Yusupov princes family tree. The clan of the Yusupov princes. About the hardships of family life

History From the military commander, who was in the service of Tamerlane, and the sovereign Nogai prince (died at the beginning of the 15th century) Edigei Mangit, Musa-Murza was born in the third generation, whose son Yusuf-Murza (died in 1556) was the ancestor of the Yusupov family. He had two sons, Il-murza and Ibragim (Abrey), whom he sent to Moscow in 1565, and a daughter, the great Tatar queen Soembike; the murderer of their father, uncle Ishmael. Some of their descendants last years reign of Alexei Mikhailovich took St. baptism and were written by the princes Yusupov or Yusupovo-Knyazhevo until the end of the 18th century, and after that they began to be written simply by the princes Yusupov. The homeland of the Yusupovs is the city of Saraichik, now a village in the Atyrau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Two branches of the Yusupov princes descended from Il-Murza: the eldest, along the line of Suyush-Murza, which died out in the 18th century. with the death of his descendant in the fifth generation, Prince Semyon Ivanovich, and the second in the line of Chin-Murza (later senior branch), direct paternal descendants in the 19th generation remained faithful to Muslim traditions and still live in Tatarstan; from Ibrahim - one junior branch of the Yusupov princes. Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730), great-grandson of Il-Murza began to serve as a steward under Peter the Great; participated with him in the Azov campaigns; v northern war- fought with the Swedes near Narva, Poltava and Vyborg; under Catherine I, he was a senator, under Peter II - general-in-chief (1730), the first member of the state Military Collegium and headed it from 1727 to 1730. Prince Nikolai Yusupov His son Boris Grigoryevich (1696-1759) during the reign of Anna Ioannovna and under John Antonovich was the Moscow governor, under Elizaveta Petrovna - a senator, president of the commerce college and chief director cadet corps. The son of Boris Grigorievich Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) from 1783 to 1789 was an envoy in Turin, then a senator; Emperor Paul I made him Minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-16), and Alexander I - a member State Council(since 1823). Director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-96), directed the Hermitage (1797). Owner and builder of the Arkhangelskoye estate, philanthropist. Had an art gallery and a library. His son, Boris Nikolaevich, a chamberlain, left the only heir. After the death of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827-1890), due to the suppression of male offspring in the Yusupov family, another imperial decree in 1891 transferred the Yusupov title to the counts Sumarokov-Elston. In 1882, having married Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, the son of Felix Nikolaevich Sumarkov-Elston, Felix Feliksovich (1856-1928), lieutenant general (1915), in 1915 the chief head of the Moscow Military District, since 1919 in exile ... ... It is the highest permission to be called Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston to his son-in-law, guard lieutenant Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, so that the princely title and surname Yu will pass only to the eldest in the family of his descendants. The genus of princes Yu was recorded in the V part of the genealogical book of the provinces of Oryol, Kursk and St. Petersburg. The coat of arms is included in the III part of the General Armorial. With this decree, issued in 1891, he inherited the princely title of his wife and became known as: "Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarkov-Elston." Accordingly, their children also received the right to this double title. Felix Felixovich (1887-1957) (younger), son of Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and son of the first Yusupov-Sumarkov-Elston - Felix Felixovich, in jest with obvious overtones, he was called "Felix III", in 1914 he married the niece of Emperor Nicholas II Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna, further strengthening her blood relationship with the Romanov family. This F.F. Yusupov entered the history of Russia most of all because he was the organizer and active participant in the murder of G.E. Rasputin. From 1917 in exile. [edit] Notable representatives

Georgy Blyumin, doctor technical sciences, Professor of Cultural Studies, President of the Yusupov-Princely Charitable Foundation (Moscow)

Source of information: The curse of the Yusupov family, Traveler magazine No.3 (23), 2000.

The ancestors of the Yusupovs - from Abubekir, the father-in-law of the prophet, who ruled after Muhammad (about 570-632) of the entire Muslim family. Three centuries after him, his co-namer Abubekir bin Rayok also ruled all the Muslims of the world and bore the title of Emir el-Omr, prince of princes and sultan of sultans, uniting governmental and spiritual power in his person. Prince N. B. Yusupov, Jr. notes: "He was the supreme dignitary of Caliph Radi-Billag, who disappeared in the rapture of bliss and luxury, who gave him all power in the spiritual and secular sense."

In the era of the fall of the caliphate, the direct ancestors of the Russian princes Yusupov were rulers in Damascus, Antioch, Iraq, Persia, Egypt ... Some of them were buried in Mecca, on Mount Hira, where Muhammad opened the text of the Koran; in the Kaaba itself, sacred to Muslims, or near it, these are Baba-Tukles and his two sons, Abbas and Abdurakhman. Sultan Termes, the third son of Baba-Tukles (16th generation from Abubakir ben Rayok), driven by hostile circumstances, moved north of Arabia, to the shores of the Azov and Caspian Seas, dragging with him many tribes of Muslims devoted to him. The Nogai Horde, which appeared as a state between the Volga and the Urals, was the result of the resettlement of the Sultan of Termes.

Now it's getting clear complete equality marriage concluded in 1914 between Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov and Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, niece of the reigning Emperor Nicholas II: both spouses were of royal origin.

A direct descendant of Termes named Edigey was in close and close friendship with Tamerlane himself, or Timur, the "Iron Lame" and the great conqueror. Edigey was appointed chief commander of Timur. Mongolian hordes Tokhtamysh burned Moscow and arrogantly moved on Tamerlane. Edigey went out to meet Tokhtamysh and killed him in single combat in front of the army. The Lithuanian prince Vitovt suffered a crushing defeat from Edigey on the Vorskla River in 1339. Tamerlanov's friend imposed a tribute on the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Vasily Dmitrievich. Finally, Edigey conquered the Crimea and founded the Crimean Horde there.

The great-grandson of Edigey was called Musa-Murza (Prince Moses, in Russian) and, as usual, had five wives. The first, beloved, was called Kondaza. Yusuf, the ancestor of the Yusupov family, was born from her. For twenty years, Yusuf-Murza was friends with Ivan the Terrible himself, the Russian Tsar. The descendant of the emirs considered it necessary to make friends and intermarry with Muslim neighbors, "fragments" of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. Four daughters of Yusuf became the wives of the kings of the Crimean, Astrakhan, Kazan and Siberian. The latter was the same Kuchum, whom Yermak Timofeevich conquered at the head of his Don Cossacks.

Here is the second portrait in the gallery of Twelve portraits of the Moscow Yusupov Palace - the beautiful Suyumbeka, the queen of Kazan, the beloved daughter of Yusuf-Murza. She was born in 1520 and at the age of 14 she became the wife of the Tsar of Kazan Enalei. In the same year, Enalei was killed by his subjects, and the citizens of Kazan returned to the kingdom the formerly exiled Crimean king Saf-Girey.

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The beauty marries a second time, now to Saf-Girey; soon her only son, Utemish-Giray, was born. Saf Giray introduced executions in Kazan. Kazanians were indignant. Yunus, the son of Yusuf, decided to stand up for Saf Giray and went to Kazan. But Saf Giray deceived Yunus. And then both Yusuf and Yunus took the side of Ivan the Terrible. Saf Giray drank and crashed on the steps of his own palace.

Suyumbeka became a widow and queen of Kazan for the second time. Her two-year-old son Utemish-Girey was proclaimed king by the Kazan people. When the Russian tsar approached the walls of Kazan with an army, the beautiful Suyumbeka put on armor and a helmet, remembering that she was the ruler of Kazan, and became the head of the defenders of the city. At first, she tried to call for help from her father and brother, but they remained faithful to the agreement with John IV.

Suyumbeka led the defense of Kazan so brilliantly that the famous Russian commander Prince Andrei Kurbsky could not take the city by attack, and the matter was decided by a secret digging and blowing up the walls of the city. The Queen of Kazan was honorably taken to Moscow with her son. And in Kazan, repeated in the architecture of the Moscow Kazan railway station, the seven-tiered Suyumbekin tower, about 35 sazhens high, adorning the Kazan Kremlin, has forever remained.

