As a descendant of the Rurikovichs, for many years, returned the lost values to Russia

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This man, when he was an infant, was held by Nicholas II, then one day he talked with Hitler, met with Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. But all this is not the most important thing in his biography. Russia will remember Baron Falz-Fein as a disinterested patron of the arts, because only thanks to him a huge amount of cultural and artistic treasures returned to their homeland. At the 107th year of life, shortly before his tragic death, the offspring of one of the oldest families in Russia shared his recipes for longevity and health.

Eduard Aleksandrovich Falz-Fein was born in 1912 in the village of Gavrilovka, Kherson district. It united the noble lines of the Russified Germans who settled in Russia under Catherine II and, on the mother's side, one of the most ancient Russian dynasties - Epanchina, who presented Russia with several admirals and military leaders. Edward's grandfather, by the way, was the director of His Imperial Majesty's Corps of Pages, and his father's brother became famous for the creation of the famous Askania-Nova reserve. It is thanks to this innovation, unique for Russia, that little Edward once found himself in the arms of the emperor. In the letters of Nicholas II, there is a mention of how he broke his own plans in the spring of 1914 and drove on the way from the Crimea to the reserve, which he had heard a lot about by that time:

It would seem that with such a high patronage, this family should have flourished, but terrible trials awaited everyone ahead. The year 1917 found the Falts-Feins in St. Petersburg, where they came to visit their grandfather-general. Many decades later, the baron, describing these events, mentioned how he asked Nikolai Alekseevich Epanchin, did no one really feel that there would be a revolution? To which the old honored officer replied to his grandson:. Probably, the main tragedy of all Russian people, who were scattered around the world at the beginning of the 20th century, was precisely this surprise:

- Eduard Alexandrovich recalled.

In exile, his father died after receiving tragic news from Russia - the Red Army men shot his 84-year-old mother. Sophia Falz-Fein, one of the founders of the port city of Khorly on the Black Sea, did not want to leave her homeland in her old age. Stating: the woman stayed in her house. Unfortunately, she was wrong - goodness does not always return to people. However, her grandson, many years later, having forgotten all generic grievances, spent half his life trying to atone for the sins of others. When other offspring of the noble families of Russia reproached him for doing so much for a country that had practically destroyed his family, Eduard Alexandrovich replied with the words of his father:

Although, perhaps, fate gave its debts to this family when it allowed them to find a new home in a foreign land. After wandering around Europe, the orphaned Falz-Feins turned to the prince of Liechtenstein. Many years ago, when many distinguished guests came to their house, he promised them support and help, and, fortunately, did not forget about it. The ruler of the principality gave the family the citizenship of his country and later awarded Eduard Alexandrovich the baronial title, which corresponded to his title in Russia.

The life of a descendant of a princely dynasty in emigration was generally successful. He was educated in France, worked as a sports journalist and was a professional bicycle racer. It is with sports that one of his vivid memories is associated. In 1936, he was a reporter for the Berlin Olympics. At the stadium, the work tables of the press stood just behind the places of honor. As a result, the entire Olympiad, the young journalist looked at the back of the head of the Fuhrer himself. During the running competition, a surprise occurred - not a German athlete won, but an American, and even a black one, leaving a descendant of purebred Aryans far behind. Hitler reacted sharply to this, he suddenly got up and quickly left the stadium. On one of the last days, passing by the tables of the press, the Nazi leader decided to talk to Falz-Fein. True, the young journalist did not hear anything worthwhile from the head of the nation:

- recalled the baron.

By the way, another Olympiad turned out to be no less memorable for Falz-Fein. We are talking about the games of 1980. The Baron, being the chairman of the Liechtenstein Olympic Committee, during the discussion of a city worthy of hosting the Games, managed to convince the IOC to give Moscow a chance. In fact, as this amazing man later liked to remember, without his support, most likely the 1980 Olympics would have taken place in Los Angeles.

At this time of his long life, the descendant of the Falz-Feins was already able to create a good financial base for himself. True, in the field of tourism. He became the owner of several gift shops and started earning a decent income. Eduard Aleksandrovich began to invest exactly half of all his funds in art and historical rarities. Some of these values formed the basis of his own collection, but he returned most of them to Russia free of charge. Exported in the pre-revolutionary period and during the world wars, he bought from antique dealers, at auctions and transferred to museums. Thanks to him, many masterpieces returned to their homeland: paintings by Repin, Korovin, Benois, Lebedev, historical documents, letters, diaries, including the famous archive of investigator Sokolov - evidence of the murder of the royal family in Yekaterinburg. According to him, there were about 80 such rarities in total. The Baron took a direct part in the return of Chaliapin's ashes to Russia, after which he bought and donated the family relics of the great singer; together with Yulian Semyonov, he founded the International Committee for the Return of Russian Treasures to the Homeland; spent a lot of effort and money on the search for the Amber Room, and then actively participated in its restoration - he sent grinding machines, special drills from Switzerland, petitioned for the return of the surviving fragments from Germany to Tsarskoe Selo.

Eduard Alexandrovich made one especially valuable find in a basement in America. Completely forgotten, there was a portrait of Prince Potemkin by Dmitry Levitsky. Now this masterpiece adorns the hall of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea. The canvas, like many other values, was donated to Russia with a postscript:

Having lived to the age of 106, the baron managed to maintain optimism and a very sharp mind. The cause of his death was a tragic accident - on November 17, 2018, a fire broke out in the villa where he lived. Unfortunately, by the end of his life, the former handsome man and, as he himself liked to talk about himself, a womanizer, was left alone - his only daughter lived far from him. Therefore, finding himself without help, Baron Falz-Fein died. I would like to finish the story about this amazing man with his own advice. To be honest, the health recommendations shared by the long-liver who died in the 107th year of life as a result of an accident, in any case, deserve attention: