Children of Kshesinskaya. Matilda Kshesinskaya

Matilda Kshesinskaya (1872 – 1971) | Who was she: a courtesan or a great talent? Heterosexual or smart device? Probably all together...

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (Maria-Matilda Adamovna-Feliksovna-Valerievna Krzesinska; August 19, 1872, Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) - December 6, 1971, Paris) - a famous Russian ballerina and teacher, also known for her intimate relationships with the august persons of the Russian Empire.

Her name was "Madame Seventeen". The reason for this was her addiction to playing roulette in the Monte Carlo casino and a constant bet on the number 17. It was at this age, on March 23, 1890, that she first met the heir to the royal throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich or Niki. This meeting determined the entire future fate of Maria-Matilda Adamovna-Feliksovna-Valerievna Krzhezinskaya, or in the version better known to us, Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya. The more I read about this famous ballerina, about her life, love, work, the more often I ask myself the same question: who and what would she be without the support of the Romanovs?

Who is she more - a courtesan or a femme fatale? The authors of many stories very diligently avoid this topic, as if “lubricating” this facet of Matilda Kshesinskaya’s “talent”. But in reality, everything is not so simple, and this is confirmed by numerous memories of her contemporaries and the actions of the ballerina herself.
Thomson M.N. Portrait of Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1991
The world of theater is not so simple, if for ordinary spectators it is a holiday, then for the servants of melpomene it is a struggle for life, intrigue, mutual claims and the ability to do everything to be noticed by the superiors of this world. Ballet dancers have always been loved by the upper class: grand dukes and nobles of lower rank did not shy away from patronizing this or that ballerina. Patronage often did not go beyond a love affair, but still some even dared to take these beauties as wives. But such people were in the minority; the majority were destined for the sad fate of “flashing up as a bright star” on the stage and then quietly fading away outside it. Matilda Kshesinskaya escaped this fate...

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya was a hereditary “balletist” - she was born on August 31, 1872 into a theatrical family of a Pole, dancer and opera singer Felix Kshesinsky and ballerina Yulia Dolinskaya (in another transcription Dominskaya) in St. Petersburg.

Felix Kshesinsky and Yulia Dominskaya

Matilda became the last, thirteenth child in this family and had an affectionate name - Malya, Malechka. Felix Kshesinsky's eldest daughter, Yulia, danced with her father and is often confused with Matilda Feliksovna in photographs today.

Sister Yulia - Kshesinskaya 1st

Matilda's brother Joseph also became a ballet dancer. It was in such an atmosphere of the theater world that young Malechka grew up.

Matilda with her father in the Polish act of the opera "A Life for the Tsar" 1890s

At the age of 8 she became a visiting student at the Imperial Theater School, and at the age of 15 she took lessons from Christian Ioganson, who became her teacher for many years, even after she became a recognized ballet dancer.

In the spring of 1890, after graduating from college, she was enrolled in the group of the Mariinsky Theater and in her first season she danced in 22 ballets and 21 operas.
Not a bad start... and it may seem that talent is to blame. But is it? In fact, this is not entirely true - on March 23, 1890, during the final exam, the first meeting of the future Emperor Nicholas II, a phlegmatic and lethargic young man, with a cheerful and cheerful Polish woman took place. Everything happened with the approval of members of the royal family, starting from Emperor Alexander III, who organized this acquaintance, and ending with Empress Maria Fedorovna, who still wanted her son to become... a man.

After the exam there was dinner, mutual flirting between two young people and years later an entry in Kshesinskaya’s memoirs: “When I said goodbye to the Heir, a feeling of attraction to each other had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine.”

Their truly serious relationship began only two years later, after the heir came home to Matilda Kshesinskaya, under the name of Hussar Volkov. Notes, letters and... gifts, truly royal. The first was a gold bracelet with large sapphires and two diamonds, on which Matilda engraved two dates - 1890 and 1892 - the first meeting and the first visit to her home.

But... Their love was doomed and after April 7, 1894, when the engagement of the Tsarevich to Alice of Hesse was officially announced, Nicholas never came to Matilda again.

However, as you know, he allowed her to contact him in letters on a first name basis and promised to help her in everything if she needed help.

But... as they say, a holy place is never empty: “In my grief and despair, I was not left alone. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, with whom I became friends from the day the heir first brought him to me, stayed with me and supported me.

I never felt a feeling for him that could be compared with my feeling for Niki, but with all his attitude he won my heart, and I sincerely fell in love with him,” Matilda Kshesinskaya later wrote in her memoirs. She fell in love... however quickly and again... Romanova.
And it is not surprising that her career was going uphill. She became the prima of the Mariinsky Theater and virtually the entire repertoire was built around her. Yes, her contemporaries did not refuse to recognize her talent, but latently everyone understood that this talent made its way to the top not through a terrible struggle for existence, but in a slightly different way. But let’s give the floor to the witnesses; Vladimir Arkadyevich Telyakovsky, director of the imperial theaters, wrote about this especially well in his “Memoirs.”

From the memoirs of V.A. Telyakovsky: “M. Kshesinskaya danced beautifully and was also an undeniably outstanding Russian ballerina. For (Kshesinskaya) ... success on stage was a means: her aspirations were more grandiose and extensive, and the role of only a ballerina, although outstanding, did not satisfy her from a young age.M. Kshesinskaya, already in her thirteenth year of service, left the ballet troupe of her own free will.

She saved her strength for another purpose. M. Kshesinskaya was an undeniably smart woman. She perfectly took into account both the strengths and, especially, the weaknesses of men, these eternally searching Romeos, who say everything they like about women, and from whom women make whatever they, women, want."
From the memoirs of V.A. Telyakovsky: “It would seem that a ballerina, serving in the directorate, should belong to the repertoire, but then it turned out that the repertoire belongs to M. Kshesinskaya, and just as out of fifty performances, forty belong to balletomanes, and in the repertoire - from all the ballets more than half of the best belong to the ballerina Kshesinskaya.

with Vera Trefilova in the ballet "Pharaoh's Daughter"(?)

She considered them her property and could give or not let others dance them. There were cases when a ballerina was discharged from abroad. Her contract stipulated ballets for tours. This was the case with the ballerina Grimaldi, invited in 1900.

