It often happens that, for political reasons, the names of talented people who did not accept the ideas of the ruling class are removed from the memory of descendants. And if the representative of art and literature also emigrated, his name was not condemned, but indulged in complete oblivion.
The most important
After the revolution, the main population of Soviet Russia, the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya was known only for the fact that V.I. Lenin lived, worked and made speeches at the mansion on Kronversky Prospekt at one time.
The building of the newspaper of Petrograd itself was dubbed the "headquarters of the Leninists." And this immoral "mistress", the mistress of the three most blessed princes and the heir to the throne, could not interest the generation of new Russia. This woman fell out, because of which elite representatives, who were much younger than her (future husband, His Grace Prince Andrei Vladimirovich - 6 years old, lover, Russian ballet star Pyotr Vladimirov - 21 years old), who were programmed completely different people. Nevertheless, unlike most Soviet people who considered the decadent dancer Anna Pavlova to be the star of the Russian ballet school, Maurice Petipa considered Matilda Kshesinsky, a consciously and unjustly forgotten ballerina, number 1. But she was called the "Generalissimo of Russian ballet."
Interesting roots
Kshesinskaya Matilda, or simply Malya, as her family and friends called her, was born in the “ballet” family in 1872. Her father Felix came from the well-known Polish theater family Krzeszynski (Kshesinsky - theatrical pseudonym). Matilda's grandfather - Jan - was a violin virtuoso, had a wonderful voice and sang in the Warsaw Opera. The Polish king Stanislav Augustus, his big admirer, called him nothing more than “my nightingale”.
And great-grandfather Wojciech was a famous dancer. But the family tradition, constantly inciting the vanity of the girl, said that Wojciech was a representative of one of the best Polish families and should have inherited the enormous fortune of Count Krasinsky. Having lost everything - inheritance, family name and homeland - due to the machinations of his uncle, he was forced to flee to France, where he began to earn a living by dancing.
The beginning of the Russian period
The son of Jan Felix studied dance professionally, his highlight was the brilliant performance of the mazurka, which was adored by Nicholas I, who invited the Polish dancer to the Russian capital. He made his debut in 1853 on the stage of the Imperial Alexandrinsky Theater in "Peasant Wedding". Legends circulated about his performance of the mazurka, and it is precisely, as one of his contemporaries put it, that with his “light legs” the dance became so popular in the high society of Russia. On the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, Felix Kshesinsky always performed with constant success. Here he meets the widow of the dancer Lede, the ballerina Julia Dominsky. From the first marriage, the dancer had five children, from the second with Felix - four.
The birth of prima
Kshesinska Matilda was the last child of a mother heroine, whom the children did not interfere with either getting married or dancing. Matilda-Maria was a charming child and a universal favorite, but her father especially adored her, foreseeing the future ballet dancer in her, who were only 11 in the history of the whole world ballet. Malechka was born in the town of Ligovo near St. Petersburg, at the 13th km of Peterhof highway, famous for the fact that in the local "Red zucchini" the future Great Empress Catherine II spent one night. The elder brother Stanislav died in infancy. The other three are the beautiful Julia, who went down in the history of ballet as Kshesinskaya I, brother Joseph, who remained in Soviet Russia and became a well-deserved artist of the country, and Kshesinskaya Matilda herself, famous for the fact that she was the first Russian ballerina to perform 32 fouets and removed from the Russian stage prevailing here foreign prim, - were virtuoso dancers.
Seductive baby
Father often took her to the theater with him and once even forgot her there. The girl was familiar with the acting world from childhood and could not imagine any other way than the stage. She grew up as a talented ballerina and an incomparable seducer. By beauty, the girl was inferior to her sister, but was full of that charm that does not leave people - especially men - indifferent. Low (Matilda Kshesinskaya’s height was 1.53 m), with full legs and a surprisingly narrow waist, she was full of life. The mocking and joyful Malya attracted universal attention, which she more than successfully used.
Incredible performance
She, a man who survived the revolution and the severity of emigration, can still be called a spoof of fate. Immediately make a reservation that she was a hard worker. Not everything fell into her hands from heaven, moreover, no ties would have helped her to make the first of all Russian dancers 32 fouettes on stage. The girl achieved this through hard work, constantly improving the technique, bringing it to the heights of mastery. Her performance was legendary. So who is she - Matilda Kshesinskaya, whose biography due to the strong character of this little woman does not know failures (there were, of course, small failures - 1-2, no more), sometimes looks like a fairy tale?
Deserved Adoration
She appeared on the stage in the ballet “Don Quixote” at the age of 9, having studied at the school for only a year, and in the solo part she performed at 17. But the talented girl became interested in ballet after she saw a dance performed by someone who came to Russia on tour Virginia Zucchini. It was this dancer who became Mali's idol, thanks to her, Kshesinskaya began to take lessons from the Italian dancer Enrico Cecchetti and achieved that incomparable skill and brilliance that allowed her to become an prima, to displace foreign performers from the Russian stage and win the hearts of true ballet lovers. There were cases when, after the performances, fans jumped horses from her stroller and drove her home themselves.
