Krestovsky Island - Duel On Krestovsky Island, Summer of 1908

Duel On Krestovsky Island, Summer of 1908

(Duel between Count Nicholas Sumarakoff-Elston, "Nicholas Yussupov" and Count Arvid Manteuffel, over Countess Marina von Hayden, the latter's wife). The deadly encounter took place at dawn on July 5, 1908, when Count Arvid Manteuffel and Prince Nicholas Yussupov met in a duel on the park land grounds of the Krestovsky Island estate of the Belosselsky-Belozersky Princes. Nicholas Yussupov, apparently manipulated by his younger brother Felix, caused a great open scandal by having an affair with Countess Marina von Hayden, the wife of the Imperial Horse Guards' officer, Count Arvid Manteuffel . This affair was too blatant, even by the standards of the "liberal" St. Petersburg of that period. The whole Petersburg society was upset by this affair. The honor of not only Manteuffel family was at stake, the whole officer corps of the Horse Guards required their honor to be preserved.

The parties and their seconds met as agreed at dawn on the 5th of July 1908 on the Krestovsky island, Belosselsky-Belozersky estate grounds. Nicholas Yusupov was mortally wounded by the second round of shots and died (apparently only Manteuffel had aimed for a kill, Yusupov had purposefully shot over Manteuffels head).