But when she decided to rehearse one ballet, indicated in the contract (this ballet was “Vain Precaution”), Kshesinskaya declared: “I won’t give it, this is my ballet.” The telephones, conversations, telegrams began. The poor director was rushing here and there. Finally, he sends an encrypted telegram to the minister in Denmark, where he was with the sovereign at that time. The case was secret and of special national importance. And what? She receives the following answer: “Since this ballet is Kshesinskaya’s, it should be left to her.”
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich loved Matilda Kshesinskaya faithfully for 25 years. He pampered her, protected her, saved her... In Strelna, in the name of Kshesinskaya, he bought a magnificent dacha.

Later she would write: “In order to console and entertain me at least a little, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich pampered me as best he could, did not deny me anything and tried to forestall all my desires.”
And then a word from the historian A.B. Shirokorad, a quote from the book “The Fall of Port Arthur”: “...The question arises: how did the poor dancer Matilda Kshesinskaya become one of the richest women in Russia? The salary of the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater? Yes, she spent more on outfits !Connection in 1890-1894 with the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Nicholas?There were also pennies there.

At the end of the 1890s, Kshesinskaya bought a country palace in Strelna. The ballerina overhauled it and even built her own power plant. “Many envied me, since even in the [Winter Palace. - A. III.] there was no electricity,” Kshesinskaya noted proudly. In Kshesinskaya's Strelna Palace, tables were set for more than a thousand people. On Matilda’s birthday, the railway schedule of trains passing through Strelnya even changed.
In the spring of 1906, Kshesinskaya bought a plot of land on the corner of Kronverksky Prospekt and Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street and commissioned the architect Alexander von Gauguin to design a palace. By the end of 1906, the construction of the two-story palace was completed.

The famous Kshesinskaya mansion in St. Petersburg Photo of the early twentieth century

salon 1916

Its length was 50 meters and width - 33 meters. They wrote about the palace - everything was built and furnished according to Kshesinskaya’s wishes and tastes: the hall was in the Russian Empire style, the salon was in the style of Louis XVI, the bedroom and restroom were in the English style, etc. The stylish furniture was supplied by the famous French manufacturer Meltzer. Chandeliers, sconces, candelabra and everything else, even the latches, were ordered from Paris. The house with the adjacent garden is a small masterpiece of Matilda Kshesinskaya’s imagination. Well-trained maids, a French cook, a senior janitor - a Knight of St. George, a wine cellar, carriages, cars and even a cowshed with a cow and a cowwoman. Matilda loved to drink milk. There was, of course, a large winter garden. Where does all this come from? It’s not hard to guess that the source of Matilda’s well-being... was Russia’s huge military budget.”

The same budget to which the Grand Dukes and in particular Sergei Mikhailovich had access. In all her roles, she “shone”: she appeared on stage, hung with real jewelry - diamonds, pearls, sapphires... She was served by Faberge himself and made many things commissioned by the Grand Dukes.

THE DOG COLLAR NECLACE (“dog collar”) Matilda is shown wearing a similar necklace in almost all photographs. Despite such an unpoetic name, this type of necklace flourished for almost half a century.

Yes, she dances all this time, but ballet is not work for her, but just entertainment, although, to her credit, she is talented and does everything to stay in shape. And all in order to remove competitors and rivals! There is an interesting entry on this subject in the memoirs of the great ballerina Tamara Karsavina.
From the memoirs of ballerina Tamara Karsavina: “I remember another incident with a fine, which had serious consequences. It occurred during Volkonsky’s directorship. Once Matilda Kshesinskaya wore her own costume to a performance, ignoring Volkonsky’s order to go on stage in a suit specially tailored for the role. The next day she was fined, Kshesinskaya became angry and began to seek cancellation, and a few days later an order from the Minister of the Household to cancel the fine appeared in the Vestnik.

ballet "Camargo"

Prince Volkonsky immediately resigned. He was deservedly much loved, and the community was indignant at the disrespect shown to one of its members. Hostile demonstrations directed against Kshesinskaya began to take place in the theater - she paid dearly for her short-term triumph. At that time she was at the peak of her talent. In terms of virtuosity, she was not inferior to Legnani, and in terms of acting qualities she even surpassed her.

Matilda chose the time for her performances herself and performed only at the height of the season, allowing herself long breaks, during which she stopped regular classes and indulged in unbridled entertainment. Always cheerful and laughing, she loved tricks and cards; sleepless nights did not affect her appearance or spoil her mood. She had amazing vitality and exceptional willpower.

During the month preceding her appearance on stage, Kshesinskaya devoted all her time to work - she trained hard for hours, did not go anywhere and did not receive anyone, went to bed at ten in the evening, weighed herself every morning, always ready to limit herself in food, although her diet was without that she was quite strict. Before the performance, she remained in bed for twenty-four hours, only eating a light breakfast at noon. At six o'clock she was already at the theater in order to have two hours at her disposal for exercise and makeup. One evening I was warming up on stage at the same time as Kshesinskaya and noticed how feverishly her eyes sparkled.

From the very beginning she showed me great kindness. One autumn, during my first season of work at the theater, she sent me an invitation to spend a weekend at her country house in Strelna. “Don’t bother taking fancy dresses with you,” she wrote, “we have a village style here. I’ll send for you.” The thought of the modesty of my wardrobe worried me greatly. Matilda apparently guessed this. She also thought that I didn’t know her secretary by sight, so she came to the station to pick me up herself. She had a small group of friends staying with her.

As a hostess, Matilda was excellent. She had a large garden near the coast. Several goats lived in the pen, one of them, a favorite who appeared on stage in Esmeralda, followed Matilda like a dog.

caricature by N. and S. Legat "Esmeralda"

All day Matilda did not let me go, showing countless signs of attention... I got the impression that everyone around me fell under the charm of her cheerful and good-natured nature. But even I, with all my naivety, understood that the sycophants surrounding her exuded a lot of flattery. And this is understandable, taking into account the position occupied by the famous dancer, rich and influential. Envy and gossip constantly followed her. All that day I had a feeling of bewilderment - could this charming woman really be the same terrible Kshesinskaya, who was called an unscrupulous intriguer who destroys the careers of her rivals.
If anyone hurts you, come straight to me. “I will stand up for you,” she said later, and subsequently kept her word: she had the opportunity to intervene and stand up for me. I began to get significantly fewer roles, and it turned out that the director was led to believe that I had too much work.

