25. Юсуповский дворец

It’s not given to many men to be able to shift the course of the world by even the tiniest fraction but Felix Yusupov did that. Combined with all the other troubles, the personal blow of the loss of “Our Friend” demoralized Nicolas and Alexander and was one of the factors which left the czar unable to withstand the forces of revolution. It may well be that the revolution would have taken place without the murder of Rasputin. The murder caused hatred for the aristocrats among the peasants. What transpired was quite opposite to what Felix expected and hoped would happen. He believed in the talk about in a coup de palais and expected that the corrupt and useless ministers appointed at Rasputin’s request would be swept away after his death, that czar would then be forced to accept a new stronger government in which other members of the imperial family would play an important role and so the dynasty would be preserved. The Yusupovs had acquired the basis for their wealth like the following: they were originally of Tartars origin, chieftains in the Golden Horde to which Moscow paid tribute. When Felix was born in 1887 Moscow was still very much an oriental city. The city’s cathedral St Basil’s remains a reminder of the Russian struggle against the Tartars and the history of the Yusupovs, for this cathedral was built by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Kazan from Khan Yusuf from whom the Yusupovs took their name. At the end of the 17th century his great grandson acknowledged the role of czar and converted to the Orthodox faith with the name of Dmitriy. The family was ennobled and Dmitriy was made prince Yusupov.

Princess Zinaida was the last true Yusupov descended from the male line. When she married a colonel count Felix Sumarokov-Elston, the czar gave them permission to keep the Yusupov name and title. At the age of 29 Felix Yusupov (Zinaida’s son) inherited the enormous Yusupov family fortune made up of 4 palaces in St Petersburg, 3 in Moscow, 37 estates, coal mines, iron mines, oil land around the Caspian Sea from which oil simply oozed, estates in the Crimea (one of the mountains was presented by Felix’s father to his wife as a birthday present). In 1916 the inheritance was estimated to be worth about 250 million USD. The Moyka palace art collections surpassed most collections in Europe’s museums. The rooms were furnished with pieces which once belonged to Queen of France Maria-Antoinette and there were 2000 guests who could be seated to dine from gold and silver plates. Among the collection there were 2 portraits by Rembrand (“Portrait of a gentleman in a high-hat” and “Portrait of a lady with an ostrich feather fan”). Now the pictures are in the national gallery of art in Washington. There were also collections of jewellry. There were famous earrings which belonged to madam Pompadour, black pearl necklace which was presented by Catherine the Great and one of 3 perfect pearls “la Pelegrina”. Overlooking the Moyka river, this yellow, colonnaded building was designed by Vallin de La Mothe. The palace was acquired in 1830 by the aristocratic Yusupov family to house their superb collection of paintings. Major work was then carried out on the interior by Andrey Mykhaylov and Ippolito Monighetti. The interiors, notable among them the exotic Moorish room, with its fountain, colorful mosaics and horseshoe arches can be viewed by guided tour only. Separate tickets are needed for the tour of the cellars which house an exhibition on Grigory Rasputin, the infamous “holy man” who was murdered here by Prince Felix Yusupov. The elegant Rococo-style family theatre seats just 180 and attending a concert in an experience in itself. The Russian peasant and mystic Grigory Rasputin exercised an extraordinarily powerful influence over the court and government of Russia. The mysterious circumstances of his dramatic death on 17 Dec 1916 are legendary. Lured to Yusupov’s palace on the pretext of a party, Rasputin was poisoned and then shot by Felix Yusupov. And left for dead. Returning to the scene the Prince found Rasputin still alive and a struggle ensued before Rasputin disappeared into the courtyard. Persuaded by the conspirators he was shot another 3 times and brutally beaten before being dumped in the river. When his corpse was found three days later, clinging to the support of bridge, water in his lungs indicated death by drowning.