constantly came to her, and the lovers spent many happy hours together there (later he bought and presented this house to her).

However, already in the summer of 1893, Nicky began to visit the ballerina less and less.

And on April 7, 1894, Nicholas's engagement to Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was announced.

Nicholas II and Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

It seemed to me that my life was over and that there would be no more joys, but there was much, much grief ahead, ”wrote Matilda. - What I experienced when I knew that he was already with his bride, it is difficult to express. The spring of my happy youth was over, a new, difficult life was advancing with a broken heart so early ...

In her numerous letters, Matilda asked Nika for permission to continue to communicate with him on "you", and also turn to him for help in difficult situations. For all subsequent years, she tried her best to remind herself. For example, patrons in the Winter Palace often informed her about plans to move Nicholas around the city - wherever the emperor went, he invariably met Kshesinskaya there, who enthusiastically sent air kisses to "dear Nika". What, probably, brought both the Sovereign himself and his wife to white heat. It is a known fact that the directorate of the Imperial Theater once received an order to ban Kshesinskaya from performing on Sundays - on this day the royal family usually visited theaters.

Lover for three

After the heir, Kshesinskaya had several more lovers from among the representatives of the Romanov dynasty. So, immediately after breaking up with Nicky, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich consoled her - their romance lasted a long time, which did not prevent Matilda Kshesinskaya from making new lovers. Also in 1900, she began dating the 53-year-old Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

Soon Kshesinskaya began a stormy romance with his son, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, her future husband.

A feeling immediately crept into my heart, which I had not experienced for a long time; it was no longer empty flirting, - wrote Kshesinskaya. - From the day of my first meeting with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, we began to meet more and more often, and our feelings for each other soon turned into a strong mutual attraction.

Andrey Vladimirovich Romanov and Matilda Kshesinskaya with their son

However, she did not break off relations with other Romanovs, using their patronage. For example, with their help, she received a personal benefit dedicated to the tenth anniversary of her work at the Imperial Theatre, although other artists received such honors only after twenty years of service.

In 1901, Kshesinskaya found out that she was pregnant. The father of the child is Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

On June 18, 1902, she gave birth to a son at her dacha in Strelna. At first she wanted to name him Nikolai, in honor of her beloved Nicky, but in the end the boy was named Vladimir, in honor of the father of her lover Andrei.

Kshesinskaya recalled that after giving birth she had a difficult conversation with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, who was ready to recognize the newborn as his son:

He knew perfectly well that he was not the father of my child, but he loved me so much and was so attached to me that he forgave me and decided, in spite of everything, to stay with me and protect me as a good friend. I felt guilty before him, because the previous winter, when he was courting a young and beautiful Grand Duchess and there were rumors about a possible wedding, I, having learned about this, asked him to stop courtship and thereby put an end to unpleasant conversations for me. I adored Andrei so much that I did not realize how guilty I was before Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich ...

As a result, the child was given a patronymic Sergeevich and the surname Krasinsky - for Matilda this was of particular importance. True, after the revolution, when in 1921 the ballerina and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich got married in Nice, their son received the “correct” patronymic.

Gothic in Windsor

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, in honor of the birth of a child, gave Kshesinskaya a royal gift - the Borka estate in the Oryol province, where he planned to build on the site of the old master's house a copy of the English Windsor. Matilda admired the estate of the British kings.

Soon, the famous architect Alexander Ivanovich von Gauguin was discharged from St. Petersburg, who built the very famous Kshesinskaya mansion at the corner of Kronverksky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.

The construction went on for ten years, and in 1912 the castle with the park was ready. However, the prima ballerina was not satisfied: what kind of English style is this, if in a five-minute walk through the park you can see a typical Russian village with thatched huts?! As a result, the neighboring village was wiped off the face of the earth, and the peasants were evicted to a new place.

But Matilda still refused to move to rest in the Oryol province. As a result, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich sold the "Russian Windsor" in Borki to a local horse breeder from the Sheremetev count family, and he bought a ballerina Villa Alam on the Cote d'Azur of France.

Ballet hostess

In 1904, Kshesinskaya decides to leave the Imperial Theatre. But at the beginning of the new season, she receives an offer to return on a "contractual" basis: for each performance, she is obliged to pay 500 rubles. Crazy money in those days! Also, all the parties that she herself liked were assigned to Kshesinskaya.

Soon all theater world knew that Matilda's word was law. So, the director of the Imperial Theatres, Prince Sergei Volkonsky, once dared to insist that Kshesinskaya go on stage in a costume that she did not like. The ballerina did not obey and was fined. A couple of days later, Prince Volkonsky himself resigned.