Worthy girlfriend
At the graduation party in honor of graduation, the great Empress Maria Fyodorovna, preoccupied with the sullenness and constant loneliness of her son, immediately drew attention to the tiny young mercury girl Kshesinska-2. She was surprisingly folded: embossed muscles, very thin waist, high chest. Matilda Kshesinskaya, whose weight did not exceed 50 kg (although with her growth it was a bit much for ballet), her forms favorably differed from most thin friends. At a gala dinner, Emperor Alexander III himself seated her between himself and beech-son Nikolai. According to some reports, young people immediately fell in love with each other, according to others - more evil, - Kshesinskaya energetically pursued him. Be that as it may, there is evidence that Tsar Nicholas II remained attached to her all his life, although the relationship was officially terminated after his engagement with Alex.
Breadth of soul
It so happened that from the moment she met the heir to the throne, ballerina Kshesinskaya Matilda forever connected her life with the Romanovs' house. Who just did not write to her in "close friends"! What epithets she did not receive: “champagne at home of the Romanovs”, “muse of royal men” or, later, “Matilda Kshesinskaya - mistress of the kings”.
It should be noted that Kshesinskaya, in addition to the advantages listed above, had great wisdom: she let Nicky go down the aisle without a word, she was always friendly with his wife, she left the theater without scandal when they began to denounce her intrigues, and she returned with dignity, a triumphant. when her innocence became apparent. In addition, possessing innumerable treasures (the contents of her jewelry boxes were estimated at 2 million tsar rubles), she, with her own money in the cottage - the most luxurious in Strelna - contained two infirmaries for the wounded. The breadth of the soul of this amazing woman is also indicated by the fact that, having lost them in the revolution, Matilda Kshesinskaya, whose biography contains a lot of interesting facts, regretted only the alcoholized rose, which, as a recognition of the skill of the Russian ballerina, was presented by Virginia Tsukka, her idol.
Ungratefulness is always black
In addition, performances were often staged at the Mariinsky Theater, which were fully paid for by the cost of the sets, the costumes, and other expenses. But the burning envy of a woman who could manage her repertoire herself did not lose her mastery over the years, possessed one of the most beautiful palaces in St. Petersburg and received her own benefit not only after 20 years of service, but only after 10, - she reduced the backstage world, always full dirt crazy. And, as Yevgeny Yevtushenko said (albeit on a completely different occasion): "... the gossip, the gossip that exposed her, became all evil and evil." It was they who forced Kshesinskaya to leave the Mariinsky. Foes were especially choked by her constant strong relations with the ruling dynasty.
Great love
“Nicholas 2 and Matilda Kshesinskaya” - the ministers of Terpsichore still somehow survived this connection. The novel was stormy, but short - lasted only a year. But the ballerina did not remain abandoned. Her sincere and doomed from the first meeting in a two-story mansion bought for her friend by the future last emperor of Russia, where he visited with his friends and numerous cousins, was loved by the Grand Duke Sergey Mikhailovich, who became her “a knight without fear and reproach” for the rest of his life. His love, his spending and the execution of the slightest whims closed his most evil mouths.
He regularly made examples of suggestions, including before parting. Matilda Kshesinskaya, whose son was conceived from another Grand Duke Romanov - Andrei Vladimirovich, immediately received the patronymic of Sergeyevich and, in addition to his noble birth and surname Krasinsky, in memory of a distant ancestor, which faithful Sergei Mikhailovich took care of. He himself, sending his beloved from revolutionary Petrograd, could not leave on time, was shot and dumped in a mine in Alapaevsk in 1918, along with other representatives of the Romanovs' house. What can say more about his great love than the fact that in his clenched fist at the moment of raising the body to the surface they found a gold medallion with the inscription "Mala"?
Everything is at the feet of the goddess
He, being the inspector general of artillery, had at his disposal uncontrolled funds, and the arms companies did not skimp on "kickbacks." The legendary mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaia was built with his money. He always wanted to give his beloved a special status in high society. The construction was supervised by the author of the project, fashion architect Alexander von Gauguin. As a result, the city government awarded the architect a silver medal for the construction of this pearl of the Northern capital.
Matilda Kshesinskaya’s house in St. Petersburg overlooked the Neva, as did the Senate, the Academy of Sciences, the Winter Palace and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. There were legends about the internal structure and decoration of the mansion. Everything, including nails, was discharged from the best construction companies in Paris. The premises were made in different styles: if the salon was furnished in the style of Louis XVI, then the toilet symbolized the achievements of the British in providing housing with modern conveniences. Do not count his merits! We can only note the fact that in this palace, located in the "central center" of the capital, there was a barn with, obviously, the best cow in the world, since the thief of the inspector’s heart from artillery loved fresh milk ...
The long-awaited and well-deserved finale
Evil tongues attribute to Matilda a connection with the grandson of Alexander II, Vladimir Alexandrovich. It was or wasn’t, but for his fourth son Andrei Vladimirovich Kshesinskaya Matilda Feliksovna immediately married. This happened in Paris, as soon as his mother, Maria Pavlovna, who had been opposed all her life to her son’s wedding, left for another world. Vova’s boy, or, as Kshesinskaya jokingly called him, “Vovo de Russi” (All Russia Vova) ”, was immediately transferred to his true father, and the family began to live happily.
Loving, strong and courageous
In the biography of this outstanding personality was the fact that the great ballerina, not afraid, rescued her from the Gestapo when Paris was occupied by the Germans. In exile, