Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. The family of the Yusupov princes, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Nikolai Feliksovich Yusupov

Official positions held: chief manager of the Armory and the Expedition of the Kremlin Building, director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-1796), director of the Hermitage (1797), headed the palace glass, porcelain and tapestry factories (since 1792), senator (since 1788), active privy councilor ( 1796), minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-1816), member of the State Council (since 1823).

Biography

The only son of the Moscow mayor Boris Yusupov, a representative of the richest princely family of the Yusupovs, who died on his great-granddaughter Zinaida.

Helping to acquire works of art for Empress Catherine II and her son Paul I, the prince was an intermediary in the execution of imperial orders by European artists. Thus, the Yusupov collection was formed from the same sources as the imperial one, therefore, the Yusupov collection contained works by major landscape painters.

Family traditions and membership in the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs had a significant impact on his personality and fate. In its long life, several stages can be distinguished that were of decisive importance for the formation of the collection.

First of all, this is the first educational trip abroad in 1774-1777, staying in Holland and studying at the University of Leiden. Then interest in European culture and art awakened, and a passion for collecting arose. During these years, he made a Grand Tour, visiting England, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria. It was presented to many European monarchs, was adopted by Diderot and Voltaire.

My books and a few good pictures and drawings are my only entertainment.

N. B. Yusupov

In Leiden, Yusupov acquired rare collectible books, paintings and drawings. Among them is the edition of Cicero, issued by the famous Venetian firm of Aldov (Manutius), with a commemorative inscription about the purchase: “a Leide 1e mardi 7bre de l’annee 1774” (in Leiden on the first Tuesday of September 1774). In Italy, the prince met the German landscape painter J. F. Hackert, who became his adviser and expert. Hackert painted on his order the paired landscapes Morning in the Outskirts of Rome and Evening in the Outskirts of Rome, completed in 1779 (both - the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate). Antiquity and modern art - these two main hobbies of Yusupov will continue to determine the main artistic preferences, consonant with the era of the formation and development of the last great international artistic style in European art - classicism.

The second important stage in the formation of the collection was the 1780s. As a person versed in the arts and well-known at European courts, Yusupov entered the retinue and accompanied the Count and Countess of the North (Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna) on a trip to Europe in 1781-1782. Possessing great knowledge, a taste for the fine arts, he carried out the instructions of Pavel Petrovich and significantly expanded his ties with artists and commission agents, for the first time he visited the workshops of the most famous artists - A. Kaufman in Venice and P. Batoni, engraver D. Volpato, widely known for reproduction engravings from the works of Raphael in the Vatican and Rome, G. Robert, C. J. Vernet, J.-B. Greuze and J.-A. Houdon in Paris. Then relations with these artists were maintained over the years, contributing to the replenishment of the personal collection of the prince.

1790s - the rapid rise of Yusupov's career. He fully demonstrates his devotion to the Russian throne, both to the aging Empress Catherine II and to Emperor Paul I. At the coronation of Paul I, he was appointed supreme coronation marshal. He performed the same role at the coronations of Alexander I and Nicholas I.

From 1791 to 1802, Yusupov held important government posts: director of the imperial theatrical performances in St. Petersburg (since 1791), director of the imperial glass and porcelain factories and tapestry manufactory (since 1792), president of the manufactory board (since 1796) and minister of appanages (since 1800). ).

In 1794, Nikolai Borisovich was elected an honorary amateur of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1797, Paul I gave him control of the Hermitage, where the imperial art collection was located. The art gallery was headed by the Pole Franz Labensky, who had previously been the curator of the art gallery of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, whom Yusupov accompanied during his stay in St. Petersburg. A new complete inventory of the Hermitage collection was carried out. The compiled inventory served as the main inventory until the middle of the 19th century.

The government posts held by the prince made it possible to directly influence the development of national art and artistic crafts. He acquired the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, turning it into a model of a palace and park ensemble. Yusupov is the founder of the famous tribal assembly, an outstanding and most striking personality. He collected a large collection of paintings (over 600 canvases), sculptures, works of applied art, books (over 20 thousand), porcelain, most of which he placed in the estate.

In Moscow, Yusupov lived in his own palace in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky Lane. In 1801-1803. in one of the wings on the territory of the palace lived the Pushkin family, including little Alexander Pushkin. The poet also visited Yusupov in Arkhangelsk, and in 1831 Yusupov was invited to a gala dinner in the Arbat apartment of the newlyweds Pushkins.

It has been magnificently extinguished for eighty years, surrounded by marble, painted and living beauty. In his country house, Pushkin, who dedicated him, talked to him, and drew Gonzaga, to whom Yusupov dedicated his theater.

He died during the famous cholera epidemic in Moscow, in his own house in the parish of the Khariton Church in Ogorodniki. He was buried in the village of Spasskoye-Kotovo, Mozhaysky district, Moscow province, in the ancient church of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Georgy Blyumin, doctor of technical sciences and professor of cultural studies, consultant of the company "Terra-Nedvizhimost", author of the book "Royal Road", continues a series of stories on the history of Rublyovka.

250 years ago in the family of the Moscow governor Prince Boris Grigoryevich Yusupov and his wife Irina Mikhailovna, nee Zinovieva, son Nikolai was born. Subsequently, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov would become the richest man in Russia. In his possession there will be estates not only in all the provinces of Russia, but also in almost every county. When asked if he had an estate in such and such a district, he usually answered: I don’t know, I need to ask the manager. The manager came with a memorial book under his arm, opened it - and almost always the estate was located. Here is an incomplete list of the positions that the prince held during his long life: Minister of the Department of Appanages, who was in charge of all imperial and grand ducal estates and palaces, president of the Manufactory College, director of imperial theaters, first director of the Hermitage and the Armory, commander of the Kremlin expedition and all porcelain and glass factories of Russia, member of the State Council. He had the highest rank of a real privy councilor of the first rank, was awarded all the orders of the Russian Empire and many foreign ones, so when they did not know what else to award him, they came up with a pearl epaulette specially for him, which the prince wore on his right shoulder and which no one else had. By the way, as the chief manager of the imperial theaters, Prince Nikolai Borisovich invented the numbering of rows and seats: before in the theater they sat where they had to.

The prince was also Russia's envoy to Italy, where he acquired many rare books, mainly by ancient authors, which later adorned his famous library in Arkhangelskoye. In the same place, in Italy, he managed to convince Pope Pius VI to give permission for the complete copying and transportation to St. Petersburg of the famous loggias of Raphael, now located in the Hermitage. In his youth, the prince studied a lot and stubbornly, spoke five languages ​​fluently, so that later he surprised with his learning many luminaries of European science, whom he became closely acquainted with while traveling around Europe with letters of recommendation from Empress Catherine II. Courteous and outwardly very handsome, the prince, as they said in court circles, at one time was the lover of the queen. In any case, in his office in Arkhangelsk there was a picture in which he and Catherine were presented naked in the form of Apollo and Venus. Paul I, having ascended the throne, ordered this picture to be removed.

"The envoy of a young crowned wife," in Pushkin's words, was friendly with Voltaire, Diderot and Beaumarchais. Beaumarchais dedicated an enthusiastic poem to him. In Europe, Yusupov was received by all the then monarchs: Joseph II in Vienna, Frederick the Great in Berlin, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. The prince bought sculptures and paintings by the best masters abroad and brought them to the Hermitage, not forgetting about his Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, which he eventually turned into a classically completed estate ensemble - Versailles near Moscow. Prince Yusupov was the supreme marshal at the coronation of three Russian emperors - Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I - and all of them were his guests in Arkhangelsk.

Prince Nikolai Borisovich belonged to one of the oldest noble families in Russia, dating back to the legendary prophet Muhammad (VI century AD). The father-in-law of the great prophet named Abubekir ruled the entire Muslim world. Three centuries later, his descendant and new ruler of the Muslims was pompously titled as Emir el-Omr, prince of princes, sultan of sultans. He united in his person governmental and spiritual authority. The names of the ancestors of the Russian princes Yusupov are constantly found on the pages of "A Thousand and One Nights", in the fairy tales of Scheherazade. The ancestors of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov were emirs, caliphs and sultans with royal power in the entire ancient East - from Egypt to India. It was then they began to say and write that the Yusupovs come from Tatars. In Rus' in the 15th - 16th centuries, every stranger from the West was called a German, and from the east - a Tatar. There were simply no other nationalities. The exception was, perhaps, the Italians who built the Kremlin: they were called "Frya", or Fryazins. And to this day there are villages Fryazevo, Fryazino, Fryanovo, granted to him, near Moscow.

Many graves of the "Tatars" - Yusupov's ancestors are located in Mecca and the Kaaba, sacred to Muslims. Their reign is remembered by Damascus, Antioch, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India.

