Not at all a beauty, only 153 centimeters tall, with short, plump legs for a ballerina - this was the main heartbreaker pre-revolutionary Russia, into whose network the two Grand Dukes and Tsarevich Nicholas fell. Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya captivated her with that special charm that leaves no man indifferent. On August 31, the great dancer turned 145 years old. Let's remember 11 little known facts from the biography of Matilda.
1. Thirteenth child
Kshesinskaya’s mother, Yulia Dominskaya, was also once a ballerina, but left the stage, devoting herself to her family. In two marriages (Yulia’s first husband died), she gave birth to 13 children. Matilda was the youngest - thirteenth.
2. Commanded directors
At the Mariinsky Theater Matilda began as “Kshesinskaya 2nd”. “Kshesinskaya 1st” was the name of her older sister Yulia. But soon Matilda became the most influential ballerina in the country. She herself decided who would go on stage with her, she could easily take someone else’s role for herself, kick out a dancer discharged from abroad with the words: “I won’t give it to you, this is my ballet!”
Once, Matilda, without permission, changed her uncomfortable costume for a performance to her own. At this point the management couldn’t stand it – the ballerina was fined. However, it was not possible to find justice for the ballerina.
“Is this really a theater, and is it really me who runs it? - Vladimir Telyakovsky, director of the imperial theaters, wrote in his diary. “Everyone is happy, everyone is happy and glorifying the extraordinary, technically strong, morally impudent, cynical, arrogant ballerina.”
3. Set a record
Matilda was the first among Russian ballerinas to perform 32 fouettés in a row on stage. Before her, only Italian ballerinas Emma Besson and Pierina Legnani, who performed on the stages of St. Petersburg, could spin like this. Since then, 32 fouettés in a row have been considered the hallmark of classical ballet.
4. Emperor Alexander brought him together with Nicholas
The ballerina met Tsarevich Nicholas at her graduation concert. He was 22 years old, she was only 18. Historians believe that it was Nicholas’s father who then pushed the future emperor to become a ballerina. Nicholas at that time suffered from love for the German princess Alix. However Alexander III was against marriage and, in order to somehow distract his son from mental torment, invited Matilda to the table.
“The Emperor turned to me: “And you sit next to me.” He showed the heir a seat nearby and, smiling, told us: “Just be careful not to flirt too much.” I don’t remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love...” wrote Matilda. In her diaries, the ballerina called the Tsarevich “Niki” and exclusively on “you”.
However, in 1894, Nikolai’s father still gave the go-ahead for his son’s wedding to the German princess, and the romance with Matilda came to an end. However, even after the breakup, the former lovers remained good friends.
5. I had an affair with two people at once
After the break with Nikolai, Matilda was consoled in the arms of Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich and Andrei Vladimirovich. At this time she will give birth to a son, Vladimir. The boy was given the patronymic name Sergeevich, but which of the princes was actually the father of the child is not known for certain.
6. The prince died with a portrait of Matilda
Malya - that’s how Prince Sergei Mikhailovich affectionately called Kshesinskaya. They say that in 1918, during his execution by the Bolsheviks, the Grand Duke clutched in his hand a medallion with a portrait of Matilda.
7. Served by Faberge himself
Kshesinskaya was the richest woman in Russia. Her lover, Sergei Mikhailovich, having access to the military budget, did not skimp on the ballerina’s outfits and jewelry. Matilda's custom jewelry was made by Faberge himself.
Her treasury also contained a unique comb. According to legend, it is made of 1000-carat gold, which does not exist in nature. Nikolai Gumilyov found the jewelry during one of his expeditions to the White Sea. And soon the thing got to the ballerina. Many believed that it was thanks to the fabulous comb that all of Kshesinskaya’s wishes came true. Unfortunately, during the revolution the decoration disappeared without a trace.
8. Her palace was envied even in the Winter Palace
Obviously not on the ballerina’s salary, in the late 1890s Kshesinskaya bought a country palace in Strelna, where she built her own power plant. But at that time there was no electricity even in the Winter Palace.
People who lived in Russia in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, they thought little about what their image would be in the eyes of distant descendants. Because they lived simply - they loved, betrayed, committed meanness and selfless actions, not knowing that a hundred years later some of them would be put on a halo on their heads, and others would be posthumously denied the right to love.
Matilda Kshesinskaya got amazing fate- glory, universal recognition, love of the powers that be, emigration, life under German occupation, need. And decades after her death, people who consider themselves highly spiritual individuals will shout her name on every corner, silently cursing the fact that she ever lived in the world."Kshesinskaya 2nd"
She was born in Ligov, near St. Petersburg, on August 31, 1872. Ballet was her destiny from birth - her father is Pole Felix Kshesinsky, was a dancer and teacher, an unrivaled mazurka performer.
Mother, Yulia Dominskaya, was a unique woman: in her first marriage she gave birth to five children, and after the death of her husband she married Felix Kshesinsky and gave birth to three more. Matilda was the youngest in this ballet family, and, following the example of her parents and older brothers and sisters, she decided to connect her life with the stage.
At the beginning of her career, the name “Kshesinskaya 2nd” will be assigned to her. The first was her sister Julia, a brilliant artist of the Imperial Theaters. Brother Joseph, also a famous dancer, will remain in Soviet Russia, will receive the title of Honored Artist of the Republic, will stage performances and teach.
Felix Kshesinsky and Yulia Dominskaya. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Joseph Kshesinsky will bypass repression, but his fate, nevertheless, will be tragic - he will become one of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the siege of Leningrad.
Little Matilda dreamed of fame and worked hard in her classes. Teachers at the Imperial Theater School said among themselves that the girl had a great future, if, of course, she found a wealthy patron.
Fateful dinner
Life of Russian ballet times Russian Empire was similar to the life of show business in post-Soviet Russia - talent alone was not enough. Careers were made through bed, and this was not really hidden. Faithful married actresses were doomed to be the foil for brilliant, talented courtesans.
In 1890, 18-year-old graduate of the Imperial Theater School Matilda Kshesinskaya was given a high honor - the emperor himself was present at the graduation performance Alexander III with the family.
Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1896 Photo: RIA Novosti
“This exam decided my fate,” Kshesinskaya will write in her memoirs.
After the performance, the monarch and his retinue appeared in the rehearsal hall, where Alexander III showered Matilda with compliments. And then at the gala dinner the emperor showed the young ballerina a place next to the heir to the throne - Nikolai.
Alexander III, unlike other representatives of the imperial family, including his father, who lived in two families, is considered a faithful husband. The emperor preferred another entertainment for Russian men to walking “to the left” - consuming “little white” in the company of friends.