The story of the beauty does not end there. Ivan the Terrible appointed Shikh-alei as tsar in Kazan. But he was soon forced to flee to Moscow, where he married ... Suyumbek. The daughter of Yusuf-Murza is getting married for the third time. Shikh-alei takes possession of the city of Kasimov (Gorodets) and the title of king of Kasimov. He moves to Kasimov with his beautiful wife.

And Utemish-Girey, the son of Suyumbeki, was baptized in Moscow. Shikh-alei died in Kasimov and was buried in 1567 in the local tomb. The beautiful queen died before him, in 1557, having lived only 37 years. Probably, her grave is also in Kasimov. In any case, her descendant, the Russian prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., thinks so when he writes in his book: "Scarlet wild rose with milky bird cherry shower flowers on the forgotten tomb!"

In Russia, the charm of the charming image of Suyumbeki lived for a very long time. The Russians called her a sorceress. And Russian poets made her image one of the most poetic in world literature. I would attribute the presence of a six-pointed star in the princely coat of arms of the Yusupovs to the image of the beautiful Suyumbeki.

The poet Kheraskov, the author of the famous "Rossiyada", made the Kazan queen main character his poem, one of the best in Russian XVIII century. V early XIX century on the stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg are plays by Gruzintsov "The Conquered Kazan" and Glinka's "Sumbeka, or the Fall of Kazan". Finally, in 1832, the stage saw the ballet of Count Kutaisov "Sumbeka, or the Conquest of the Kazan Kingdom." Pushkin was at the play, in which the role of Suyumbeki was performed by the ballerina Istomina, sung by him in Onegin.

The sons of Yusuf-Murza, the brothers Suyumbeks, came to the court of Ivan the Terrible, and since then they and their descendants began to serve the Russian sovereigns, not changing the Muslim faith and receiving awards for their service. So, on the banks of the Volga near Yaroslavl, the whole city of Romanov with a settlement (now the city of Tutaev) was granted to Il-murza by Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. In that beautiful city, which before the revolution bore the name Romanov-Borisoglebsk - an abundance of churches on both banks of the Volga and also - the ruins of an old mosque. It was in this city that an event took place that dramatically changed the fate and history of the Yusupov family.

It was in the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The great-grandson of Yusuf-Murza, named Abdul-Murza, received Patriarch Joachim in Romanov. The historian M.I. Pylyaev recalled: “Once, the brilliant nobleman, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, was the chamber junker on duty at Catherine the Great’s dinner. A goose was served on the table.

Do you know how, prince, to cut a goose? - Ekaterina asked Yusupov.

Oh, the goose must be very memorable to my surname! - answered the prince. - My ancestor ate one on Good Friday and for that he was deprived of several thousand peasants granted to him.

I would take away all his property from him, because it was given to him on the condition that he did not eat fast on fast days, the empress remarked jokingly about this story.

So, the great-grandfather of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov treated the patriarch and, out of ignorance of the Orthodox posts, fed him a goose. The patriarch took the goose for a fish, tasted it and praised it, and the owner, take it and say: it’s not a fish, but a goose, and my cook is so skillful that he can cook a goose for fish. The patriarch was angry and upon returning to Moscow told the whole story to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. The Tsar deprived Abdul-Murza of all awards, and the rich man suddenly became a beggar. He thought hard for three days and decided to be baptized in the Orthodox faith. Abdul-Murza, the son of Seyusha-Murza, was baptized under the name Dmitry and came up with a surname for himself in memory of his ancestor Yusuf: Yusupovo-Knyazhevo. So Prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo appeared in Russia.

But that very night he had a vision. A distinct voice said: "From now on, for betraying the faith, there will not be more than one male heir in each tribe of your family, and if there are more, then all but one will not live longer than 26 years."

Dmitry Seyushevich married Princess Tatyana Fedorovna Korkodinova, and according to the prediction, only one son succeeded his father. It was Grigory Dmitrievich, who served Peter the Great, a lieutenant general, whom Peter ordered to be called simply Prince Yusupov. Grigory Dmitrievich also had only one son who lived to adulthood - Prince Boris Grigoryevich Yusupov, the former governor of Moscow. It is curious that in different time two representatives of a glorious family held this post: in addition to Boris Grigorievich, the governor-general of Moscow in 1915 was Felix Feliksovich Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston.

The son of B. G. Yusupov is perhaps the most famous of the glorious family. Prince Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) is one of the richest nobles in Russia: there was not only a province, but even a district where he did not have a village or estate. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of this wonderful person. Nikolai Borisovich was both the first director of the Hermitage, and the Russian envoy to Italy, and the chief manager of the Kremlin expedition and the Armory, as well as all theaters in Russia. He created the "Versailles near Moscow" - the Arkhangelsk estate, amazing in beauty and wealth, where A. S. Pushkin visited him twice, in 1827 and 1830. A poetic message from the great poet to Prince Yusupov, written in Moscow in 1830, is known:

I will come to you; see this palace

Where is the architect's compass, palette and chisel

Your learned whim was obeyed

And inspired in magic competed.

Pushkin in early childhood lived with his parents in the Moscow palace of the prince, in Bolshoi Kharitonievsky lane. The images of the outlandish oriental garden that surrounded the palace were then reflected in the prologue of Ruslan and Lyudmila. The poet also brings here his beloved heroine Tatyana Larina in the seventh chapter of "Eugene Onegin" - "to Moscow for the bride's fair":

At Kharitonya in the alley

Carriage in front of the house at the gate

Has stopped...

Yes, and the poet simply makes Tatyana related to the princely family of the Yusupovs: after all, they came to visit Tatyana's aunt, Princess Alina, and in the 20s of the last century, Princess Alina, the sister of N. B. Yusupov Alexandra Borisovna, really lived in the Yusupov Palace in Moscow. A number of reflections of the poet's conversations with Prince Yusupov are found in the images of Pushkin's famous Boldino autumn, and when the prince died, the poet wrote in a letter: "My Yusupov died."

However, let us turn to the further links of the genus and the fate that accompanies them. Boris Nikolaevich, chamberlain, son of N. B. Yusupov, lived mainly in St. Petersburg and also left the only heir - Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr. He was a talented musician and writer, vice-director of the St. Petersburg Public Library, married to Duchess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribopierre. On Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr., the male line of the ancient family was cut short.

The only heiress - the beautiful and richest bride of Russia Zinaida Nikolaevna Princess Yusupova, whose portraits were painted by the best artists of that time Serov and Makovsky - married the great-great-grandson of M.I. Moscow governor. And Emperor Alexander III, satisfying the request of Prince N. B. Yusupov Jr., so that the famous surname does not stop, allows Count Sumarokov-Elston to also be called Prince Yusupov. This title was to pass to the eldest of the sons.

In a happy marriage, two sons were born and raised, both graduated from Oxford University. The eldest was named Prince Nikolai Feliksovich Yusupov (1883-1908). Parents have already begun to forget about the terrible prediction, when on the eve of his 26th birthday, Nikolai Feliksovich fell in love with a woman whose husband challenged him to a duel and ... killed him. The duel took place in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island in June 1908, at the estate of the princes Beloselsky-Belozersky. Nikolai fired into the air both times... "The body was placed in the chapel," writes the younger brother Felix, who inherited the title of Prince Yusupov. Prince Nikolai Feliksovich was buried in Arkhangelsk near Moscow.

Shocked parents, having buried their eldest son, build a temple-tomb in Arkhangelsk where the princes Yusupovs were supposed to find their last shelter. The temple was erected by the famous Moscow architect R.I. Klein until 1916. A revolution broke out, and the temple never accepted a single burial under its vaults. So it still stands today as a monument of a terrible curse to the family of the Yusupov princes, opening the wings of the colonnades towards fate ...