The lesson was taken into account, and the new director of the Imperial Theaters, Vladimir Telyakovsky, already preferred to stay away from Matilda.

It would seem that a ballerina, serving in the directorate, should belong to the repertoire, but here it turned out that the repertoire belongs to Kshesinskaya, - Telyakovsky himself wrote. - She considered him her property and could give or not let others dance.

Withering Matilda

In 1909, the main patron of Kshesinskaya, the uncle of Nicholas II, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, died. After his death, the attitude towards the ballerina in the Imperial Theater changes in the most radical way. She was increasingly offered episodic roles.

Vladimir Alexandrovich Romanov

Soon Kshesinskaya went to Paris, then to London, again to St. Petersburg. Until 1917, there were no more cardinal changes in the life of a ballerina. The result of boredom was the ballerina's romance with the dancer Peter Vladimirov, who was 21 years younger than Matilda.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, accustomed to sharing his mistress with his father and uncle, was furious. During Kshesinskaya's tour in Paris, the prince challenged the dancer to a duel. The unfortunate Vladimirov was shot in the nose by an offended representative of the Romanov family. The doctors had to pick it up piece by piece.

On the run

In early February 1917, the police chief of Petrograd advised the ballerina and her son to leave the capital, as unrest was expected in the city. On February 22, the ballerina gave the last reception in her mansion - it was a dinner with a chic serving for twenty-four people.

The very next day, she left the city engulfed by a wave of revolutionary madness. On February 28, the Bolsheviks, led by a Georgian student Agababov, broke into the ballerina's mansion. He began to arrange dinners in a famous house, forced the cook to cook for him and his guests, who drank elite wines and champagne from the cellar. Both cars of Kshesinskaya were requisitioned.

Kshesinskaya's mansion in St. Petersburg

At this time, Matilda herself wandered with her son to different apartments, fearing that her child would be taken away from her. Her servants brought food to her from the house, almost all of them remained faithful to Kshesinskaya.

After some time, Kshesinskaya herself decided to go to her house. She was horrified when she saw what he had become.

I was offered to go up to my bedroom, but it was just terrible what I saw: a wonderful carpet, specially ordered by me in Paris, was all filled with ink, all the furniture was taken to the lower floor, a door with hinges was torn out of a wonderful closet, all the shelves taken out, and there were guns... In my latrine, the tub-basin was filled with cigarette butts. At this time, student Agababov approached me ... He offered me to move back and live with them as if nothing had happened, and said that they would let me have my son's rooms. I did not answer, it was already the height of impudence ...

Until mid-summer, Kshesinskaya tried to return the mansion, but then she realized that she just needed to run. And she went to Kislovodsk, where she reunited with Andrei Romanov.

Lenin, Zinoviev, Stalin and others worked in her mansion in different years. From the balcony of this house, Lenin repeatedly spoke to workers, soldiers and sailors. Kalinin lived there for several years, from 1938 to 1956 there was the Kirov Museum, and since 1957 - the Museum of the Revolution. In 1991, the Museum of the Political History of Russia was created in the mansion, which is still located there.

In exile

In 1920, Andrei and Matilda left Kislovodsk with a child and went to Novorossiysk. Then they leave for Venice, from there to France.

In 1929, Matilda and her husband ended up in Paris, but the money in the accounts had almost run out, and they had to live on something. Then Matilda decides to open her own ballet school.

Soon, children of famous parents begin to come to Kshesinskaya for classes. For example, the daughters of Fyodor Chaliapin. In just five years, the school is untwisted so that about 100 people study in it every year. The school also operated during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Of course, at some moments there were no students at all, and the ballerina came to an empty studio. The school became an outlet for Kshesinskaya, thanks to which she suffered the arrest of her son Vladimir. He ended up in the Gestapo literally the very next day after the Nazi invasion of the USSR. Parents raised all possible connections so that Vladimir was released. According to rumors, Kshesinskaya even got a meeting with the head of the German secret state police, Heinrich Muller. As a result, after 119 days of imprisonment, Vladimir was nevertheless released from the concentration camp and returned home. But the Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich really went crazy during the imprisonment of his son. He allegedly dreamed of Germans everywhere: the door opens, they come in and arrest his son.

The final

In 1956, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich died in Paris at the age of 77.

With the death of Andrei, the fairy tale that was my life ended. Our son stayed with me - I adore him and from now on he has the whole meaning of my life. For him, of course, I will always remain a mother, but also the biggest and most faithful friend ...