One famous ballerina, who apparently was not one of my well-wishers, unexpectedly showed excessive concern for my health, asking the director not to overwork me, since I was sick with consumption. The director, thus misled by this feigned concern, showing true sympathy, began to gradually reduce my repertoire.

with colleagues (ballerinas, choreographers, dancers) (in the first row, in the center to the left of the man in military uniform)
On February 13, 1900, theatrical Petersburg celebrated the tenth anniversary of Kshesinskaya’s creative life on the Imperial stage. The sons of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich - Kirill, Boris and Andrey - were invited to dinner after the anniversary performance.
With the latter, the ballerina began a whirlwind romance. She was six years older than Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

At the same time, Matilda officially lived with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. In June 1902, Matilda Feliksovna had a son. The boy was named Vladimir in honor of the father of Grand Duke Andrei. Only, from which Romanov this child was born is still unknown. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich considered him his son until the end of his life. And again the word to V.A. Telyakovsky.

Matilda Kshesinskaya with her son Vladimir. 1916
From the diary of Vladimir Telyakovsky:
“Is this really a theater, and is it really me who is in charge? Everyone is happy, everyone is happy and glorifying an extraordinary, technically strong, morally impudent, cynical, insolent ballerina, living simultaneously with two great princes and not only not hiding this, but, on the contrary, intertwining and This is art in its stinking, cynical wreath of human carrion and depravity. Lappa informed me that Kshesinskaya herself says that she is pregnant; wanting to continue dancing, she remade some parts of the ballet to avoid risky movements. It is still unknown who the child will be assigned to. Some speak to Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and some speak to Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, others speak about the ballet Kozlov."
In 1904, she left the stage, but retained the right to roles in performances and did not allow anyone else to dance them. In 1908, Matilda Kshesinskaya successfully tours the Paris Grand Opera and amazes the audience with her 32 fouettés!

And at the same time she immediately starts an affair with her partner Pyotr Vladimirov, who is 21 years younger than her, which ends in a duel in the forest near Paris between the latter and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.
And then there was a revolution and everything went to pieces. Her luxurious mansion was plundered, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich died in Alapaevsk: dying in an abandoned mine, he clutched in his hand a small gold medallion with a portrait of Matilda Kshesinskaya and the inscription “Malya”. On February 19, 1920, she sailed to Constantinople on the Italian liner Semiramis. In January 1921, in France, they married Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, and Matilda received the title of Most Serene Princess Romanovskaya.

In 1929, Kseshinskaya opened her ballet studio in Paris, where students from as far away as England, the USA, and Spain took lessons from her.

"Russian", Covent Garden, London, 1936

Matilda Kshesinskaya in the last years of her life. 1954

1969

Son Vladimir

1950s(?)
“In 1958, the Bolshoi Theater ballet troupe came to Paris. Although I don’t go anywhere else, dividing my time between home and the dance studio where I earn money to live, I made an exception and went to the Opera to see the Russians. I cried with happiness. This was the same ballet that I saw more than forty years ago, possessing the same spirit and the same traditions...” - this is what she wrote in her memoirs.

She died at the age of 99 in 1971 and was laid to rest in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in France.
Matilda Kshesinskaya's grave at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery
In 2010, a television program from the series “More than Love” was prepared about the history of the relationship between Matilda Kshesinskaya and Prince Andrei Romanov.
Matilda Kshesinskaya and Prince Andrei Romanov, TV show "More than Love"
Who was she anyway: a courtesan or a great talent? Heterosexual or smart device? Probably all together, but one thing is clear, her role in the art of Russian theater and the “art” of Russian life was far from the last... but such is Russia.

Original post and comments at

Matilda Kshesinskaya: biography, personal life, life story

For the most part, we add contemporary celebrities to our portal. But there are also iconic personalities who have already left this world, but their biography and personal life are so interesting that we cannot ignore their stories. Well, welcome - a personal page about the life of Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya.

Biography of Matilda Kshesinskaya

Matilda Kseshinskaya's family

Matilda was born on August 19 (31), 1872. This significant event took place in a family of theatergoers in Ligovo. Her father was Felix Kshesinsky, a Russian Pole. This was Matilda’s mother’s second marriage - Yulia Dominskaya (that was the name of our heroine’s mother) had 5 more children left from her marriage to the dancer Lede.

Matilda's sister Julia became a ballerina. Brother Joseph also became a dancer, but did not survive the siege of Leningrad.

Matilda herself was called Malechka within the family.

Matilda's childhood

The little girl entered the ballet school at the age of 8. In 1890, she graduated from the Imperial Theater School, where she received an excellent education under the strict guidance of Lev Ivanov, Katerina Vazem and Christian Ioganson. After graduation, she was invited to the Mariinsky Theater, where her older sister also danced.

Matilda performed on this stage until 1917.

The year 1986 is significant in the biography of Matilda Kshesinskaya in that she received the title of prima of the imperial theaters. Note that the general choreographer was against her candidacy for this role, but Matilda was able to achieve recognition of her as the main dancer.

Since 1898, she studied personally with the famous Italian coach Enrico Cecchetti in order to add to the base of Russian ballet the graceful footwork adopted by the Italians.

An interesting fact from the biography of Matilda Kshesinskaya: she was the first in Russia to perform 32 fouettés without stopping.

It even got to the point that Marius Petipa adapted the main choreographic parts of the ballets to suit the outstanding skills of our heroine!

Despite her academic skills, Matilda willingly took part in bold, innovative productions.

1904 was a turning point in the biography of Matilda Feliksovna - she left the theater, after which she collaborated with him only on a one-time basis. In addition to her talent and skills, the dancer was remembered for her ability to build a line of development and always defend her interests. She was an ardent opponent of inviting dancers from abroad.

In 1917, Matilda left Petrograd, going first to Kislovodsk, from where she moved to Novorossiysk, and from there on February 19 (March 3) she emigrated abroad. This was due to political events in the country - our heroine and her son had to wander around the country and live for 6 weeks in a 3rd class train carriage, hiding from Bolshevik persecution. As a result, the dancer managed to get French visas in Constantinople, after which they went to Cap d’Ail, where the celebrity had her own villa.