Gratitude
Yusupova Diana 13.01.2006 03:57:11

Hello George. Many thanks for the detailed information about the Yusupov family. I am 21 years old, Yusupova is my father, now I live in Moscow, I want to enter the Architectural Institute. This year, for the first time, I visited the Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg on the river. Moika. There was an irresistible desire to learn as much as possible about this mysterious and so close to art kind. I was very interested in your organization "Yusupov-princely charitable foundation", be so kind, do not let a person die of intellectual hunger. Help in any way you can... Internet links, articles, books, libraries, etc. I will be very grateful to you, with respect Diana Tamerlanovna.

Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich Yusupov

The ancestors of the Yusupovs are from Abubekir, the father-in-law of the prophet, who ruled after Muhammad (about 570-632) of the entire Muslim family. Three centuries after him, his co-namer Abubekir bin Rayok also ruled all the Muslims of the world and bore the title of Emir el-Omr, prince of princes and sultan of sultans, uniting governmental and spiritual power in his person. Prince N. B. Yusupov, Jr. notes: “He was the supreme dignitary of the caliph Radi-Billag, who disappeared in the rapture of bliss and luxury, who gave him all power in the spiritual and secular sense.”

Now it becomes clear the complete equality of the marriage concluded in 1914 between Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov and Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, niece of the reigning Emperor Nicholas II: both spouses were of royal origin.

A direct descendant of Termes named Edigey was in close and close friendship with Tamerlane himself, or Timur, the "Iron Lame" and the great conqueror. Edigey was appointed chief commander of Timur. The Mongol hordes of Tokhtamysh burned Moscow and arrogantly moved against Tamerlane. Edigey went out to meet Tokhtamysh and killed him in single combat in front of the army. The Lithuanian prince Vitovt suffered a crushing defeat from Edigey on the Vorskla River in 1339. Tamerlanov's friend imposed a tribute on the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Vasily Dmitrievich. Finally, Edigey conquered the Crimea and founded the Crimean Horde there.

Here is the second portrait in the gallery of the Twelve Portraits of the Moscow Yusupov Palace - the beautiful Suyumbeka, the Queen of Kazan, the beloved daughter of Yusuf Murza. She was born in 1520 and at the age of 14 she became the wife of the Tsar of Kazan Enalei. In the same year, Enalei was killed by his subjects, and the citizens of Kazan returned to the kingdom the formerly exiled Crimean king Saf-Girey.

The story of the beauty does not end there. Ivan the Terrible appointed Shikh-alei as tsar in Kazan. But he was soon forced to flee to Moscow, where he married Suyumbek. The daughter of Yusuf-Murza is getting married for the third time. Shikh-alei takes possession of the city of Kasimov (Gorodets) and the title of king of Kasimov. He moves to Kasimov with his beautiful wife.

And Utemish-Girey, the son of Suyumbeki, was baptized in Moscow. Shikh-alei died in Kasimov and was buried in 1567 in the local tomb. The beautiful queen died before him, in 1557, having lived only 37 years. Probably, her grave is also in Kasimov. In any case, her descendant, the Russian prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., thinks so when he writes in his book: “Scarlet wild rose with milky bird cherry shower flowers on the forgotten tomb!”

In Russia, the charm of the charming image of Suyumbeki lived for a very long time. The Russians called her a sorceress. And Russian poets made her image one of the most poetic in world literature.
The poet Kheraskov, the author of the famous "Rossiyada", made the Kazan queen the main character of his poem, one of the best in the Russian XVIII century. At the beginning of the 19th century, the plays by Gruzintsov "The Conquered Kazan" and Glinka's "Sumbeka, or the Fall of Kazan" were performed on the stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Finally, in 1832, the stage saw Count Kutaisov's ballet Sumbeka, or the Conquest of the Kazan Kingdom. Pushkin was at the play, in which the role of Suyumbeki was performed by the ballerina Istomina, sung by him in Onegin.

The sons of Yusuf-Murza, the brothers Suyumbeks, came to the court of Ivan the Terrible, and since then they and their descendants began to serve the Russian sovereigns, not changing the Muslim faith and receiving awards for their service. So, on the banks of the Volga near Yaroslavl, the whole city of Romanov with a settlement (now the city of Tutaev) was granted to Il-murza by Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. In this beautiful city, which before the revolution bore the name of Romanov-Borisoglebsk, there are an abundance of churches on both banks of the Volga and also the ruins of an ancient mosque. It was in this city that an event took place that dramatically changed the fate and history of the Yusupov family.

It was in the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The great-grandson of Yusuf-Murza, named Abdul-Murza, received Patriarch Joachim in Romanov. The historian M.I. Pylyaev recalled: “Once upon a time, the brilliant nobleman, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, was the chamber junker on duty during dinner with Catherine the Great. A goose was served on the table.

- Do you know how, prince, to cut a goose? Ekaterina asked Yusupov.

“Oh, the goose must be very memorable of my surname! - answered the prince. “My ancestor ate one on Good Friday and for that he was deprived of several thousand peasants granted to him.

“I would take away all his property from him, because it was given to him on the condition that he did not eat fast on fast days,” the empress remarked jokingly about this story.

But that very night he had a vision. A distinct voice said: “From now on, for betraying the faith, there will not be more than one male heir in each tribe of your family, and if there are more, then all but one will not live longer than 26 years.”

Dmitry Seyushevich married Princess Tatyana Fedorovna Korkodinova, and according to the prediction, only one son succeeded his father. It was Grigory Dmitrievich, who served Peter the Great, a lieutenant general, whom Peter ordered to be called simply Prince Yusupov. Grigory Dmitrievich also had only one son who lived to adulthood - Prince Boris Grigorievich Yusupov, the former governor of Moscow. It is curious that at different times two representatives of a glorious family occupied this post: in addition to Boris Grigoryevich, the Governor-General of Moscow in 1915 was Felix Feliksovich Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston.

Boris Grigorievich Yusupov

The son of B. G. Yusupov is perhaps the most famous of the glorious family. Prince Nikolai Borisovich (1750-1831) is one of the richest nobles in Russia: there was not only a province, but even a county, where he did not have a village or estate. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of this remarkable man. Nikolai Borisovich was both the first director of the Hermitage, and the Russian envoy to Italy, and the chief manager of the Kremlin expedition and the Armory, as well as all theaters in Russia. He created the "Versailles near Moscow" - the Arkhangelsk estate, amazing in beauty and wealth, where A. S. Pushkin visited him twice, in 1827 and 1830. A poetic message from the great poet to Prince Yusupov, written in Moscow in 1830, is known:

... I will come to you; see this palace

Where is the architect's compass, palette and chisel

Your learned whim was obeyed

And inspired in magic competed.

At Kharitonya in the alley

Carriage in front of the house at the gate

Has stopped…

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov

He was a talented musician and writer, vice-director of the St. Petersburg Public Library, married to Duchess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribopierre. On Prince Nikolai Borisovich Jr., the male line of the ancient family was cut short.

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

Felix Feliksovich Yusupov Sr.

Yusupov family

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

And Emperor Alexander III, satisfying the request of Prince N. B. Yusupov Jr., so that the famous surname does not stop, allows Count Sumarokov-Elston to also be called Prince Yusupov. This title was to pass to the eldest of the sons.

Yusupov family

In a happy marriage, two sons were born and raised, both graduated from Oxford University.

Felix Yusupov

The eldest was named Prince Nikolai Feliksovich Yusupov (1883-1908).

Nikolai Yusupov, elder brother of Felix Yusupov Jr.

Parents have already begun to forget about the terrible prediction, when on the eve of his 26th birthday, Nikolai Feliksovich fell in love with a woman whose husband challenged him to a duel and ... killed him. The duel took place in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island in June 1908, at the estate of the princes Beloselsky-Belozersky. Nikolai fired into the air both times… “The body was placed in the chapel,” writes the younger brother Felix, who inherited the title of Prince Yusupov. Prince Nikolai Feliksovich was buried in Arkhangelsk near Moscow.

