Re: Kochubey Mansion Tsarskoye Selo

[Greg_King]

There were two Kochubeys in the Imperial Entourage: Prince Peter, who acted as Ober-Meister of Ceremonies to Count Alexei Ignatiev, who in 1911 succeeded Hendrikov as Grand Master of Ceremonies; and Prince Victor, who was Assistant Minister of the Imperial Appanage Department and a Major-General à la suite in the Emperor's Entourage.

Presumably it's the latter who had the house and memoirs in question.

Greg King

[Janet_Ashton]

Joanna,
There was also a VS Kochubey who was in Nicholas's suite for the Grand Tour of the Far East. I believe he was a fellow guards officer. In China he attracted attention because his (alleged?) decent from Genghis Khan caused people to think he'd come on a reconaissance mission with a view to eventually taking back his ancestor's land for Russia....

Janet

[wigstrom]

Joanna,

I thought that the mansion built by Grand Duke Paul was the last large residence constructed in Tsarskoe Selo circa 1914?
When was the Kochubey mansion built?

[Belochka]

To Joanna ...

Prince Victor Serge'evich Kochubey was one in the same person who took part in the Imperial retinue during 1891 visiting Asia to, as the man to whom Greg mentioned who served in the Appanage Department.

The Tsarskoe Selo Palace is currently an in-house Convention center, which recently has been slated to be one of the buildings to be privatized for the purpose of its restoration. It is located in Radishev St. (Ulitsa)

While the Kochubey restaurant (known as Palace of Prince Kochubey) is a separate entity which is located on Konnogvardeyskii Blv. It is here one can enjoy delicious traditional Russian cuisine. One delight is Kochubey pheasant which was named in honor of Victor Pavlovich Kochubey.  He served Alexander I as his Master of Ceremonies.

To appreciate one significant historic moment which belonged to the Kochubey family, Pushkin's epic poem titled Mazepa may be of interest.

The Kochubey dynasty (both women and men) have served the Imperial Court in various capacities from Nicholas I right up to Nicholas' II abdication.

~ ~

[Belochka]

Hi Joanna!

No the two surnames are entirely separate. Both the Kochubey and Kotzebue families belonged to the Noble class.

Prince Victor S. Kochubey left Tsarskoe Selo and survived at least until July 1918 in Kiev. My meager information provides that he did not survive the revolution (I stand to be corrected). However his wife and children were safely exiled to Paris.

Count Alexander Pavlovich Kotzebue was also exiled to France and died in Nice. Other members of this family then emigrated to the United States.

[Nadya_Arapov]

The Kochubeys were a very wealthy family with several estates in the Ukraine. Prince Victor Sergeevich (1860-1923) resigned from his post (he was a Lt. Gen.) in 1917 and moved first to Kiev sometime before his death (ca. 1919) he left Russia. He died abroad probably in France. He married Princess Elena Konstantinovna Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya. They had a son also named Victor (1893-1956). Elena's family were the original owners of what later became the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna's palace in St. Petersburg. Elena's sister Olga was the much despised (at least by the Empress) Princess Vladimir Orlov. Olga left Russia aboard the H.M.S. Marlborough. I believe Elena and her family may have left aboard one of the other ships at the same time but I'm not entirely sure.

[Belochka]

Hi Nadya_Arapov,

I am intrigued with your information about Victor Kochubey surviving long enough to go into exile. Could you please provide me a reference concerning this?

Thanks.

[Nadya_Arapov]

http://www.vgd.ru/K/kochetov.htm#

My way of testing the accuracy of this website was to compare family lines already traced by Theroff, etc. (Golitsyn, Tolstoy, Bariatinsky, Trubetskoi, Obolensky) with the information about these same families at this website. I've found the information at this website very accurate.

I realise books are almost always better sources but so far I haven't found a book mentioning Prince Kochubey's life in exile.  :-/

[Belochka]

Many thanks Nadya_Arapov for this hyperlinlk. It does provide good information.

Joanna the name Golitsyn is the same as Galitzine. Although the Russian spelling is very precise, the English translations have a number of variations, each of which is technically correct:

Golytsyne/Golitzyn/Golitzine/Golitzin/Golitzen/Galitzine/Galitzin

Fundamentaly these English variants resides with the fact that some of the Russian letters (including those which are now defunct) have no equivalent in the Engish.

The spelling of the surname has been influenced by the country in which it is used, which could be either French, German or English as examples.


   

[Jacque]

Tisdall has written of a Princess Helene Kochubey was served as Mistress of the Robes to Czarina Maria Fedorovna.  Is this correct?  Thanks

[ChristineM]

The original Villa Kochubey in Sofia, Tsarskoe Selo dates from the early 19th century.   It was designed by Adam Menelaws, a Scottish master vaulter who emigrated to Russia with Charles Cameron in 1784.

He masterminded the vaulting beneath the Cameron Gallery and the Cold Baths.   His skills ingenuity and hard work were rewarded for he became an architect in his own right.  He was responsible for many buildings - in Moscow he rebuilt the English Club in Tverskaya after the great fire of 1812.  In Tsarskoe Selo - the Egyptian Gates, the Arsenal, the White Tower, the Chapelle and etc.   In Petergof - the Cottege and the Farm.

He was also first to discover and extract coal in Russia, thus saving the Imperial exchequer a fortune and costing his native country dearly with the collapse of coal exports to Russia.

Menelaws also invented a system of creating building bricks from earth.   The 'Priory' which Menelaws designed and built for Paul I at Gatchina was constructed with bricks made from earth.

Returning to Villa Kochubey, there were a number of additions to the origianl building during the 20th century and today its serves as an hotel/conference centre.

tsaria  

[Belochka]

Tisdall has written of a Princess Helene Kochubey was served as Mistress of the Robes to Czarina Maria Fedorovna.  Is this correct?  Thanks

Yes, this is correct Jacque, she did indeed serve Empress Marie at the Anichkov Dvoretz. A short note about her may be found at p 249 in The Last Grand Duchess by Vorres.  

[Belochka]

Belochka was Princess Helene Kochubey the wife of Prince Victor Serge'evich Kochubey? Nadya has written that he married Princess Elana K. B-B. Could Helene be a variation of Elena?

Joanna

Hi Joanna,

The Russian name Elena became Helene in the French parlance.

Yes, Elena Kochubey was certainly married to Victor Serge'evich K. Unfortunately I am unable to provide you with their date of marriage.

It maybe of some interest to you, that they also had a large estate outside of Poltava, called Dikanka, which was famous for its glorious Quarenghi mansion.

[kclaps]

Does anyone know the names of V.P. Kochubey's (1768-1834) four sons?

I'm looking for information on a woman in a painting (see my posting in Russian Nobility) named Klawdia Kochubey. I think she bears a likeness to V.P. and thought she might be a granddaughter (?)

Thanks,
Kathleen

[Belochka]

Hi kclaps,

From the link kindly provided by Nadya_Arapov the following information can be provided:

Victor Pavlovich's (1768 - 1834) sons were:

1. Alexander
2. Pavel
3. Nikolai
4. Andrei
5. Lev
6. Vasili
7. Mikhail
8. Sergei

To complete the family picture, there were four daughters: Nataliya, Ekaterina, Elizaveta and Elena.

Unfortunately, the name Klaudia Kochubey is not listed.