Felix Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovitch

[Belochka]

As I remember Felix was quite open about his transvestism in his own book The Lost Splendour, however he was silent about his homosexual pursuits. When he became engaged to Irina he stated that this commitment caused problems, but without clarifying what the problem was. We now now that the problem was. Irina's parents were initially displeased with this union because he was known to be a homosexual.  

It must be remembered that during that era when he wrote his book in 1953, homosexuality was deemed to be a criminal offence. Furthermore his wife Irina proof-read and apparently argued about the facts in his notes as he penned them (described in Dobson's book on Yussopov).

To openly admit such behaviour would have created a few more problems not only for him but his wife as well.

[Thierry]

(described in Dobson's book on Yussopov).

Dear Belochka,
Which is the exact title of this book ?
Thanks

[Belochka]

Hi Thierry,

The book is:

Prince Felix Yusupov The Man Who Murdered Rasputin by Christopher Dobson, Harrap London 1989

The title is written using one "s" in the name.

[Thierry]

Many thanks, Belochka !
I just ordered a copy of this book. Did you like it ? Was it interesting ?

[Belochka]

Hi Thierry,

Yes I did enjoy the book. It presented an interesing perspective about Felix and of those who surrounded him. It is sympathetically writen, rather than being judgemental.

There is a second book which may interest you as well:

Rasputin in Hollywood by Sir David Napley, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1990.

This second book (written by a lawyer) deals with the legal case the Yussoupov's brought against MGM, concerning a film they produced called Rasputin the Mad Monk.

To me this book had more appeal because it presented actual court excerpts, which revealed considerable detail about how Youssupov reasoned.

I hope you enjoy your new acquisition!

[Thierry]

Hi Belochka,

Many thanks for your review ! I am tremendously waiting for it now

Thanks for telling about the other one, too. I have added it to my want-to-buy list : those Romanovs cost me a lot of money  

[Belochka]

Your most welcome Thierry!

Its the bulging bookshelves which are more of a concern.

[masha]

Getting back to the question about how regular, everyday folk would have behaved back then, I would like to point out that we are talking about a culture that looked the other way only when it concerned the wealthy or aristocracry. For the common man, you were sure to hide any tendencies that were not deemed the norm - in other words, old Russia - especially in the out-back & villages was very traditional, & very ruthless in it's treatment toward's those who behaved differently. I think it is safe to say that not much has changed even today.

Masha

[Annie]

The reason they stopped speaking had nothing to do with Irina! They were very close in 1912-13, and the marriage did hurt Dmitri a little but they were good friends again, they were very close when they invited Rasputin over that night in 1916, remember?

They were also close in exile for awhile. Felix and Irina attended Dmitri's 1926 wedding. They did not stop speaking until after Felix's 1927 Rasputin book came out. It was the code of silence thing.

While on this subject, does anyone know any details about the theory that Dmitri had a much bigger role in the murder than was reported by Felix or Purishkevich?

[JD]

Since this thread mostly concerns Felix's sexuality I thought I'd share this interesting and possibly disturbing vignette from Lost Splendor here. What do you all make of it?

As for the enigma of procreation, I solved it in the same simple manner. Being sure, for instance, that an egg laid by a hen was nothing but a fragment detached from the rooster's body, and that this fragment was instantly replaced, I deduced that the same phenomenon occurred with human beings. The difference between the sexes, which I had noticed on statues and by a study udy of my own anatomy, had led me to this strange conclusion, with which I was quite satisfied. Then, one day, the truth was brutally revealed to me by a chance encounter at Contrexeville, where my mother was taking the waters. I was then about twelve. I had gone out alone one evening after dinner, for a walk in the park. I happened to pass a summer house, and glancing through the window I saw a very pretty young woman in the arms of a stalwart youth. A strange emotion swept over me as I watched them embracing with such obvious pleasure. I tiptoed closer to gaze at the handsome couple, who were of course unaware of my presence.

On returning to the hotel, I told my mother of my experience; she seemed upset and quickly changed the subject.

Troubled and fascinated by what I had seen, I spent a sleepless night. The next day, at the same hour, I went back to the summer house only to find it empty. I was just going home when I met the young man coming up the path. I went up to him and asked him point-blank whether he had an appointment with the girl that evening. He stared at me in astonishment, then began to laugh and asked why I wished to know. When I confessed that I had watched them in the summer house, be told me he was expecting the girl at his hotel that same evening, and asked me to join them there. Imagine my feelings on receiving this invitation.

Everything conspired to make things easy for me. My mother was tired and went to bed early, and my father had an engagement to play cards with some friends; furthermore, the young man's hotel was near ours. He was sitting on the veranda waiting for me. He congratulated me on my punctuality and took me to his room, and had just begun to tell me that he was from the Argentine when his girl friend appeared.

I don't know how long I was with them. When I got home, I threw myself fully dressed onto my bed and fell into a deep sleep. That fateful evening, I had received an answer to the question that had mystified me. As for the Argentinean to whom I owed my initiation, he had disappeared the next day and I never saw him again.

My first impulse was to go to my mother and tell her everything, but a feeling of modesty and apprehension held me back. I was so amazed by what I had learned that, in my youthful ignorance, I failed to discriminate between the sexes. In my imagination, I began to picture men and women I knew in the most ridiculous postures. Did they really all behave in such a strange fashion? I was seized with giddiness, as fantastic pictures floated through my mind. A little later, when I told all this to my brother, I was surprised to find him completely uninterested in the questions that so engrossed me. So I retired within myself and never again touched on this matter to anyone.

[rskkiya]

Hmmm.

This passage sounds like somthing out of "The Autobiography of a Flea" by Anonymous ... famous late victorian porno...

I wonder if it's real, or just something that Felix made up to make his life more glamourous.

R.  

[Annie]

If this really did happen to him, poor kid.  It sounds like a '3 way', so if that's what it was, and it happened, he was molested.  

[JD]

Well, he didn't seem to mind actually.  I think it's creepy though on the part of the Argentine.

I agree with rskkiya, it does sound unlikely though.

[Annie]

The first time I read it, I wondered about the factuality of the parts where he is a 'girl' singer, the teenage transvestite who wowed the crowd! It sounds as if it were an elaborate fantasy he had, as we all have fantasies about being stars. Seems he fancied himself a turn of the century "Boy George" character? Anyway, it was an interesting story, and I hope it is true, though we will never know because no one is alive to tell. As for the 3 way, I hope that wasn't true, but if it were, it explains why he was so confused about sex. Poor kid. Yes the Argentine does sound creepy. These days he'd be hauled away, I guess.

[Jmentanko]

Actually, the Argentine sort of ended the confusion. It did open up a "whole new world" for Felix however.