Princess Zenaida Yusupova - discussion and pictures II

Wonderful photo session Svetabel... Do you know the year? And what's written in the right side?

Wonderful photo session Svetabel... Do you know the year? And what's written in the right side?

That's the end of 1890s. At the right side is a watermark of the channel, which produced the documentary.

at a picnic with Grand Duke Sergei



http://i49.tinypic.com/65adjs.jpg  (click on this for the large version)

c1893 - Zenadia (the resizing on the forum has made this look worse than it is)



http://i45.tinypic.com/orndrd.jpg  (large version)

This is probably already posted, what did Princess Zenaida think about Empress Alexandra?

at a picnic with Grand Duke Sergei

http://i49.tinypic.com/65adjs.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/65adjs.jpg  (click on this for the large version)

c1893 - Zenadia (the resizing on the forum has made this look worse than it is)

http://i45.tinypic.com/orndrd.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/orndrd.jpg  (large version)

The lower pic was taken at Arkhangelskoye in the room with the furniture from Eudoxia of Courland

This is probably already posted, what did Princess Zenaida think about Empress Alexandra?

Zenaida initially got on with Alexandra as well as anyone from the haute societe of St Petersburg...especially as she was such an intimate friend of Ella....later the 2 became bitter enemies...much earlier than WW1..indeed at Felixs wedding Alexandra seems never once to have acknowledged the beautiful Princess who had for long been the star of St Petersburg society and despite her retirement from festivities in 1908 was still an intimate of all that mattered....Alexandra seems to have snubbed Zenaida at least once more...at a dinner party given bu Grand Duke George and his wife Marie "Greek Minnie" at Harax in the Crimea.At the same time...we have the Tsar walking with his children from Livadia to Koriez to wish the Princess well on her name day (birthday?)....that in itself speaks volumes...

[Please - again and again -]

Please - again and again - Don't quote large photos and large posts with photos!


It's no fun for a moderator modifying such posts to make the page more readable.

Thank you Ashdean!  Didn't Zenaida refer to Alexandra as a sultana or something like that?  I wonder what caused this break between Empress Alexandra and Princess Zenaida?

Zenaida called Alexandra "Valide" which is Crimean Tartar for mother...the cause of the breakdown?....2 very different personalities....a neurotic/shy/unsocial Empress and a polished/over mighty courtier....the catalyst...Rasputin.

Thank you again Ashdean!  Definitely two very different personalities. 

"Prince Boris's only son, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (October 12, 1827, Moscow - July 31, 1891, Baden Baden), Marshal of the Imperial Court, was much like his uncle Nicholas I, a patron of arts.

Does the author mean "godfather" or "relative-in-law" because of the Friedrich Wilhelm III-Elston story?

There seems to be so little information posted about Zenaida after her escape from Russia.  I would be very interested in the following:
1.  Where were her homes and for how long did she live in each?  Did she own homes outside of Russia before & after the revolution?
2.  Did she primarily live alone?  How many servants?
3.  Was she active?  Travel?
4.  Exactly how "poor" was she?  Did she live a comfortable life?

I know that she lived in both Pairs and Rome in the years after the revolution.

Zenauda and Bebe



 

There seems to be so little information posted about Zenaida after her escape from Russia.  I would be very interested in the following:
1.  Where were her homes and for how long did she live in each?  Did she own homes outside of Russia before & after the revolution?
2.  Did she primarily live alone?  How many servants?
3.  Was she active?  Travel?
4.  Exactly how "poor" was she?  Did she live a comfortable life?

Zenaida lived in Rome 1919-28 with her husband in a rented villa nr the british embassy.Her husbands ill health and the charitable enterprises which she poured the proceeds of the salvaged gems and the money from the sale of the villa on Lac Leman (inherited from her parents and her only property outside Russia) did not allow travel but she seems to have participated to a small extent in Roman society organising  Red cross balls and attending concerts etc.
After her husbands death she moved with 2 servants to Paris and the lodge of her sons elegant villa. By 1934 the family finances were in a critical state.The villa was gone and Zenaida with her pet dog and devoted maid had moved to a small flat in a home for refugees in the Serves district of Paris...one writer says it was 3 small rooms....However she seems to have lived comfortably here as a friend of her grand daughter recalled.In 1934 Irina won the famous MGM courtcase and the damages restored the family fortune somewhat...by the following year Zenaida's treasured Pelegrina pearl,the Azra and her pearl earrings were out of pawn and displayed in her name in London...On her death in 1939 in a comfortable nursing home they were inherited by Felix along with other items inclusing a substantial diamond solitaire ring and a emerald one...nothing perhaps to the former riches but still  of importance. The gems and the contents of the flat were perhaps her only legacy.