In 1929, the Kshesinskaya ballet school appeared in Paris. As a teacher, she was always reserved, preferring not to shout at her students.

In 1960, the memoirs of Matilda Feliksovna, written by her during her emigration, were published in the capital of France. They were published in Russia only in 1992...

The biography of Matilda Kshesinskaya ends on December 5, 1971 - just a few months were not enough for the famous dancer to reach her 100th birthday. She was buried near Paris, along with her husband and son.

Personal life of Matilda Kshesinskaya

History knows that in the period 1892-1894. Matilda was in a relationship with Nikolai Alexandrovich, who would become known as Nicholas II.

Nicholas 2 and Matilda Kshesinskaya historical facts

They met in March 1890, at the final exam. This relationship was blessed by the emperor, who organized the first meeting of graduates.

After the exam, the young couple attended dinner, where communication began and mutual sympathy emerged.

Interesting fact: Matilda called Nikolai in her own manner - “Nicky”.

The couple broke up in 1894, when the Tsarevich announced his engagement to Alice of Hesse. This news broke Kshesinskaya’s heart, which she later herself told about...

People who lived in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries thought little about what their image would be in the eyes of their distant descendants. Therefore, they lived simply - they loved, betrayed, committed meanness and selfless acts, not knowing that a hundred years later some of them would be put on a halo on their heads, and others would be posthumously denied the right to love.

Matilda Kshesinskaya inherited an amazing fate - fame, universal recognition, love of the powers that be, emigration, life under German occupation, poverty. And decades after her death, people who consider themselves highly spiritual individuals will shout her name on every corner, silently cursing the fact that she ever lived in the world.

"Kshesinskaya 2nd"

She was born in Ligov, near St. Petersburg, on August 31, 1872. Ballet was her destiny from birth - her father is Pole Felix Kshesinsky, was a dancer and teacher, an unrivaled mazurka performer.

Mother, Yulia Dominskaya, was a unique woman: in her first marriage she gave birth to five children, and after the death of her husband she married Felix Kshesinsky and gave birth to three more. Matilda was the youngest in this ballet family, and, following the example of her parents and older brothers and sisters, she decided to connect her life with the stage.

At the beginning of her career, the name “Kshesinskaya 2nd” will be assigned to her. The first was her sister Julia, a brilliant artist of the Imperial Theaters. Brother Joseph, also a famous dancer, will remain in Soviet Russia after the revolution, receive the title of Honored Artist of the Republic, and will stage performances and teach.

Felix Kshesinsky and Yulia Dominskaya. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Joseph Kshesinsky will bypass repression, but his fate, nevertheless, will be tragic - he will become one of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the siege of Leningrad.

Little Matilda dreamed of fame and worked hard in her classes. Teachers at the Imperial Theater School said among themselves that the girl had a great future, if, of course, she found a wealthy patron.

Fateful dinner

The life of Russian ballet during the Russian Empire was similar to the life of show business in post-Soviet Russia - talent alone was not enough. Careers were made through bed, and this was not really hidden. Faithful married actresses were doomed to be the foil for brilliant, talented courtesans.

In 1890, 18-year-old graduate of the Imperial Theater School Matilda Kshesinskaya was given a high honor - the emperor himself was present at the graduation performance Alexander III with the family.

Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1896 Photo: RIA Novosti

“This exam decided my fate,” Kshesinskaya will write in her memoirs.

After the performance, the monarch and his retinue appeared in the rehearsal hall, where Alexander III showered Matilda with compliments. And then at the gala dinner the emperor showed the young ballerina a place next to the heir to the throne - Nikolai.

Alexander III, unlike other representatives of the imperial family, including his father, who lived in two families, is considered a faithful husband. The emperor preferred another entertainment for Russian men to walking “to the left” - consuming “little white” in the company of friends.

However, Alexander saw nothing wrong with a young man learning the basics of love before marriage. That’s why he pushed his phlegmatic 22-year-old son into the arms of an 18-year-old beauty of Polish blood.

“I don’t remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the heir. I can see his blue eyes now with such a kind expression. I stopped looking at him only as an heir, I forgot about it, everything was like a dream. When I said goodbye to the heir, who sat through the entire dinner next to me, we no longer looked at each other the same way as when we met; a feeling of attraction had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine,” Kshesinskaya wrote about that evening.

Passion of “Hussar Volkov”

Their romance was not stormy. Matilda dreamed of a meeting, but the heir, busy with state affairs, did not have time for dates.

In January 1892, a certain “hussar Volkov” arrived at Matilda’s house. The surprised girl approached the door, and Nikolai walked towards her. That night was the first time they spent together.

The visits of “Hussar Volkov” became regular, and all of St. Petersburg knew about them. It got to the point that one night the St. Petersburg mayor broke into the loving couple’s house and received a strict order to deliver the heir to his father on urgent business.

This relationship had no future. Nicholas knew the rules of the game well: before his engagement in 1894 to the princess Alice of Hesse, the future Alexandra Feodorovna, he broke up with Matilda.

In her memoirs, Kshesinskaya writes that she was inconsolable. Believing her or not is a personal matter for everyone. An affair with the heir to the throne gave her such protection that her rivals on the stage could not have had.

We must pay tribute, receiving the best games, she proved that she deserves them. Having become a prima ballerina, she continued to improve, taking private lessons from the famous Italian choreographer Enrico Cecchetti.

Matilda Kshesinskaya was the first Russian dancer to perform 32 fouettés in a row, which today are considered the trademark of Russian ballet, having adopted this trick from the Italians.

Soloist of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater Matilda Kshesinskaya in the ballet “Pharaoh’s Daughter”, 1900. Photo: RIA Novosti

Grand Duke's love triangle

Her heart was not free for long. The new chosen one was again the representative of the House of Romanov, the Grand Duke Sergey Mikhailovich, grandson Nicholas I and cousin of Nicholas II. Unmarried Sergei Mikhailovich, who was known as a reserved person, felt incredible affection for Matilda. He looked after her for many years, thanks to which her career in the theater was completely cloudless.

