N. P. Sablin

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

Hello Joanna!!
Sablin was very, very close to Nicholas and Alexandra. You will see him endlessly in many photographs. Sadly, as far as i can remember, he was one of the first to abandon the Imperial family. I wish my memory could be better, but i think i read he was one of those who jump out of the imperial train as it entered the platform, in Tsarskoe, and run away.  Saying afterwards that he had nothing to do with the Palace. When i think of this behavior of him i always remember a photograph taken in April 1914 in Livadia; he is helping the emperor to transport(?) Alexandra in her wheelchair....  He acted like a rat in a sinking ship.  

[Penny_Wilson]

Yes, Antonio, you are right.  This was one of the guys who opted out of accompanying the Imperial Family into exile -- though I heard that he had foregathered in a field with the rest of the people who were to get on the train for Siberia.  

Quite a number of these people left during the course of the night, so I wonder if anything was said to them at any point that made them change their minds in such numbers.  I'm thinking in terms of something like never being able to return to Petersburg -- nothing more sinister than that.  But I find it hard to judge these people harshly, because I don't know what they had going on in their own personal lives.  Perhaps Sablin and the others had family that they couldn't abandon forever.  I know I would not choose my employers/friends over my family -- not under any circumstances.  Some people might -- I'm sure, for instance, that Madame Botkin thought that her husband chose the family over the Botkin marriage -- and that's fine if that's what they wanted to do.  But I can't fault a man for his personal choices in things like this...

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

I agree with you Penny that it´s very difficult to judge.... Then the phrase "like a rat in a sinking ship" would be quite fitting for him, because the rat only wants to save her life :), and there´s nothing to fault about that. However, there´s something miserable in a man acting like a rat, all the most because he could have feelings like gratitude or honour, for example...

[BobAtchison]

People make foolish mistakes because of fear that they later regret.  I often think what would I have done in the same circumstances?

I wish I knew more about him.

Bob

[dmacdonald]

Is a monarch an employer> Yes you are right about personal choices. I feel a bit uneasy though thinking about comparing ones duty to King and ones duty to..well lets just say Wal-Mart. If Sablin and Botkin had been footmen or one of the countless lackeys that maintained the Romanov lifestyle, well, then I could see that their lack of intimacy with the Imperial family might just qualify their relationship as strictly an employee-employer one. But people like Sablin were intimates and genuine friends. Sablin enjoyed all the comforts and priveleges that would accompany his position. Remember too that as off that moment...when the train arrived back at Tsarskoe Selo station, the Imperial suite was not under arrest. It wasnt until a few days later that the ultimatum was given declaring that anyone who stayed had to consider themselves under house arrest with the monarch. Sablin couldnt even muster the balls (oops sorry) to at least accompany his Emperor to the Palace gates! Nicholas was bitter about it. He didnt have to go into exile with his King, but chivalry and decency should have suggested a more noble way in bidding farewell to a man and family he swore allegiance to. Shame on him!

[Nadya_Arapov]

Nikolai Pavlovich Sablin was born in 1880 and died in 1937. My source is the book "A Lifelong Passion," by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko. They have his date of birth and date of death listed next to his name in the index. He must have fled Russia after the Revolution because they used excerpts from his memoirs in the book. I have no idea whether his memoirs were ever published.

[hikaru]

Sablin is known by participation in Tsushima battle.
After Revolution, he was the Representative of GD Cyrill in Romania. Since 1928 he became the Chairman of the Circle of Formal Russian Imperial Naval Officers in Bukharest. Then he lived in Paris.
(So, maybe the site in Romanian is about him)
( I took this ifm about him from the book by Graf " At the service of Russian Imperial House")

[Janet_W.]

Many thanks to all who have participated on this thread. I, too, have wondered about "N.P." and what happened to him. Whatever his reasons/excuses for leaving Nicholas and Alexandra, I have to agree with DMacDonald's post from a year ago in May. If you are accepted as a true friend and intimate and enjoy all that comes with that bond, leaving at the first chance is reprehensible.

In fairness, though, perhaps at some point someone will come forward with more information and we'll learn more about N.P. Sablin and his motivations and/or justifications.

[TennPat]

Just found a reference to N.P. SABLIN memoirs. Transcribed by Goul.  1937

In Amherst Center for Russian Culture
Series 2. Box 3 Folder 8

https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/acrc/archives/goul/two/box3


Draft holograph and typed
"S tsarskoi semioi na shtandarte"

Wonder how it compares to the memoirs cited by tian79 (Apr 06.2012) of N. V. SABLIN..
Also wonder if it goes beyond the Standart timeframe to give a better understanding of NPS

[TennPat]

https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/russian/acrc/archives/goul/two/box3

Corrected website (left off the word "russian")

[Inok Nikolai]

https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/russian/acrc/archives/goul/two/box3

Corrected website (left off the word "russian")

Those brief memoirs (only up to 1910) appear in the on-line copy of Goul's own Russian memoirs, as cited in the Russian Wikipedia article on N. P. Sablin:
http://www.dk1868.ru/history/gul2_3.htm
(Type in Саблин in the search window and it will bring up the account of Goul's meetings with N. P. Sablin in Paris.)

But I do believe that some of the postings above are confusing N. P. Sablin, and N. V. Sablin.

N. P. was in Germany and France, after Constantinople. He died in Paris and is buried there in France.

It was N. V. who was in Bucharest. After WW II he ended up in the Gulag, was released after Stalin's death, and then put in prison in Romania, where he died in the 1960s.

[Inok Nikolai]

For those who read Russian, here is the complete text of Goul's book:
http://www.dk1868.ru/history/gul_ogl.htm

[matushka]

Thank you very much, father Nikolai! A pity Sablin did not had enough time to let more extend memories. Especially interesting in this book are the remembering of princess Vorontsova-Dashkova about grand-duke Mihail Alexandrovitch.

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

I´m sure to appear cruel and overdramatic, but, sincerely. We have Lily Dehn, for instance, who showed a real fidelity to her Empress(notwithstanding her own bay). Also the Princess de Lamballe comes to my mind in this matter. I´m sorry but I still think one´s ideals are worthier than one´s earthly life.

[Inok Nikolai]

Hello Joanna!!
Sablin was very, very close to Nicholas and Alexandra. You will see him endlessly in many photographs. Sadly, as far as i can remember, he was one of the first to abandon the Imperial family. I wish my memory could be better, but i think i read he was one of those who jump out of the imperial train as it entered the platform, in Tsarskoe, and run away.  Saying afterwards that he had nothing to do with the Palace. When i think of this behavior of him i always remember a photograph taken in April 1914 in Livadia; he is helping the emperor to transport(?) Alexandra in her wheelchair....  He acted like a rat in a sinking ship.  

Perhaps somebody can help with this:

What was the name of N. P. Sablin's wife?

Any other info on her will be most appreciated.

Seems that she was a harpist.