From the time of Ivan the Terrible, many murzas were in the service in Moscow, and later their descendants, who were baptized, became the founders of many Russian princely, noble families. The princes Yusupov-Knyazhev and the princes Urusov were the most famous of those.

Khan Yusuf (1480-1555)

Coat of arms of the Yusupovs

The ancestor of the Yusupov princely dynasty was Prince Yusuf, who, according to legend, was killed in 1555 by his younger brother Ismail. Yusuf had 8 sons. The elder is Yunus, the younger is Il-Murza. The famous Kazan queen Syuyumbike, after whom the famous tower in Kazan is named, was the daughter of Yusuf.

Queen of Kazan Syuyun, (Syuyumbike)

Khan Yusuf, a descendant of a noble family with a thousand-year history going back to the roots of the Muslim Middle Ages, to Abubekir bin Rayok, a descendant of the Prophet Ali and the nephew of the Prophet Mohammed (As-Siddiq Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn 'Usman al-Qurayshi, known as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq ( Arabic أبو بكر الصديق‎; 572, Mecca, Arabia - August 23, 634, Medina, Righteous Caliphate) - the first righteous caliph, companion and one of the father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.)

Monogram of Abu Bakr, made in Arabic script

He was the supreme ruler and received the name of Emir al Omr - the prince of princes, the sultan of sultans and khans. His descendants also held prominent positions: they were kings in Egypt, Damascus, Antioch and Constantinople. Some of them ruled Mecca... The descendants and associates of the Islamic Prophet Magomed first came to the lands of Russia in the 7th century in connection with the joint military campaign of Russia by the legendary Prince Oleg, Persian Derbent Shah Riarch and the Arab Caliphate under the command of the son-in-law of the Prophet, Caliph Usman ibn Affan against Byzantium Emperor Heraclius and the Khazar Khaganate Tong-Yabkhu Khagan. Later, after almost two hundred years of hostilities in the region of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rule of some Arab Islamic families was established there, among which were the ancestors of the Yusupov princes.

The history of this clan continues in the 14th century by the brave commander of the great conqueror Timur - the famous Edigei (1340s-1419), who founded the Nogai Horde.

According to the chronicle of Kadyr-Ali-bek, Edige's genealogy goes back to Abubekir, who had two sons Keremet-Aziz and Jalal-al-din. The latter was the father of Baba Tukles, who had four sons. Relying on other sources, Kadyr-Ali-bek claims that there were three sons, one of whom is buried next to the Kaaba, the other in the Crimea, and the third in Urgench. Further information about the ancestors of Edige in the genealogy given by Kadyr-Ali-bek is identical to the genealogy of the princes Yusupovs and Urusovs.

Persian sources of the 15th century directly call Edige the son of Baltychak. Baltychak was a beklerbek (Amir Al-umara) under the khan of the left wing Timur-Melik bin Urus. The latter was defeated by Tokhtamysh in 1378. The victorious Khan offered Baltychak to go to his service, but met with a proud refusal, for which Tokhtamysh executed the beklerbek.

Beklerbek Edige's own possessions at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries. El Mangyt was considered in the interfluve of the Volga - Ural - Emba. Along with the fact that el mangytov was integral part Golden Horde, but was autonomous entity inside Ulus Jochi.

In the service of Tamerlane

Father and elder brother Isa served Urus Khan, and Edigei, for some unknown reason, was forced to flee. Fleeing from Urus Khan, following the young Tokhtamysh, he arrived at the court of Tamerlane, in whose troops he began his service. Edigei's sister was the wife of Tamerlane. By the time of Tamerlane's campaign against Tokhtamysh in 1391, he was one of the main emirs (commanders) of the army. Shortly after the defeat of Tokhtamysh, Yedigey, together with Timur-Kutlug-oglan and another White Horde emir Kunche-oglan, began to ask Tamerlane to let them go home under the pretext of gathering people for Tamerlane's army. Having believed them, Tamerlane released the military leaders to their homeland, where they began to pursue their own policy (only Kunche-oglan returned back).

Fight against Tokhtamysh

Edigey, becoming the ulubey of the Mangyts, in every possible way contributed to the occupation of the Golden Horde throne by Timur-Kutlug, who, having defeated Tokhtamysh, who fled to Lithuania, soon reigned on the Golden Horde throne. Meanwhile Grand Duke Lithuanian Vitovt began to prepare a large-scale campaign against the Mongols in order to restore Tokhtamysh to the Golden Horde throne and thereby subordinate the Horde to his political influence. Having set out on a campaign, Vitovt set up camp on the Vorskla River in 1399 (see Battle on the Vorskla River), and Timur-Kutlug, frightened by the large number of the enemy, asked for peace. In the meantime, Edigei arrived at the river with his troops, who broke off the negotiations and persuaded Timur-Kutlug to continue the fight. Leading the Horde troops, Yedigei inflicted a crushing defeat on Vitovt.

In 1416 fighting Edigei against Vitovt and Tokhtamysh took place in the region of Kiev and the right bank of the Dnieper.

After this resounding victory, Edigei did not leave Tokhtamysh alone and fought him for a long time with varying success. In the end, in the sixteenth battle, Tokhtamysh was finally defeated and killed. Edigei by that time had enormous political influence. According to the Spanish traveler Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Edigey then had an army of 200,000 horsemen.

In 1419 Edigey was killed by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh near the town of Saraichik.

Character and appearance

Only one eastern author, Ibn Arabshah, left notes on the character and appearance of Edigei. He described Edigei as follows: “He was very swarthy [face], of medium height, of a dense build, brave, scary in appearance, of a high mind, generous, with a pleasant smile, a mark of insight and ingenuity.”

Children

Yedigei had at least twenty sons. Among them, the most famous are Mansur (d. 1427), Nuraddin (d. 1440), Ghazi (d. 1428), Naurus, Kay-Kavad, Sultan-Mahmud and Mubarak.

Khan of the Golden Horde Timur Khan (1410-1412) was married to Edigey's daughter.

By the middle of the 16th century, under his great-great-grandson, the supreme sovereign Khan Yusuf (1480s - 1555), the Nogai Horde reached its peak, and then plunged into the Time of Troubles. The population of the Kazan Khanate expressed a desire to swear new force, which arose in the East, the Ottoman Empire. Kazan was attacked and captured by the Turkish vassal, the Tatar Khan Giray, in alliance with the Nogai Mirzas. After the defeat of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, the daughter of Khan - Syuyumbike (1520 - 1557), the last queen of the Kazan Khanate of the pre-Ottoman era from this dynasty, who was forcibly married to Giray after her husband, Timurid, Kasimov prince Shah Ali was killed, was taken out by the Moscow Tsar from Kazan, and in 1563 her own brother, Il-Murza (... - 1611), also arrived in Moscow to Tsar John IV. The grandson of Il-Murza - Abdullah (... - 1694) valiantly fought in the Russian wars with the Commonwealth, Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. In 1681, he received Orthodox baptism, received the name Dmitry, the Russian title of prince instead of the former "Murza" and the surname Yusupov.

Dmitry Yusupov-Knyazhev was one of the people close to Tsar Peter the Great who in 1689 ensured the defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from the attack of archers loyal to Sophia Romanova and, in fact, brought Peter to power in Moscow.

Abdul (Abdullah)-Murza, baptized Prince Dmitry Yusupov

In 1558, Tsar Ivan the Terrible invited Yunus to Moscow and received him as an honored guest. In 1559 he died. The circumstances of the death are unknown. Ismail, fearing for the other sons of Yusuf, in 1563 sent Il-Murza and Ibrahim to Moscow as amanats (hostages) of the loyalty of the Nogais.

Tsar Ivan IV received them favorably and endowed them with vast estates. They were granted many villages and villages in the Romanovsky district near the Volga. The Yusupov family was rightfully considered the richest in Russia. In the 19th century only their Little Russian estates totaled 70 thousand acres of land.

Il-Murza had 3 sons: Seyush-Murza, Baimurza, Dinmurza. They all died at a young age.