Sergei Mikhailovich's feelings were severely tested. In 1901, the Grand Duke began to court Kshensinskaya Vladimir Alexandrovich, uncle of Nicholas II. But this was just an episode before the appearance of a real rival. His son, the Grand Duke, became his rival Andrew Vladimirovich, cousin of Nicholas II. He was ten years younger than his relative and seven years younger than Matilda.

“This was no longer an empty flirtation... From the day of my first meeting with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, we began to meet more and more often, and our feelings for each other soon turned into a strong mutual attraction,” writes Kshesinskaya.

The men of the Romanov family flew to Matilda like butterflies to a flame. Why? Now none of them will explain. And the ballerina skillfully manipulated them - having started a relationship with Andrei, she never parted with Sergei.

Having gone on a trip in the fall of 1901, Matilda felt unwell in Paris, and when she went to the doctor, she found out that she was in a “situation.” But she didn’t know whose child it was. Moreover, both lovers were ready to recognize the child as their own.

The son was born on June 18, 1902. Matilda wanted to name him Nicholas, but did not risk it - such a step would have been a violation of the rules that they had once established with the now Emperor Nicholas II. As a result, the boy was named Vladimir, in honor of the father of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

The son of Matilda Kshesinskaya will have an interesting biography - before the revolution he will be “Sergeevich”, because the “senior lover” recognizes him, and in emigration he will become “Andreevich”, because the “younger lover” marries his mother and recognizes him as his son.

Matilda Kshesinskaya, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and their son Vladimir. Circa 1906. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Mistress of the Russian ballet

At the theater they were openly afraid of Matilda. After leaving the troupe in 1904, she continued to perform one-time performances, receiving mind-boggling fees. All the parties that she liked were assigned to her and only to her. Going against Kshesinskaya at the beginning of the 20th century in Russian ballet meant ending your career and ruining your life.

Director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky, once dared to insist that Kshesinskaya go on stage in a costume that she did not like. The ballerina did not comply and was fined. A couple of days later, Volkonsky resigned, as Emperor Nicholas II himself explained to him that he was wrong.

New director of the Imperial Theaters Vladimir Telyakovsky I didn’t argue with Matilda over the word “at all.”

“It would seem that a ballerina, serving in the directorate, should belong to the repertoire, but then it turned out that the repertoire belongs to M. Kshesinskaya, and just as out of fifty performances, forty belong to balletomanes, and in the repertoire - of all the best ballets, more than half of the best belong to the ballerina Kshesinskaya, - Telyakovsky wrote in his memoirs. - She considered them her property and could give or not give them to others to dance. There were cases when a ballerina was discharged from abroad. Her contract stipulated ballets for tours. So it was with the ballerina Grimaldi, invited in 1900. But when she decided to rehearse one ballet, indicated in the contract (this ballet was “Vain Precaution”), Kshesinskaya declared: “I won’t give it, this is my ballet.” The telephones, conversations, telegrams began. The poor director was rushing here and there. Finally, he sends an encrypted telegram to the minister in Denmark, where he was with the sovereign at that time. The case was secret and of special national importance. And what? He receives the following answer: “Since this ballet is Kshesinskaya, then leave it to her.”

Matilda Kshesinskaya with her son Vladimir, 1916. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Shot off nose

In 1906, Kshesinskaya became the owner of a luxurious mansion in St. Petersburg, where everything, from start to finish, was done according to her own ideas. The mansion had a wine cellar for men visiting the ballerina, and horse-drawn carriages and cars were waiting for the mistress in the courtyard. There was even a cowshed, since the ballerina loved fresh milk.

Where did all this splendor come from? Contemporaries said that even Matilda’s cosmic fees would not be enough for all this luxury. It was alleged that Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, a member of the State Defense Council, “plucked off” little by little from the country’s military budget for his beloved.

Kshesinskaya had everything she dreamed of, and, like many women in her position, she became bored.

The result of boredom was an affair between a 44-year-old ballerina and a new stage partner. Peter Vladimirov, who was 21 years younger than Matilda.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, ready to share his mistress with an equal, was furious. During Kshesinskaya's tour in Paris, the prince challenged the dancer to a duel. The unfortunate Vladimirov was shot in the nose by an insulted representative of the Romanov family. Doctors had to piece him together.

But, amazingly, the Grand Duke forgave his flighty beloved this time too.

The fairy tale ends

The fairy tale ended in 1917. With the fall of the empire, Kshesinskaya’s former life also collapsed. She also tried to sue the Bolsheviks for the mansion from whose balcony Lenin spoke. The understanding of how serious everything was came later.

Together with her son, Kshesinskaya wandered around the south of Russia, where power changed, as if in a kaleidoscope. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks in Pyatigorsk, but they, having not decided what he was guilty of, released him on all four sides. Son Vladimir suffered from the Spanish flu, which wiped out millions of people in Europe. Having miraculously avoided typhus, in February 1920, Matilda Kshesinskaya left Russia forever on the ship Semiramida.

By this time, two of her lovers from the Romanov family were no longer alive. Nikolai’s life was interrupted in Ipatiev’s house, Sergei was shot in Alapaevsk. When his body was lifted from the mine where it had been dumped, a small gold medallion with a portrait of Matilda Kshesinskaya and the inscription “Malya” was found in the Grand Duke’s hand.

Junker in the former mansion of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya after the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP(b) moved from it. June 6, 1917. Photo: RIA Novosti

Your Serene Highness at a reception with Müller

In 1921, in Cannes, 49-year-old Matilda Kshesinskaya became a legal wife for the first time in her life. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, despite the sidelong glances of his relatives, formalized the marriage and adopted a child, whom he always considered his own.

In 1929, Kshesinskaya opened her own ballet school in Paris. This step was rather forced - the former comfortable life was left behind, it was necessary to earn a living. Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who declared himself in 1924 the head of the Romanov dynasty in exile, in 1926 assigned Kshesinskaya and her descendants the title and surname of princes Krasinski, and in 1935 the title began to sound like “Your Serene Highness Princes Romanovsky-Krasinsky.”