Interestingly, after leaving Russia, not a single word about the last Russian emperor is found in her diary.

Matilda died on December 5, 1971, a few months short of her centenary. She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris. On the monument there is an epitaph: "The Most Serene Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya."

Her son Vladimir Andreevich died single and childless in 1974 and was buried next to his mother's grave.

But the ballet dynasty of Kshesinskaya did not fade away. This year, the great-niece of Matilda Kshesinskaya, Eleonora Sevenard, was accepted into the Bolshoi Ballet Company.

Matilda Kshesinskaya. Mysteries of life. Documentary

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Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (Maria-Matilda Adamovna-Feliksovna-Valerievna Kshesinskaya, Polish Matylda Maria Krzesińska). Born August 19, 1872 in Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) - died December 6, 1971 in Paris. Russian ballerina, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre, Honored Artist of His Majesty the Imperial Theatres, teacher. Mistress of Nicholas II.

Matilda Kshesinskaya was born on August 19, 1872 in Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) in a family of ballet dancers of the Mariinsky Theater.

She is the daughter of the Russian Pole Felix Kshesinsky (1823-1905) and Yulia Dominskaya (the widow of the ballet dancer Lede, she had five children from her first marriage).

Her sister is the ballerina Yulia Kshesinskaya ("Kshesinskaya 1st", married Zeddeler, husband - Zeddeler, Alexander Logginovich).

Brother - Joseph Kshesinsky (1868-1942), dancer, choreographer, died during the blockade of Leningrad.

According to family legend, Matilda's great-grandfather lost his fortune, count title and noble surname Krasinsky in his youth: having fled to France from the killers hired by the villain-uncle, who dreamed of taking possession of the title and wealth, having lost the papers certifying his name, the former count became an actor - and later became one of the stars of the Polish opera.

In the family, Matilda was called Malechka.

At the age of 8, she entered the ballet school as a visiting student.

In 1890 she graduated from the Imperial Theater School, where her teachers were Lev Ivanov, Christian Ioganson and Ekaterina Vazem. After graduation, she was accepted into the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theater, where at first she danced as Kshesinskaya 2nd - Kshesinskaya 1st was officially called her older sister Yulia.

She danced on the imperial stage from 1890 to 1917.

Early in her career she was strongly influenced by the art of Virginia Zucchi. “I even had doubts about the correctness of my chosen career. I don’t know what it would have led to if Zucchi’s appearance on our stage had not immediately changed my mood, revealing to me the meaning and significance of our art,” she wrote in her memoirs .

She danced in ballets by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov: the Dragee fairy in The Nutcracker, Paquita in the ballet of the same name, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Nikiya in La Bayadère.

After leaving for Italy, Carlotta Brianza took over the role of Princess Aurora in the ballet Sleeping Beauty. On November 18, 1892, on the day of the 50th performance of the ballet, the ballerina wrote in her diary: "Tchaikovsky arrived at the theater, and he was asked to the stage (and even I led him to the stage) to bring him a wreath."

In 1896 she received the status of prima ballerina of the imperial theaters.- obviously, thanks to her connections at court, since Petipa's chief choreographer did not support her promotion to the very top of the ballet hierarchy.

In order to complement the soft plastique and expressive hands characteristic of the Russian ballet school, with a distinct and virtuoso foot technique, which the Italian school mastered to perfection, since 1898 she took private lessons from the famous teacher Enrico Cecchetti.

The first among Russian dancers performed 32 fouettes in a row on stage- a trick that until then the Russian public was surprised only by Italians, in particular, Emma Besson and Pierina Legnani. It is not surprising that, returning his popular ballets to the repertoire, Marius Petipa, when they were resumed, often modified the choreographic text of the main parts, based on the physical abilities of the ballerina and her strong technique.

Although the name of Kshesinskaya often occupied the first lines of posters, her name is not associated with productions of great ballets from the list of classical ballet heritage.

Only a few performances were staged specially for her, and all of them did not leave a special mark in the history of Russian ballet. In The Awakening of Flora, shown in 1894 in Peterhof especially on the occasion of the marriage of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, and then remaining in the theater repertoire, she was assigned the main part of the goddess Flora. For the ballerina's benefit performance at the Hermitage Theater in 1900, Marius Petipa staged Harlequinade and The Four Seasons.