Khanmurza Yusupov, the grandson of Seyush from the youngest son Dzhanmurza, was one of the first in the Yusupov family to accept Christianity.

The owner of enormous wealth, Abdul (Abdullah)-Murza, the grandson of Il-Murza, fell into disgrace under Tsar Fedor Alekseevich and lost a significant part of his estates. To remove himself from disgrace, he converted to Christianity and at baptism in 1681 received the name Dmitry. For the merits and courage shown in the war against the Crimean Khanate and Poland, he received the title of prince and an estate with land. He died in 1694, leaving behind three sons. One of his sons - Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov (1676-1730) - a participant in the Peter's wars, was in charge of supplying the Russian army in Poznan and building river ships in Nizhny Novgorod. After the death of Catherine I, for services to the fatherland and devotion to Emperor Peter I, Yusupov G.D. received a large house in Moscow as a gift and was granted the lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment, in which the tsar himself was considered a colonel. This attention and mercy of the tsar were so significant that the Duchess of Courland herself (later Empress Anna Ivanovna) congratulated Prince Grigory Dmitrievich in writing on the award and asked him to bow from her - his last name.

During the coronation of the wife of Catherine I by Peter the Great, Grigory Dmitrievich was among the six major generals who supported the canopy on silver poles, under which the empress walked to the cathedral

He is one of the first to receive the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky after its establishment by Catherine I. Grigory Dmitrievich was a senator, since 1727 - a member of the State Military Collegium. He died in the 56th year and was buried in Moscow in the Epiphany Monastery.

Yusupov G.D. there were three sons - princes Boris, Grigory, Sergei and a daughter, princess Praskovya Grigorievna. Praskovya during the Bironovshchina incurred the indignation of the empress for a few careless words, exaggerated by slander. Her mother refused her the inheritance of the estate near Moscow in Tolbino, although her father bequeathed to her. Upon the death of her mother in 1735, Praskovya took "monastic vows" in the monastery and took the name Mavra, and died 3 years later.

The son of Grigory Dmitrievich, Prince Boris Grigoryevich (1695-1759) was sent by Peter I to study in France with 20 other children of Russian dignitaries. He returned from Paris with a brilliant education for that time. He was elected governor of Moscow (1738), president of the college of chambers, chief director for the arrangement of Lake Ladoga, for 9 years he headed the St. Petersburg land cadet corps, Yusupov B.G. Acting Privy Councilor, Senator, Knight of the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Apostle the First-Called.

In March 1730, Prince Boris Grigoryevich received a letter from Empress Anna Ivanovna "for loyalty and zeal" and the rank of real chamberlain with the rank of major general. Biron was very envious of him and in 1740 he "looked after" him. Fate decreed that after 34 years these families became related, the son of Biron became the husband of his youngest daughter, Evdokia. In 1774, 14 years after the death of her father, Evdokia married Peter Biron, Duke of Courland. The marriage took place under the auspices of Catherine II in Winter Palace. Boris Grigoryevich was buried in the former wooden church of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Sr. (1751-1831) - even in infancy he was enlisted in the Life Guards, at the age of 16 he entered active service as a lieutenant, and in 1771 he was granted the lieutenant of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Then he retired, spent several years traveling in Europe (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal). In London in 1776 he met with famous writer Beaumarchais.

In January 1783, Nikolai Borisovich was sent by the Russian ambassador to Turin to the court of the Sardinian king Amedeus III. At the invitation of Prince N.B. Yusupov, experienced artists Mazon, Rossin and others worked to make copies of the originals from the Raphael boxes in the rooms of the Vatican Palace. Then the Hermitage in St. Petersburg was decorated with the Raphael Gallery. In his collection, there were up to 10 paintings by Greuze, 6 by Claude Laurent, 15 by Phillip Wuwermann, works by Rembrandt, Rubens, etc. He also had a huge number of private collections - cutlery from old Sèvres porcelain, things from precious stones: watches, snuff boxes and a rich collection of carved stones of rare beauty and artistic value.

In 1791 Yusupov N.B. became manager of theaters in St. Petersburg. Then the president of the manufactory-college under Emperor Alexander I, a member of the State Council, a real privy councillor. The well-known philanthropist was awarded the orders of St. Alexander Nevsky (1796) and St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called (1797). In 1800, he became Minister of the Department of Appanages, retaining also the management of the manufactory college. In Paris he was received with honor by Napoleon.

In 1826, Nikolai Borisovich was appointed supreme marshal at the coronation of a new tsar. Thus, he was destined to hold this position at three coronations: Emperor Paul - April 15, 1797, Emperor Alexander I - September 15, 1801, Emperor Nicholas I - in August 1826. He died on June 15, 1831 and was buried in the village of Spassky near Moscow.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr. (1826-1891) - a member of the Board of Trustees of the institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, was in charge of the St. Petersburg Public Library.

Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston the elder received the title of Prince Yusupov by marrying Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova - the last representative of the Yusupov family, commander of the Cavalry Guards Regiment, Moscow Governor-General (1914-1915); Chairman of the Animal Acclimatization Society.

Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, 4th tribe of the 3rd branch of the descendants of His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky and Elizaveta Mikhailovna Golenishcheva-Kutuzova.

The history of the Kutuzov family is very closely connected with the history of the Arab Muslim families.

Prince (since 1885) Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (October 5 (17), 1856 - June 10, 1928) - Russian lieutenant general (1915), adjutant general (1915), chief commander of the Moscow Military District (May 5 - June 19, 1915), commander-in-chief of the city of Moscow (May 5 - September 3, 1915), 4th knee of the 3rd branch of the descendants of His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky from Elizaveta Mikhailovna Khitrovo, nee Golenishcheva-Kutuzova.

Ancestor - Al-Malik al-Muzafar Sayf ad-Din Kutuz (arab. الملك المظفر سيف الدين قطز‎;? - October 24, 1260) - the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (1259-1260), the ancestor of the princes Kutuzov and the counts of Sumarov Descended from the descendants of Genghisid Barak Khan, the ruler of Ulus Berke in the Crimea, where in the Old Crimea was born in the 14th century Baibars Mamelyuk, the Sultan of Egypt, a relative and ally of Mustafa Kutuz, and the Black Sea region to Bessarabia, where the dynasty of Toka-Timur Bessarab ruled.

The Bahrids ruled Egypt, Syria and the western part of the Arabian Peninsula from 1250 to 1390. Originally originating from the Euro-Asian steppe, from the Black Sea region, the Bahrid dynasty peacefully inherited power from their patrons, the Ayubids (the dynasty of Sultan Aepa Osenevich, Ayub ibn Yasin (I-Sin is also one of the names of the Prophet Magomed (Muhammad, Ahmad, Tā Hā, Yā Sīn, clothed by God, thou who art covered, and a servant of God [ʿAbd Allāh; 72:19]), whom she faithfully served, providing large-scale military assistance, until the death of the last Ayyubid sultan, al-Salih Ayub, after which his childless widow Shajar al-Durr married a Mamluk leader, al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aibak, during which power was legally transferred from the Ayyubids to the Bahrid Mameluks.

Religion - Sunni Islam.

According to legend, the ancestor of the Kutuzovs took part in the battle on Lake Peipsi (Battle of the Ice) on the side of Alexander Nevsky, after which his descendants received Russian titles, boyars and lands from this prince.

Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov and Count Sumarokov with Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna and their sons, Feoiks and Nikolai

Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov the Younger

Until now, the estate of the princes Yusupovs in the village has been preserved. Arkhangelsk, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region.

The clan of the princes Urusov, as shown in the certificate of the discharge archive and other genealogical books, comes from the son of Ismail, prince Urus.

Yedigei's campaign against Moscow. The event is connected with the war in the Meshchera region against Tokhtamysh

Many of the grandchildren of Urus adopted the Christian faith with the title of princes of the Urusovs.