Approximately a thousand years after the reign of the reigning ancestors of the Yusupovs in the East, A.S. Pushkin will dedicate his famous "Message to a nobleman" to the Russian prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, inspired by visits to Arkhangelsk:

Freeing the world from the northern shackles,
Only on the fields, flowing, marshmallow dies,
As soon as the first linden turns green,
To you, friendly descendant of Aristippus,
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 calls the prince a descendant of Aristippus. In 1903, a bust of Pushkin with quotes from his message to Prince Yusupov, carved on a pedestal, will be installed in Arkhangelskoye. It says "pet of Aristippus." This is understandable: after all, the main thesis of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher is happiness in pleasure. And Nikolai Borisovich followed this principle all his life. But Pushkin has a descendant of Aristippus. Why? The fact is that the philosopher, a Greek by birth, lived on the land of present-day Libya, on the border with Egypt in the city of Cyrene and was related to the rulers of Egypt, where the ancient roots of the Yusupov family go.

About four centuries have passed, and among the rulers of the East we meet the name of the descendant of Abubekir Sultan Termes. This sultan happened to be born far in the north, where his father traveled in his youth. The enmity of former friends and brothers made Termes remember his homeland. He calls out to fellow believers, many respond to the call and, pressed by hostile circumstances, move from Arabia to the north, where they settled in the vast space between the Urals and the Volga. The Russians called this settlement the Nogai Horde. The direct descendant of Termes was the closest friend and associate of the great conqueror Tamerlane, or Timur. His name was Edigei. It was he who, in single combat in front of the army, killed the Mongol Khan Tokhtamysh, who shortly before this burned Moscow. Edigey also defeated the troops of the Lithuanian Khan Vitovt on the Vorskla River in 1339. Finally, he conquered the Crimea and founded the Crimean Horde there.

Edigei's great-grandson was called Musa-Murza and, as usual, had five wives. The name of the first, beloved wife of Kondaz. From her, Yusuf was born, who gave the surname to the Russian princely family of the Yusupovs. For twenty years, Yusuf-Murza was friends with Ivan the Terrible himself, the Russian Tsar. Yusuf-Murza had two sons and four daughters. He married his daughters to neighboring kings: Crimean, Astrakhan, Siberian and Kazan. The wife of the Tsar of Kazan was the beautiful Suyumbeka, in whose honor the seven-tiered Suyumbeki tower was erected in the Kazan Kremlin, repeated in the architecture of the Moscow Kazan railway station. Later, she was the queen of the Kasimov kingdom and was buried in 1557 in the local tomb. Her descendant, Russian Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, Jr., thinks so when he writes in his book: "Scarlet rose hips with milky bird cherry shower this forgotten tomb with flowers!" The beautiful Suyumbeka was sung by the poet M.M. Kheraskov in his poem "Rossiyada". In 1832, the composer Glinka's ballet "Suyumbek and the conquest of Kazan" was performed with great success in St. Petersburg, where the famous ballerina A.I. Istomin. The great-great-grandson of Prince Nikolai Borisovich, Prince Felix Yusupov, writes about this in his memoirs.

The sons of Yusuf-Murza enter the Russian service, while maintaining the Muslim faith. In the 17th century, the grandson of Yusuf-Murza, Seyush-Murza, received the whole city of Romanov with a settlement (today's Tutaev) in the Yaroslavl province. And today in the city you can see an ancient mosque among the numerous churches. It was in this city that an event took place that radically changed the life of Murza. The son of Seyusha-Murza named Abdul-Murza received Patriarch Joachim in Romanov. It was a fast day, and the host, out of ignorance of the Orthodox fasts, fed the guest a goose. The patriarch ate the goose, saying: your fish is good, prince! He should remain silent, but he would take it and say: “This is not a fish, your Holiness, but a goose. The patriarch, no matter how full he was, became angry and upon his arrival in Moscow told the whole story to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. He, as a punishment, deprived the Murza of all previous awards, and the rich suddenly became a beggar. Abdul-Murza thought for three days and decided to accept Orthodoxy.

He was baptized in one of the churches of the same city of Romanov under the name Dmitry, and he came up with a surname for himself in the old Russian way: Yusupovo-Knyazhevo. So the Russian prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo appeared. All possessions were returned to him, and he married a Russian. This was the great-grandfather of the hero of our story, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. Since then, the image of a goose has been found in the interior of the Yusupov palaces in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rakitny and Crimea.

But on the same night, Prince Dmitry Seyushevich had a vision: a certain ghost clearly told him that from now on, for betraying the faith, in every tribe of his family there will be no more than one male heir, and if there are more of them, then none of them, except for one, will not survive the age of 26 years. The most amazing thing is that looking back over four centuries of Yusupov's history, we see that the terrible prediction came true. Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo was succeeded by his son Prince Grigory Dmitrievich, General-in-Chief and head of the Military Collegium. He was an associate of Peter I and a participant in all his battles. It was the emperor who ordered him to be called simply Prince Yusupov. The son of Grigory Dmitrievich, Prince Boris Grigorievich Yusupov, was first vice-governor, and then governor of Moscow, a real privy councillor. And the next and again the only heir was Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov - a friend of kings and emperors, an interlocutor and relative of A.S. Pushkin: after all, the ancestors of both came from North Africa. Among the highest awards of the empire, titles, stars and estates of the prince, the highest, of course, is the message to him by A.S. Pushkin, consisting of 106 poetic lines. In this poem, Pushkin gave a vivid and detailed description of the prince - a prominent representative of Russian culture.

A.S. Pushkin, as calculated by meticulous Pushkinists, twice visited N.B. Yusupov in his Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow. This happened at the end of April 1827, and then at the end of August 1830. For the first time, Pushkin's companion was his friend S.A. Sobolevsky, they arrived in Arkhangelsk on horseback, "and the enlightened nobleman of the Catherine's century received them with all the cordiality of hospitality," according to the memoirs of a contemporary. On the second visit, Pushkin was accompanied by the poet Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, and this visit is reflected in the painting of the French artist Nicolas de Courteille, who was then working in Arkhangelsk. Pushkin writes in his message:

You are the same one. Stepping on your threshold
I am suddenly transported back to the days of Catherine.
Book depository, idols, and paintings,
And slender gardens testify to me
Why do you favor the Muses in silence,
With them in idleness you breathe noble.
I listen to you: your conversation is free
Full of youth. Influence of beauty
You feel alive. You enthusiastically appreciate
And the shine of Alyabyeva and the charm of Goncharova.
Carelessly surrounded by Corregion, Canova,
You, not participating in the unrest of the world,
Sometimes you look out the window mockingly at them
And you see the turnover in everything is circular.

The wife of Prince Nikolai Borisovich was Tatyana Vasilievna, nee Engelhardt, the native niece of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky. Several children were born in their marriage, but only one heir, Prince Boris Nikolaevich, survived to adulthood. At first, the couple lived in Arkhangelsk, in the Big House, and then Tatyana Vasilievna wished to live separately from her husband and settled in the Kapriz Palace, mainly doing business at the Kupavinskaya textile factory owned by Yusupov. The reason for the departure was the extraordinary womanly love of Prince Nikolai Borisovich. Many of his contemporaries noted this trait of his, but the Moscow ladies forgave him, given the prince's erudition and secular manners, and mindful of his eastern origin. In his office, first in the Moscow Palace, and then in the Arkhangelsk Palace, there hung three hundred portraits of women, whose favor he enjoyed. In the garden of Arkhangelsk, where everyone was allowed to walk, the prince showed special attention to the ladies, and if he met a woman he knew or did not know, he would certainly bow, kiss her hand and find out if she wanted anything.

Nikolai Borisovich knew Pushkin when the future poet was barely three years old. The fact is that from 1801 to 1803, the poet's father, Sergei Lvovich, rented an apartment on the second floor of the left wing of the Yusupov Palace on Bolshoi Kharitonevsky Lane in Moscow. This Moscow house of the prince, granted to his grandfather by Emperor Peter II, was surrounded by the quaint oriental Yusupov Garden known throughout Moscow. Yusupov garden Pushkin mentions in his autobiography. In the garden, for example, an oak tree grew, entwined with a gilded chain, along which a huge fluffy toy cat with green eyes, designed by Dutch mechanics, went up and down. The movement of the cat was carried out according to a specially developed algorithm; while the cat also spoke, but in Dutch. Little Pushkin walked in the garden with his grandmother Maria Alekseevna or with his nanny Arina Rodionovna and, according to his recollections, at the same time promised to translate the cat's stories into Russian. The prologue to Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is almost completely "written off" by the poet from the Yusupov Garden; at the same time, the perception of the child, of course, is multiplied by the brilliant fantasy of the poet.

An interesting fact is that despite the almost half a century difference in age, Yusupov and Pushkin became friends and were with each other on you. As you can see, they had a lot to talk about. Pushkin eagerly listened to the prince's stories about the Catherine's age, about his travels in Europe and the East. Many of these stories were reflected in the works of the poet in the Boldin autumn of 1830 that followed their meeting. It is also interesting that Prince Nikolai Borisovich, with all his love interests, did not age at all; It was rumored that during his stay in Paris, he received from the hands of the famous adventurer Comte Saint-Germain the elixir of youth.

