Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich Romanov. Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich: jokes and anecdotes about him

Date: 22.09.2019

Maria Pavlovna Olga Pavlovna Anna Pavlovna Nicholas I Mikhail Pavlovich

Nicholas I

Alexandra Fedorovna

Alexander II

Maria Alexandrovna

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich(January 28, St. Petersburg - August 28 (September 9), Warsaw) - Grand Duke, fourth son of Paul I and Maria Fedorovna (the youngest child, the only one born to them during the reign of Paul I). Younger brother of Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I.

Biography

Personality

Mikhail Pavlovich had an inexhaustible sense of humor, cheerfulness and was a treasure trove of all kinds of jokes and witticisms. Sometimes the apt word he said spread throughout Russia and was passed from mouth to mouth for a long time. In his youth, he allowed himself to make fun of his older brothers. But with the change in their status, Mikhail Pavlovich never allowed himself to call his older brothers, even behind their backs, by diminutive names - a strict guardian of subordination, he was an opponent of familiarity even in the family circle. A kind and cheerful disposition coexisted in him with a love of order and strict discipline, and being carried away external form, the Grand Duke often lost his sense of proportion. That is why he was disliked in those military units that he commanded.
The teacher of cadet corps IK Zaitsev wrote in his "Memoirs of an old teacher":

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich was a serious, strict man, a threat to all the military, although he was kind and generous in his soul. I am inclined to believe that he was only disguised as a thunderstorm, for greater instillation of military discipline. To begin with, he was harsh and picky only during the reviews, and as soon as the review ended, he became simple and courteous.

Grand Duke Michael in many ways resembled his older brother Constantine, as if two opposite personalities coexisted in them, It seems that they inherited such an uneven disposition from their father.
Here is what Count Dmitry Petrovich Buturlin, a military writer and member of the Military Training Committee, recalled about Mikhail Pavlovich:

The Grand Duke was a kind-hearted man; all his associates confirm this and speak of him with deep devotion, as a result of daily and domestic relations with him. But he did not at all seem to us, his front-line subordinates: he tried to seem like a beast and achieved his goal. We were afraid of him like fire, and tried to avoid any street meeting with him ... We were not so much afraid of the sovereign as of him.

Military career

On his birthday, he was awarded the title of General Feldzheichmeister. As a military man, he proved himself to be an executive and experienced general, participating in anti-Napoleonic campaigns in 1815, although Mikhail Pavlovich was only sixteen years old.
Five years later, he was entrusted with the management of the artillery department. On November 25, 1820, he founded the Artillery School in St. Petersburg. This was the first military school in Russia. From 1825 he was appointed Inspector General for Engineering.
Participated in the suppression of the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825. Later, as a member of the Investigative Commission on this case, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich insisted on replacing the death penalty with eternal hard labor for Wilhelm Kuchelbecker, the poet and friend of Pushkin, who was accused of shooting Mikhail Pavlovich.
In -1828, at the head of the Guards Corps, he participated in the Russian-Turkish war. Awarded after the victory at Brailov with the Order of St. George II degree, he refused to wear it, believing that he had achieved success at too high a price. Nicholas I honored his brother with a sword with an inscription “for bravery” with laurels and diamond adornments.
In -1831 he participated in the suppression of the Polish uprising. In the same 1831 he received the rank of Adjutant General for the assault on Warsaw.
From 1831 he was the chief chief of the Pages and all ground cadet corps, the Noble Regiment. With his participation, about 14 cadet corps were founded.
Chaired the Committee on drawing up the charter of the military infantry service.
At the suggestion of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, an Officer School was organized in Tsarskoye Selo to train instructors in shooting for army and guards units.
He finished his military career as commander-in-chief of the Guards and Grenadier Corps (since 1844).

One cannot underestimate the contribution of the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich to the development of the military, and especially the artillery business in Russia. Prince Chernyshev wrote:

Not a single part of the military-land administration has undergone major transformations, like the artillery department. Almost all new foreign inventions to improve the weapons of troops and artillery have been with us, for 25 years, tested, applied to our troops and gradually introduced, with the necessary changes and improvements.

Social activity

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich never played a serious role in state affairs. Elena Pavlovna was always irritated by the passive removal of her husband from public affairs, his role as the first servant of his royal brother.