However, Alexander did not see anything shameful in the fact that a young man learns the basics of love before marriage. That’s why he pushed his phlegmatic 22-year-old son into the arms of an 18-year-old beauty of Polish blood.
“I don’t remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the heir. I can see him now 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 sat through the entire dinner next to me, we no longer looked at each other the same way as when we met; a feeling of attraction had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine,” Kshesinskaya wrote about that evening.
Passion of “Hussar Volkov”
Their romance was not stormy. Matilda dreamed of meeting, but the heir, busy state affairs, had no time for dates.
In January 1892, a certain “hussar Volkov” arrived at Matilda’s house. The surprised girl approached the door, and Nikolai walked towards her. That night was the first time they spent together.
The visits of “Hussar Volkov” became regular, and all of St. Petersburg knew about them. It got to the point that one night the St. Petersburg mayor broke into the loving couple's house and received a strict order to deliver the heir to his father on urgent business.
This relationship had no future. Nicholas knew the rules of the game well: before his engagement in 1894 to the princess Alice of Hesse, the future Alexandra Fedorovna, he broke up with Matilda.
In her memoirs, Kshesinskaya writes that she was inconsolable. Believing her or not is a personal matter for everyone. An affair with the heir to the throne gave her such protection that her rivals on the stage could not have had.
We must pay tribute, receiving the best games, she proved that she deserves them. Having become a prima ballerina, she continued to improve, taking private lessons from the famous Italian choreographer Enrico Cecchetti.
Matilda Kshesinskaya was the first Russian dancer to perform 32 fouettés in a row, which today are considered the trademark of Russian ballet, having adopted this trick from the Italians.
Soloist of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater Matilda Kshesinskaya in the ballet “Pharaoh’s Daughter”, 1900. Photo: RIA Novosti
Grand Duke's love triangle
Her heart was not free for long. The new chosen one was again the representative of the House of Romanov, the Grand Duke Sergey Mikhailovich, grandson Nicholas I and cousin of Nicholas II. Unmarried Sergei Mikhailovich, who was known as a reserved person, felt incredible affection for Matilda. He looked after her for many years, thanks to which her career in the theater was completely cloudless.
Sergei Mikhailovich's feelings were severely tested. In 1901, the Grand Duke began to court Kshensinskaya Vladimir Alexandrovich, uncle of Nicholas II. But this was just an episode before the appearance of a real rival. His son, the Grand Duke, became his rival Andrey Vladimirovich, cousin Nicholas II. He was ten years younger than his relative and seven years younger than Matilda.
“This was no longer an empty flirtation... 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,” writes Kshesinskaya.
The men of the Romanov family flew to Matilda like butterflies to a flame. Why? Now none of them will explain. And the ballerina skillfully manipulated them - having started a relationship with Andrei, she never parted with Sergei.
Having gone on a trip in the fall of 1901, Matilda felt unwell in Paris, and when she went to the doctor, she found out that she was in a “situation.” But she didn’t know whose child it was. Moreover, both lovers were ready to recognize the child as theirs.
The son was born on June 18, 1902. Matilda wanted to name him Nicholas, but did not risk it - such a step would have been a violation of the rules that they had once established with the now Emperor Nicholas II. As a result, the boy was named Vladimir, in honor of the father of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.
The son of Matilda Kshesinskaya will succeed interesting biography- before the revolution he will be “Sergeevich”, because the “senior lover” recognizes him, and in emigration he will become “Andreevich”, because the “younger lover” marries his mother and recognizes him as his son.
Matilda Kshesinskaya, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and their son Vladimir. Circa 1906. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Mistress of the Russian ballet
At the theater they were openly afraid of Matilda. After leaving the troupe in 1904, she continued to perform one-time performances, receiving mind-boggling fees. All the parties that she liked were assigned to her and only to her. Going against Kshesinskaya at the beginning of the 20th century in Russian ballet meant ending your career and ruining your life.
Director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky, once dared to insist that Kshesinskaya go on stage in a costume that she did not like. The ballerina did not comply and was fined. A couple of days later, Volkonsky resigned, as Emperor Nicholas II himself explained to him that he was wrong.
New director of the Imperial Theaters Vladimir Telyakovsky I didn’t argue with Matilda over the word “at all.”
“It would seem that a ballerina, serving in the directorate, should belong to the repertoire, but then it turned out that the repertoire belongs to M. Kshesinskaya, and just as out of fifty performances, forty belong to balletomanes, and in the repertoire - of all the best ballets, more than half of the best belong to the ballerina Kshesinskaya, - Telyakovsky wrote in his memoirs. - She considered them her property and could give or not give them to others to dance. There were cases when a ballerina was discharged from abroad. Her contract stipulated ballets for tours. So it was with the ballerina Grimaldi, invited in 1900. But when she decided to rehearse one ballet, indicated in the contract (this ballet was “Vain Precaution”), Kshesinskaya declared: “I won’t give it, this is my ballet.” The telephones, conversations, telegrams began. The poor director was rushing here and there. Finally, he sends an encrypted telegram to the minister in Denmark, where he was with the sovereign at that time. The case was secret and of special national importance. So what? He receives the following answer: “Since this ballet is Kshesinskaya, then leave it to her.”
Matilda Kshesinskaya with her son Vladimir, 1916. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Shot off nose
In 1906, Kshesinskaya became the owner of a luxurious mansion in St. Petersburg, where everything, from start to finish, was done according to her own ideas. The mansion had a wine cellar for men visiting the ballerina, and horse-drawn carriages and cars were waiting for the mistress in the courtyard. There was even a cowshed, since the ballerina loved fresh milk.
Where did all this splendor come from? Contemporaries said that even Matilda’s cosmic fees would not be enough for all this luxury. It was alleged that Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, a member of the State Defense Council, “plucked off” little by little from the country’s military budget for his beloved.
Kshesinskaya had everything she dreamed of, and, like many women in her position, she became bored.
The result of boredom was an affair between a 44-year-old ballerina and a new stage partner. Peter Vladimirov, who was 21 years younger than Matilda.
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, ready to share his mistress with an equal, 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 insulted representative of the Romanov family. Doctors had to piece him together.
But, amazingly, the Grand Duke forgave his flighty beloved this time too.
The fairy tale ends
The fairy tale ended in 1917. With the fall of the empire, Kshesinskaya’s former life also collapsed. She also tried to sue the Bolsheviks for the mansion from whose balcony Lenin spoke. The understanding of how serious everything was came later.
Together with her son, Kshesinskaya wandered around the south of Russia, where power changed, as if in a kaleidoscope. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks in Pyatigorsk, but they, having not decided what he was guilty of, released him on all four sides. Son Vladimir suffered from the Spanish flu, which wiped out millions of people in Europe. Having miraculously avoided typhus, in February 1920, Matilda Kshesinskaya left Russia forever on the ship Semiramida.