Pushkin shared with the prince his plans for the upcoming marriage. In his message there is an amazing characterization of the elderly nobleman: "You enthusiastically appreciate both the brilliance of Alyabyeva and the charm of Goncharova." Try to appreciate the charms of beauties in the eightieth year of age! Prince P.A. Vyazemsky tells about Yusupov: “He was of a prosperous constitution in flesh and spirit, in worldly and moral terms. On the street his eternal holiday, in the house an eternal triumph of celebrations. There were pots with lush, fragrant flowers on the windows; cages with different singing birds; in the rooms there was a sound of wall clocks with sonorous chimes. Everything about him was luminous, deafening, intoxicating. Himself, in the midst of this radiance, this luxurious vegetation and melodiousness, he exhibited a ruddy, joyful face, blooming like a double red peony. "

The Dictionary of Memorable People of the Russian Land, published in 1836, gives the following general description of Prince Yusupov: venerable old age brought a tribute of surprise to the fair sex.

Many of the most beautiful girls in the prince's theatrical chapel were his mistresses. A portrait of 1821 of the serf singer Anna Borunova, the sister of the architect I.E. Borunova, who was a "master's lady". The eighty-year-old prince took the eighteen-year-old serf ballerina Sophia Malinkina as his concubine. Since 1812, N.B. Yusupova was supported by a talented ballerina, a student of Didlo, Ekaterina Petrovna Kolosova. She was then 18 years old. A marble slab recently unearthed from the ground in the village of Spas-Kotovo (now the city of Dolgoprudny), where Prince N.B. Yusupov. On the plate there is an inscription in Latin letters - the name of the ballerina and the dates of her life. From Yusupov, Ekaterina Petrovna had two sons, Sergei and Pyotr Nikolaevich. The prince came up with the name Gireysky for them - in memory of the Crimean khans Girey, the ancestors of the Yusupov princes. E.P. Kolosova died only 22 years old, and her sons are depicted in the picture of the same Nicolas de Courteille of 1819, stored in Arkhangelsk. Peter died at the age of seven, and Sergei Nikolaevich lived comfortably, mostly abroad.

When Yusupov was the head of the Kremlin expedition, young A.I. worked for him. Herzen. In Past and Thoughts, Herzen tells in detail how Prince Yusupov seconded him for three years to study at Moscow University. In 1826, a young girl, Vera Tyurina, sister of E.D. Tyurin, who worked a lot in Arkhangelsk. The prince offered her 50 thousand rubles on the condition that she give herself to him. The girl left, saying that she did not need even a million. And when, a year later, two of her brothers were arrested for participating in a student secret organization of the Kritsky brothers, Prince Nikolai Borisovich again offered Vera Tyurina to belong to him in exchange for the release of her brothers. The girl again refused. One brother was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, and the other was exiled.

Pushkin married N.N. Goncharova and gave a ball for close friends in his new apartment on the Arbat. Prince N.B. Yusupov got into his gilded carriage and set off on a winter journey from Arkhangelsk to Moscow, invited by Pushkin. The Moscow postmaster Bulgakov wrote to his brother in St. Petersburg: “The glorious Pushkin gave a ball yesterday. Both he and she treated their guests wonderfully. She is charming, and they are like two doves. God grant that it always continues like this. Since the society was small, I also danced at the request of the beautiful hostess, who herself engaged me, and on the orders of the old man Yusupov, who also danced with her: “And I would still dance if I had the strength,” he said.

Prince Yusupov died in 1831 in his beloved Arkhangelsk, and not at all from old age, but from cholera, which then raged in the Moscow region. This news greatly upset Pushkin. "My Yusupov died," he says bitterly in one of his letters. A nobleman of such a high rank and fortune could be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow or at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. But the prince bequeathed to bury himself next to the grave of his mother in the small estate of Spas-Kotovo near Moscow, on the Klyazma River. There, in their arms, the peasants carried his coffin from Arkhangelsk, and there he was buried in a stone tent attached to the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands. The grave and the church have been preserved near the current station of the Vodniki Savelovskaya railway.

With the death of the grandson of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, Jr., who was the vice director of the Public Library in St. Petersburg and an honorary member of the Paris and Rome conservatories, the male line of a glorious family was cut short. The only heiress was the beautiful Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova. Under her, at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, artists, artists and musicians again began to gather in Arkhangelsk. She was the wife of the Moscow Governor-General Count F.F. Sumarokova-Elston, and famous artists Serov and Makovsky painted her portraits. So that the glorious family does not fade away, the count was also ordered to be called Prince Yusupov. Their son, Prince Felix Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, was married to the niece of Emperor Nicholas II and is known as the organizer of the assassination attempt on Rasputin in December 1916. He died in exile in Paris in 1967. Today, his granddaughter Ksenia Nikolaevna lives in Greece, married to Sfiri, whose only daughter Tatyana no longer speaks Russian.

The life of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was brilliant. His great-granddaughter Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna shone like a bright star in the cultural life of Russia. And a glorious family in history died out.

Prince Nick. Bor. Yusupov. - The wealth of the Yusupov family. - Prince Grigory Yusupov. - The village of Arkhangelsk. - Prince Golitsyn, nobleman of Catherine's time. - Theater. - A wealth of greenhouses. - The prudence of the Yusupov princes. - Directorate. - Yusupov's land wealth. - Anecdotes from the life of Yusupov. - T. V. Yusupova. - Prince B. N. Yusupov. - Ancestral home of the princes Yusupov in Moscow. - The working life of Prince B. N. Yusupov. - The Countess de Cheveaux.

One of the last grandees of the brilliant age of Catherine II was also in Moscow, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. The prince lived in his old boyar house, given for his service to his great-great-grandfather, Prince Grigory Dmitrievich, by Emperor Peter II.

This house stands in Kharitonievsky Lane and is remarkable as an old architectural monument of the 17th century. Here his grandfather treated the crowned daughter of Peter the Great Empress Elizabeth during her visit to Moscow.

The wealth of the Yusupovs has long been famous for its colossality. The beginning of this wealth comes from the time of Empress Anna Ioannovna, although even before that time the Yusupovs were very rich. Their ancestor, Yusuf, was the sovereign sultan of the Nogai Horde. His sons arrived in Moscow in 1563 and were granted by the tsar rich villages and villages in the Romanovsky district (Romanovsko-Borisoglebsky district of the Yaroslavl province). The Cossacks and Tatars settled there were subordinated to them. Subsequently, one of the sons of Yusuf was given some more palace villages. Tsar Feodor Ivanovich also repeatedly granted Il-Murza lands. False Dmitry and the Tushinsky thief granted Romanovsky Posad (county town of Romanov, Yaroslavl province) to his son Seyush.

Upon accession to the throne, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich left all these lands behind him. The descendants of Yusuf were Mohammedans even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Under this sovereign, the great-grandson of Yusuf, Abdul-Murza, was the first to accept Christianity; at baptism he received the name of Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo.

The newly baptized prince soon fell into the tsar's disgrace on the following occasion: he took it into his head to treat Patriarch Joachim with a goose at his dinner; the day turned out to be fasting, and for this violation of the charters of the church, on behalf of the king, the prince was punished with batogs and all his property was taken away from him; but soon the king forgave the culprit and returned what had been taken away.

There is an anecdote about this case. Once, the great-grandson of Dmitry Seyushevich 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 Yusupova asked.

- 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 at the entrance to Russia.

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

Prince Dmitry Yusupov had three sons, and after his death, all wealth was divided into three parts. Actually, the wealth of the Yusupovs was laid by one of the sons of the latter, Prince Grigory Dmitrievich. The descendants of the other two sons did not grow rich, but were divided and fell into decay.

Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov was one of the military generals of the time of Peter the Great - his mind, fearlessness and courage brought him the favor of the emperor.

In 1717, the prince was appointed, among other persons, to investigate the abuses of Prince Koltsov-Masalsky on salt collection in Bakhmut. In 1719 he was a major general, and in 1722 a senator. Catherine I promoted him to lieutenant general, and Peter II appointed him lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and the first member of the Military Collegium. He was also entrusted with the search for Solovyov, who was transferring millions belonging to the prince to foreign banks. Menshikov.

He also carried out an investigation about government things, hidden by the chief chamberlain, Prince I. Dolgoruky. In addition to this, as Karnovich says, he was engaged in the extremely profitable at that time food and quartermaster part, and also built ships. Peter II gave him a spacious house in Moscow in the parish of the Three Hierarchs, and in 1729 he granted him many of the villages of Prince Menshikov deducted to the treasury, as well as the estate with a suburban settlement leased from Prince Prozorovsky, into eternal hereditary possession.

The Spanish ambassador Duc de Liria characterizes Prince Yusupov as follows: “Prince Yusupov of Tatar origin (his brother is still a Mohammedan), a completely well-bred man, who served very well, quite familiar with military affairs, he was all covered with wounds; the prince loved foreigners and was very attached to Peter II - in a word, he belonged to the number of those people who always follow the straight path. One passion overshadowed him - the passion for wine.