In the same year, the choreographer resumed La Bayadere especially for her, which disappeared from the stage after Vazem left. Kshesinskaya was also the main performer in two failed productions - the ballet "The Mikado's Daughter" by Lev Ivanov and latest work Petipa's "Magic Mirror", where the choreographer staged a magnificent pas d'action for her and Sergei Legat, in which the prima ballerina and the premiere were surrounded by such soloists as Anna Pavlova, Yulia Sedova, Mikhail Fokin and Mikhail Obukhov.

She participated in summer performances of the Krasnoselsky Theater, where, for example, in 1900 she danced a polonaise with Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Alexander Shiryaev and other artists and Lev Ivanov's classical pas de deux with Nikolai Legat. The creative individuality of Kshesinskaya was characterized by a deep dramatic study of roles (Aspichia, Esmeralda).

Being an academic ballerina, she nevertheless participated in the productions of Evnika (1907), Butterflies (1912), Eros (1915) by the innovative choreographer Mikhail Fokin.

In 1904, Kshesinskaya resigned from the theater for own will, and after the due farewell benefit performance, a contract was signed with her for one-time performances - first with a payment of 500 rubles. for each performance, since 1909 - 750.

Kshesinskaya in every possible way opposed the invitation to the troupe of foreign ballerinas, intrigued against Legnani, who, nevertheless, danced in the theater for 8 years, until 1901. Under her, the practice of inviting famous guest performers began to fade away. The ballerina was famous for her ability to build a career and defend her position.

In some way, it was she who caused Prince Volkonsky to leave the theater: refusing to restore the old ballet Katarina, the Robber's Daughter for Kshesinskaya, he was forced to resign from the post of director of the Imperial Theaters. According to the memoirs of the ballerina herself, the visible reason for the conflict was the figs of the costume for the Russian dance from the Camargo ballet.

During the German war, when the troops of the Russian Empire suffered greatly from a shortage of shells, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, claimed that he was powerless to do anything with the artillery department, since Matilda Kshesinskaya influences artillery affairs and participates in the distribution of orders between various firms.

In the summer of 1917, she left Petrograd forever, initially to Kislovodsk, and in 1919 to Novorossiysk, from where she sailed abroad with her son.

On July 13, 1917, Matilda and her son left Petersburg, arriving in Kislovodsk by train on July 16. Andrei with his mother Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and brother Boris occupied a separate house.

At the beginning of 1918, “a wave of Bolshevism came to Kislovodsk” - “until that time, we all lived relatively peacefully and quietly, although there were searches and robberies before under all sorts of pretexts,” she writes. In Kislovodsk, Vladimir entered the local gymnasium and successfully graduated from it.

After the revolution, he lived with his mother and brother Boris in Kislovodsk (Kshesinskaya also came there with her son Vova). On August 7, 1918, the brothers were arrested and transported to Pyatigorsk, but a day later they were released under house arrest. On the 13th, Boris, Andrei and his adjutant, Colonel Kube, fled to the mountains, to Kabarda, where they hid until September 23.

Kshesinskaya ended up with her son, sister's family and ballerina Zinaida Rashevskaya ( future wife Boris Vladimirovich) and other refugees, of whom there were about a hundred, in Batalpashinskaya (from October 2 to October 19), from where the caravan moved under guard to Anapa, where Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, who was traveling under escort, decided to settle.

In Tuapse, everyone boarded the Typhoon steamer, which took everyone to Anapa. There, Vova fell ill with a Spanish flu, but they let him out.

In May 1919, everyone returned to Kislovodsk, which they considered liberated, where they remained until the end of 1919, having departed from there after disturbing news to Novorossiysk. The refugees traveled by train of 2 cars, with Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna traveling in the 1st class car with her friends and entourage, and Kshesinskaya and her son in the 3rd class car.

In Novorossiysk, they lived for 6 weeks right in the cars, and typhus raged all around. February 19 (March 3) sailed on the steamer "Semiramide" of the Italian "Triestino-Lloyd". In Constantinople they received French visas.

On March 12 (25), 1920, the family arrived in Cap d'Ail, where the 48-year-old Kshesinskaya owned a villa by that time.

In 1929 she opened her own ballet studio in Paris. Among the students of Kshesinskaya was the "baby ballerina" Tatyana Ryabushinsky. During the lessons, Kshesinskaya was tactful, she never raised her voice to her students.

The elder brother of Matilda Feliksovna, Iosif Kshesinsky, remained in Russia (danced at the Kirov Theater) and died during the siege of Leningrad in 1942.

In exile, with the participation of her husband, she wrote memoirs, originally published in 1960 in Paris in French. The first Russian edition in Russian was realized only in 1992.

