Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Великий князь Никола́й Миха́йлович), 26 April 1859 – 28 January 1919 was the eldest son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III.
A scholar and an eminent historian, he made many valuable contributions to the study of Russian history in the reign of Tsar Alexander I. His works, published in Russian and French, include: diplomatic documents of Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon; a life of Tsar Alexander's close friend, Paul Strogonov; and biographical studies of Alexander I and his wife Elizabeth Alexeievna. A political liberal, he veered towards what he called "authoritarian republicanism". He fought tirelessly for reform from within the system. His reformist views made him an oddball within his own family, and contemporary recognition of his accomplishments came more from abroad than at home. He was a member of the French Academy, Honorary Doctor of History and Philosophy from the University of Berlin, Honorary Doctor of History from Moscow University, and President of the Imperial Russian Historical Society, the Society of Pomology and the Russian Geographic Society.
He fell from favour during the last part of the reign of Nicholas II, as Empress Alexandra disliked him for his liberal views. As the political situation in Russia worsened, he urged the Tsar to implement reforms, and he even participated in discussions of a palace coup. After the fall of the monarchy, he was exiled to Vologda. He was later imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd and shot outside the St Peter and St Paul Fortress along with his brother Grand Duke George Michaelovich and his cousins Grand Duke Dimitri Konstantinovich and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich.
Read more about Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich Of Russia: Early Life, Imperial Scholar, Russian Grand Duke, War and Revolution, Captivity, Murder, Ancestors
Famous quotes containing the words grand, duke, nicholas, mikhailovich and/or russia:
“They have their belief, these poor Tibet people, that Providence sends down always an Incarnation of Himself into every generation. At bottom some belief in a kind of pope! At bottom still better, a belief that there is a Greatest Man; that he is discoverable; that, once discovered, we ought to treat him with an obedience which knows no bounds. This is the truth of Grand Lamaism; the “discoverability” is the only error here.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“That celebrated,
Cultivated
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“on a Saterday
This carpenter was goon til Oseney,
And hende Nicholas and Alisoun
Accorded been to this conclusioun,
That Nicholas shal shapen hem a wile
This sely jalous housbonde to bigile,”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“The savages set up gods to which they pray, and which they punish if one of their prayers is not answered.... That is what is happening at this moment.... Yesterday Kerensky; today Lenin and Trotsky; another tomorrow.”
—Victor Mikhailovich Chernov (1873–1972)
“In Russia there is an emigration of intelligence: émigrés cross the frontier in order to read and to write good books. But in doing so they contribute to making their fatherland, abandoned by spirit, into the gaping jaws of Asia that would like to swallow our little Europe.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)