How the Polish ballerina Kshesinskaya fascinated the men of the Romanovs' house

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

The life of this woman is covered with rumors and legends. Fate measured out the example of the ballerina of the Russian Imperial Theater, Matilda Kshesinskaya, for almost a century. Over the years, she has managed to be known as a brilliant dancer, socialite and experienced heartbreaker.

Where was born and how the future passion of the men of the house of the Romanovs Matilda Kshesinskaya built a career as a ballerina

Malya, as the future ballet star was called in childhood, was born in August 1872 in Ligov, near St. Petersburg. The girl had a large family: her brother Joseph and sister Julia, as well as five half-brothers and sisters from her mother's first marriage. Matilda's path to ballet was predetermined in advance, under the influence of her father. Pole Felix Kshesinsky became famous not only as a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater and a brilliant mazurka performer, but also as a talented teacher. After graduating from the Imperial Theater School, Joseph and Julia, who were called the first Kshesinskaya, also got to the Mariinsky. Malya, who was sent to a ballet class at the age of three, was called Kshesinskaya the second.

From childhood, teachers singled out Matilda, noting her extraordinary data and hard work, and predicted a great future. Sharing this opinion, Felix Kshesinsky devoted a lot of time to the development of the talent of his youngest daughter.

An exam that determined fate, or how a young ballerina ended up in the arms of the heir to the throne Nikolai Alexandrovich

Achieving the heights of fame with talent alone is never easy. In Russia, as, indeed, everywhere else, it was possible to make a brilliant stage career only by getting an influential patron. Matilda had such a case in 1890, at the graduation performance of the Petersburg Ballet School. According to Kshesinskaya herself, this evening decided her fate. The guests of honor of the event were Emperor Alexander III with his wife, brothers and Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich. The Tsar showered the 18-year-old graduate with compliments, predicted that she would become an adornment and pride of the Russian ballet, introduced her to her son and honored him to sit next to him during a festive dinner.

There is an assumption that the monarch deliberately introduced the heir to a beautiful Polish woman, so that the young man learned the basics of love before marriage. Well, if this was so, then the sovereign's plan was a success: young people felt a strong attraction to each other, which soon grew into a passionate romance. The lovers met in a luxurious mansion rented (and later bought and donated to Matilda) by Nikolai Alexandrovich.

Princely triangle: "Sergei Mikhailovich-Matilda Kshesinskaya-Vladimir Alexandrovich"

The end of the relationship between Tsarevich Nicholas and Matilda was laid by his engagement to Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, the future Empress Alexandra Fedorovna. In her memoirs, Kshesinskaya claimed that this event broke her heart and made her suffer greatly. However, many contemporaries noted that the proud beauty did not remain inconsolable for long. She quickly turned her attention to another representative of the Romanov family - Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (the fifth of the six sons of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich and Olga Fedorovna, grandson of Nicholas I). He was a renowned balletomaniac and a passionate admirer of Matilda. It was rumored that Nikolai himself entrusted his former passion to his cares. And evil tongues whispered that in fact he simply passed the woman to a relative, like a kind of relay baton.

Sergei Mikhailovich treated his beloved with tenderness, indulged all her whims and provided her with a theatrical career. A long romance did not prevent Kshesinskaya from spinning cupids on the side, for example, having an affair with the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was fit for her father.

When Matilda had a son, 60-year-old Vladimir Alexandrovich felt proud and happy, but the boy received a patronymic Sergeevich. Ready to recognize the child as his own, Sergei Mikhailovich helped him get hereditary nobility.

Son VS father, or how Prince Andrei Vladimirovich "recaptured" Kshesinskaya from Vladimir Alexandrovich

Competing with each other, the Grand Dukes did not even suspect who would soon become their successful competitor. This time, the next Romanov, the son of Vladimir Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, was included in the amorous list of a star dancer. From the first minute he made an indelible impression on Matilda. The woman was touched by the amazing combination of beauty and shyness of a young man. After dancing and talking with him all evening, Kshesinskaya realized that their relationship would be something more than an ordinary flirtation, despite the fact that the Grand Duke is six years younger than her.

And so it happened. Andrei Vladimirovich began to appear often at the rehearsals of his chosen one, visited her at home. This was one of the happiest periods in the life of Matilda Kshesinskaya: she had an adored son and lover. In addition, the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich did not forget about her: he also continued to touchingly take care of her, pampered and protected, and also, at the first request, appealed on her behalf to the heir Nikolai Alexandrovich.

When the end of the tale of Kshesinskaya came, and how her fate developed after the 1917 revolution

The turbulent events of 1917 radically changed the life of Matilda Feliksovna. Her luxurious mansion was occupied by the revolutionary headquarters, furniture, silverware and even dresses were requisitioned. Together with her son Vladimir, Kshesinskaya left Petrograd, engulfed in unrest. She spent almost a year in Kislovodsk, hoping to wait out the troubled times, but eventually realized that it could be safe only abroad. The son had a Spanish flu, Matilda almost caught typhus, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks and miraculously survived. In February 1920, the Semiramis steamer took them away from Russia for good. The family settled in France. A year later, 49-year-old Kshesinskaya converted to Orthodoxy, and her relationship with Andrei Vladimirovich was legalized. To support the family budget, the renowned dancer opened her ballet school in Paris.

Like many representatives of the Kshesinsky family, Matilda Feliksovna was a long-liver. She rested, not having lived only a few months before the centenary. The prima ballerina was buried at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery, next to her husband and son.

In general, Russia has given the world many famous ballerinas, including 5 best women who have become a benchmark in ballet.