By this time, two of her lovers from the Romanov family were no longer alive. Nikolai’s life was interrupted in Ipatiev’s house, Sergei was shot in Alapaevsk. When his body was lifted from the mine where it had been dumped, a small gold medallion with a portrait of Matilda Kshesinskaya and the inscription “Malya” was found in the Grand Duke’s hand.
Junker in the former mansion of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya after the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP(b) moved from it. June 6, 1917. Photo: RIA Novosti
Your Serene Highness at a reception with Müller
In 1921, in Cannes, 49-year-old Matilda Kshesinskaya became a legal wife for the first time in her life. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, despite the sidelong glances of his relatives, formalized the marriage and adopted a child, whom he always considered his own.
In 1929, in Paris, Kshesinskaya opened her ballet school. This step was rather forced - the former comfortable life was left behind, it was necessary to earn a living. Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who declared himself in 1924 the head of the Romanov dynasty in exile, in 1926 assigned Kshesinskaya and her descendants the title and surname of princes Krasinski, and in 1935 the title began to sound like “Your Serene Highness Princes Romanovsky-Krasinsky.”During World War II, when the Germans occupied France, Matilda's son was arrested by the Gestapo. According to legend, the ballerina, in order to achieve her release, achieved a personal audience with the Gestapo chief Mueller. Kshesinskaya herself never confirmed this. Vladimir spent 144 days in a concentration camp; unlike many other emigrants, he refused to cooperate with the Germans, and was nevertheless released.
There were many long-livers in the Kshesinsky family. Matilda’s grandfather lived to be 106 years old, her sister Yulia died at the age of 103, and “Kshesinskaya 2” herself passed away just a few months before her 100th anniversary.
Museum building October Revolution- also known as the mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1972 Architect A. Gauguin, R. Meltzer. Photo: RIA Novosti / B. Manushin
“I cried with happiness”
In the 1950s, she wrote a memoir about her life, which was first published on French in 1960.
"In 1958, the ballet troupe Bolshoi Theater arrived in Paris. Although I don't go anywhere anymore, dividing my time between home and dance studio, where I earn money to live, I made an exception and went to the Opera to see the Russians. I cried with happiness. It was the same ballet that I saw more than forty years ago, the owner of the same spirit and the same traditions...”, wrote Matilda. Ballet probably remained her main love for the rest of her life.
The resting place of Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya was the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. She was buried with her husband, whom she outlived by 15 years, and her son, who passed away three years after his mother.The inscription on the monument reads: “Your Serene Highness Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya.”
No one can take away the life she has lived from Matilda Kshesinskaya, just as no one can remake history last decades The Russian Empire to its liking, turning living people into ethereal beings. And those who try to do this do not know even a tenth of the colors of life that little Matilda knew.
The grave of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov at the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the city of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the Paris region. Photo: RIA Novosti / Valery Melnikov
More recently, the country was divided into two large camps - those who hated Alexey Uchitel, who allegedly disgraced historical memory O last emperor Russian Empire with its film " Matilda", and those who considered the tape quite worthy and reliable.
Behind a serious scandal, threats to disrupt the premiere and demands to cancel the screening of the film, led by a deputy Natalia Poklonskaya, we completely forgot who she really was Matilda Kshesinskaya and whether she had intimate relations with Nicholas II.
Matilda was a famous ballerina in her time, but she became famous throughout the world thanks to her scandalous relationships with members of the imperial family. However, she was an excellent ballerina, although she could not boast of frequent world tours.
Kshesinskaya was born in 1872 in the family of a choreographer and a ballerina, so her future was practically a foregone conclusion. Malya, as her family called her, was the youngest of nine children.
Her father Felix Kshesinsky explained to his children that they were descendants of a noble family Krasinski. There was no documentary evidence of this, only the ring of Felix’s supposed ancestor, Count Krasinski.
Matilda was sent to dance almost from the cradle. Already at the age of 12 she studied at one of the most prestigious institutions of the empire - Imperial Theater School.
By the way, by modern standards, Kshesinskaya could not become a ballerina. She was quite short - only 150 centimeters, stocky, with powerful legs. Perhaps this helped her to be the first to Russia the most difficult at that time 32 fouette, which had previously been performed exclusively by slender Italian dancers.
The nobles adored ballerinas, Matilda realized this back in early age. Despite the fact that she was inferior in appearance to her fellow students, the dancer won over men with her charm, sociability and cheerful disposition.
Kshesinskaya met Tsarevich Nikolai at a gala dinner in honor of her graduation from college. That evening Alexander III told her: " Be the glory and adornment of our Russian ballet!»
The relationship with Nikolai became known from the memoirs of the ballerina. She wrote that she immediately liked the heir to the throne, so she did not leave him a single step, using all her feminine charms to charm the crown prince.
Talk about extramarital affairs Nicholas intensified when in 1892 he bought Matilda a house on Promenade des Anglais. This continued until the health of his father, Alexander III, began to deteriorate. In 1894 he married Princess Alice and broke up with the ballerina.
That’s when Matilda got into trouble: she started an affair with another representative of the house Romanovs- with the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, in 1900 with the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and a year later with his son, the Grand Duke Andrey Vladimirovich. From him she gave birth to a son Vladimir, whom the prince did not recognize, but obtained the assignment of the surname of the noble family of Krasinski to him.
Until 1909, Kshesinskaya was the main prima Imperial Theater thanks to the patronage of the prince. When Vladimir Alexandrovich died, her place in the theater was taken away. Then the ballerina began touring Europe, but remained to live in St. Petersburg.
In 1917, the Bolsheviks took away her mansion and all her property from the dancer. She and her son fled to Kislovodsk, where Andrei Vladimirovich was waiting for her. By a roundabout route they reached France, where they remained to live.
In 1921, Matilda Kshesinskaya and Andrei Romanov were married in Cannes, thus the ballerina finally achieved her goal - she began to belong to the imperial family.
Until her death, the ballerina lived in Paris. In 1956 she buried her husband. In the capital, Matilda opened her own ballet school, which was popular thanks to her big name. She died in 1971, a couple of months before her birthday. 100th anniversary.
Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya
Matilda Kshesinskaya
Matilda Kshesinskaya (1872–1971) is a legendary star of Russian ballet, thanks to whom the world learned about such names as Preobrazhenskaya, Pavlova, Karsavina, Spesivtseva. Matilda had enormous power will and thirst for life.
