Grand Duke Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov was born in 1892 in St. Petersburg. He died in 1914 in Vilna at the age of 22 years. He was the great-grandson of Nicholas I. The prince did not leave any descendants. The wound and death of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov occurred during the First World War.
First years of life
His mother was Elizabeth Augusta Maria Agnes. Father - Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. Oleg became the fifth of nine children of this family. He was born in the Marble Palace in the Northern Capital. Oleg’s childhood passed here. His notebook, containing symbolic marks, has been preserved. It shows how strictly Oleg monitored himself and was cautious - he marked the truth with dots, and the truth with crosses.
Study
In 1903, the boy passed the exam in the Polotsk cadet corps and was among the cadets. But he received real education in the family. Teachers noted his curiosity and sensitivity. Most of all, the great-grandson of Nicholas I loved history, literature, music and painting.
In 1910, he passed the exams at the end of the cadet corps and set out to get higher education. The young man was enrolled in the Alexander Lyceum. The Grand Duke Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov became the first imperial blood man who was educated here. Although he studied at the lyceum formally: for health reasons, he was taught at home, and in the educational institution he appeared on exams.
According to the memoirs of those who knew the prince personally, he zealously prepared for the exams. The results pleased him and pushed him to new achievements.
In 1913, the lyceum was completed. Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov received a silver medal. In addition, he was preparing to print autographs of A. S. Pushkin, taking them from the Lyceum collection. He worked on it for a long time. Released the collection in 1912.
Trips
In the summer of 1910 he traveled to Constantinople, visited many European countries. In 1914, he went on a business trip to Italy to resolve the issue of building an Orthodox church. Thanks to the assistance of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov, construction accelerated.
Personality
From the early years of his life, the prince was inspired by A.S. Pushkin. Remained entries in the diary of Oleg Konstantinovich that his soul "in this book" - so he wrote about "The Youthful Years of Pushkin." In 1911, the young man decided, along with the signatures of the poet, to publish his manuscripts. He found specialists to work on this project. But World War I soon began - by this time he managed to release only one collection. According to the researchers, this activity of the prince of imperial blood Oleg Konstantinovich was a kind of prayer to the poet’s cult. For such publications it was necessary to work long and hard. He made sure that reproductions of the poet's creations corresponded to the source.
Oleg himself also composed poems, was fond of music, drawing. Some of his poems and stories were published in the collection "Prince Oleg", which was published posthumously. But most of the works are preserved in handwritten format. Oleg had plans to publish a biography of his grandfather, Konstantin Nikolaevich. It is noteworthy that the details of the biography of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov, his diary, correspondence are stored in the Pushkin House of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
At the service
In 1913, the young prince became the cornet of the Life Guards of the Hussar Regiment. From the very beginning of World War I, he participated in armed clashes. Initially, Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov was offered military service in the Main Apartment, but he insisted on being in the regiment. He noted with pride in the diary that he was walking along with his five brothers along with the regiment. Then he was entrusted with maintaining a regimental diary. Then Oleg began to crave for a feat, dreaming of how he would leave the headquarters and return to duty. This desire was fulfilled and destroyed him.
Death
When Oleg commanded a platoon on September 27, 1914, he was seriously wounded in the Vladislavov area. Russian troops destroyed German patrols. Oleg was the first to overtake the enemy and got into the ranks. Towards the end of the battle, the wounded German cavalryman, lying on the ground, shot the prince.
The young man was taken to the hospital, operated on, awarded the Order of St. George 4 degrees. When the wounded found out about this, he said: "... I am so happy, so happy ... The army will make a good impression when they find out that the blood of the Tsar’s House has been shed."
The next day, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, Oleg’s father, arrived at the hospital and delivered him the Order of St. George. Once it belonged to Konstantin Nikolayevich himself. Elizaveta Mavrikievna, mother of the Grand Duke, also arrived. They pinned the order to the clothes of Oleg, who died the same day before their eyes. At the time of death, the prince was 22 years old.
Oleg became the only member of the Imperial House who died in the First World War. In 1914 he was buried in Ostashevo (Moscow province). Later, a tomb was erected here, but during the revolution it was destroyed.
The death of his son seriously affected his father. Mother made a donation to the Alexander Lyceum, so that every year a silver medal named after Prince Oleg Konstantinovich was made there. She was awarded for the best compositions.
Could the prince have been saved?
The memoirs of Prince Ermolinsky, who accompanied Oleg Konstantinovich in his last days, contain information about how the young man matured in the war. He looked calm a few days before his own death.
After the prince was wounded, he was thoroughly examined and revealed that blood poisoning had begun. For this reason, they started the operation - it was the only chance to save the young man. The operation was successful, but the internal organs decomposed too much, and the medicine of those times could not cope with such injuries.
After surgery, Oleg felt better, he was conscious. But at night, the first signs of imminent death showed up. He became pale, painful. Soon, delirium began. The last happy moment in the life of the prince is the arrival of his parents. They entered at 7 pm, and already at 8 hours 20 minutes he died.
Just a few years later, his brothers were destroyed near Alapaevsk.
Funeral and grave
The funeral was attended by the Archbishop of Vilnius, Lithuanian Tikhon, who in the future became the patriarch. A funeral service took place in the Romanov Church, dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Imperial House. With the permission of Nicholas II, Oleg was not buried in St. Petersburg, but in Moscow. The coffin was escorted by a guard of honor, the crowd was huge. Relatives were also represented by Elizaveta Fedorovna.
There are records in diaries that when the priest read the word on paper at the funeral, he was interrupted by sincere sobs, and no one could listen without tears. When the protective cap was separated from the coffin, the peasants were asked to kiss it.
