Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia - Imperial Scholar

Imperial Scholar

Nicholas Mikhailovich had no real military talent or inclination towards army life. He loved education and begged his father to allow him to enter the University, but Grand Duke Michael Nicholaievich was firmly opposed. To please his father Nicholas entered the Academy of the General Staff (War College) where he excelled in his studies. Military life was not for him as he much preferred studying butterflies and historical research. Entering the military, as all Romanovs did, the grand duke eventually became hostile towards it and was in fact the only family member ever to formally leave military service.

From his youth in the Caucasus, Nicholas developed an interest in botany. He also gathered a highly regarded collection of rare butterflies, which he later gave to the Academy of Sciences, and at that same time published a ten-volume work entitled Discussions on the Lepidopterae. Other natural scientific interest drew his attention, pomology in particular. He was named President of the Russian Society of Pomology and developed a seedless tangerine. During World War I, Nicholas Mikhailovich also published a book on hunting, which demonstrates his scientific interest in geese and ducks.

Soon he became more interested in historical research. His first book, "The Princes Dolgoruki, Collaborators to Emperor Alexander I", appeared in 1890. Many other books would follow, including five volumes of Russian portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It consist of portraits of figures from the reigns of Catherine the Great, Paul I, and Alexander I. This monumental work of original photographs from palaces, museums and galleries is an important source of information as many of the originals have been destroyed by war and revolution.

In 1905, Nicholas left the military and pursued his research interests full-time. Nicholas II happily granted him unlimited access to the Romanov Family Archives and Library. The grand duke soon published multi-volume works (over fifteen in all), in both Russian and French, on the reign of Tsar Alexander I. This important work brought him international recognition across Europe. His works 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.

While Nicholas Mikhailovich's scholarly works were admired by professional historians and French literary figures, he did not find the same reception among the Great Russian historians of his day, such a Vasily Klyuchevsky. However, even the Soviet scholars valued his works: he is the only one of three non-ruling members of the Imperial family to receive an entry in the great Soviet Encyclopedia. His historical works were never far from his mind no matter what he was doing. His letters, especially those to the French historian Frédéric Masson are mainly reports of his historical endeavors, which were never ending. During the war, he finished a seven volume study of Relation Diplomatiques 1808–1812 as well as the second Russian edition of Alexander I in two volumes in 1915. He had an almost childlike energy about his research and new discoveries, and his enthusiasm knew no bounds. Because his education was not the most conventional, his first work in history was dilettantish. He dabbled in topics, but he improved considerably with time. When the Imperial Historical society called him to write several articles for their bibliographic dictionary, he developed a passion for writing.

His position in the ruling family gave him access to archival materials that were inaccessible to the public, and he had the privilege of having these items delivered from the state archives to his home where he could work on them in the comfort of his own study. He also accumulated an extensive library, both in his St Petersburg palace and in his rural estate, Borjomi, where he liked to work undisturbed. His great wealth enabled him to have a number of research assistants, a luxury seldom available to most historians. His most valuable helper with his historical work was Constantine Brummer, his aide-de-camp since the earliest years of his military career who was his loyal friend until the end.

In 1892 when the presidency of the Geographic Society fell vacant, Nicholas Mikhailovich became its president. He never published any scholarly works in this discipline. In 1909, he became president of the Historical Society; by then, he was already a well-regarded historian. He took this post seriously and his involvement was extensive even during the war years. In 1916, he was occupied with the jubilee of the society and was planning the centennial celebration of the birth of Tsar Alexander II, which was going to take place in April 1918. In May 1914, Grand Duke Nicholas created an Archival Commission to coordinate and give assistance to local historical archives; but World War I intervened, and archival reorganization had to await Soviet efforts.

Nicholas Mikhailovich gathered an important collection of historical artifacts, mainly pictures and miniatures of prominent figures. He also collected French objets d'art and took a special interest in the works of Jacques Louis David. He acquired, among others, one of David's portraits of Napoleon, which remained with him until after the revolution. He first hid it in the basement wall of his palace and then smuggled it out of Russia from Finland to the West. The grand duke also planned art shows like one he organized in 1905 in the famous Tauride Palace, with pieces never before displayed.