He died on September 2, 1730, at the age of 56, in Moscow, at the beginning of the reign of Anna Ioannovna, he was buried in the Epiphany Monastery 67 (in Kitay-Gorod), in the lower church of the Kazan Mother of God. His gravestone inscription begins like this:

“Inspire, whoever passes away, semo, this stone will teach you a lot. The general-in-chief was buried here, etc., etc.

Yusupov left three sons, of whom two soon died, and the only remaining son, Boris Grigoryevich, received all his enormous wealth. Prince Boris was brought up at the behest of Peter the Great in France. He enjoyed Biron's special favor.

Under Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Yusupov was president of the Commerce Collegium, chief director of the Ladoga Canal, and for nine years he managed the cadet land gentry corps.

During the management of this Corps, he was the first in the capital to start theatrical performances for his own pleasure and for the entertainment of a few dignitaries detained against their will by the affairs of service on the banks of the Neva. The court at that time was in Moscow; cadet actors acted out the best tragedies in the Corps, both Russian, composed at that time by Sumarokov, and French in translation.

The French repertoire consisted mainly of Voltaire's plays, presented in a distorted form. When the court returned from Moscow, the empress wished to see the performance, and in 1750, at the initiative of Yusupov, the first public performance of the Russian tragedy of Sumarokov's work "Khorev" took place, and in the same year, on September 29, the empress ordered Trediakovsky and Lomonosov to compose based on the tragedy . Lomonosov a month later composed the tragedy "Tamiru and Selim". As for Trediakovsky, he, too, two months later delivered the tragedy "Deidamius", the "catastrophes" of which "was leading the queen to sacrifice to the goddess Diana." The tragedy, however, was not even worthy of publication at the Academy.

But we return again to Boris Yusupov. Empress Elizabeth, satisfied with the management of his gentry corps, granted him an eternal hereditary possession in the Poltava province, in the village of Ryashki, a state-owned cloth factory with all camps, tools and artisans and with a village attached to it so that he would write Dutch sheep to this estate and led the factory into a better device.

The prince undertook to annually supply to the treasury first 17,000 arshins of cloth of all colors, and then put 20 and 30 thousand arshins.

The son of this prince, Nikolai Borisovich, as we have said above, was one of the most famous nobles who ever lived in Moscow. Under him, his estate near Moscow, the village of Arkhangelsk, was enriched with all kinds of artistic things.

He laid out a large garden there with fountains and huge greenhouses, containing more than two thousand orange trees.

One of these trees was bought by him from Razumovsky for 3,000 rubles; there was no one like him in Russia, and only two of these, located in the Versailles greenhouse, were a match for him. According to legend, this tree was already 400 years old.

The village of Arkhangelskoye, Upolozy too, is located on the high bank of the Moskva River. Arkhangelsk was the ancestral patrimony of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn, one of the educated people of the time of Peter the Great.

Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, the prince was exiled to Shlisselburg, where he died. During the disgrace, the prince lived in this estate; here, according to I. E. Zabelin, he had an elegant library and a museum, which at that time were inferior in their wealth only to the library and museum of Count Bruce. Most of the manuscripts from Arkhangelsk later passed into the collection of Count Tolstoy and then belonged to the Imperial Public Library; but the best ones were plundered during the inventory of the estate - they were used, as Tatishchev says, even the Duke of Courland Biron.

At the time of the Golitsyns, Arkhangelskoye resembled the old village life of the boyars in its unpretentiousness and simplicity. The prince's yard consisted of three small rooms, actually eight-yard huts, connected by a passage. Their interior decoration was simple. In the front corners there are icons, near the wall are benches, stoves made of yellow tiles; in one room there were two windows, in another four, in the third five; in the windows the glass was still in the old style in lead bindings or frames; oak tables, four leather chairs, a spruce bed with a featherbed and a pillow, in mottled and embroidered pillowcases, etc.

There was a bathhouse near the svetlitsy, and in the courtyard, fenced with a lattice fence, various services - a cookery, a cellar, glaciers, barns, etc. Not far from the house stood a stone church in the name of the Archangel Michael, founded by the father of the prince, boyar Mikhail Andreyevich Golitsyn. But what did not correspond to the unpretentious simple boyar life then here were two greenhouses, very unusual for that time; overseas trees wintered here: laurus, nux malabarica, myrtus, kupresus and others.

Opposite the greenhouses was a garden with a length of 61 sazhens, a width of 52 sazhens, in it were planted: sambucus, chestnuts, mulberries, serengia (2 pcs.), 14 walnuts, God's trees, a small lily, etc.; on the ridges grew: carnation, catheser, chalcedony lychnis, blue and yellow iris (iris), kalufer, isop, etc.

Opposite the choir there was a garden 190 sazhens long and 150 sazhens wide, with prospective roads along which maples and lindens were planted. The last of the Golitsyns who owned Arkhangelsk was Nikolai Alexandrovich, married to M. A. Olsufieva. This Golitsyna sold Arkhangelsk for 100,000 rubles to Prince Yusupov.

After buying the estate, the prince cut down a lot of forest and set about capital construction of the estate. The house was designed in fine Italian style, connected by colonnades, with two pavilions, in which, as in the seventeen rooms of the house, there were 236 paintings, consisting of originals: Velasquez, Raphael Mengs, Perugini, David, Ricci, Guido Reni, Tiepolo and others . Of these paintings, Doyan's painting “The Triumph of Metellus” deserved special attention; from the marbles of Arkhangelsk, there is a remarkable group of Canova "Cupid and Psyche" and a chisel of Kozlovsky, a beautiful statue of "Cupid", unfortunately damaged during transportation in 1812. Yusupov collected art gallery for thirty years.

But the best beauty of Arkhangelsk is the home theater, built according to the drawing of the famous Gonzago, for 400 spectators; twelve scenery changes of this theater were painted by the brush of the same Gonzago. Yusupov had another theater in Moscow, on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, which formerly belonged to Pozdnyakov and where French performances were given during the French stay in Moscow in 1812.

Yusupov's library consisted of more than 30,000 volumes, including the rarest Elseviers and the Bible, printed in 1462. There was also a house in the garden called "Caprice". It was said about the construction of this house that when Arkhangelskoye belonged to the Golitsyns, the husband and wife quarreled, the princess did not want to live in the same house with her husband and ordered to build a special house for herself, which she called “Caprice”. The peculiarity of this house was that it stood on a small hill, but there were no porches with steps to enter it, but only a sloping path that sloped down to the very threshold of the doors.

Prince Yusupov was very fond of old bronzes, marbles and all sorts of expensive things; he once collected such a number of them that it was difficult to find another such rich collection of rare antique things in Russia: by his grace, money changers and junk dealers Shukhov, Lukhmanov and Volkov got rich in Moscow. Prince Nikolai Borisovich, in his time, received an excellent education - he was an envoy in Turin during the reign of Catherine. At the university of this city, the prince received his education and was a friend of Alfieri.

Emperor Paul at his coronation granted him the star of St. Andrew the First-Called. Under Alexander I, he was for a long time the minister of appanages, under Emperor Nicholas he was the head of the Kremlin expedition, and under his supervision the Small Nikolaevsky Kremlin Palace was rebuilt.

He had all the Russian orders, a portrait of the sovereign, a diamond cipher, and when there was nothing more to reward him with, he was granted one pearl epaulette.

Prince Yusupov was very rich, loved luxury, knew how to show off when needed, and being very generous, he was sometimes very prudent; Countess Razumovskaya in one letter to her husband describes a holiday in Arkhangelsk near Yusupov, given to Emperor Alexander I and King Frederick William III of Prussia.

“The evening was excellent, but the holiday was the most deplorable. It would be too long to tell everything, but here is one detail for you, by which you can judge the rest. Imagine, after a snack, we went for a ride on terrible roads and damp, ugly places. After a half-hour walk we drive up to the theater. Everyone expects a surprise, and for sure - the surprise was complete, the scenery was changed three times, and the whole performance is ready. Everyone bit their lips, starting with the sovereign. Throughout the evening there was a terrible turmoil. The most august guests did not know for sure what to do and where to go. The king of Prussia will have a good idea about the Moscow nobles. The stinginess in everything was unimaginable.

All the Yusupovs were not distinguished by extravagance and tried to collect more wealth. So, giving out brides from their kind, the Yusupovs did not give much as a dowry.

According to the will, for example, of Princess Anna Nikitichna, who died in 1735, only 300 rubles a year were assigned to her daughter for extradition, from household items: 100 buckets of wine, 9 bulls and 60 rams. When marrying Princess Evdokia Borisovna to the Duke of Courland, Peter Biron, only 15,000 rubles were given as a dowry. with the obligation on the part of the father of the bride to provide the future duchess with a diamond dress and other shells with a price indication for each item. The princess-bride was of dazzling beauty and did not live long in marriage to Biron.

After her death, Biron sent Yusupov her front bed and all the furniture from her bedroom as a keepsake; the furniture was upholstered in blue satin and silver.

Also interesting is the wedding contract between Prince Dmitry Borisovich Yusupov and the devious Aktinfov, who undertook to pay him 4,000 rubles if he did not marry his daughter to the prince by the appointed date. penalties - a very significant amount for half of the XVII century.