In the 1920s, Oleg’s grave was ravaged by stealing a saber from the coffin, the Order of St. George. Buttons from a tunic were also cut. Then the local population independently reburied the remains of the prince in a rural cemetery. The coffin was transported across the river Ruza and buried near the church of St. A. Nevsky. In 1939, the temple was blown up, and the cemetery was demolished. Then private houses were built here. Two years later, the entire Ostashevo estate was in a dilapidated state due to German occupation.
Oleg’s grave, not marked by anything, according to the memoirs of old-timers, is under 2 apple trees, there is no way to go to them - they remained in a private garden plot.
Personal life
The personal life of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov was not covered. He was not married, he did not have any descendants. Before the war began, the young man was engaged to princely imperial blood Nadezhda Petrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Pyotr Nikolayevich. In 1917, she became the wife of N.V. Orlov.
Personality formation
It is noteworthy that during the baptism of Oleg in the Marble Palace, the recipient was Nicholas II, the future emperor.
The young prince wrote under the pseudonym "K. R.". From childhood, he was a sensitive nature. He liked to take part in theatrical productions.
From an early age, the prince thought about the meaning of his life. From childhood, he thought a lot about his own cultivation. The decision to enter the Lyceum was inspired by reading Pushkin's biography. He wrote how he imagines that he is "also in the Lyceum." During his studies, Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov thought a lot about Pushkin’s work in the Lyceum period, plunging into the study of the life of his idol.
It is noteworthy that Pushkin was also loved by Oleg's father, Konstantin. He wrote poems, like his son. For this reason, there was a special spiritual connection between them, and the Grand Duke Constantine was very upset by the loss of his son.
Oleg studied at the Lyceum on an equal basis with everyone, they addressed him by name and patronymic, without naming the title. Family members constantly saw him behind books: he made notes, taught. I tried to delve into the studied material. In the moments of rest, he played the piano and read Pushkin.
Exams of that era required extensive preparation. Oleg himself believed that the princes "should bear their banner high, justify their origin in the eyes of the people."
At the same time, the prince never lived in an educational institution. Due to poor health, he studied at home until the last year, but in a fairly short time he made friends with fellow students. As a rule, a crowd gathered around him during the exams to hear his answers. Oleg did not make any concessions.
Teachers noted that they are surprised at how jealously the prince relates to the educational process. He was a diligent student. Diligence combined with natural data yielded excellent results.
After the prince died, the Pushkinists thought about the implementation of his plans for publications about the poet. It was obvious that they would play a crucial role in the study of the work of Alexander Sergeyevich. This would help the Pushkin texts to take their final form. And after almost a century, the idea was translated into reality: the Pushkin Institute, the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, embarked on the publication conceived by Oleg.
Information about Oleg’s trip to Ilyinskoe has been preserved. There he visited the hospital, where the princesses looked after the soldiers as sisters of mercy. I read aloud to the wounded, delivered medicines, helped with dressings. Especially when traveling, the prince liked Rostov the Great and the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma, which was closely connected with the history of the Romanov Dynasty.
There is information that Oleg had plans to engage in legal science before the war. Military service tempted him less than writing. Most of all, Oleg, judging by the entries in his diary, was thinking about goodness for his homeland.
But the young man’s abilities were not destined to develop. At the same time, it looked as if fate had taken care of him, letting him accomplish the feat he desired and not letting him find the time when everything that he loved would be destroyed. If he had not died his heroic death, he would have befell the fate of his three brothers - they were thrown alive in Alapaevsk in 1918 into the mine.
From diaries, letters, memoirs
Oleg’s letters from the front to his parents were preserved, in which he thanks them for everything. The young man notes that he shares their packages with warm clothes and food for everyone, since it is embarrassing to pick up more than another. He talks about the nights when he walked all night long - the soldiers fell asleep on the go, and Oleg too. During the campaigns, Russian soldiers lay on the ground and slept for 5 minutes. Sometimes he, like the soldiers, did not eat for 3 days.
Having been wounded, the prince tried to stay awake, as Professor Oppel noted in his memoirs. Sometimes Oleg fell asleep, but his feet bothered him. Only sometimes it was noticeable how he suppresses the torment experienced. Until the last moments, when his tongue was no longer obeyed, he said to his question about well-being: "I feel great, well-to-do."
Newspapers of those days wrote memorable notes about the prince. Praised the fact that Oleg gave his life for the integrity of Russia. At the same time, initially everyone was confident that the wounded Grand Duke had a favorable prognosis, and he would soon recover. At first he looked quite peppy. The wound, which seemed light, was fatal.
What happened to the prince’s family
Oleg’s father was no longer in good health, and these events completely undermined him. Oleg Romanov died in 1914, and a year later, in 1915, his father died in his office. He was destined to be the last of the Romanovs who died before the revolution and ended up buried in the family tomb of the Peter and Paul Fortress. He did not witness the terrifying events of the following years, which destroyed everything dear to his heart.
Oleg’s mother, Elizaveta Mavrikievna, who soon lost three more sons, managed to escape with her youngest children to Europe. She died in 1927 in Germany. As the youngest daughter Vera, who accompanied her throughout the period of exile, wrote, Elizaveta Mavrikievna died of cancer.
In memory of Prince Oleg
In 1915, memoirs about the Grand Duke were published. They were composed of educators, people who knew Oleg Konstantinovich personally, those to whom he was dear. In memory of him, the Romanov readings take place in his former estate. A memorial plaque was installed on the chapel that once stood above his first grave.
In the Polotsk Cadet School, created in 2010, the memory of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov is carefully preserved. For example, in December of the same year, during the ceremony of initiation into cadets, the writer V. Bondarenko handed over to the school a portrait of Oleg.
And in 2015, a monument to Grand Duke Oleg Romanov was erected in Tsarskoye Selo.