Coat of arms of the Urusovs

Prince Urusov Dmitry Semyonovich (1830 † 1903)

Prince Lev Vladimirovich Urusov (1877-1933)

It is known that the sons of Jan-Arslan (the son of Prince Urus) were taken to Moscow as amanats (trusted persons) and baptized there, Urak - in the name of Peter, Zaurbek - Alexander. The discharge book under 1954 says that in July of this year, when receiving the Caesar’s ambassadors, when the ambassadors ate with the sovereign, Prince Peter Urusov “cut wine” and poured drink.

Urak (Peter) Urusov killed in December 1610 the Tushino impostor False Dmitry. (False Dmitry I, who officially called himself Tsarevich (then Tsar) Dmitry Ivanovich, in relations with foreign countries- Emperor Dimitri (lat. Demetreus Imperator) (d. May 17 (27), 1606), - Tsar of Russia from June 1 (11), 1605 to May 17 (27), 1606, according to the opinion established in historiography - an impostor who pretended to be for the miraculously saved youngest son of Ivan IV the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry. The first of three impostors who called themselves the son of Ivan the Terrible, who claimed the Russian throne. There were three such Dmitriev impostors in total. Urusov killed False Dmitry II, Tushinsky Thief.

Death of False Dmitry

Peter Urusov was married to the widow of Prince A. Shuisky. He began his career in the forefront of the Moscow court youth during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (son of Ivan the Terrible).

With the beginning of the Time of Troubles, Urusov went to the Crimea, where he became an authoritative specialist in Moscow affairs, and was one of the organizers of the attacks on Moscow. P. Urusov occupied a prominent position in the Crimean Khanate or Ulus Berke. Berke (Mong. Berkh Khan; Tat. Bәrkә, Bärkä, Berkhe, Berka, Berkay; 1209-1266) - the fifth ruler of the Dzhuchiev Ulus (1257-1266), son of Dzhuchi, grandson of Genghis Khan. The first of the Mongol rulers converted to Islam.

Vasily Leontyevich Kochubey (coat of arms "Friend" of the Varangian Shimon, Afrikanov's son), a descendant of the rulers of Khajiba, modern Odessa, which at that time was one of the capitals of Ulus Barak (Berke)

Berke fought against his kinsman - Genghisid Hulagu, Ilkhan of Iran, having entered into an alliance against him with the Egyptian Mamluks. He continued the policy of his brother Batu to preserve the integrity and strengthen the independence of the ulus, which by the end of Berke's reign became virtually independent of the great khan. He strengthened the yoke of the Golden Horde over the Russian principalities.

While in the Crimea, he became related to the ruler of Akkerman (Belogorod) Kantemir, strengthening his position and tribal status.

Dmitry Kantemir, ruler of the Moldavian Principality, heir to Tsar Ivan I of Bessarab, Toktemirovich Dzhuchiev Chingizov Voloshin Voloshsky

On May 14, 1639, the Khan of Mangup Kadylyk, who was part of the Eyalet subordinate to the Ottoman Empire with the center in Feodosia (Cafe), Begadyr-Girey, fraudulently summoned P. Urusov as if “on advice” and executed him and all his people. The body of P. Urusov was thrown "at the royal court around." Soon his two sons were also killed.

The eyalet of the Ottoman Empire on the lands of the former Principality of Theodoro was formed on the southern coast of Crimea after the siege and capture of Mangup undertaken by the Ottoman Turks under the leadership of Gedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475. After a five-month siege, the assault on Mangup in 1475 was successful, the sources mention the false flight of the Turks as a military trick. The Principality of Theodoro ceased to exist and became part of the Ottoman Empire. The family of Prince Alexander, with the exception of the infant son Kenalbi (Kemal Bey), was slaughtered.

Tired and angry with a long siege, the Turks massacred the defenders of the fortress, which is also confirmed by archaeologists - on the Mangup plateau, during the excavations of the basilica carried out by N.I. moreover, many skulls had traces of blows from a heavy blunt instrument. Many of the skeletons had their upper or lower limbs cut off. Burials were found in the most unexpected places. The excavations of wine presses (tarapanov) were used as graves, and sometimes the bodies were simply sprinkled on level ground with earth and stones.

After the conquest, the Mangup kadylyk was formed from the former lands of the principality, which was part of the eyalet (province) with the center in Kef (Feodosia). The lands of the Sultan's domain, where the Christian population lived, were outside the jurisdiction Crimean khans. Tatars were even forbidden to settle on them. The descendants of Christians who survived the massacre in the mountains after the Russian-Turkish war in 1779 were resettled in Russian Empire, in the Northern Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.

Principality of Theodoro on the map of Crimea

Coat of arms of the Principality of Theodoro

In 1776, the Moscow provincial prosecutor, Prince P.V. Urusov and entrepreneur M.G. Medox formed a permanent troupe of the Moscow Russian Theater (Bolshoi Theatre), which included the theater troupes of N.S. Titov and Moscow University, as well as serf actors P.V. Urusova and others.

Tiny Tinbaev with a detachment of Yurt Nogais in 1617-1618 acted against the Poles on the side of Russia. His son Gazi, the great-grandson of Biy Ismail, baptized Mikhail Kanaev, has long served in Moscow. So in 1616, as governor, Prince Mikhail Kanaev Murzin, son of Tinbaev-Urusov, together with N. Likharev, by royal decree, went to fight on Lithuanian land to Surozh, Vitebsk and other places. In 1617, Prince Mikhail fought with regiments under the walls of Moscow. The chronicler writes: "And I would have a great battle with them (Poles)," "I was like the ancient heroes." Michael fell heroically in an unequal battle.

Coat of arms of the Princes of Cherkasy

Yakov Cherkassky

Prince Yakov Kudenetovich (or Kudenekovich) Cherkassky (d. July 8, 1666) - a close boyar (1645) and governor from the Cherkassky family. The son of the Wali prince (Wālī (Arabic: والي‎, wālī) - governor, governor) of Kabarda Kudenet Kambulatovich Cherkassky (1616-1624). Before baptism, he bore the name Uruskan-Murza. Princes Ivan Borisovich and Vasily Kardanukovich Cherkassky were his cousins.

The Yusupov family is very ancient. Its history goes back to the Muslim Middle Ages, to the Baghdad Caliphate of the 10th century. This is evidenced not only by family traditions, but also by the ancient family document “The family tree of the Yusupov princes from Abubekir”. The chronicle is dated 1602 and is kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts in Moscow. The text is illegible, with losses. Perhaps that is why many historians called the legendary Abu Bakr (Abubekir) (572–634), the friend and father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, who was elected the first caliph of the Islamic state after his death, the Yusupov ancestor.

However, in 1866-67. prince N.B. Yusupov Jr. amended this version. In the historical work “On the family of the Yusupov princes”, he wrote that his ancestor was the eponymous father-in-law of Mohammed three centuries later, Abubekir ben Raiok, who also ruled over all Muslims. Caliph al-Radi bi-l-lah (934–940) granted his supreme commander all power in the spiritual and secular sense, as well as the right to dispose of the treasury. The governor of Babylonia and the ancestor of the Yusupovs were treacherously killed while sleeping in 942.

Twelve generations of Abu Bakr's descendants lived in the Middle East. They were sultans, emirs, caliphs throughout the space from Egypt to India.

One of them, the third son of Sultan Babatyukles, who ruled in Mecca, is Termes, in the 12th century. went with people devoted to him to the north and settled between the Don and the Volga, and then between the Volga and the Urals.

His descendant, the legendary Edigei (1340s–1419), an ally of Tamerlane and the murderer of Tokhtamysh, founded the city at the beginning of the 15th century. Nogai Horde. The great-great-grandson of Edigey - Khan Yusuf (1480s–1555) lived for 20 years and corresponded with Ivan the Terrible. Under him, the Nogai Horde reached the peak of its power, the "Tsar of All Russia" recognized its sovereignty and regularly bought hardy steppe horses from the Nogais - the main wealth of the nomads. However, having conquered Kazan, Ivan the Terrible captured the queen of the Kazan kingdom Syuyumbeka, the daughter of Khan Yusuf. Angry, the ruler of the Nogai Horde wanted to terminate the peace treaty with Russia. Yusuf's brother, Ishmael, prevented this. He killed the Khan, and Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov-Knyazhevo (?–1694) (Abdul-Murza), the great-grandson of the Nogai Khan Yusuf, who converted to Orthodoxy in 1681, sent his two sons, Il-Murza and Ibragim-Murza, to Moscow as a guarantee peace.

