Russian Royalty. He was the youngest son of Tsar Alexander III and the youngest brother of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. He had represented his brother, the Tsar, at the funerals of both Queen Victoria in 1901 and Edward VII of England in 1909. In Vienna on October 16, 1912, he married Nathalie Sheremetevsky, though the marriage was never officially recognized by the Romanov family. The couple was not granted permission to marry as the bride had been twice divorced and no royal blood. The Tsar eventually gave his wife the title of "Countess of Brassovo," the name coming from one of his estates in Russia. He and his family were exiled from Russia to England, but returned with the dawn of World War I in 1914. He became a general in the Russian army, earning a Cross of St. George, before being discharged for health reasons in September of 1916. During the February Revolution of 1917, his family was placed under house arrest in September of 1917. When Nicholas II abdicated in March of 1917, he was officially Tsar for 24 hours. This was to prevent Nicholas II's sickly 12-year-old hemophiliac son, Tsarevich Alexei, becoming emperor during an unstable political situation. He rejected the throne when the newly formed provisional government, which was overthrown by Lenin in November of 1917, could not guarantee his safety. At that point, the Russian monarchy collapsed, with the country becoming a republic, soon to be seized by Lenin's Red Army. Eventually arrested by the Bolsheviks, he was sent in exiled to Perm in Siberia; executed on the night of June 12, 1918; and buried in an unmarked grave in a wooded area. The grave site remains a mystery to this day though there have been efforts to find his grave since 2017. His wife and son escaped Russia to England in 1919 and then to Paris in 1927. The couple's son, George, was killed in 1931 in a car crash. His wife and son are buried side by side in Passy Cemetery in Paris. Though excluded from the order of succession to the throne, his son was the last male-line descendant of Alexander III of Russia. In 2009, he and his loyal servant, who was executed alongside him, were officially rehabilitated, having been earlier branded "enemies of the people." His annotated diaries and letters of 1916 to 1918 were translated to English and published in 2020 as "Michael Romanov: Brother of the Last Tsar."
Russian Royalty. He was the youngest son of Tsar Alexander III and the youngest brother of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. He had represented his brother, the Tsar, at the funerals of both Queen Victoria in 1901 and Edward VII of England in 1909. In Vienna on October 16, 1912, he married Nathalie Sheremetevsky, though the marriage was never officially recognized by the Romanov family. The couple was not granted permission to marry as the bride had been twice divorced and no royal blood. The Tsar eventually gave his wife the title of "Countess of Brassovo," the name coming from one of his estates in Russia. He and his family were exiled from Russia to England, but returned with the dawn of World War I in 1914. He became a general in the Russian army, earning a Cross of St. George, before being discharged for health reasons in September of 1916. During the February Revolution of 1917, his family was placed under house arrest in September of 1917. When Nicholas II abdicated in March of 1917, he was officially Tsar for 24 hours. This was to prevent Nicholas II's sickly 12-year-old hemophiliac son, Tsarevich Alexei, becoming emperor during an unstable political situation. He rejected the throne when the newly formed provisional government, which was overthrown by Lenin in November of 1917, could not guarantee his safety. At that point, the Russian monarchy collapsed, with the country becoming a republic, soon to be seized by Lenin's Red Army. Eventually arrested by the Bolsheviks, he was sent in exiled to Perm in Siberia; executed on the night of June 12, 1918; and buried in an unmarked grave in a wooded area. The grave site remains a mystery to this day though there have been efforts to find his grave since 2017. His wife and son escaped Russia to England in 1919 and then to Paris in 1927. The couple's son, George, was killed in 1931 in a car crash. His wife and son are buried side by side in Passy Cemetery in Paris. Though excluded from the order of succession to the throne, his son was the last male-line descendant of Alexander III of Russia. In 2009, he and his loyal servant, who was executed alongside him, were officially rehabilitated, having been earlier branded "enemies of the people." His annotated diaries and letters of 1916 to 1918 were translated to English and published in 2020 as "Michael Romanov: Brother of the Last Tsar."
Bio by: Linda Davis
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