Charity

The Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich was also engaged in charity work. But she was more of a personal focus.
F. Gagern, accompanying the Dutch prince Alexander, nephew of Mikhail Pavlovich, on a trip to Russia, wrote in his diary: “His appearance is unattractive; there is something dark and stern about him, but in essence he can be called a "gloomy benefactor"; there are stories about him where he showed wonderful traits of generosity. "
For example, according to the testimony of his adjutant I.I.Bibikov, one of the guards colonels discovered a shortage of funds that he spent on his own needs. Before the inspector's check, this amount was urgently required to be paid to the regimental cash desk in order to avoid accusations of embezzlement. The colonel, not seeing a way out of this situation, rushed to the Mikhailovsky Palace and told the adjutant everything. Without naming his surname, Bibikov told the grand duke everything. Having listened to the story, Mikhail Pavlovich went to the writing table, took out the necessary amount and, handing it over to the adjutant, said: “Give it to him and never dare tell me his last name, otherwise, as a corps commander, I will bring him to justice. Tell him that I help him as a grand duke and as a private person. "
Mikhail Pavlovich's generosity sometimes reached such proportions that the chamberlain of his court was forced more than once to refuse the Grand Duke to give out sums for charity in order to put the cash register in order.
At the end of January 1848, the fiftieth anniversary of the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich was celebrated. Military engineers and artillerymen collected about 18,000 rubles for the construction of a bust of their boss. The bust was sculpted by the famous sculptor I.P. Vitali, then it was cast from bronze by the former pupil of the Artillery School, Baron P.K.Klodt. From the construction of the bust, which was installed in the conference hall of the Artillery School, 8,000 rubles remained unspent. To this amount, Mikhail Pavlovich added another 3,000, so that this capital could be put into the bank and on interest from it (with the addition of a significant annual amount donated by the Grand Duke) to appoint an allowance for the upbringing of five daughters of "insufficient" and honored gunners at the Mariinsky Institute, mainly orphans.

Mikhailovsky Palace

Even at the birth of Mikhail Pavlovich, Emperor Paul ordered to save money for the construction of a palace worthy of a porphyry son. But he did not have time to complete it. The palace was a gift from Alexander I to the youngest of his brothers. The palace was named after Prince Mikhailovsky. This magnificent building is still one of the best decorations in St. Petersburg. The famous architect Carl Rossi was invited to build it. In just six years, from 1825, a miracle arose - a grandiose, luxurious palace.

Mikhail Pavlovich's heirs sold the palace to the treasury, and is currently owned by the State Russian Museum.

Marriage

Unlike the older brothers who married in early youth, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich remained a bachelor until the age of twenty-seven. Empress Maria Feodorovna found a bride for her youngest son in her native Württemberg house. She was the granddaughter of the empress's brother and the eldest daughter of Prince Paul Heinrich Karl Friedrich August of Württemberg - Frederick Charlotte Maria. To get acquainted with the princess, destined for his wife, in 1822, Mikhail Pavlovich went to. According to the memoirs of Count Moriol, the groom did not feel any tender feelings for the bride, but obeyed the mother-empress. The count wrote in 1823 before meeting the bride: "This trip was not to his heart and, forgetting about any caution, he revealed his coldness, or, rather, aversion to the new situation that lay ahead of him." This attitude was most likely due to the influence of his elder brother Constantine, who, after the first unsuccessful marriage, hated all German princesses and supported his younger brother in his unwillingness to marry one of them.
Meanwhile, Princess Charlotte was called by many as charming in every way.
On February 8 (20), 1824, in St. Petersburg, Mikhail Pavlovich married Frederick-Charlotte, who took the name Elena Pavlovna (1806-1873) in Orthodoxy. Due to the illness of Emperor Alexander I, Empress Maria Feodorovna was in a hurry to get married, so it was decided to hold the ceremony in a modest, family setting. In the room next to the emperor's office, a camp church was erected, in which the wedding took place. During the ceremony, Alexander I, who acted as the planted father, was sitting in the office near the door.
Subsequently, the relationship between the spouses did not become warmer, on the contrary, Mikhail's inattention to his wife shocked even his brothers. In May 1828, Konstantin Pavlovich wrote to his brother Nikolai: “The position (of Elena Pavlovna) is insulting to female pride and to the delicacy that is generally characteristic of women. This is a lost woman if the deplorable situation in which she is found does not change. "
The princess was a highly educated woman with a wide range of knowledge, while the Grand Duke devoted himself entirely to the affairs of the army. It was said about him that "apart from the army regulations, he did not open a single book." No matter how hard Elena Pavlovna tried to adapt to the tastes of her husband, but when it came to matters of principle, she did not always know how to restrain herself: because of her fervor, even in front of strangers, she expressed annoyance and stopped the conversation when she left the room. The Grand Duke, whenever possible, tried to avoid the company of his wife.
An essentially kind person, Mikhail Pavlovich was not the most pleasant in communication, with the manners of an ill-mannered bachelor. But he resigned himself to his marriage and "forgave her that she was chosen to be his wife, and that was the end of the matter." Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna turned out to be right, she wrote shortly after the wedding: "... it is hoped that with her persistence, time will change this sad relationship."