John IV granted the descendants of Yusuf many villages and villages in the Romanov district (now the Tutaevsky district of the Yaroslavl region). Thus began the service of the Yusupovs in Russia.

The grandson of Il-Murza Abdul-Murza fought for his new homeland with the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanate. Under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, he during During the Great Lent, out of ignorance, he fed Patriarch Joachim, who had come to visit, with a goose. The patriarch praised the "fish", after which Abdul-Murza boasted of his cook, who can cook a goose "for fish". Joachim and the king, when they found out about what had happened, were terribly angry. Abdul-Murza thought hard for three days and decided to accept Orthodoxy. During the ceremony, he received the name Dmitry and the title "Prince" instead of the Tatar "Murza", was forgiven and saved from ruin.

On the same night, according to family tradition, the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream and cursed the Yusupov family for apostasy. According to the curse, from now on, in each generation, only one man had to live to the age of 26 years. And so it happened.

During the Streltsy rebellion of 1682, Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupov led a detachment of warriors and Tatars to the Trinity Lavra to protect the infant tsars John and Peter Alekseevich, for which he was granted estates in the Romanovsky district in hereditary possession.

His son - Grigory Dmitrievich (1676-1730) - one of the closest associates of Peter I. A brave warrior, he fought for his emperor in many battles: Azov campaigns, the siege of Narva, the capture of the Nienschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva, the battle near the village of Lesnoy. Grigory Dmitrievich also participated in civil cases: he led the creation of a rowing flotilla in Nizhny Novgorod, controlled the supply and financial support of the Russian army, and conducted an investigation in the search commissions on abuses. When Peter I died, three people were the first to follow his coffin: His Serene Highness Prince A.D. Menshikov, Count F.M. Apraksin and Prince G.D. Yusupov.

Favored the prince and subsequent emperors. Catherine I awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. The grandson of Peter I - Peter II - granted Grigory Dmitrievich an old Moscow mansion in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky lane, elevated him to lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment and approved him as a senator. Since 1727, Yusupov became a leading member of the Military Collegium, and shortly before his death, he was promoted to General-in-Chief by Empress Anna Ioannovna.

The largest land grants in the history of the family were made to Prince Grigory Dmitrievich. Under various rulers, he received estates in the Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Kursk, Kharkov, Voronezh and Yaroslavl provinces from the possessions of the disgraced princes Koltsov-Masalsky and Menshikov.

His son - Boris Grigorievich (1695–1759) - in 1717 among 20 Russian noblemen sons was sent by Peter I to study in France - in the Toulon school of midshipmen. However, he did not inherit his father's warlike nature and preferred civilian service to military service. During the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, Boris Grigorievich was appointed Governor-General of Moscow (1740), and under Elizabeth Petrovna he received the status of a real privy councilor, served as chief director of the Ladoga Canal, president of the Commerce Collegium, director of Russia's first land gentry cadet corps - privileged educational institution for noble children. In the performance of his service, Boris Grigorievich was noted for his initiative to connect the Ladoga Canal with the Volga and Oka, introduced improvements in the methods of production of Russian cloth at state-owned factories, and also contributed to the theatrical activities of students of the cadet corps. Among the latter then was A.P. Sumarokov - an outstanding playwright in the future. The stage experiences of noble children delighted Elizaveta Petrovna so much that in 1756 she issued a decree on the establishment of the first Russian public theater.

The son of Boris Grigorievich, Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751–1831), was especially famous for his disposition to art, a brilliant nobleman of the “Golden Age Catherine" and one of her many favorites, and perhaps for some time a lover. In any case, a picture hung in his office, in which he and Catherine II were depicted naked in the form of Apollo and Venus.

"The messenger of a young crowned wife," in Pushkin's words, was friends with Voltaire, Diderot and Beaumarchais. Beaumarchais dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. In Europe, Yusupov was received by all monarchs: Joseph II in Vienna, Frederick the Great in Berlin, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. The prince amassed a brilliant collection of Western European paintings and sculpture contemporary to him, comparable, according to the art critic and artist Alexander Benois, with similar departments of the Louvre and the Hermitage. He was in correspondence and friendship with the greatest masters of the French and Italian schools: J.-B. Grezom, J.-L. David, J. Vernet, G. Robert. The Russian aristocrat quickly earned a reputation as a "connoisseur of the arts." Catherine II took advantage of the prince's connections and entrusted him with the purchase of paintings for the recently created Hermitage, as well as the study of porcelain in Europe. Yusupov acquired the best works art for Russia and at the same time for himself. For example, in Italy, he convinced Pope Pius VI to give permission for the complete copying of the famous loggias of Raphael. Later, he moved copies to St. Petersburg.

Returning to Russia, the prince occupies a number of responsible government posts. At various times, he served as director of the Hermitage, imperial theaters, glass and porcelain factories, tapestry manufactory, president of the Manufactory College, minister of appanages, head of the Expedition of the Kremlin buildings and the Armory. Since 1823 N.B. Yusupov is a member of the State Council. The only one in history, he was the supreme marshal at the coronation of three Russian emperors - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. When this nobleman received all conceivable posts and awards, a precious pearl epaulette was established especially for him.

Having married a relative of the Most Serene Prince Grigory Potemkin, the prince leaves her and the children in St. Petersburg, and he himself moves to Moscow. Not the last role in the trip played the famous womanly dignitary. This feature was noted by many contemporaries. In his estate hung 300 portraits of women, whose favor he enjoyed. All of Moscow was full of stories about the love affairs of the elderly prince. In addition to cohabitation with many of his serf actresses, Yusupov had another house opposite the palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky, surrounded by a high stone wall, where a seraglio with 15–20 of his most pretty courtyard girls was located. In addition, the prince openly supported the famous dancer Voronina-Ivanova, to whom he presented rare diamonds as a benefit performance.

Having moved to Moscow, Yusupov buys the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow from Prince Golitsyn and completes the creation of the “Russian Versailles” begun by the former owner. He transports here his huge collection of works of art, lays out a park, builds new buildings. The life of Nikolai Borisovich in his old age was a typical example of the life of a brilliant nobleman of Catherine's times. “Surrounded by marble, painted and living beauty,” according to Herzen, “the old skeptic and epicurean Yusupov ... magnificently went out for 80 years ...” A fish with golden earrings at the gills swam in the fountains of Arkhangelsk, and a hand-held eagle flew up to the spire after a certain period of time . It was rumored that Prince Yusupov, while in Paris, took the elixir of eternal youth, because he did not seem to age. At the age of 80, Nikolai Borisovich had an 18-year-old mistress from a serf theater troupe. The sybarite nobleman went into debt to maintain his pleasures and died quite suddenly from a cholera epidemic. Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, having visited Arkhangelsk, left the following characterization of Yusupov: “On the street, his eternal holiday, in the house, the eternal triumph of celebrations ... Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating.”

His son, Boris Nikolaevich (1794–1849), is the exact opposite of his father. He was distinguished by remarkable practical acumen, and showed indifference to the arts. The new owner of Arkhangelsk disbanded the theater troupe, rented out the porcelain factory and buildings, and moved the collection of paintings to St. Petersburg to the newly acquired mansion at 94 Moika Street. Herzen complained that the estate near Moscow was turning from "a beautiful flower into a garden plant." True, a garden plant, for all its non-aesthetics, brings practical benefits, unlike a beautiful flower. The “art connoisseur” Nikolai Borisovich left to his descendants not only “483 paintings and 21 marble statues”, but also almost two and a half million different debts, and the richest of the Yusupov estates were unprofitable by the time of his death. Having entered into inheritance rights, Boris Nikolayevich became the owner of about 250 thousand acres of land and over 40 thousand peasants. A straightforward, sincere, patriotic, religious, active and very practical man, he gave his yard boys to study crafts, not literacy, took care of their religious education, and considered learning dances and music superfluous. Under him, the profitability of Yusupov estates increased sharply.