Matilda Kshesinskaya grew up in a family where the very atmosphere suggested art classes. Kshesinskaya's grandfather was famous violinist and a dramatic actor, his father a dancer, his mother an actress. Kshesinskaya herself wrote about her childhood: “I was my father’s favorite. He recognized in me an attraction to the theater, a natural talent, and hoped that I would support the glory of his family on stage. From the age of 3, I loved to dance, and my father, to please me, took me to the Bolshoi Theater, where they performed opera and ballet. I just adored it...” No one in the family even thought of interfering with Matilda’s natural desire to become a dancer. She entered the Imperial Theater School, from which she graduated with flying colors. After the final exam, a gala dinner was held, which was attended by all members of the imperial family. Alexander III seated Kshesinskaya next to his son and jokingly remarked: “Just be careful not to flirt too much.”
Soon Kshesinskaya was enrolled in the ballet troupe. The first performances and first roles followed. The ballerina's wish to dance Esmeralda was not fulfilled. Marius Petipa said that only by experiencing the sorrows of love can Matilda truly understand the role of Esmeralda.
During one of her walks around St. Petersburg, Kshesinskaya saw a carriage drive past her. Grand Duke Nikolai Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, sat in it. He turned around and smiled at Kshesinskaya, as if letting her know that he remembered his father’s joke.
After the heir to the throne returned from trip around the world, a passionate romance began. Nicky, as his loved ones called him, gave Matilda his first gift: a gold bracelet with sapphire and diamonds. Next, Matilda became the owner of a beautiful mansion on English Avenue, which was built by Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich for his beloved, ballerina Kuznetsova.
Kshesinskaya later recalled about her affair with Nikolai: “Nicky amazed me. In front of me sat not someone in love with me, but someone indecisive, who did not understand the bliss of love. In the summer, he himself repeatedly reminded him in letters and conversations about a close acquaintance, and now he suddenly said the exact opposite, that he could not be my first, that this would torment him all his life... He cannot be the first! Funny! Would a person who truly loves passionately talk like that? Of course not, he is simply afraid of being associated with me for the rest of his life, since he will be my first... In the end, I managed to convince Niki... He promised that this would happen in a week, as soon as he returned from Berlin..."
Kshesinskaya most likely did not suspect that she and Nicholas appeared as puppets in a performance staged by the parents of the heir to the throne, who were concerned about his immaturity. His constant apathy was even discussed in the family circle. The emperor's close associate, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, advised the parents to find a mistress for the prince, with whom the young man could, as they say, let off love steam. Matilda Kshesinskaya was suitable for this role like no one else. Moreover, Nikolai liked her. Significant funds from the state treasury were used, and soon Kshesinskaya was at the feet of the future emperor.
Nicholas II
Both Matilda and Nikolai understood that their relationship was doomed to break. The heir to the throne needed a marriage with a bride from the royal family. In addition, he fell in love with Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, and on April 7, 1894, an engagement was announced. For Kshesinskaya this became a real grief. Even the letters he sent her for some time could not console her. Kshesinskaya kept all of Nikolai’s messages in a treasured box, but, unfortunately, they have not survived to this day. During the revolution, one of Kshesinskaya’s friends burned these letters for safety reasons.
However, Matilda was not left alone. This is what I wrote famous ballerina in 1892: “Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich loved to attend my rehearsals. He came into my restroom to sit and chat. He liked me, and he jokingly said that he regretted that he was not young enough.”
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich became a real support for the ballerina. From the very beginning, he was a devoted friend who did everything possible to protect Matilda's peace. For example, when a ballerina liked a dacha in Strelna, Sergei Mikhailovich immediately completed the purchase. Matilda furnished the house to her own taste and even built her own power plant for lighting, which was very rare in those years.
Throughout her life, Matilda was constantly surrounded by many fans. Mention should be made of these famous people, like Prince Nikita Trubetskoy, Prince Dzhambakuriani-Orbeliani, officer of the Life Guards cavalry regiment Boris Hartman, hussar Nikolai Skalon and others.
At one of the evenings, which Kshesinskaya organized, she met Andrei Vladimirovich, the emperor’s cousin. “Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich immediately made a huge impression on me on 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 lunch, he accidentally touched a glass of red wine with his sleeve, which tipped over in my direction and splashed my dress. I was not upset that the wonderful dress was lost, I immediately saw in this an omen that it would bring me a lot of happiness in life...”
Love flared up like a fire. Andrei Vladimirovich was 6 years younger than Matilda, but they did not feel the age difference at all. The fruit of their love was the son Volodya, whom Matilda gave birth to during a trip to Europe. In Russia, she had a serious conversation with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, who understood perfectly well that he was not the father of the child. However, he loved Kshesinskaya so much that he decided to stay with her in order to protect her as a good friend.
In 1904, Matilda Kshesinskaya began touring Europe. The evening dedicated to the 20th anniversary of her first appearance on stage became a real holiday choreographic art. Kshesinskaya was honored as the first ballerina of Russia and was even called “the Generalissimo of Russian ballet.”
Upon returning from Europe, Matilda acquired a plot of land for the construction of a palace. The architect of the project was Alexander von Gauguin. The entire situation was ordered from Paris. The result of long work was a house that was a real work of art and a reflection of the refined taste of the owner. In addition to the mansion in St. Petersburg, Kshesinskaya bought a house in the south of France, where she visited several times a year.
During the First World War, Matilda Kshesinskaya built an infirmary with 30 beds with her own money, but when the situation got out of control, she was forced to flee. For some time the ballerina lived with friends, and in July she, along with her son, maid Lyudmila Rumyantseva and devoted servant Ivan Kurnosov, left St. Petersburg. During the years of the revolution, Kshesinskaya had to endure serious mental anguish: she lost people with whom she had been closely connected before - Nicholas II and Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.
At the beginning of 1920, Kshesinskaya left Russia, exhausted by political upheavals, forever and settled in Venice. Somewhat later, in France, she again met Grand Duke Andrei, and the lovers were reunited. “Andrey and I often discussed the issue of our marriage,” she wrote. “We thought not only about our own happiness, but also mainly about Vova’s position... After all, until now it was uncertain.”
Having agreed on the issue of marriage with Andrei’s brother, Kirill Vladimirovich, the lovers got married in the Russian Church in Cannes on January 30, 1921. In his diary, Andrei wrote: “Finally my dream has come true - I am very happy.” Matilda was also immensely happy. After all, she received the title of princess.
Kshesinskaya's social life was in full swing: she met with Virginia Zucchi, Isadora Duncan, Anna Pavlova, Fyodor Chaliapin. The ballerina received her nickname Madame 17 due to the fact that in the Monte Carlo casino, where she loved to go, she invariably bet on the number 17. In order not to deny herself anything, she needed a constant source of income, so Kshesinskaya had to sell villa and move to Paris, where she opened dance school. Thanks to her teaching talent, the world recognized such names as Margot Fonteyn, Yvette Chauvery, Pamela May.