Children

Five daughters were born in the marriage, two of whom died in early childhood. The death of two more daughters was a great tragedy for the couple.

Elizaveta Mikhailovna (-), in the city married the Duke of Nassau, Adolph Wilhelm.
Ekaterina Mikhailovna (-), married George, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitzky.
Alexandra Mikhailovna (-)
Anna Mikhailovna (-).

Death

Although Mikhail Pavlovich looked to be of a strong physique, he could not boast of his health. Back in 1819, he transferred serious illness, and the doctors recommended that he undergo treatment healing waters in Carlsbad, where he went in the summer of 1821. In 1837, he was treated for several months in European resorts. But even two years later, F. Gagern noted in his diary that the Grand Duke's "health suffers." Nevertheless, he laughed at the doctors, not always following the recommendations. Emperor Nicholas I wrote: "The imminent arrival of Mikhail Pavlovich, instead of joy, is rather in grief, for he returns without finishing his treatment, which will have to start again, if, as one should suppose, he does not change his way of life and bad habits here."
A serious shock for Mikhail Pavlovich was the death of Elizabeth's daughter in 1845, a year later his eldest daughter, Maria, died in his arms. There, in Vienna, the body of the Grand Duke could not stand it - he started bleeding from the nose. Three years later, during the stay of the imperial family in Moscow on Holy Week, Mikhail Pavlovich repeated bleeding, which resulted in nervous breakdown... In July 1849, despite his painful condition, the Grand Duke went to Warsaw, where the guards and grenadier corps entrusted to him were concentrated. On August 12, during a review of the cavalry division and artillery at the Mokotovo field near Warsaw, the Grand Duke turned to NN Muravyov, who accompanied him: "My hand is going numb ...". Those around him barely managed to remove the Grand Duke from his horse and took him to the Belvedere Palace.
For about two and a half weeks, the struggle for the life of Mikhail Pavlovich, shattered by paralysis, continued. Elena Pavlovna and her daughter Ekaterina urgently arrived in Warsaw. As an eyewitness wrote, “they spent the last days at the bedside of a dying man, who recognized them and was very happy ... ”. On August 28 (September 9), 1849, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich died.
The body of Mikhail Pavlovich was sent from Stettin to St. Petersburg on a steamer. His burial took place on September 16 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Russian army and guards were in mourning for three months. His family's mourning lasted for a whole year. Nicholas I grieved after the death of his brother, which made a very strong impression on him. He somehow immediately grew old, turned gray, got tired quickly, became sad.

Monument

On July 14, 1907, a monument to Alexander II and Mikhail Pavlovich, chiefs of the Guards Corps, was unveiled in Petrodvorets. The monument was located at the place where the tents of the corps commander were pitched during summer camps... It was a decorative hill made of stone blocks, on which busts were installed on pedestals decorated with state emblems: in the upper part of Alesander II, below - Mikhail Pavlovich. The hill was surrounded by captured Turkish cannons, repulsed from the enemy during Russian-Turkish war

And this was noted in the court records of the day: "The safe resolution of the burden by son Michael was announced with 201 shots to everyone's joy." The name of the newborn was chosen even before his birth. Countess V. N. Golovina recalled: “There was a rumor that from the first day of the sovereign's reign the sentry of the Summer Palace had a vision of the Archangel Michael ... At the first news of the miraculous vision, the emperor Paul made a vow - if he had another son, name him Michael ... ". After his birth, various rumors began: they asked if the newborn, as the son of the reigning sovereign, would not have a preferential right to the throne, since his older brothers were born when Paul was the Grand Duke. Paul I decided that the christening should be accompanied by such a solemn ceremony that would show everyone, including Tsarevich Alexander, the difference that exists between the son of the emperor and the son of the heir to the throne. The child's receivers from the font were: his older brother, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, and his older sister, Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, who represented their grandmother, Duchess Frederica-Sophia of Württemberg.
Mikhail Pavlovich was everyone's favorite in imperial family... Since childhood, lively, sociable, he became attached to his older brother Nikolai, and over the years they were united by a strong friendship. Nikolai appreciated Mikhail's devotion and considered his behavior to be a real example of brotherly love and devotion. In one of his letters to Nicholas, he wrote that "as long as I am alive and there is even the slightest strength in me, they (life and strength) will be dedicated to serve you with faith and truth." Mikhail maintained the same good relations with his other brother Konstantin; it was not without reason that he was the “connecting link” between Warsaw and St. Petersburg in the tragic days of 1825.