The wife of Boris Nikolaevich, nee Naryshkina, was a very beautiful lady. 15 years younger than her husband, she led a secular salon life, and after his death she left married a young French nobleman, accepted a new citizenship and settled in her own mansion in the middle of the royal park in Boulogne.

The son of Prince Boris - Nikolai, named after the legendary grandfather - is the last representative of the Yusupov family in the male line. Having been educated at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, he made a good court career - he was promoted to actual state councilors and granted to the chamberlains of the highest court. Everything free time the prince devoted himself to his various hobbies. The artistically gifted and subtle nature of Nikolai Borisovich Jr. combined a passion for collecting, music, history and philosophy. The prince was a member of the Paris Conservatory, the Roman Academy of Music, and the Munich Art Society. In 1866–67 he published a two-volume historical work "On the family of the Yusupov princes." N.B. died. Yusupov Jr. in 1891 abroad, where he spent a considerable part of his life, carrying out diplomatic missions of the court.

The health of the last Yusupov, like the health of his wife, Tatyana Alexandrovna, nee Ribopierre, was rather fragile, in addition, the spouses were cousins to each other. They had two beautiful daughters. The youngest, Tatyana, died of typhus at the age of 22. In the light, it was rumored that from that time on, the Yusupov family curse extended to the female half.

Seven years before his death, N.B. Yusupov Jr. petitioned the highest name for permission to transfer his name, title and coat of arms to his son-in-law - the husband of his eldest daughter. The chosen one of Zinaida Nikolaevna (1861–1939) was Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, a cornet of the Cavalry Guards Regiment and, according to rumor, a descendant of M.I. Kutuzov and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The count, a tall, stately brunette with an energetic gait, belonged to the highest military aristocracy: from 1911 he was the general of His Majesty's retinue, in 1914 he was appointed chief of the Moscow military district and governor-general of Moscow. Zinaida Nikolaevna chose him solely at the call of her heart, because at one time representatives of the most noble families of Europe, not excluding the reigning families, for example, two French infantes or the Bulgarian Crown Prince Batenberg, wooed her. V late XIX v. The Yusupovs owned fabulous wealth and one of the largest landed estates in the country. In terms of capital, they occupied one of the first places in the empire; in 1900, the value of their real estate was 21.3 million rubles.

The more significant is the step taken by the Yusupovs in 1900. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich bequeathed all the artistic values of the family in the event of its sudden termination in favor of the state. These are extensive collections of art and jewelry, palaces in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Arkhangelsk, as well as a number of estates in Central Russia.

A large role in making this decision belonged to Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna. A beauty, a subtle spiritualized woman, she possessed exceptional spiritual qualities, which was recognized by many contemporaries. During her reign, all the Yusupov estates were restored. Arkhangelskoe came back to life again, grand dukes began to visit there, and, as in the old days, famous artists and cultural figures used to visit here. The Moscow Palace in Bolshoi Kharitonevsky underwent artistic restoration and came to life after a long break. At the expense of the family in 1912, the Roman Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts named after the emperor was created Alexander III in Moscow (now - the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). The artist Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov, who painted only people he liked, created portraits of the Yusupovs and their two sons. He repeatedly visited Arkhangelsk and left the following opinion about Zinaida Nikolaevna: "a glorious princess ... there is something subtle, good in her ... she generally understands."

The fate of her children was dramatic and even tragic. Eldest son - Nikolai -
versatile gifted young man, as if once again confirming the family
legend of the curse, was killed in a duel over a woman at the age of 25. During a duel with Count Meineifel, Nikolai deliberately fired twice into the air. As a sign of this tragic event, the Yusupovs order the architect Klein, the author of the Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka, a tomb church in Arkhangelskoye. The building has 26 pairs of columns - the fateful number of the genus.

The fate of the youngest son - Felix Feliksovich, Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston Jr. (1887-1967) - is full of twists and turns. A handsome man and a master of outrageousness, a reveler and a frivolous rake, he was one of the main scandalous heroes of the secular bohemia of the pre-war years. In 1914, Felix married the fragile princess of imperial blood "with a cameo profile" Irina Alexandrovna. A mansion in St. Petersburg was being completed for the young, and soon a girl was born to them - Princess Irina Feliksovna. Further developments more like an action-packed detective story.

In November 1916, Felix Yusupov organizes the assassination of the royal favorite Grigory Rasputin. In addition to him, the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, the famous politician V. Purishkevich, the front-line lieutenant A. Sukhotin and the military doctor S. Lazovert are participating in the conspiracy. Yusupov, under some pretext, brings the "old man" to the mansion on the Moika, after which he feeds him cakes with potassium cyanide. The murder turned out to be very bloody and difficult, as if marking the near future of the country. Rasputin does not die for a long time - he is repeatedly shot at, beaten, and eventually thrown into the icy river. The Empress is furious - she demands the execution of Felix. But Nicholas II exiles him to the Rakitnoye estate. Kursk province, where the mother and wife of the young prince immediately arrive. Here they learned about February Revolution and the abdication of the sovereign.

Until the spring of 1919, the whole family lived in the Crimean estate of the Romanovs, Ai-Todor. Earlier on the peninsula, the Yusupovs owned a palace in Koreiz near Yalta, as well as an estate in Kokkozy. Now the Bolsheviks are in charge there - the time of the "Red Terror" has come. The situation is very unstable and resembles anarchy. Felix visits Petrograd and Moscow several times to hide part of the wealth. Together with the butler Grigory Buzhinsky, he makes several hiding places in the palaces on the Moika and Bolshoi Kharitonevsky. The Yusupovs hope to return. After the Bolsheviks tortured Buzhinsky, and all the treasures were found and expropriated. And in 1919, returning to the Crimea, Felix took out two of the best portraits by Rembrandt from his collection.

In April 1919, the Empress Dowager and her relatives, including the Yusupovs, left Russia. Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Feliksovich Sr. settled in Rome. Irina and Felix Yusupov settled first in London, then moved to Paris, buying a small house in Boulogne-sur-Seine.

Felix Feliksovich Sr. died in 1928. His wife moved to his son in Paris. The well-known fashion salon IRFE gathered in Felix's house, here one could meet Kuprin, Bunin, Teffi, Vertinsky and many others. The owner of the salon, a tall, slender man "with an iconic face of Byzantine writing," was known as "the man who killed Rasputin." Rich American women did everything possible to get to know him. The prince himself missed Russia and wrote memoirs that ended up in Hollywood and became the basis for the film.

Since the late 1930s Yusupov repeatedly received Nazi offers of cooperation, which he rejected. They retaliated by not returning the wealth stored in the Berlin banks. After the war, the Yusupovs finally went bankrupt.

In 1967, at the age of 80, Felix Yusupov died in Paris. A few months before his death, he adopted an 18-year-old Mexican, Victor Contreras, who later became famous sculptor and a painter.

The daughter of Felix and Irina, the younger Irina, married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev. The newlyweds settled in Rome, where in 1942 their daughter Xenia was born. It was she who, after more than 70 years of emigration, managed to set foot on Russian soil. In the spring of 1991, she stepped over the threshold of the palace on the Moika, where five generations of her ancestors lived. Three years later, Princess Xenia attended the funeral liturgy in a dilapidated family church in the village of Spasskoye near Moscow - five burials of the Yusupovs were preserved here. The same number of graves of an ancient family are located in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the vicinity of Paris.

In 2000, by presidential decree Russian Federation Ksenia Nikolaevna Yusupova-Sheremeteva, married to Sfiri, was granted Russian citizenship in response to her request. In 2004, in the family of Tatyana, the only daughter of the princess, the first-born was born - the girl Marilya. The ancient line continues.