During World War II, when the Germans occupied France, Matilda's son was arrested by the Gestapo. According to legend, the ballerina, in order to achieve her release, achieved a personal audience with the Gestapo chief Mueller. Kshesinskaya herself never confirmed this. Vladimir spent 144 days in a concentration camp; unlike many other emigrants, he refused to cooperate with the Germans, and was nevertheless released.

There were many long-livers in the Kshesinsky family. Matilda’s grandfather lived to be 106 years old, her sister Yulia died at the age of 103, and “Kshesinskaya 2” herself passed away just a few months before her 100th anniversary.

The building of the Museum of the October Revolution is also known as the mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1972 Architect A. Gauguin, R. Meltzer. Photo: RIA Novosti / B. Manushin

“I cried with happiness”

In the 1950s, she wrote a memoir about her life, which was first published in French in 1960.

“In 1958, the Bolshoi Theater ballet troupe came to Paris. Although I don’t go anywhere else, dividing my time between home and the dance studio where I earn money to live, I made an exception and went to the Opera to see the Russians. I cried with happiness. It was the same ballet that I saw more than forty years ago, the owner of the same spirit and the same traditions...”, wrote Matilda. Ballet probably remained her main love for the rest of her life.

The resting place of Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya was the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. She was buried with her husband, whom she outlived by 15 years, and her son, who passed away three years after his mother.

The inscription on the monument reads: “Your Serene Highness Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya.”

No one can take away the life she has lived from Matilda Kshesinskaya, just as no one can remake the history of the last decades of the Russian Empire to their liking, turning living people into ethereal beings. And those who try to do this do not know even a tenth of the colors of life that little Matilda knew.

The grave of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov at the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the city of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the Paris region. Photo: RIA Novosti / Valery Melnikov

Alexey Kulegin

Head of the editorial and publishing department of the State Museum of Political History of Russia, Candidate of Historical Sciences, author of the research “The Case of the Mansion. How the Bolsheviks “densified” Matilda Kshesinskaya” and “Diva for the Emperor. Nicholas II and Matilda Kshesinskaya" and the exhibition "Matilda Kshesinskaya: Fouette of Fate", which has been running at the Museum of Political History of Russia since 2015.

Family

Matilda Kshesinskaya came from a theatrical family. Her father Felix Janovich (in Russian transcription - Ivanovich) was a famous ballet dancer who performed at the Warsaw Opera. They even went on stage together: there is a photograph of them dancing the mazurka in the opera “A Life for the Tsar.” Felix Yanovich lived a very long life and died due to an accident: during

Felix Kshesinsky with his wife Julia

During one of the rehearsals, he accidentally fell into an open hatch, and, apparently, severe fright and injury brought his death closer. Kshesinskaya's mother Yulia Dominskaya was also an artist. Almost all of her children went to ballet: Matilda’s older sister Julia did not become an equally famous ballerina, but her brother Joseph received the title of Honored Artist, which he retained during Soviet times.

Meeting the Imperial Family

In 1890, Matilda very successfully graduated from the Imperial Theater School (now the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. - Note A.K.) in 17 years. The graduation party became a turning point in the fate of Kshesinskaya - there she met with the heir, the Tsarevich.

Nicholas II

According to tradition, the royal family was almost in full force present at this event. Ballet was considered a privileged art - as it was later, in Soviet times. The powers that be showed interest in him in every sense - often they were interested not only in the performances, but also in the ballerinas themselves, with whom the princes and grand dukes had many affairs.

So, on March 23, 1890, after exams, the royal family arrived at the school. After a short ballet fragment, in which Kshesinskaya also participated (she danced the pas de deux from “A Vain Precaution”), there followed a dinner with the students. According to Matilda, Alexander III wanted to meet her and asked where Kshesinskaya was. She was introduced, although usually in the foreground there should have been another girl - the best student in the graduating class. Then Alexander allegedly uttered the famous words that predetermined the future fate of Kshesinskaya: “Be the beauty and pride of Russian ballet!” Most likely, this is a myth invented later by Kshesinskaya herself: she loved to engage in self-PR and left behind a diary and memoirs that do not match in some details.

Matilda Kshesinskaya

The Emperor sat Kshesinskaya together with Nikolai, who was four years older than Matilda, and said something like: “Just don’t flirt too much.” It’s interesting that Kshesinskaya initially perceived that historical dinner as a boring, routine thing. She didn’t care at all what great princes would be there, who would be nearby. However, they quickly had a casual conversation with Nikolai. Even when they parted, it was clear that this meeting was not accidental. Returning to Anichkov Palace, Nikolai left the following entry in his diary: “We went to a performance at the Theater School. There were short plays and ballet. I had a very good dinner with my pupils” - nothing more. However, he, of course, remembered his acquaintance with Kshesinskaya. Two years later, Nikolai will write: “At 8 o’clock. went to the Theater School, where I saw a good performance of drama classes and ballet. At dinner I sat with the pupils, as before, only little Kshesinskaya is sorely missing.”

Novel

Kshesinskaya was enrolled in the troupe of the Imperial Theaters, but at first she, a young debutante, was not given large roles. In the summer of 1890 she performed at the wooden Krasnoselsky Theater. It was built for the entertainment of guards officers, among whom were all the great princes, including Nicholas. Backstage, she and Matilda once met and exchanged short phrases; Nikolai wrote in his diary: “I really like Kshesinskaya 2” Kshesinskaya First, in turn, was called Matilda’s sister Julia. They almost never saw each other alone. All in all, an innocent, sweet situation.

Then a famous event occurred - the heir’s round-the-world voyage on the cruiser “Memory of Azov”. Kshesinskaya was very worried that Nikolai would forget her. But this did not happen, although the journey lasted more than a year. Upon their return, the young people met at the theater, and in March 1892 their first private date took place. This is stated in the memoirs, although in fact Nikolai came to her parents’ apartment, and the three of them were in the room with her sister Kshesinskaya.

The first - in French - edition of Matilda Kshesinskaya's memoirs was published in Paris in 1960

You can learn how it was from Matilda’s diary. In the evening, Kshesinskaya felt unwell; the maid came into the room and announced that their acquaintance, the hussar Volkov, had arrived. Kshesinskaya ordered to ask - it turned out it was Nikolai. They spent more than two hours together, drinking tea, talking, looking at photos; Nikolai even chose a card, then said that he would like to write to her, received permission to write back letters, and subsequently asked Kshesinskaya to contact him on a first-name basis.