Personality

The Grand Duke in his youth.

Mikhail Pavlovich was a treasure trove of all kinds of jokes and witticisms and became famous for his love for not always decent pranks and puns. Sometimes the apt word he said spread throughout Russia and was passed from mouth to mouth for a long time. In his youth, he allowed himself to make fun of his older brothers. But with the change in their status, Mikhail Pavlovich never allowed himself to call his older brothers, even behind their backs, by diminutive names - a strict guardian of subordination, he was an opponent of familiarity even in the family circle. A kind and cheerful disposition coexisted in him with a love of order and strict discipline, and being carried away by the external form, the Grand Duke often lost his sense of proportion. That is why he was disliked in those military units that he commanded.

The teacher of cadet corps IK Zaitsev wrote in his "Memoirs of an old teacher":

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich was a serious, strict man, a threat to all the military, although he was kind and generous in his soul. I am inclined to believe that he was only disguised as a thunderstorm, for greater instillation of military discipline. To begin with, he was harsh and picky only during the reviews, and as soon as the review ended, he became simple and courteous.

The Grand Duke was a kind-hearted man; all his associates confirm this and speak of him with deep devotion, as a result of daily and domestic relationships with him. But he did not at all seem to us, his front-line subordinates: he tried to seem like a beast and achieved his goal. We were afraid of him like fire, and tried to avoid any street meeting with him ... We were not so much afraid of the sovereign as of him.

One cannot underestimate the contribution of the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich to the development of the military, and especially the artillery business in Russia. Prince Chernyshev wrote:

Not a single part of the military-land administration has undergone major transformations, like the artillery department. Almost all new foreign inventions to improve the weapons of troops and artillery have been with us, for 25 years, tested, applied to our troops and are gradually introduced, with the necessary changes and improvements.

Mikhail Pavlovich's heirs sold the palace to the treasury. Currently, the palace belongs to the State Russian Museum.

Marriage

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in 1840, portrait of Vladimir Hau

Subsequently, the relationship between the spouses did not become warmer, on the contrary, Mikhail's inattention to his wife shocked even his brothers. In May 1828, Konstantin Pavlovich wrote to his brother Nikolai: “The position (of Elena Pavlovna) is insulting to female pride and to the delicacy that is generally characteristic of women. This is a lost woman, if the deplorable situation in which she is found does not change. "

The princess was a highly educated woman with a wide range of knowledge, while the Grand Duke devoted himself entirely to the affairs of the army. It was said about him that "apart from the army regulations, he did not open a single book." No matter how hard Elena Pavlovna tried to adapt to her husband's tastes, when it came to matters of principle, she did not always know how to restrain herself: out of her fervor, even in front of strangers, she expressed annoyance and stopped the conversation when she left the room. The Grand Duke, whenever possible, tried to avoid the company of his wife.

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the fourth son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna, the most youngest child, the only porphyry child of Paul I (that is, born during his reign). Younger brother of Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I.
During the reign of Nicholas I, the Grand Duke was the commander of the guard and zealously fulfilled the duties assigned to him.