Matilda Feliksovna lived long life and died on December 5, 1971, a few months before her centenary.

She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris in the same grave with her husband and son. Epitaph on the monument: "The Most Serene Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya".

Matilda Kshesinskaya. Mysteries of life

Growth of Matilda Kshesinskaya: 153 centimeters.

Personal life of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

In 1892-1894 she was the mistress of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich - the future.

Everything happened with the approval of members of the royal family, starting from Emperor Alexander III, who organized this acquaintance, and ending with Empress Maria Feodorovna, who still wanted her son to become a man.

After the exam, there was dinner, mutual flirting between two young people, and years later, an entry in Kshesinskaya's memoirs: "When I said goodbye to the Heir, a feeling of attraction to each other had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine."

For Matilda, the young Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich was just Nicky.

Relations with the Tsarevich ended after the engagement of Nicholas II with Alice of Hesse in April 1894. By her own admission, Kshesinskaya, she had a hard time with this gap.

Later she was the mistress of the Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich and Andrei Vladimirovich.

The Grand Duke idolized his beloved so much that he forgave her everything - even a stormy romance with another Romanov - the young Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. Soon after the coup, when Sergei Mikhailovich returned from Headquarters and was relieved of his post, he proposed marriage to Kshesinskaya. But, as she writes in her memoirs, she refused because of Andrei.

On June 18, 1902, the son Vladimir was born in Strelna, who was called "Vova" in the family. According to the Imperial Decree of October 15, 1911, he received the surname "Krasinsky" (according to family tradition, the Kshesinskys came from the counts Krasinsky), the patronymic "Sergeevich" and hereditary nobility.

Matilda Kshesinskaya. Ballet and power

In 1917, Kshesinskaya, having lost her dacha and the famous mansion, wandered around other people's apartments. She decided to go to Andrei Vladimirovich, who was in Kislovodsk. “Of course, I expected to return from Kislovodsk to St. Petersburg in the fall, when, as I hoped, my house would be vacated,” she thought naively.

“In my soul, a feeling of joy to see Andrei again and a feeling of remorse fought that I was leaving Sergei alone in the capital, where he was in constant danger. ballerina.

In 1918, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was, among other Romanovs, executed by the Bolsheviks in Alapaevsk. The Romanovs were pushed to the bottom of an abandoned mine, dooming them to a slow, painful death. When, after the arrival of the White Guards, the bodies were raised to the surface, it turned out that Sergei Mikhailovich was clutching a medallion with a portrait of Matilda in his hand.

On January 17 (30), 1921, in Cannes, in the Archangel Michael Church, she entered into a morganatic marriage with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, who adopted her son (he became Vladimir Andreevich).

In 1925, she converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy with the name Maria.

On November 30, 1926, Kirill Vladimirovich awarded her and her offspring the title and surname of the princes Krasinsky, and on July 28, 1935, the most serene princes Romanovsky-Krasinsky.

Repertoire of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

1892 - Princess Aurora, "Sleeping Beauty" by Marius Petipa
1894 - Flora *, "The Awakening of Flora" by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
1896 - Mlada, "Mlada" to the music of Minkus
1896 - goddess Venus, "Astronomical pas" from the ballet "Bluebeard"
1896 - Lisa, "Vain Precaution" by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
1897 - goddess Thetis, "Thetis and Peleus" by Marius Petipa
1897 - Queen Niziya, "King Kandavl" by Marius Petipa
1897 - Gotaru-Gime *, "Daughter of the Mikado" by Lev Ivanov
1898 - Aspicia, Pharaoh's Daughter by Marius Petipa
1899 - Esmeralda "Esmeralda" by Jules Perrot in a new edition by Marius Petipa
1900 - Kolos, queen of summer *, "The Seasons" by Marius Petipa
1900 - Columbine *, "Harlequinade" by Marius Petipa
1900 - Nikiya, La Bayadère by Marius Petipa
1901 - Rigoletta *, "Rigoletta, a Parisian milliner" by Enrico Cecchetti
1903 - Princess *, "Magic Mirror" by Marius Petipa
1907 - Evnika*, "Evnika" by Mikhail Fokin
1915 - Girl *, "Eros" by Mikhail Fokin

* - the first performer of the party.

Bibliography of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

1960 - Matilda Kshessinskaya. Dancing in Petersburg
1960 - S.A.S. la Princesse Romanovsky-Krassinsky. Souvenirs de la Kschessinska: Prima ballerina du Théâtre impérial de Saint-Petersbourg (Reliure inconnue)
1992 - Memories