Kshesinskaya herself did not give up ballet and took an active part in various productions. For example, in 1936, when the ballerina was already 64 years old, she performed the famous Russian dance in London's Covent Garden.
Matilda Kshesinskaya outlived all her famous friends: Sergei Diaghilev, Anna Pavlova, Vera Trefilova, Vaslav Nijinsky left this world before her. But the most terrible loss for the ballerina was the death in 1956 of her husband, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. “Words cannot express what I experienced at that moment. Murdered and shocked, I refused to believe that my faithful companion in life was gone. Together with Vera, we cried bitterly and, kneeling down, began to pray... With the death of Andrei, the fairy tale that was my life ended.”
On the day when Matilda Kshesinskaya went to a performance by actors of the Bolshoi Theater, who came on tour to Paris, she wrote down: “Although since the death of my husband I no longer go anywhere, spending my days in the studio at work, to get my daily bread, or at home, I did exception and went to look at it. I cried with happiness... It was the same ballet that I had not seen for more than 40 years. The soul remains, the tradition is alive and continues. Of course, the technique has reached great perfection...” Until the end of her days, Matilda remained a proud prima ballerina of the Imperial Ballet.
Kshesinskaya passed away on December 6, 1971, only 9 months short of her 100th birthday. She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery, which became the last refuge of many Russian emigrants.
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IN lately they started talking about Matilda Feliksovna - and not at all in connection with her choreographic talent, which was applauded by the entire Old World. The ballerina was remembered after social activists from the “Royal Cross” movement saw in a three-minute trailer a film that had not yet been released. feature film Alexey Uchitel "Matilda" distortion historical events, as well as “anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation in the sphere of culture.” Most of all, activists were outraged by the love and erotic scenes shown in the film between Kshesinskaya and the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Nicholas II. The response to the complaints of public activists followed immediately. Firstly, Russian State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya contacted the Prosecutor General’s Office with a request to check “Matilda” for insulting the feelings of believers. Secondly, the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture received 20 thousand signatures demanding to ban the film, the premiere of which is scheduled for October 2017. Thirdly, a certain organization “Christian State - Holy Rus'” sent a letter to the directors of Russian cinemas, warning that if the film was shown, “cinemas will burn.” This is how the champions of historical authenticity ensured that Matilda Feliksovna had a full house - even before she went on stage.
Attention! +18. Video contains erotic scenes
However, this is not the first time that the ballerina finds herself in the center big scandal. We will talk about how the whirlwind of the February Revolution brought the names of Kshesinskaya and Lenin into the same newspaper headlines. Few people know that in April-May 1917 the ballerina caused a lot of problems for the Bolsheviks and even waged a property dispute with them, which the entire revolutionary Petrograd knew about. The subject of the litigation was the famous mansion on the corner of Kronverksky Prospekt and Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street, from the balcony of which on the evening of April 3, 1917, Vladimir Lenin, who had just returned from emigration, spoke to workers and sailors. However, first things first.
Kshesinskaya decided to build herself a large house in St. Petersburg in 1902, immediately after the birth of her son. Kshesinskaya decided to sell the old, much more modest house on English Avenue, donated by Nicholas II, to Prince Alexander Romanovsky. “Leaving my old home, which Nicky gave me, was very difficult. I had to part with the house with which my most cherished memories were associated, and where I lived many, many happy days. But at the same time, staying where everything reminded me of Niki was even sadder,” Kshesinskaya recalled.
In the spring of 1906, large-scale construction of a luxury house began on the corner of Kronverksky Avenue. Matilda chose the location for the new mansion herself: there were no factories nearby, and the size of the plot allowed for setting up a garden next to the house. She also cared about the harmony of the surrounding space later: in 1909, construction of a mosque began not far from her palace, but the Catholic Kshesinskaya turned to her dear friend Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich with a request to protect her from such a neighborhood. As a result, a house of the Second Kamennoostrovsky Partnership was erected between the mansion and the mosque to provide permanent apartments with a brick fence and sculptures of lions. Everyone was happy.
Alexander von Gauguin
Kshesinskaya believed that the architect Alexander von Gauguin did a brilliant job with her order. The mansion, 50 meters long and 33 meters wide, was designed in the style of classical northern modernism and stood out for its asymmetrical façade and composition of volumes of different heights. The exterior decoration used a contrasting combination of materials: red and gray granite, facing bricks, majolica tiles and decorative metal. The yard and garden were always tidy - this was tirelessly monitored by the chief janitor Matvey Denisov, whom Kshesinskaya warmly called “Grandfather Matvey.” In the courtyard there was a laundry room, garages for a crew and two cars, as well as a cowshed - so that the ballerina’s son could drink fresh milk. In one of the barns there also lived “a fat pig, Vova’s favorite,” and in the house itself lived a fox and a tamed goat, with whom Kshesinskaya performed in the ballet “Esmeralda.”
The internal space was organized in the form of two enfilades of halls, with an adjacent glazed winter garden. Already before Christmas 1907, the hostess moved to the new estate, even though not all the rooms were furnished yet. Judging by the memoirs of Matilda Feliksovna herself, the furnishings in the mansion were luxurious.
Winter garden
“I planned the interior decoration of the rooms myself. The hall was to be designed in the Russian Empire style, the small corner sofa was to be in the Louis XVI style, and I left the rest of the rooms to the taste of the architect. Some rooms, like the dining room and the adjacent salon, were in the Art Nouveau style.
Living room (salon)
I ordered the bedroom and dressing room in the English style, with white furniture and cretonne on the walls.
I ordered all the stylish furniture and that which was intended for my personal rooms and my son’s rooms from Meltzer, the largest and most famous manufacturer in St. Petersburg, and I entrusted the rest of the furnishings to Platonov’s large company. I ordered all the bronze items for the Empire hall and the Louis XVI salon, such as chandeliers, sconces, candelabra, door and window handles, locks and latches, as well as all the carpets and upholstery material in Paris. The walls of the salon were covered with yellow silk.”
Interior of the mansion and view of the courtyard in 1916.
Grand staircase
Dining room
Bedroom
White Hall
Yard and garden
The second floor was reserved for children's rooms, a ballerina's bedroom, a housekeeper's room, several “spare” guest rooms and a dressing room. The latter was furnished with four huge oak wardrobes, in which not only Matilda’s everyday and weekend dresses were stored, but also her stage costumes, shoes and wigs. On the ground floor there was a large hall, a billiard room, several living rooms, servants' rooms, Kshesinskaya's office, a buffet and a winter garden, for which a large glazed bay window was specially designed on the facade of the building. Memories have been preserved of the huge palm trees and wooden trellis structures entwined with greenery that decorated the garden. On the ground floor there were two kitchens - for guests and servants. Let us turn again to the memoirs of the ballerina.