Then in the capital Russian Empire the main place for walks was, perhaps, Nevsky Prospect. Here friends met before dinner in a restaurant, made business acquaintances and light intrigues with ladies. The Emperor of Russia did not disdain such a promenade. And then one day it struck him that, under the influence of fashion, the officers of the guard wear too short coats. Nicholas I did not fail to report this observation to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich at his morning meeting.
- Listen, Mikhail Pavlovich. Yesterday on Nevsky all the officers looked like scanty dogs! These are not frock coats, but the disgrace of the army!
“I noticed that too, Your Imperial Majesty. But such is the fashion! We don't know what to do ...
- And this is you talking to me? You command my guard! And I must lead appearance officers to certain standards!
- It will be done, your imperial majesty!
And the Grand Duke spared neither his time nor the time of his subordinates to fulfill the imperial order. A few days later, an order was issued concerning the introduction of a standard for the length of officers' coats. Despite the fact that the order had been prepared for more than one day, it turned out to be ill-considered. There was only one length norm in the document, and it was suitable only for a tall person. Accordingly, on the short guards, frock coats, sewn according to the new standard, looked like carnival clothes.
The first to notice the error in the order was not even the officers, but the tailors. By hook or by crook, the craftsmen brought the coats ordered by him into a more or less decent look. But among the officers there was an inveterate joker, whom even the Grand Duke repeatedly reprimanded for his pranks. Konstantin Bulgakov, who was predicted a brilliant future, not only did not come out in height, but was lower than other ladies. It was he who literally insisted that the tailor sew him a frock coat, not deviating one iota from the text of the order. Konstantin Bulgakov used his new clothes for its intended purpose: he went for a walk along Nevsky Prospect.
They say that on this day laughter in waves rolled along the main street of the capital - after all, the coat on Bulgakov almost touched the ground. It is clear that both the officers Bulgakov met and the civilian gentlemen did not laugh at the owner of such amazing clothes. Finally, Bulgakov faced the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich face to face. The commander of the Imperial Guard also could not restrain his laughter, but, wiping away his tears, he asked a quite reasonable question:
- What are you doing here, Bulgakov, in such a shameful dress?
- I am walking, Your Imperial Highness! As for the vestment, it is the execution of your own order.
- Well! - Mikhail Pavlovich frowned. - Continue to carry out my order and go to the guardhouse until my further order.
- Yes sir! I'm leaving now! - reported Bulgakov. - But let me know the reason for the punishment?
- Disorder in clothes. Is that enough, I hope? - the Grand Duke looked sternly at the impudent officer.
But it was not for nothing that Konstantin Bulgakov was called a very inventive joker. He immediately pulled a tailor's meter and a copy of the order on the introduction of a new standard for length from the pocket of the ill-fated frock coat. Proving very clearly that his coat strictly corresponds to the order of the Grand Duke, Bulgakov drew himself up in frustration and asked:
- Permit me to carry out the order and go to the guardhouse, Your Imperial Highness?
A rather large crowd gathered around the Grand Duke and the cunning officer, and Mikhail Pavlovich, of course, could not behave wrongly. He chuckled and said:
- I cancel the order on your placement in the guardhouse, Bulgakov. But you know, a flaw has crept into the order. I order you to write me a note in the morning on this matter with suggestions for eliminating the oversight. You can go!
- There is! - answered Bulgakov and continued his walk along the Nevsky.
According to rumors, it took him only half an hour to compile the paper. Changes were made to the order "on frock coats": now the length was regulated by three norms. As a result, Konstantin Bulgakov received another promotion. Congratulating him on his promotion, Mikhail Pavlovich smiled:
- And you, Bulgakov, are really a rogue! Benefited from the inaccuracy of my order. But today your coat looks a little scanty, don’t you think? ..

Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich Romanov (1798-1849), although he was brought up as a soldier, was himself a witty, and therefore amusing anecdotes were born around his personality.

Yeralash

Lazh - this term is called the excess of the value of one type of banknotes when exchanging them for others. During the monetary reform in Russia, which began in 1839, the crap was canceled, and all types of settlements and payments had to be calculated in silver rubles. At first, almost no one understood the essence of this tangled reform, so Mikhail Pavlovich once said:

"Before it was messy, but now it's a mess!"

Count Kiselev rises

At the end of the 1830s, General Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselev (1788-1872) began his rapid career: in 1837 he became the Minister of State Property, and in 1839 he was elevated to the Count's dignity.
Mikhail Pavlovich once in his palace began to descend the stairs, and at the same time P.D. Kiselev began to climb it to the Grand Duke. Seeing Kiselyov ascending, Mikhail Pavlovich said to his companion (adjutant?):

"C" est le comte qui s "eleve (sounds like Kisselev)". ["This graph is rising."]

New hat

Mikhail Pavlovich met several times on Nevsky Prospect an old officer who was always tipsy, wore a retired military uniform, but constantly wore a very worn-out hat.
The Grand Duke once asked:

"Why are you wearing such a shabby hat?"