The climax of their relationship came in the winter of 1892–1893. Most likely, Nikolai and Matilda became lovers. The diary of Nikolai, a very closed and reserved person, is replete with descriptions of meetings: “I went to M.K., where I had dinner as usual and had a great time,” “I went to M.K., spent a wonderful three hours with her,” “I just left at 12 ½ straight to M.K. Stayed a very long time and had an extremely good time.” Kshesinskaya kept a very ladylike diary, where she described her experiences, feelings, and tears. Nikolai has no liberties. However, this is how he writes about the winter events: “January 25, 1893. Monday. In the evening I flew to my M.K. and spent the best evening with her so far. I am impressed by her - the pen is shaking in my hand.” Even in the description of much more formidable events, such strong emotions on Nikolai’s part are practically invisible. "January 27, 1893. At 12 o'clock went to M.K., who had until 4 hours left. (meaning, until four o'clock in the morning. - Note ed.). We had a good chat, and laughed, and messed around.” Later, they decided that Kshesinskaya should live separately: meeting with her parents was too inconvenient - especially since the girls’ small bedroom was adjacent to her father’s office. With the support of Nikolai, Kshesinskaya rented a house at 18 Anglisky Prospekt - from now on they saw each other there.

Kshesinskaya first asked permission from her father. At that time, moving an unmarried girl away from her parents was considered indecent, and Felix Yanovich hesitated for a long time. As a result, they talked: her father explained to her that this relationship was futile, the novel had no future. Kshesinskaya replied that she understood all this, but she was madly in love with Niki and wanted to remain at least somewhat happy. The following decision was made - the father allowed the move, but only with his older sister.

Nikolai Romanov began keeping a diary in 1882. The last entry was made 9 days before the execution - June 30, 1918

They started living in a house with a very interesting history. Its most famous owner was the uncle of Emperor Alexander III, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich . In addition to the fact that he was a great liberal (and Alexander III could not stand him for this), Constantine was de facto a bigamist: he left his legal wife and lived there with a ballerina Anna Kuznetsova .

They usually say that the move took place in winter. Matilda’s diary does not have an exact date, but Nikolai has it. He wrote: “February 20 (1893). I didn’t go to the theater, but I went to M.K. and the four of us had a great housewarming dinner. They moved to a new home, a cozy two-story mansion house. The rooms are decorated very well and simply, but some things still need to be added. It is very nice to have a separate household and be independent. We sat again until four o’clock.” The fourth guest is Baron Alexander Zeddeler, a colonel whom Julia later married. Kshesinskaya described in detail how she was engaged in landscaping: she generally enjoyed doing construction work.

Gap

This was the climax of the novel and at the same time the beginning of the end. The prospect of a marriage with Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, the future Alexandra Feodorovna, became more and more clear. Nikolai wrote quite interestingly in his diary: “A very strange phenomenon that I notice in myself: I never thought that two identical feelings, two loves, simultaneously combined in my soul. Now it’s been four years that I love Alix G. and constantly cherish the thought that if God allows me to marry her someday...” The problem was that his parents did not really approve of this choice. They had other plans - Maria Fedorovna, say, was counting on a marriage with a French princess; I looked at other options as well.

Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt - future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Nikolai came to Alice several times, but it was not possible to woo him - which Kshesinskaya was very happy about. She wrote: I was again glad that nothing had happened, that Niki had returned to me, that he was so happy. Whether he was that happy or not is a big question. Alice did not want to convert to Orthodoxy. This was an important condition for a dynastic marriage. Her sister Ella (Elizaveta Feodorovna) In 1918, the Bolsheviks threw her, along with other members of the imperial family, into a mine near Alapaevsk. In 1992, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Elizaveta Feodorovna as a saint., who became the wife of the Moscow governor Sergei Alexandrovich He was killed in 1905 by revolutionary Ivan Kalyaev, also did not immediately agree to this. Alice hesitated for a long time, and only in the spring of 1894 the engagement took place. Even before this, Nikolai broke off relations with Kshesinskaya.

Matilda describes in great detail their last meeting - near some sheds on the Volkhonskoye Highway. She came from the city in a carriage, he arrived on horseback from the guards camps. According to her version, Nikolai said that their love would forever remain the brightest moment of his youth, and allowed her to continue to contact him as you, promised to respond to any of her requests. Kshesinskaya was very worried - this is described in her memoirs and a little in her diaries, but after parting with Nikolai, the diaries ended. She probably abandoned them in frustration. At least, we know nothing about the existence of other similar records.

According to the memoirs of the emperor's valet, Nicholas drank a glass of milk every evening and meticulously wrote down everything that happened to him that day. At some point he simply stopped mentioning Matilda. At the beginning of 1893, Nikolai wrote something almost every day “about my Mala”, “about my M.K.” or about “flying to little M.” Then the mentions became less and less, and by 1894 they disappeared completely. But you need to take into account the nuances - his diaries could be read by strangers, parents, valet.

Attitude to the novel in the imperial family and in society

There are several versions of what the royal family thought about Nicholas’s affair with Matilda. It is believed that their first meeting was a well-prepared impromptu. Allegedly, Alexander III began to worry that the heir had become lethargic, inert, that he already seemed to be a grown-up young man, but there were still no novels. On the advice of Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Nikolai’s teacher and the main ideologist of the Russian Empire, Alexander decided to find him a girl - ballerinas were undoubtedly suitable for this purpose. In particular, Matilda - she had a slightly dubious, but still nobility, was young, not spoiled by high-profile novels, and perhaps even remained a virgin.