The village of Arkhangelsk has been honored more than once by the arrival of the highest persons; Empress Maria Feodorovna stayed for several days, and in the garden there are marble monuments with inscriptions about when and which of the highest persons was there. It is very clear that, accepting royal persons, Yusupov also gave magnificent holidays.

The last of these holidays was given by Yusupov to Emperor Nicholas after his coronation. Almost all foreign ambassadors were here, and everyone was surprised at the luxury of this lordly estate. The holiday came out the most luxurious and magnificent.

On this day in Arkhangelsk there was a dinner, a performance and a ball with illumination of the entire garden and fireworks.

Prince Nikolai Borisovich was a friend of Voltaire and lived with him at Ferney Castle; in his youth, he traveled a lot and was received by all the then rulers of Europe. Yusupov saw in full splendor the court of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette; Yusupov was more than once in Berlin with the old king Frederick the Great, presented himself in Vienna to Emperor Joseph II and the English and Spanish kings; Yusupov, according to his contemporaries, was the most affable and nice person, without any pomposity or pride; with the ladies he was exquisitely polite. Blagovo says that when in a familiar house he happened to meet some lady on the stairs - whether he knows her or not - he always bows low and steps aside to let her pass. When in his summer in Arkhangelsk he walked in the garden, then everyone who wanted to walk was allowed to go there, and when he met, he would certainly bow to the ladies, and if he met at least those known to him by name, he would come up and say a friendly word.

Pushkin sang Yusupov in his charming ode "To the nobleman." Prince Nikolai Borisovich managed the theaters from 1791 to 1799, and, like his father, who laid the foundation for the Russian drama theater in St. Petersburg, he also did a lot for art in this field; the prince had his own Italian buff opera in St. Petersburg, which gave pleasure to the whole court.

According to the biographer Nikolai Borisovich, he loved the theater, scientists, artists, and even in old age brought a tribute of surprise to the fair sex! It cannot be said that even at a young age Yusupov ran away from the fair sex; according to the stories of those who knew him, he was a big "ferlakur", as they called red tape then; in his village house there was one room, where there was a collection of three hundred portraits of all the beauties, whose favor he enjoyed.

In his bedroom hung a picture with a mythological plot, in which he was represented by Apollo, and Venus was a person who was better known at that time under the name of Minerva. Emperor Pavel knew about this picture and, upon his accession to the throne, ordered Yusupov to remove it.

Prince Yusupov, in his old age, took it into his head to go into business and started a mirror factory; at that time, all mirrors were more imported and were at a high price. The prince did not succeed in this enterprise, and he suffered heavy losses.

The last years of his life, Prince Yusupov lived without a break in Moscow and enjoyed great respect and love for his purely aristocratic courtesy with everyone. Only one thing harmed the prince a little, this is an addiction to the female sex.

Prince N. B. Yusupov was married to the niece of Prince Potemkin, Tatyana Vasilievna Engelhardt, who was previously married to her distant relative Potemkin. Yusupov's wife brought colossal wealth.

The Yusupovs did not know the account of either their millions or their estates. When the prince was asked: "What, prince, do you have an estate in such and such a province and district?"

They brought him a commemorative book in which all his estates were recorded by provinces and districts; he coped, and it almost always turned out that he had an estate there.

Prince Yusupov was very young in his old age and liked to tease his old peers. So, once when he blamed Count Arkady Markov about his old age, he answered him that he was the same age as him.

“Have mercy,” the prince continued, “you were already in the service, and I was still at school.

“But why am I to blame,” Markov objected, “that your parents started teaching you to read and write so late.

Prince Yusupov was friendly with the famous Count Saint-Germain and asked him to give him a recipe for longevity. The count did not reveal the whole secret to him, but said that one of the important means is to abstain from drinking not only intoxicating, but also any kind.

Prince Yusupov, despite his gallantry with women, when he was the director of the theater, knew how to be, when necessary, strict with the actresses subordinate to him. One day some Italian opera singer, out of a whim, came down sick; Yusupov ordered, under the guise of participation in her, not to let her out of the house and not to let anyone in except the doctor. This delicate arrest frightened the capricious actress so much that her imaginary illness was taken away from her.

Prince Yusupov, as we said, was married to the widow Potemkina. In the life of this rich woman, as Karnovich mentions, one remarkable circumstance seemed to be: the Duchess of Kingston, Countess Worth, who had come to St. Petersburg under Catherine the Great, fell in love with Tatyana Vasilievna Engelhardt, who was still young at that time, so much that she wanted to take her with her to England and give her all his immeasurable fortune. The Duchess arrived in Petersburg on her own magnificent yacht, which had a garden and was decorated with paintings and statues; with her, in addition to numerous servants, there was an orchestra of music. Tatyana Vasilievna did not agree to the proposal of the duchess and, having become a widow, married Yusupov in 1795. The couple subsequently did not get along very well and did not live together, although they were not in a quarrel. The prince died before his wife, the latter died after him, ten years later. They had one son. It is remarkable that in this line of the Yusupovs, as in the younger line of the Sheremetevs, only one heir remained constantly alive. Now it seems that this has changed - the Sheremetevs have several, and the Yusupovs have none.

Tatyana Vasilievna Yusupova also did not differ in extravagance and lived very modestly; she managed all her estates herself. And out of some kind of frugality, the princess rarely changed her toilets. She wore the same dress for a long time, almost to the point of complete wear. One day, already in her old age, the following thought came to her mind:

“Yes, if I keep to that order, then my female servants will have a few belongings after my death.”

And from that very hour there had been an unexpected and drastic upheaval in her toilet habits. She often ordered and put on new dresses made of expensive materials. All her family and friends marveled at this change, congratulated her on her panache and on the fact that she seemed to have grown younger. She, so to speak, dressed up for death and wanted to replenish and enrich her spiritual testament in favor of her servants. She had only one expensive passion - it was to collect precious stones. The princess bought the famous diamond "Polar Star" for 300,000 rubles, as well as the diadem of the former Queen of Naples Carolina, Murat's wife, and also the famous pearl in Moscow from the Greek Zosima for 200,000 rubles, called "Pelegrina", or "Wanderer", once owned by King Philip II of Spain. Then Yusupova spent a lot of money on her collection of antique carved stones (cameo and intaglio).

The only son of Tatyana Vasilievna, Boris Nikolaevich, is known as a very active and caring person in the performance of his duties. According to the stories of his contemporaries, he died in the service and for the economic affairs of his vast estates, and the day before his death he was engaged in the affairs of the service. In the words of his biographer, "happiness opened up a brilliant field for him."

He was the godson of Emperor Paul and received the Order of Malta as a child, and the hereditary command of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. After passing the exam at the Testing Committee at the St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute, he hastened to enter the civil service.

As we have already said, industrious activity was a hallmark of his character. The prince, owning estates in seventeen provinces, surveyed his vast estates every year. Even such terrible things as, for example, cholera, did not keep him from household worries; and at a time when the latter was raging in Little Russia, he was not afraid to come to his village of Rakitnoye, where this epidemic was especially destructive; without fear of infection, the prince walked everywhere in the village.

In domestic life, the prince shunned luxury; his whole morning was devoted to official and economic affairs.

But at lunchtime, he was always glad to meet his friends and acquaintances: he did not analyze and distinguish by rank, and, once invited by him, received access to him forever.

In conversation, the prince was playful and witty, and knew how to deftly notice the oddities of his acquaintances. In the evening, the prince was always at the theater, the love for which he inherited from his father, who had been managing theaters for a long time; the prince, however, only liked to be in Russian performances.

The prince played the violin excellently and had a rare collection of Italian violins. Boris Nikolaevich did not like his Arkhangelsk and never lived there for long; at one time he began to take out a lot from there to his Petersburg house, but the emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, who remembered his Arkhangelsk, ordered to tell the prince that he should not devastate his Arkhangelsk.

The prince never gave festivities on this estate and, when he came to Moscow, he usually stayed in his ancient boyar house, donated, as we said above, to his great-grandfather by Emperor Peter II.

This house in Zemlyanoy Gorod, in Bolshoi Kharitonievsky Lane, was a rare architectural monument of the late 17th century; before it belonged to Alexei Volkov. The stone two-storey chambers of the Yusupovs with annexes to the east side stood in a spacious courtyard; a one-story stone building adjoined their western side, behind a stone pantry, then there was a garden, which until 1812 was much larger, and it had a pond. According to A. A. Martynov, the first chamber has two tiers, with a steep iron roof on four slopes, or epancha, and is distinguished by the thickness of the walls, built of 18-pound bricks with iron ties. Strength and safety were one of the first conditions of the building. At the top, the entrance door has partially retained its former style: it has a broken lintel in the form of a semi-octagon and with a sandrik at the top, in a tympanum, the image of St. Right-Believing Princes Boris and Gleb. This is reminiscent of the cherished pious custom of Russians to pray before entering the house and when leaving it. Here were the boyar living room, dining room and bedroom; to the western side - a chamber with a vault, with one window to the north, apparently, it served as a prayer room. In the lower floor, under the vaults - the same division; below it are cellars, where barrels were kept with prescribed Fryazhsky overseas wines and with Russian set and loose honeys, berry kvass, and so on. Attached to the east, a two-story ward, which used to be one chamber, is now divided into several rooms.

