Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia (St. Petersburg 14 January 1850 (4 January O.S.) – Paris, 14 November 1908) was the fifth child and the fourth son of Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse). Destined to a naval career, Alexei Alexandrovich started his military training at the age of 7. By the age of 20 he had been appointed lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Navy and had visited all European military ports of Russia. In 1871 he was sent as a goodwill ambassador to the United States and Japan.
In 1883 he was appointed general admiral. He had a significant contribution in the equipment of the Russian navy with new ships and in modernizing the naval ports. In 1905, after the defeat in the Battle of Tsushima he was relieved of his command. He died in Paris in 1908.
Read more about Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich Of Russia: Early Life, Love Affair With Alexandra Zhukovskaya, Palace of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, Military Career, Life At The Russian Court, Death, Popular Culture, Ancestry
Famous quotes containing the words grand, duke and/or russia:
“The great object of Education should be commensurate with the object of life. It should be a moral one; to teach self-trust: to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself; with a curiosity touching his own nature; to acquaint him with the resources of his mind, and to teach him that there is all his strength, and to inflame him with a piety towards the Grand Mind in which he lives. Thus would education conspire with the Divine Providence.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A fully equipped duke costs as much to keep up as two Dreadnoughts, and dukes are just as great a terror—and they last longer.”
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945)
“Today’s difference between Russia and the United States is that in Russia everybody takes everybody else for a spy, and in the United States everybody takes everybody else for a criminal.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)