“The kitchen was my pride, it was, one might say, luxurious, and often after dinner I invited guests to admire it. My French chef Denis kept the kitchen extremely clean and tidy, and immediately after lunch, when I showed the guests the kitchen, it was in such order that one could think that no dinner had been prepared there at all. The house had its own icebox and a special cold storage room for dry foods. I had, of course, a wine cellar. It was filled with wonderful wines and was arranged in such a way that I could give dinners there after performances for lovers of good wines, leaving them to choose from the catalog the wine that everyone wanted. There was also a special cupboard in the cellar - with glasses for each type of wine. These dinners in the cellar among bottles of wine were original in their setting and very fun. And they drank a lot of wine.”
Fyodor Chaliapin, Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Leonid Sobinov, Anna Pavlova - all the colors of St. Petersburg - often drank wine from Kshesinskaya's cellar. The famous jeweler Carl Faberge, who presented Matilda with jewelry, and the equally famous American dancer, lover of the poet Sergei Yesenin, Isadora Duncan, with whom the hostess quickly became friends, dropped by at the receptions. Sergei Diaghilev also visited the famous dancer more than once, with whom he had a tender friendship. I sang here Italian singer Lina Cavalieri, home performances and concerts were held, interesting conversations were held, people with similar interests communicated. In general, the Kshesinskaya Palace was a kind of Mecca for the artistic intelligentsia of St. Petersburg-Petrograd until 1917.
Kseshinskaya with her son in the mansion
At the beginning of February 1917, the situation in the Northern capital began to heat up. Police chief Vladislav Halle carefully recommended that the ballerina and her son leave the capital, since unrest was expected. The fears were well founded: it was no secret to anyone that Kshesinskaya was close to imperial family, for the last six months she has received anonymous letters with death threats. Matilda went to Finland for a while, but returned by the middle of the month. On February 22, the ballerina gave a luxurious dinner for 24 people. She did not yet know that this would be the last reception in her mansion. On February 26, General Halle called her and ordered her to save valuables. “When I looked around me at everything that was precious in my house, I didn’t know what to take, where to take it and on what, when the sea was already raging all around. The next day, Monday, February 27, every hour became more and more alarming. I put everything that was more precious and that came to my hand in a small hand bag, so that I would be ready just in case,” the ballerina recalled. On February 27, Kshesinskaya, wearing a black coat, a scarf on her head, a suitcase with jewelry and her favorite Fox Jibi on a leash, left her mansion, in which she had happily lived for 11 years.
The very next day, revolutionaries of an unknown stripe, led by student Agababov, burst into the building. Kshesinskaya's cars disappeared, and with them antiques and other valuables. The ballerina, who was hiding with her son with her long-time friend Liliya Likhacheva, was informed by a janitor that the house had been raided by looters. A couple of days later, the hostess risked returning to the mansion to verify what had happened:
“I was offered to go up to my bedroom, but it was simply terrible what I saw: a wonderful carpet, specially ordered by me in Paris, was all covered in ink, all the furniture was taken to the lower floor, the door with its hinges was torn out of the wonderful closet, everything the shelves were taken out, and there were guns there, I hurried to go out, it was too hard to look at this barbarity. My washroom bathtub was filled with cigarette butts. At this time, student Agababov approached me, who was the first to occupy my house and has lived in it since then. He invited me, as if nothing had happened, to move back and live with them and said that they would give me their son’s rooms. I didn’t answer anything, this was already the height of impudence... Downstairs, in the hall, the picture was no less disgusting: a mahogany Bechstein piano was for some reason squeezed into the winter garden, between two columns, which, of course, were badly damaged by this. With a heavy heart I left my house again; built with such love, this is what it turned into...”
This time she was leaving her home forever. On March 1, the mansion was voluntarily occupied by soldiers from the workshops of the reserve armored vehicle division - they were located on the first floor. At the same time, the building attracted the attention of activists of the Petrograd Bolshevik Committee, which huddled in two closets in the attic of the Petrograd Labor Exchange (Kronverksky Prospekt, 49). Party members sent Pyotr Dashkevich to the “armored cars” for negotiations. Apparently, the parties shook hands, because already on March 11, 1917, the PC of the RSDLP (b) and its Military Organization moved to Kshesinskaya’s home. After the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) settled in the building, Petrograd newspapers called the mansion “the main headquarters of the Leninists.” The headquarters had a very convenient strategic location: not far from the center, near the Peter and Paul Fortress, nearby in the People's House after the February Revolution, soldiers of the 1st machine gun regiment were located, and it was a stone's throw to the working outskirts of the Vyborg side.
Certificate P.V. Dashkevich for negotiations on the location of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP(b) in the Kshesinskaya mansion. March 9, 1917
And soon Ilyich himself overshadowed the mansion with his presence. Lenin, as you know, missed the February Revolution - he was in exile in Zurich. For the purposes of our article, let us omit the mystery-filled story of a trip through Germany in a “sealed” carriage. For us in in this case What is important is that on the evening of April 3 Lenin arrived in Petrograd. At 23:10 the train stopped at the platform of the Finlyandsky Station, where Petrograd workers had already gathered. Vladimir Ilyich climbed onto an armored car, from where he delivered a historic speech, which he concluded with the words: “Long live the socialist revolution!” On the same armored car, Lenin went to the headquarters of the Central and Petrograd Committees of the Bolsheviks - i.e. to the mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya, illegally occupied by the Bolsheviks. That same night, Ilyich made a fiery speech from the balcony of this building to the workers, soldiers and sailors gathered on the street. The historical balcony was located in the room of the ballerina Volodya’s son. Cameras, it seems, did not record this event, but Soviet artists later wrote many socialist realist paintings on this topic.
Paintings Soviet artists on the topic of Lenin's speech from the balcony of the Kseshinskaya mansion
Now revolutionary passions were constantly boiling around the mansion. The wife of the famous historian Sergei Platonov, who lived next door with her family, wrote in her diary: “There is always a crowd standing around him and someone is speaking - it is not Lenin himself who speaks, but one of the “Leninists”, there are fierce disputes between the “Leninists” and their opponents, and those who disagree with Lenin are sometimes arrested, and sometimes, they say, the Leninist speaker has to hastily escape into the yard or into the house so as not to be beaten.”
Revolutionary passions around the Kseshinskaya mansion in the spring-summer of 1917 were in earnest.