Here, Prince Boris Grigorievich treated the sovereign daughter of Peter the Great, who loved her father's faithful servant. Above the chamber rises a tower with two windows, where, according to legend, there was a church; from it in the wall one can see the same hidden cache as is located in the Faceted Chamber. This house in the Yusupov family is about two hundred years old; in this house on major holidays gathered with bread and salt, according to the ancient established custom, a thousandth crowd of peasants to bring congratulations. The mortal remains of Prince Yusupov were also brought here in the hands of the same peasants for burial in the village of Spasskoye near Moscow. The Yusupov princes are buried in a special stone tent attached to the church; on the tomb of Boris Nikolayevich, the following inscription was carved, written by the deceased himself:

“Here lies the Russian nobleman Prince Boris, Prince Nikolaev, son of Yusupov, born on July 9, 1794, died on October 25, 1849,” his favorite saying is written in French below: “L'honneur avant tout” .

At the base, a golden cross and an anchor are visible; on the first is the inscription "Faith in God", on the second - "Hope in God". Prince Boris Nikolayevich was married twice: his first wife was Princess N.P. Shcherbatova (died October 17, 1820); the second, Zinaida Ivanovna Naryshkina, was born in 1810; in his second marriage to a foreigner, Comte de Chevaux. From his first marriage, the son, Prince Nikolai Borisovich, was born on October 12, 1817. The prince was considered the last in the family: he had no sons - there were only daughters.

The Yusupovs. Part 5. Nikolai Borisovich. "Brilliant Catherine's nobleman"

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (October 15 (26), 1750 - July 15, 1831, Moscow) - statesman, diplomat (1783-1789), art lover, one of the largest collectors and patrons in Russia, owner of the Arkhangelskoye and Vasilyevskoye estates near Moscow.

Official positions held: chief manager of the Armory and the Expedition of the Kremlin structure, director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-1796), director of the Hermitage (1797), headed the palace glass, porcelain and tapestry factories (since 1792), senator (since 1788), active privy councilor ( 1796), minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-1816), member of the State Council (since 1823).

The exact date of birth of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov has not yet been established by historians, despite the fact that the biography of this, perhaps, the brightest representative of the dynasty, has been studied for more than two hundred years. In the two-volume collection of Prince N. B. Yusupov Jr. “On the family of the Yusupov princes”, the following date of birth of the prince is given - October 15, 1751.

The first years of his life passed under the close influence of his father, who was very concerned about the future of his only son. In the eighteenth century, in the society of the Russian nobility, male babies were almost immediately enrolled in the army, as they used to say - "in the regiment." Children from influential families ended up in the Life Guards regiments.

Father - Prince Boris Grigoryevich Yusupov

The Yusupov family was also no exception. It is unlikely that anyone could have guessed that a brilliant diplomat and a radiant humanist scholar would grow out of Kolenka Yusupov. Nikolai Borisovich was enrolled in the Horse Regiment of the Life Guards, and, while still listening to lullabies, he began serving the ruler Elizabeth Petrovna, which he continued until her death. In 1755, the little prince received the rank of cornet. It was the first significant event in his life. On this occasion, a portrait was painted from him, where he appears in the form of a cornet. A small cornet, dressed in a uniform, proudly posed for the artist. Surprisingly, since childhood, Kolenka did not like to play with soldiers and other toys. Indeed, it is rare that a boy does not love this!

Nikolai Yusupov in childhood

At court, the Yusupov family was referred to as adherents of the Western way of life, but in everyday life and everyday life they preferred the customs of their native antiquity. This had to do with both Nicholas and his sisters. In the first years of their lives, nannies were their faithful companions, then, from the age of six, tutors and foreign governesses were engaged in their upbringing. The services of foreigners were resorted to not only because of the high value of foreign education in Russia, but also because at that time foreign languages ​​were used daily in court society, as well as in high society.

The religious and moral upbringing of children in Russia was usually done by the mother, the guardian of the family hearth. Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova was an amazing woman. She was characterized by modesty, gentleness, a simple disposition, but, at the same time, a firm, especially in matters relating to faith, character.

There was an incredibly touching and warm relationship between mother and son, Irina Mikhailovna and Nikolai Borisovich. She selected books for him, ordered his childhood portrait, in which he is depicted in an officer's uniform. And already years later, when Nikolai Borisovich was in old age, he bequeathed to his descendants to be buried next to his mother.

Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova, nee Zinoviev

Irina Mikhailovna was a very wise woman. She spent a lot of time reading this or that book. Apparently, this quality was passed on to her son from her. In addition, she instilled in him love and deep reverence for the faith.

Nikolai Borisovich had an excellent education, which was not limited to communication with tutors. His father, who often took advantage of his official position, as well as the respect of the cadets and teachers of the Cadet Corps for him, often invited them home to share “sciences” and other knowledge with Nikolenka. The young prince's teachers were many immigrants from Holland, who, as is known, influenced Peter the Great, and the formation of the new Russia, and St. Petersburg with its ways. And they really had a lot to learn. Nikolai Borisovich took from these lessons not only colossal knowledge and skills, but such character traits as punctuality, perseverance, perfectionism. This allowed the prince to be fluent in five languages ​​already at a relatively young age.

Nikolai Yusupov in childhood

Nikolai Borisovich throughout his long life did not stop learning, he had an unusually inquisitive mind. He was also fluent in Russian, both literary and colloquial. The Russian language was taught to Yusupov, according to the then custom, by a deacon. Perhaps that is why in the princely orders, which he wrote on his own, traces of the possession of Church Slavonic letters are clearly felt. Of considerable importance in the education of the young Prince Yusupov were books that entered his life and consciousness early. Parents managed to lay a good foundation for his future library, which still amazes with its scale. Irina Mikhailovna, knowing about her child's hobbies, often spoiled him with book gifts.

F. Titov. "Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova laying out cards." October 30, 1765 Bas-relief. GMUA.

The military career of the prince developed in parallel with home schooling. In 1761, Nikolai Borisovich was transferred from cornet to second lieutenant of the Life Guards Horse Regiment. When he was sixteen years old, Yusupov entered active military service. In 1771, Nikolai Borisovich was recommended as a lieutenant, and at this stage his military service ended.

F. Titov. "Life Guards Cavalry Regiment Lieutenant Prince Nikolai Yusupov". October 6, 1765 Bas-relief. GMUA.

From 1772, the civil service dates back to the very young and inexperienced in the affairs of the state chamber junker of the Imperial Court, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. He chose the Collegium of Foreign Affairs as his service. And, I must say, he was in his place - knowledge of five European languages, rules of etiquette, court manners, the ability to understand various political intrigues and ups and downs made the prince a valuable employee.

Chamber junker, artist Vitaly Ermolaev.

In 1774, one major event took place in the life of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. At twenty-three, he became a member of the Petersburg English Club, which at that time had existed for less than five years.

For many years, Prince Yusupov lived far from his homeland, abroad. But all this time he managed not to leave the membership of the club, paying the due annual fee on time, so that after each return he would not expose himself to new elections for members of the club and not languish in anticipation of a vacant vacancy for membership.

Facade of the mansion of the English Assembly on the Palace Embankment. Photogr. 1910s

The English Assembly (English Club), "The English Club" - one of the first club institutions in Russia - was founded on March 12, 1770, with the permission of Empress Catherine II, by F. Gardner and K. Gardiner, English entrepreneurs on the model of English clubs, as "a collection of pleasant interlocutors".

F. Gardner

For a whole year, that is, two terms in a row, the prince was obliged to fulfill the troublesome duties of the club foreman, and this despite the fact that at that very time he already occupied more than one responsible state position, which required a lot of time and effort. This happened after Nikolai Borisovich returned from Europe, performing diplomatic service.

The prince for 57 years, taking into account short breaks, was in the English clubs of the capitals of Russia, where he spent time in club halls. He dined there, was fond of card games, and had lively conversations with acquaintances. Companions in the club sometimes turned to Nikolai Borisovich with requests to help in the service or in other matters. And, I must say, the prince almost never refused, trying to help everyone. The only exception was money - Nikolai Borisovich did not lend.

One of the living rooms of the St. Petersburg English Club, designed for a card game. Photogr. 1910s

Large dining room of the St. Petersburg English Assembly. Photogr. 1910s

Another interesting fact from the life of Prince Yusupov: he did not shy away from the society of the Masonic lodge. Moreover, Freemasonry in Russia at the end of the eighteenth century remained a phenomenon relatively closed to a wide section of educated society. Many representatives of the younger generation, mostly noble, to be more precise, of noble origin, tried to join the lodge, find out what its secret is, warm up their nerves with mysterious and sometimes terrifying Masonic rites. Freemasonry was also interesting to people of a more conscious age. Empress Catherine the Great, having familiarized herself with all the available Masonic materials, wrote to her permanent correspondent Grimm: more educated or wiser. Who does good for the sake of good, what need does he have for vows, eccentricities, in absurd and strange attire? ".

