Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia - Early Life

Early Life

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was born on May 11, 1857 in the Zubov wing of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, some twenty miles (32 km) outside Saint Petersburg. He was the seventh child and fifth son among the eight children of Alexander II of Russia and his wife Maria Alexandrovna, born Princess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Until he was old enough to begin lessons, Sergei’s earlier years were spent with his younger brother Paul, from whom he was inseparable, and their sister at Livadia, the family’s Crimean retreat, at Tsarskoye Selo and at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. By the time Sergei was born, his mother was already in declining health. Although she was not a particularly affectionate mother, except to her daughter, her three youngest children, Marie, Sergei and Paul, were close to her and especially to one another. As time passed and the Empress’s health dictated her to avoid the harsh Russian climate, they spent long sojourns abroad in Jugenheim outside Darmstadt and the winters in the South of France. A family tragedy hit them there. In April 1865, shortly before Sergei’s eighth birthday, his eldest brother and godfather Nicholas the heir to the crown died in Nice. As a child, Sergei was shy, studious and withdrawn. Under the influence of his mother, whose reserved character he resembled, he became very religious.

From the 1870s, Sergei and his younger brother Paul were kept in Russia by their studies. They were destined to follow a military career, but their tutor, Admiral Arseniev, encouraged Sergei’s linguistic, artistic and musical abilities. He was fluent in several languages and learned Italian in order to read Dante in the original. His interest in Italian art and culture intensified, as he grew older. He painted well and was musical, playing the flute in an amateur orchestra. He enjoyed acting and steeped himself in the early history, culture and traditions of Russia. He liked to read and in time came to know many of Russia’s great writers personally, among them Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, whose work the Grand Duke read and admired. He met Dostoevsky over dinner at the Winter Palace where he was invited by Sergei's Professor.