Russian Aristocracy. Born in Moika Palace in Petrograd, the second son of Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, and Zinaida Nikolayevna Yusupova, the sole heir to Russia's largest private fortune. Her husband was granted special permission by the Czar to carry the title Prince Yusupov as well as his own title, and to pass them both to his heir. His elder brother, Nikolai Felixovich, was killed in a duel with an outraged husband in 1908, leaving him sole heir. In 1909, he attended Oxford where he established the Oxford University Russian Society. By all accounts, he was badly spoiled, and indulged in a rather flamboyant and somewhat dissipated lifestyle. In 1914, He married Irina Romanova, the Czar's niece. During the first World War, he converted a wing of the family palace into a hospital for wounded soldiers as his contribution to the war effort. By 1915, he was one of the many aristocracy who objected to the influence Grigory Rasputin was exerting over the Czarina. By late 1916, he became involved in a conspiracy with Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, Nicholas II's cousin; Vladimir Purishkevich, member of the Duma; Lieutenant Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin; and Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert to assassinate Rasputin. On December 29, Rasputin was invited to Yusupov's home, and according to Yusupov's 1953 memoir “Lost Splendor,” the conspirators attempted to poison their victim, when that proved unsuccessful, Yusupov claimed to have shot him, and they then threw the body into the river. An investigation followed, and found traces of blood on the back door of the Yusupov Palace. Prince Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitri were placed under house arrest, the Czarina allegedly wanted both shot immediately. The Czar, however, without trial, ordered them banished from Petrograd, sending Yusupov to his estate in western Russia. After the Revolution of 1917, Yusupov fled to the Crimea. Eventually, he and his wife settled in Paris, where they founded a short-lived fashion house, Irfé. They became well known in the Russian émigré community for philanthropy, but combined with his poor financial management skills, he largely drained what was once an immense fortune. He died in Paris at age 81. Since the 1920s, historians have questioned Yusupov's rather fluid version of events regarding the death of Rasputin.