Of course, there is no reliable information about the degree of initiation of Nikolai Borisovich, but many details of his biography confirm the fact that Nikolai Borisovich had a very high degree. Simply, most likely, he did not reach this degree through the St. Petersburg lodges, where an audience like Radishchev lived. The most likely story is Yusupov's membership in the Masonic Order of Malta, where the prince could have joined during his first stay abroad. Given this circumstance, one can build a logical scheme for the promotion of the order in Russia under Paul I, and also guess the true reason for awarding Nikolai Borisovich with the highest and very rare distinction in the structure of the order - “ command". For the history of our state, it is not the fact or method of Yusupov's entry into the Masonic lodge that is of exceptional value, but the immediate result - Prince Nikolai Borisovich used his high Masonic connections only for the good of the state.

The history of what is meant by the phrase " secret diplomacy". Nikolai Borisovich spent quite a long time in relatively low government positions. But for some reason, it was he who was entrusted with the most difficult, sometimes delicate diplomatic tasks. Actively using his Masonic connections, Yusupov invariably carried out the tasks assigned to him with the highest dignity. True, at the same time, the prince tried not to forget about himself, replenishing his already rather large art collection with unique masterpieces through familiar Masonic artists, which in another case and under other circumstances would have been impossible to order even for huge money.

C. Lorrain. "The Abduction of Europe"

David. Sappho and Faon, Jacques Louis David

Some historians believe that Nikolai Borisovich was not a representative of the Masonic lodge, because history has not preserved documents confirming this fact. But, apparently, the Russian prince agreed with some of the ideas of the Brotherhood of Freemasons. As a rule, these ideas were directly related to the aesthetic ideals of the Enlightenment, and they also corresponded to his patronage. It is also known that the prince ordered paintings of frankly Masonic meaning and content, on which the most famous Masonic artists worked. It is also interesting that the doors of the workshops of the most famous masters of painting and sculpture, who were in lodges, were always open for Nikolai Borisovich. It is logical that getting through to such creative people with an order, and even a simple foreign nobleman without being in the longest line of his own kind, was considered something beyond the bounds of the possible. It remains only to guess and independently draw conclusions ...

Rembrandt. "Lady with an Ostrich Feather"

Correggio. "Portrait of a lady"

In 1774, the prince filed a petition to go abroad. The archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire contains the Petition of Prince Yusupov addressed to Empress Catherine II for permission to leave for foreign lands to continue her studies: “Most Gracious Empress! If I didn’t have before my eyes the examples of my ancestors who served their Sovereigns with zeal and zeal, then my gratitude alone for all the favors of Your Imperial Majesty aroused in me the most zealous desire to make myself capable of Your service. For already a year and a half, as by Your Highest Imperial Majesty's permission, I have been practicing to acquire knowledge in foreign affairs; and as for the best success in this, my own review of the courts of Europe can greatly help me, I accept boldly to most humbly ask Your Imperial Majesty to dismiss me for four years both for studying in Leiden and for traveling. At that time, I can see all the European courts and take advantage of the directions and guidance of your ministers residing there ... ".

J. de Samsois “Portrait of Prince N.B. Yusupov" 1st half of the 1760s. GMUA miniature

The empress approved the prince's request. Having received letters of recommendation from her, in the spring of 1774, Nikolai Borisovich decided on his first long trip to Europe. With short breaks, it lasted almost twenty years, although who could think about it in those spring days ...

Miniature of Evdokia Borisovna Yusupova, Aloisy Petrovich Rokshtul (1798-1877)

During his trip, Yusupov spent some time visiting his sister in Mitava, and already in the summer of 1774, Nikolai Borisovich went to Leiden in order to attend certain scientific courses at the local university. The road from Courland to Holland then represented a rather long, but unique journey. For the young prince, with his inquisitive and flexible mind, this was an excellent opportunity for development and personal improvement. Yusupov visited Danzig, Berlin, The Hague, as well as other European cities that he met along the way.

Leiden, Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove

Studying in Leiden was not caused by the desire to get closer to fashion or emphasize their own prestige. On the contrary, the university gave Nikolai Borisovich exactly the knowledge to which he had long aspired and which he then used throughout his long life.

At the university, Prince Yusupov listened to lectures on law, philosophy, political history, and natural history. In addition, he studied botany, physics, chemistry, mathematics, anatomy. Moreover, he devoted a lot of time and attention to foreign languages: Latin, ancient Greek, Italian, English. And, of course, being an unusually creative nature, passionately interested in art, Nikolai Borisovich was fond of painting and music. During his student days, Yusupov finally strengthened his long-standing interest in antiquity, which was generally characteristic of representatives of the Enlightenment.

Leiden, J. carabain

In those days, it was necessary for a foreign student to have letters of recommendation. The French academician Villauzon wrote to L. K. Falkenar with unusual benevolence about his diligent student. He also handed Yusupov a letter of recommendation to the adviser to Justice Treskov in Copenhagen, in which he asked to assist Nikolai Borisovich during his trip to Denmark. These were the words: “Prince Yusupov, who will give you this letter, is a Russian gentleman ... I will not repeat what I have already had the honor to tell you about the breadth and depth of his extensive knowledge, especially in Greek ... This is one of the most outstanding people of Europe." And some time later, in confirmation of these flattering words, in 1779 the society of antiquities in Kassel, which was founded by Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse, chose " famous for his knowledge» Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov as an honorary member.

Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel

Kassel Friedrich Square in 1783 by Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder

And on the route plan after Holland was England. It is known that the Russian society of the middle of the eighteenth century adored everything English no less than everything French. Counts Vorontsov were considered the most important Anglophiles in Russia. So, Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, served for several years as the Russian ambassador to England and remained there to live even after his resignation. In England, Yusupov was attracted by the famous Oxford. There he was able to learn a lot of useful and interesting things.

Upon arrival in London in March 1776, Prince Nikolai Borisovich was promptly introduced to the royal society. Among the number of his new acquaintances was Beaumarchais. During several months spent in this city and in this high-society society, Beaumarchais and Yusupov developed very warm friendly relations.

Painting by Italian artist Canaletto "Thames and City". 18 century.

In 1781, the prince was granted the position of actual chamberlain of the Imperial Court. It is worth noting that the applicant for such a high rank of Chamberlain of the Imperial Court had rather serious requirements. By the way, this applicant did not have outstanding external data and, as delicately expressed in the time of Catherine the Great, did not " got in the wrong". The prince just met these requirements both with his education, wealth, family status, age, and outstanding appearance. All of the above qualities gave him reason to act as a legitimate contender for the title of court official of the highest rank. Apparently, it was during that period of life that a story happened to Nikolai Borisovich, which was bashfully pointed out by one picture with a mythological plot from the prince's collection.

Emperor Pavel the First treated Prince Yusupov with great respect. He was well aware that there were few statesmen of such a high level in Russia. Therefore, once on the throne, he turned to Yusupov with a request: to hide " away» one of the paintings in the princely collection. It was in the plot, which symbolized the union of the ancient gods Venus and Apollo. But in a strange way, the images of half-naked celestials very much resembled Prince Yusupov and Empress Catherine the Great herself. Pavel Petrovich often felt a sense of shame for his mother, especially since some of the favorites were old enough to be her sons. Nikolai Borisovich complied with the imperial request, but not without bewilderment. In the time of Catherine, in the era of Enlightenment, not such canvases were opened to the eye of an enthusiastic viewer ...

F. Bush. Hercules and Omphale. Book gallery Yusupov

The reason for writing an ambiguous picture on the ancient story was the fact of the return of Nikolai Borisovich from abroad.

The story with the plot of the picture is nothing more than another love impulse of the prince's loving and tender heart, and not at all a subtle political and prudent move. Catherine did not need much time to appreciate the mental merits and talents "oh one of the most eminent men of Europe." And men with mere virtues already surrounded her everywhere.

Kalinovskaya Ekaterina. Foundation of the Hermitage

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov for many years was not only a confidant of the Empress, but also a good friend. She could, with complete confidence and calmness, entrust the prince with the most delicate and responsible diplomatic missions. Moreover, Yusupov was her personal agent for the acquisition of art exhibits to replenish the Hermitage and other palaces. Catherine corresponded with the prince. Their dialogue was moderately friendly and flirtatious, which speaks volumes.

Balobanova Ekaterina Sergeevna, "Catherine the Great. Creation of the Hermitage."

Unfortunately, there are few surviving portraits of the prince, depicting him young and handsome. On them, he looks like a slightly haughty young man. It is not unknown that the Empress easily fell under the spell of youth. It was not for nothing that her last favorite was Count Zubov, who was distinguished by his beauty and youth, while the queen was far from a young person. So in the case of Yusupov, we can say that everything just coincided: Nikolai Borisovich was the greatest statesman of his time, and the empress could entrust an impeccable diplomat with the solution of any issues. What exactly circumstances contributed to the possible rapprochement between the prince and Catherine is an unknown secret. But the fact that their friendship lasted until the last days is a fact.