The officer replied that he had no money for a new one, and Mikhail Pavlovich gave him a banknote of 25 rubles for a hat. The officer spent a whole ruble on the flea market to buy a new hat, and, of course, he drank the rest of the money.
A few days later, Mikhail Pavlovich again saw this officer drunk, but in new hat... The Grand Duke looked at this officer with disapproval, who raised his hand to his head with dismay: Mikhail Pavlovich said to this:

"Yes, I see that I was drinking vodka!" -

and went on.

Singer Varle

The French singer Varlet sang so loudly that one day in the theater someone said to the Grand Duke:

"How loud she sings!"

Mikhail Pavlovich agreed:

"Yes, you can hear it in Oryol!" [It was spoken: "Varla can hear it."]

Glorious horse

Mikhail Pavlovich was very strict to ensure that the officers were always dressed according to full form, and always punished those guilty of various violations, often limiting himself, however, only to a verbal reprimand. The officers were well aware of this and tried to hide from the Grand Duke, but this rarely succeeded.
Once Mikhail Pavlovich had to ride several streets in pursuit of one such officer, but he managed to escape from the pursuit.
Having met this officer a couple of days later, Mikhail Pavlovich only said to him:

"Nice horse you have!"

Cadet trick

One cadet, dressed out of uniform, walked along Nevsky Prospekt, saw the Grand Duke and decided to take refuge in the first institution he came across, which turned out to be a ladies' fashion store. Mikhail Pavlovich rushed after the cadet, but did not find him. Then the Grand Duke began to bypass all the premises of the store, even those where the milliners work, but the cadet was nowhere to be found. A very surprised Mikhail Pavlovich was forced to stop his search.
Two years passed, the newly-made officers introduced themselves to Mikhail Pavlovich, and one of them confessed to his old trick.
The Grand Duke was surprised:

"Where have you been? Why did I not find you anywhere, when I entered the store in your footsteps?"

The officer said that he took refuge between the first and second doors of the store and left only after the departure of the Grand Duke.
Mikhail Pavlovich laughed, and then sent this officer 1,000 rubles for the trip to his place of service.

“Galoshes? To the guardhouse! "

Mikhail Pavlovich appreciated the sense of humor in other people and often forgave such mischievous people. Especially this property was distinguished by the officer of the guard Bulgakov, the son of the Moscow post-director.
Once Bulgakov, dressed in galoshes, met Mikhail Pavlovich.
The Grand Duke was brief:

"Galoshes? To the guardhouse!"

Bulgakov went to the guardhouse, left his galoshes there and returned to where the Grand Duke was.
Mikhail Pavlovich got angry and shouted:

"Bulgakov! Did you not obey my order?"

Bulgakov replied calmly: The Grand Duke was amazed: Bulgakov explained:

"Your Highness was pleased to say:
"Galoshes, to the guardhouse!"
I took them to the guardhouse! "

Immediately to the guardhouse

On another occasion, Bulgakov was walking down the street not in a helmet that had to be in shape, but in a cap, and Mikhail Pavlovich was driving towards him in a carriage, who immediately began to call Bulgakov to him with waves of his hand.
Bulgakov, however, made a front and went further. Mikhail Pavlovich ordered his horse to be turned around, overtook Bulgakov and shouted:

"Bulgakov, I am calling you! Where are you going?"

Bulgakov replied calmly:

"Your Highness! I'm going to the guardhouse."

Of the four sons of Paul I, only the youngest - Michael - did not wait for the right to ascend to the Russian throne. His older brothers Alexander, Nicholas and even Constantine were able to "try on" the title of emperor. Moreover, it was he who was the only boy born during the reign of Paul, and not during the time when he was only a pretender to the throne.

On the birthday of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the site recalls how his career and personal life developed.

201 volley in honor of the son of the emperor

“God has given us a son, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, who will be General Feldzheikhmeister and Chief of the Guards of the Artillery Battalion,” such an imperial decree was issued by Paul I after his 38-year-old wife Maria Feodorovna safely gave birth to her tenth child in the Winter Palace ...

After the birth of a healthy boy, gossip immediately spread at the court: would the fourth son have a priority right to the throne, since he is Paul's only porphyry son. And the autocratic himself decided to celebrate the addition to the family on an unprecedented scale. In honor of him, 201 cannon shots were fired in the city. During the christening, his elder brother and sister, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich and Princess Alexandra Pavlovna, became his successors. The holiday ended with a grand fireworks display and a gala dinner attended by the entire courtyard.