Judging by Matilda's diary, Nikolai hinted at intimacy, but could not make up his mind. Their romance was platonic for at least two years, which Nikolai emphasizes. According to Matilda, during a meeting in early January 1893, a decisive explanation takes place between them on an intimate topic, from which Kshesinskaya understands that Nikolai is afraid to be her first. Nevertheless, Matilda managed to somehow overcome this embarrassment. No one held a candle: there were no documents strictly confirming the erotic connection. Personally, I am sure that there was an intimate relationship between Nikolai and Matilda. Agree, “the pen trembles in the hand” was written for a reason - especially by the heir to the throne, whose choice is actually practically unlimited. No one doubts the romance itself - platonic or not. However, the historian Alexander Bokhanov Author of many books about Russian emperors - from Paul I to Nicholas II - and a textbook on the history of Russia in the 19th century. Monarchist believes that there was no intimate relationship, otherwise Matilda would have tried to give birth to a child from Nikolai. Of course, there was no child, this is a myth. Well, in 1894 the romance definitely stopped. Nikolai can be considered a useless statesman, but he was faithful to his family: his father’s nature, and not his grandfather’s, who had a lot of novels.

Alexander III with his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna

Maria Feodorovna knew for sure about Nikolai’s affair. One of the ladies-in-waiting told her about this - before that, the empress complained that her son often did not spend the night at home. The lovers tried to disguise their meetings in a rather funny way. For example, Nikolai said that he was going to Grand Duke Alexei Alekseevich. The fact is that the mansion on English Avenue adjoined his house with a garden: the route was the same, the address was different. Or he said that he was going somewhere and stopped there after Matilda. There are known rumors about an affair, recorded by the owner of a high-society salon, Alexandra Viktorovna Bogdanovich. Her diary was published several times: she kept it from the 1870s until 1912. In the evening, after receiving guests, Bogdanovich carefully wrote down all the new gossip in her notebook. Also preserved are essays by the ballet figure Denis Leshkov. He writes that rumors reached the highest parents. Mom got angry and instructed one of her outhouse adjutants to go to Felix Yanovich (Matilda was still living with her family at that time) to forbid him, under any plausible pretext, to receive the crown prince at home. Felix Janovich found himself in a very difficult situation. A solution was found in the spirit of Dumas’s novels, writes Leshkov: the young people saw each other in a carriage standing in a secluded alley.

Kshesinskaya moved to the famous mansion on Kuibysheva Street in the winter of 1906. By that time, she, the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater, already had a son, Vladimir, and she herself was in a relationship with two other grand dukes - Sergei Mikhailovich Before the revolution, he was considered the father of Vladimir - therefore, since 1911, the child bore the patronymic “Sergeevich” And Andrey Vladimirovich He married Matilda Kshesinskaya in 1921 and adopted Vladimir - he changed his middle name to “Andreevich”. By that time they were living in France. Nikolai gave her a house on English Avenue, and we even know how much it cost - approximately 150 thousand rubles. Judging by the documents that I found, Kshesinskaya tried to sell it, and this figure is indicated there. It is not known how much Nikolai regularly spent on his novel. Kshesinskaya herself wrote that his gifts were good, but not large.

Of course, the newspapers did not mention the novel - there were no independent media at that time. But for the high society of St. Petersburg, the connection with Kshesinskaya was not a secret: not only Bogdanovich mentions her, but also, for example, Alexey Suvorin, Chekhov’s friend and publisher of Novoye Vremya - and unambiguously and in rather indecent expressions. In my opinion, Bogdanovich indicates that after the breakup, different options were discussed on what to do with Kshesinskaya. Mayor Victor von Wahl suggested either giving her money and sending her somewhere, or simply expelling her from St. Petersburg.

After 1905, an opposition press appeared in the country with materials of a very different level. Well, the real squall begins in 1917. For example, in the March issue of the New Satyricon the cartoon “Victim of the New System” was published. It depicts a reclining Kshesinskaya, who reasons: “My close relationship with the old government was easy for me - it consisted of one person. But what will I do now, when the new government - the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies - consists of two thousand people?

Matilda Kshesinskaya died on December 6, 1971 in Paris at the age of 99. In exile, she bore the title of Most Serene Princess, which was assigned to her by Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who in 1924 proclaimed himself Emperor of All Russia.

Children of Kshesinskaya. Matilda Kshesinskaya

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (Maria-Matilda Adamovna-Feliksovna-Valerievna Krzesinska; August 19, 1872, Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) - December 6, 1971, Paris) - a famous Russian ballerina and teacher, also known for her intimate relationships with the august persons of the Russian Empire.

Matilda became the last, thirteenth child in this family and had an affectionate name - Malya, Malechka. Felix Kshesinsky's eldest daughter, Yulia, danced with her father and is often confused with Matilda Feliksovna in photographs today.

Matilda's brother Joseph also became a ballet dancer. It was in such an atmosphere of the theater world that young Malechka grew up.

At the age of 8 she became a visiting student at the Imperial Theater School, and at the age of 15 she took lessons from Christian Ioganson, who became her teacher for many years, even after she became a recognized ballet dancer.

After the exam there was dinner, mutual flirting between two young people and years later an entry in Kshesinskaya’s memoirs: “When I said goodbye to the Heir, a feeling of attraction to each other had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine.”

But... Their love was doomed and after April 7, 1894, when the engagement of the Tsarevich to Alice of Hesse was officially announced, Nicholas never came to Matilda again.

However, as you know, he allowed her to contact him in letters on a first name basis and promised to help her in everything if she needed help.

She considered them her property and could give or not let others dance them. There were cases when a ballerina was discharged from abroad. Her contract stipulated ballets for tours. This was the case with the ballerina Grimaldi, invited in 1900.

The same budget to which the Grand Dukes and in particular Sergei Mikhailovich had access. In all her roles, she “shone”: she appeared on stage, hung with real jewelry - diamonds, pearls, sapphires... She was served by Faberge himself and made many things commissioned by the Grand Dukes.

As a hostess, Matilda was excellent. She had a large garden near the coast. Several goats lived in the pen, one of them, a favorite who appeared on stage in Esmeralda, followed Matilda like a dog.

with colleagues (ballerinas, choreographers, dancers) (in the first row, in the center to the left of the man in military uniform)

With the latter, the ballerina began a whirlwind romance. She was six years older than Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

In 1929, Kseshinskaya opened her ballet studio in Paris, where students from as far away as England, the USA, and Spain took lessons from her.

Matilda Kshesinskaya in the last years of her life. 1954

1969

Son Vladimir

She died at the age of 99 in 1971 and was laid to rest in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in France.

Matilda Kshesinskaya and Prince Andrei Romanov, TV show "More than Love"