G. F. Fuger. Portrait of Prince N. B. Yusupov, 1783 (detail) State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)

And no matter what community or club Nikolai Borisovich was in, he always used his connections for the good of the country.

In 1783, the prince's diplomatic career began with the rank of envoy. Catherine the Second signed the “Decree” of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs “On the Appointment of the Chamberlain of the Court of Her Majesty Prince N. B. Yusupov as Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Minister to the Royal Sardinian Court”. The prince was endowed by nature with a sharp analytical mind, a strong will, a rare grip, refinement, the ability to find a way to the mind and heart of any person. Amazing intuition and the caution and ability to prevent undesirable developments, as well as the ability, if not by force, then by patience and cunning, to achieve the set goal.

Turin, Bernardo Bellotto

These qualities helped the prince not only in everyday life, but also in professional diplomatic activities. To this it is worth adding another important point - the brilliant education of Prince Yusupov, as well as fluency in five European languages.

The few Russian travelers who happened to meet Nikolai Borisovich in Italy noted with some irritation that he, even while abroad, led his usual way of life - he constantly attended opera, concerts and balls. Also, according to contemporaries, Nikolai Borisovich was considered an excellent ballroom dancer. It is easy to imagine him in a dance - a graceful, well-moving, almost ideal partner, somewhat resembling a French marquis, and not at all a Tatar prince, as some believed.

Theater in Turin, Giovanni Michele Graneri (Torino, 1708-1762)

It is not surprising that Nikolai Yusupov was surrounded by the most beautiful and interesting women all the time in Italy. Temperamental and free from prejudice, they looked with pleasure at the seeming violation of possible decorum. And their husbands were not scattered about this, because no one forgot about princely gratitude.

He often left the Court of Turin: to listen to new music, to unwind in a pleasant female company. In fact, people who did not know Yusupov assumed so. In fact, the prince did not have fun, but performed responsible state tasks. The Empress entrusted him with work on serious diplomatic assignments of a rather delicate nature, the essence of which was that it required " legal cover"- post of ambassador to a small state. But the most important and serious were Yusupov's negotiations with the Pope himself.

Royal hunting palace of Stupinigi, Turin suburb. Lithograph by Demetrio Festa after a drawing by Enrico Gonin

In 1785, Count Andrei Kirillovich Razumovsky, who was directly related to the salon of the Moscow English Club on Tverskaya, showed himself at the Court of the King of Naples ugly and inappropriate for his status. The born prince Yusupov was forced to come to the court and correct the matter in order to be rehabilitated before the king. Otherwise, a serious diplomatic scandal threatened. The Neapolitan royal family was offended. Nikolai Borisovich, not without difficulty, achieved an audience with King Ferdinand the First, to whom he conveyed the most sincere apologies of Empress Catherine II. The matter has been corrected.

Ferdinand I and his family (1783) Angelika Kaufman

In 1788, Yusupov was destined to be in Naples again. He was in very difficult negotiations with the Royal Court over the deteriorating relations between Russia, Sweden and Turkey. Russia needed the neutrality of European states. Its observance directly depended on the notorious " public opinion". The prince's negotiations with the diplomats of England and Austria turned out to be difficult. But in the evenings, Nikolai Borisovich had an excellent opportunity to attend his favorite La Fenice theater.

Ferdinand I, Naples, unknown artist

In 1784, Nikolai Borisovich visited the Vatican, he received an audience with Pope Pius VI himself. This reception was preceded by a secret instruction received from Empress Catherine II: “Noble Faithful to Us! Departing from the Court of Turin, direct your path to Rome, where you will appear as a Cavalier of Our Court, having a special commission to the Local Possessor, and not at all in the form of a Minister characterized, so as otherwise not to have the need to establish a new ceremonial, and therefore not to be found in case of any difficulty with your stay in Rome ... ".

Casper van Wittel

Portrait of Pope Pius VI (1717-1799), Pompeo Batoni

To solve the difficult problems of the foreign policy direction, the position of temporary envoy in Rome did not provide Yusupov with special opportunities both in the political and diplomatic sense. It was here that the prince's personal Masonic connections came to the rescue. Nikolai Borisovich, as a private person, not only received a papal audience, but also achieved the favor of the Papal Court: “... a separate independent existence in the Russian Empire of the Roman Catholic flock, thanked for the gift of the Mogilev Archbishop Sestrentsevich, close to the Russian Imperial House, of the palladium and the elevation to the cardinals of the former in Russia Papal Ambassador Arcotti". In addition, the empress, through Yusupov, expressed her desire to raise Sestrentsevich to the cardinals.

Archbishop Stanislav Bogush-Sestrentsevich

The Church of St. Stanislaus in the village of Molyatichi, built at the direction of S. Bogush-Sestrentsevich as a miniature copy of St. Peter's Basilica

To the surprise of everyone, the Pope received Yusupov so generously that he even allowed the prince to arrange a copy of the best picturesque decorations of the Vatican. Before Nikolai Borisovich, no one could obtain such permits in such volumes. It is worth noting that after, too.

In Italy, Nikolai Borisovich managed to collect a huge collection of works of art. A special place in it was occupied by painting and sculpture. Yusupov visited the workshops of almost all famous artists, bought up the works of old masters, but even at that time they were already considered a great curiosity. Russian aristocrats often tried to sell old copies that were passed off as genuine works of artists. Over time, everything became clear - the Yusupov collection has long been recognized as the largest private collection in Europe.

Nicholas Lancre. Society at the edge of the forest. Late 1720s. Canvas, oil. Pushkin Museum

S. Ricci. Childhood of Romulus and Remus. 1708-1709. Canvas, oil. GE

Upon his return to Russia, Nikolai Borisovich became the most prominent figure in the outgoing decade of the reign of Empress Catherine the Great. During this time, he actually led the Russian artistic life, being the official and unofficial trendsetter of Russian artistic life. Once in St. Petersburg, Yusupov looked in the eyes of his compatriots as a man who had something to learn from and who wanted to imitate.

I.B. Lumpy Sr., Ya.F. Hackert. "Portrait of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov with a dog." Between 1786 and 1789 GE. The portrait was painted by order of N.B. Yusupov in Italy.

Returning from Europe, the prince now and then visited the Court, was a member of the intimate circle of the empress, which took place in the Winter Palace without any special ceremonies. He, among the few courtiers, was allowed to come to Catherine without any prior invitations. Perhaps such attention was also due to the fact that Prince Yusupov always remained a very pleasant, mannered and gallant person in communication.

An unknown Italian (?) artist, after a drawing by M.I. Makhaev. View of the Winter Palace

Upon returning to his homeland, the prince no longer found his seriously ill mother, Princess Irina Mikhailovna, alive. A couple of months before her death, on January 20, 1788, Irina Mikhailovna wrote and sent Nikolai Borisovich her last letter, filled with the warmest feelings and maternal love, as well as pride in her adored and only son, whom, as she herself expected, she would never see again. managed. Obviously, Yusupov physically could not come from Italy to Russia for his mother's funeral - the road would require at least a month. Even diplomatic mail was not delivered without difficulty.

F. Titov. "Portrait of Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova for embroidery." 1765. GMUA.

In October 1792, Yusupov headed the Imperial Porcelain Factory, which soon glorified the imperial family, as well as Russian art. Nikolai Borisovich managed to organize porcelain production so remarkably that during the first half of the nineteenth century the factory did not even have worthy and serious competitors among the numerous private enterprises throughout Russia. Could not withstand competition with the Imperial plant and his own, Prince Yusupov, which appeared in the next century.

"Imperial Porcelain Factory"

Prince Nikolai Borisovich was also known as a brilliant " production organizer". He skillfully managed to identify and place competent, competent and proven people in the most responsible positions. Of course, there were some mistakes, but this happened rarely. Nikolai Borisovich over the years perfectly knew human nature, easily determined the strengths and weaknesses of this or that interlocutor, was indulgent to the shortcomings of his neighbor. He always personally monitored the result of his work. Directly production process He was practically not interested. With their "confidants", as they say, the prince valued them very much, helped them in every possible way, asked for ranks, titles, pensions, government apartments, firewood and even candles for them, and much more. In that era, such "caring The relationship between the boss and subordinates seemed more than strange. More often they surprised the younger contemporaries of Nikolai Borisovich in the nineteenth century, when he lived in Moscow and commanded the Kremlin officials.

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov

We can say that the prince managed to live not one, but several lives. He was an aristocrat, a noble of the empress, a rich man, a state dignitary, an excellent economist. However, the happiest and longest was Yusupovskaya " life in art". It was incredibly multifaceted and contained a focus on musical, dramatic and ballet theatres, symphonic music and musical compositions. Nikolai Borisovich was extremely passionate about collecting works of artistic culture, representing such genres as painting, sculpture, arts and crafts, the development of garden and park ensembles, literature, working with translations of ancient figures, books. And this list, which is no longer short, did not include all the prince's hobbies, to which he paid his main attention and what he was fond of quite professionally.