Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich (1879-1956) with his wife Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971) on the veranda of their Villa Molitor, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Andrei fled revolutionary Russia in March 1920, being the last grand duke to leave for exile. On 30th January 1921, he married his long-time mistress Mathilde Kschessinska, the former Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, in a simple ceremony in the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Michael Archangel in Cannes. The couple lived in the South of France until 1929 when they moved permanently to Paris, where Kschessinska opened a ballet school.
Grand Duke Andrei died on 30th October 1956, age 77, in Paris, France, he was the last surviving Russian grand duke born in Imperial Russia. He is buried at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois Russian Cemetery, situated 25 km south from Paris.
Mathilde Kschessinska died on 6th December 1971 at the age 99 in Paris, France, eight months short of her 100th birthday. She is buried at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois Russian Cemetery, situated 25 km south from Paris.