Meanwhile, Kshesinskaya decided to fight for her property. However, it turned out that the uninvited guests had no intention of leaving her cozy mansion. Matilda Feliksovna had a detailed conversation with the head of the Petrocommittee, Lev Mikhailov. Although he was polite to the imperial favorite, he became more and more ironic, in every possible way letting the woman know that her house had new owners. Kshesinskaya’s conversation with the Bolshevik representative in the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, Alexander Shlyapnikov, took place in a similar way. The ballerina began visiting the offices of officials of all levels and political stripes: she visited the military commission of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, and addressed the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General Lavr Kornilov. An amazing thing: the Public City Administration returned to her some of the valuables confiscated from the mansion. The ballerina also tried to appeal to the conscience of the members of the PetroSoviet: for them, as a sign of special respect, Kshesinskaya even wrote a letter asking them to return her house on red paper. “I have a child, and we are left homeless,” wrote the owner of the mansion. In response, the highest body of “revolutionary democracy” adopted a resolution in which it recognized “the seizure of private property by anyone as unacceptable” and invited the armored division committee to “immediately clear the premises it occupied in Kshesinskaya’s house, providing it to the owner.” However, this document had no force: no one ever moved out of the mansion on Kronverksky Avenue.
Model of a mansion from the State Museum of Political History
An appeal to the then Minister of Justice Kerensky also turned out to be ineffective. Alexander Fedorovich was extremely kind to the lady, promised to “protect her from any troubles” and even gave him his home phone number, but during a return visit he was forced to tell Kshesinskaya that it was impossible to vacate her house by force, “as this would entail bloodshed around it.” , which will further complicate matters." Then Matilda went to court. The “Personal File of M. Kshesinskaya” has been preserved in the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg. Among the documents is her petition addressed to the prosecutor of the Petrograd Judicial Chamber, in which she demands:
“1) Take measures to clear my home from unauthorized persons and give me the opportunity to safely return to it.
2) Start an investigation into the looting of my property in the same house.”
Looting of the Kseshinskaya mansion
The prosecutor, in response, asked the department of the reserve armored vehicle division about “the possibility of clearing Kshesinskaya’s house from habitation in view of her petition” and demanded from the Petrograd District Police Commissariat “an inquiry into the stolen property.” Again there was no reaction. Then Kshesinskaya’s lawyer, Vladimir Khesin, filed a civil lawsuit for eviction.
Attorney at law Vladimir Savelyevich Khesin (1867-1948), since 1921 - in exile in Paris. I think if he had ended up in Soviet Russia, he would have been shot in the basement of the Cheka, as a person who dared to sue Lenin.
The following were named by the plaintiff as defendants in court: “1. Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP; 2. Central Committee of the RSDLP; 3. Central Bureau of Trade Unions; 4. Petrograd regional committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party; 5. Club of military organizations; 6. Assistant attorney at law S.Ya. Bagdatyev; 7. Student G. O. Agababov; 8. Candidate of Rights V.I. Ulyanov (literary pseudonym - Lenin)."
Attorney at law Vladimir Savelyevich Khesin
Newspapers enthusiastically relished the property claims of the “tsar’s favorite” against the “Bolshevik leader.” Many media outlets published articles on the front pages under headlines such as “The Litigation of Kshesinskaya and Lenin.” However, fans of sensations were disappointed: the main plaintiff and defendant did not appear in court.
The interests of the Bolsheviks at the trial were represented by the Lithuanian Social Democrat, assistant attorney at law Mechislav Kozlovsky and one of the PC secretaries Sergei Bagdatyev. At the meeting it turned out that the defendant Lenin was not served with a summons due to his non-residence there, and the district committee of the Social Revolutionaries refused to accept the summons. Kozlovsky explained the unauthorized occupation of the mansion by revolutionary organizations as follows: “We should not forget that revolutionary organizations occupied this building on February 27, the day of the revolutionary uprising of the people. They occupied it when it was empty, when the raging masses were destroying Kshesinskaya’s palace, considering it a nest of counter-revolution, where all the threads connecting Kshesinskaya with the royal house converged, which, according to the masses, was, if not a member royal family, then, at least, the favorite of the deposed king. And this palace remained intact only due to the fact that it was occupied by revolutionary organizations. What kind of “legal order” is it permissible to talk about at a time when a revolution is going on in the street with the whistling of bullets and artillery cannonade?!”
Sergei Bagdatyev in his speech emphasized that the Bolshevik organizations based in the mansion represent a large and influential political force. “We are not robbers. We are a large political organization. As soon as we find new premises for ourselves, we will willingly leave Kshesinskaya’s house.” The ballerina’s lawyer, Khesin, responded: “As a citizen and lawyer, I must defend the idea that there are laws in the revolution. And during a revolution, while there is no new law, the old law applies. After all, the denial of any laws is anarchy. In vain they talked here about the crowd, about the royal favorite, about threats of defeat. There is no need to bring rumors and talk from the street into court here. Who knows what the crowd says? The crowd talks about the trip in a sealed carriage through Germany and about the German gold brought to the house of my confidante. I didn’t repeat all this before the court. I appeal to legal order. Therefore, I ask you to clear the trustee’s house, giving those being evicted the shortest possible time.”
After a 10-minute break, the magistrate announced the decision. On May 6, the Cadet “Rech” reproduced it in full: “According to the Decree of the Provisional Government of Russia, it was determined: to evict from house No. 2-1 on Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street. within 20 days p.c. Social-Democrats r.p., Central Committee of the same party, club of organizations (Bolshevik soldiers' club "Pravda" - A.K.), Petrograd district committee of p.s.r., S. Bagdatyev with all residents and clear the premises of their property. The decision to turn to preliminary execution. Leave the claim against Vladimir Ulyanov and the Central Bureau of Trade Unions without consideration.”
On June 5, lawyer Khesin, accompanied by a bailiff and a police detachment, appeared at Kshesinskaya’s mansion to carry out the eviction. Yakov Sverdlov, who led the activities of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), managed to come to an agreement with the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government P.N. Pereverzev about granting a new deferment and promised Khesin that in a week all the Bolsheviks would leave the building. This time was spent while party members found out who was to blame for the failure of the case in court: the majority decided to blame Bagdatyev for his unconvincing speech, but Stalin stood up for him. In general, there was no last resort. The Bolsheviks had no choice but to officially announce on June 12 the departure of the Central Committee and PC of the RSDLP(b) from the mansion. However, the Military Organization of the RSDLP (b), which at that time managed the building, categorically refused to comply with the court decision. Its leaders threatened that they would respond with armed resistance to an attempt to evict them. Looking at them, the Petrograd Bolsheviks returned to their homes.