In addition to his mother, the boy was raised by General Matvey Lamsdorf, who was also Nikolai Pavlovich's mentor. “Just don’t make my sons such rascals as German princes,” Pavel I once told Lamzdorf, trusting him with his offspring.

Alvator Cardelli Portrait of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich 1814 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

According to historians, the general did not influence children in the best way. Lacking pedagogical experience, he went against all the abilities and inclinations of boys, who in the end could not behave at ease. According to Count Modest Korff, neither Russia nor the Grand Dukes benefited from his mentoring activities.

Later, Nikolai Pavlovich himself recalled that "both of them were tortured with abstract teaching, and in the classroom they dozed off or painted some nonsense, and then learned something for the exams, without fruit, without benefit for the future."

Together with their mentor, the Grand Dukes traveled abroad in 1814. The young men were eager to take part in hostilities against Napoleon, but they reached Paris when all the battles had already come to an end.

It is worth noting that Nikolai and Mikhail were very close and were able to carry their friendship through long years... A letter has survived in which younger brother wrote to Nicholas: "As long as I am alive and there is even the slightest strength in me, they (life and strength) will be dedicated to serve you with faith and truth."

Military career

Mikhail Pavlovich made a brilliant military career. After a long trip to Western Europe and Russia in 1819, he was appointed commander of the Guards Infantry Brigade of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments. In May 1820, he made a report on the need to establish a special school "for the education of skilled artillery officers." It is believed that this was the beginning of the creation of the Artillery School.

In December 1825 he took part in the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, and then in the coronation of his brother Nicholas I. After the Russian-Turkish war of 1826-1828, he was awarded the sword "for bravery" with laurels and diamond jewelry. And in 1831, for the storming of Warsaw during Polish uprising received the rank of adjutant general.

1829 year. Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. Portrait by George Doe. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

With the participation of the Grand Duke, about 14 cadet corps were founded, an Officer School was organized to train instructors in shooting for army and guards units in Tsarskoye Selo.

According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Mikhail Pavlovich combined both strictness in the observance of military uniforms and a cheerful disposition.

“The Grand Duke was a kind-hearted man; all his associates confirm this and speak of him with deep devotion, as a result of daily and domestic relationships with him. But he did not at all seem to us, his front-line subordinates: he tried to seem like a beast and achieved his goal. We were afraid of him like fire, and tried to avoid any street meeting with him, "- wrote Count Dmitry Buturlin in his memoirs.

"30 Years War"

Knowing how to win battles on the battlefield, Mikhail Pavlovich lost battles in his personal life. At the age of 26, he was forced to marry Frederick Charlotte Maria, the granddaughter of the brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna. Although the 17-year-old princess, who belonged to the Royal House of Württemberg, was smart, affable and good-looking, she did not impress the groom. In February 1824, young people were legally married, after which there was a report on the years of her unhappy marriage.

In Orthodoxy, Frederica took the name Elena Pavlovna. At first, she tried in every possible way to charm her husband, but he was cold to her. His attitude even surprised his siblings. A letter has survived in which Konstantin Pavlovich regrets his sister-in-law: “The position (of Elena Pavlovna) is insulting to female pride and to the delicacy that is generally characteristic of women. This is a lost woman, if the deplorable situation in which she is found does not change. "

Frequent quarrels between spouses were no secret to anyone. Even in public, they could not create the appearance of a family idyll. Not embarrassed by strangers, Elena Pavlovna could express her disagreement with her husband and defiantly leave the room. This led to the fact that the Grand Duke simply began to avoid her company in every possible way.

Karl Bryullov. Portrait grand duchess Elena Pavlovna Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

There is a story that once an adjutant asked Mikhail Pavlovich if he intended to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his wedding. To this the Grand Duke replied: "No, my dear, I will wait another five years and then celebrate the anniversary of my Thirty Years War!"

It is worth noting that five daughters were born in the marriage, two of whom died in childhood.

In 1845 and 1846, the Grand Duke lost two more daughters. 18-year-old Elizaveta Mikhailovna died as a result difficult childbirth together with a newborn daughter. And Maria Mikhailovna, who was distinguished by her fragile health, died at the age of 21 in the arms of her father. It is believed that this series of deaths undermined his health.

On August 12, 1849, during a review of troops near Warsaw, he felt unwell. On August 28, he died surrounded by his wife and daughter Catherine. On September 16, his body was buried in St. Petersburg in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The royal family wore mourning for him for a year.