On this day — 26th February 1933 — Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich died in exile in Roquebrune, France
Born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) on 13th April (O.S.1st April] 1866, Alexander was the fifth child and fourth son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (1832-1909) and Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (born Princess Cäcilie Auguste of Baden, 1839-1891). He was affectionately known in the Romanov family circle as «Sandro».
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich had an illustrious career, having served as a naval officer, explorer, and playing a major role in the creation of Russian military aviation. He was the initiator of the officer’s aviation school near Sevastopol in 1910 and later the chief of the Imperial Russian Air Service during the First World War.
On 6 August [O.S. 25 July] 1894, he married his first cousin’s daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the eldest daughter of Emperor Alexander III. Together, Alexander and Xenia had seven children.
It was through this marriage, that Alexander Mikhailovich became a brother-in-law, and later an advisor of Tsar Nicholas II, although his impact on the Sovereign has been both criticized and appreciated by historians.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, Alexander, along with his wife and mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, his sons and other Romanov family members, were rescued from the Crimea by the British battleship ‘HMS Marlborough’ in 1919.
During his years in exile, Alexander lived in Paris and wrote his memoirs. ‘Once a Grand Duke’ in 1933, a fascinating source of dynastical and court life in Imperial Russia’s last half-century, followed by his sequel ‘Always a Grand Duke’ also published in 1933.
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich died at the age of 66 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. His simple funeral took place on 1st March 1933, in Roquebrune, in the presence of his wife Xenia and her sons.
Memory Eternal! Вечная Память!