It must be said that by this time the arrogance of the Bolsheviks was already quite fed up with ordinary St. Petersburg residents: anti-Bolshevik sentiments were gaining strength in society, and Kshesinskaya was no longer ridiculed by the newspapers, but was presented as one of the victims of the tyranny of Lenin and his associates. St. Petersburg telephone operators even threatened to declare a boycott and not connect with the “Leninists” holed up in the mansion. Bourgeois feminist organizations, in turn, organized demonstrations demanding the return of the building to its rightful owner. In response, left-wing newspapers published resolutions from rallies of workers, soldiers and sailors, demanding that the long-suffering house be recognized as a public property. Garrison Peter and Paul Fortress declared his readiness to respond with gunfire to any attempt to evict Bolshevik organizations by force.
Order from the bailiff to the chief of the city police D.A. Kryzhanovsky about sending an armed detachment to Kshesinskaya’s mansion. June 23, 1917
On June 15, Minister of Justice Pereverzev sent to the head of the Petrograd city police D.A. Kryzhanovsky is ordered to “immediately carry out the ruling of the Petrograd Magistrate Court on the eviction of the persons and organizations occupying it from Kshesinskaya’s house.” Due to the fact that the defendants refused to voluntarily clear the premises they occupied, the minister suggested that Kryzhanovsky “make a written request to second the military force necessary to carry out the judicial determination to the Commander-in-Chief of the Petrograd Military District.” On June 23, the bailiff of the 28th precinct, Skripitsyn, asked the chief of police to send “a reinforced squad of armed people” to Kshesinskaya’s mansion at 8 a.m. on June 26. A new armed conflict was brewing, but a series of political crises temporarily diverted the attention of the authorities from the Kshesinskaya mansion.
Only during the liquidation of the July Bolshevik uprising did government troops occupy the building on the morning of July 6, while the premises of the Central Committee and PC of the RSDLP (b) were brutally destroyed. Here we invite you to briefly travel back to our time. In one of the excursion programs of the State Museum of Political History (it is this organization that now occupies the former mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya), the following is stated: “We invite you to an excursion telling about the unique trial of 1917, which in the press of that time was called “The Lawsuit of Kshesinskaya and Lenin.” . In the spaces of the famous ballerina’s mansion, you will learn what caused the trial between the Bolsheviks and the ballet diva and why it was from this house that the leader of the RSDLP (b) fled in July 1917.” It is believed that during the so-called “July crisis” Lenin secretly fled from the Kshesinskaya mansion from an angry crowd. The details of this flight were not widely advertised, but Lenin did urgently leave Northern capital and settled in Razliv for the whole summer. There were even such rumors in Leningrad: in the early 1970s, the museum was undergoing renovations, and there was an impressive hole in the ceiling in one of the rooms. One of the excursionists allegedly blurted out: “And Lenin ran away into this hole.” The next day the hole was repaired.
If we turn to the official chronology, then the events around the mansion in early July 1917 developed as follows: July 3: numerous groups and delegations of participants in anti-government protests in Petrograd arrive at the mansion, demanding that the Bolsheviks officially support the movement. July 4: Lenin speaks from the balcony of the mansion in front of the sailors of the landing detachment that arrived in Petrograd from Kronstadt to participate in the anti-government demonstration. July 5: The military organization of the RSDLP(b) prepared the mansion for defense, installed machine guns, and sailors from the Kronstadt detachment were housed in the mansion. Armored cars took up a position on the square in front of the mansion. July 6: Provisional Government troops completely blockade the mansion and present an ultimatum to its defenders. At about 11 o'clock in the morning the mansion was captured by a combined detachment of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment and naval pilots. The soldiers burst in and destroyed a number of premises. July 7: counterintelligence of the Petrograd Military District conducts a thorough search in the premises of the mansion. There are guards in all rooms.
Scooters in the courtyard of the Kshesinskaya mansion. July 1917
However, even after the expulsion of the Bolsheviks, no one was going to return Kshesinskaya to her devastated nest: this time the mansion was occupied by a convoy and a company of the 1st scooter battalion of the V Army of the Northern Front, which arrived in Petrograd to suppress the anti-government uprising. No one dared to evict the scooter riders who were specially recalled from the front to “save the revolution.” The soldiers ruled the mansion, destroying and taking away everything that was left. Here are excerpts from newspapers of that time about the state of the once luxurious palace: “New Time”: “Everything inside is dirty. There is almost no furniture. “The courtyard, the front garden, and the sidewalk near the palace are dotted with soldiers”; “Evening Time”: “Mrs. Kshesinskaya’s mansion has been plundered to the last degree”; “Petrograd leaflet”: “The garden of the palace represents the appearance of a military camp: military carts, many bicycles, horses...”.
Kshesinskaya's lawyer continued to file new claims - now against the Provisional Government, seeking the return of the building to the previous owner and compensation for the damage caused, which he estimated at a third of a million rubles. The total cost of the mansion, which exceeded a million gold rubles, increased by 3-4 times by 1917. However, all these claims were brought in the absence of the hostess herself: Matilda Feliksovna realized that she had nothing more to wait for in revolutionary Petrograd. “I felt more and more painfully that there was nothing of my own anymore, no home, no things, but for others it was even worse,” the ballerina writes in her memoirs. Having received official permission from the authorities, on July 13 she left the capital forever, going to Kislovodsk to her dacha, where Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich was waiting for her. In the south, Kshesinskaya survived two years civil war, and in February 1920, after the defeat of the Volunteer Army, she left Russia forever. The next year she married the prince and lived in exile long life— the owner of the expropriated palace on Kronverksky Avenue in Paris died in 1971 at the age of 99. It is possible, perhaps, to say with 100 percent certainty that Matilda Feliksovna outlived everyone who took her house away from her.
Museum of the Revolution in the Kseshinskaya mansion. With a bust of Lenin and a view of the historical balcony
The history of the famous mansion went its own way: until October 1917, scooter drivers remained its owners; after the revolution, the building came into the possession of the Petrograd Soviet. Volodarsky, Zinoviev and other revolutionary leaders spoke from his balcony. In subsequent years, its owners changed as if in a kaleidoscope: the notorious Proletkult, the house of political education of the Petrograd region, where the “Ilyich Corner” was created for the first time in 1923, and even an orphanage for mentally retarded children. In 1929, the institute of public catering was located here, in which a dietary canteen was opened; from 1931 to 1935, the society of Old Bolsheviks was located in the mansion; in 1937, the newly created museum of the murdered S.M. became the owner of the building. Kirov. Since December 1955, the Kshesinskaya mansion became the main building of the Museum of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which on August 13, 1991 received its modern name - the State Museum of Political History of Russia.
Based on Internet materials
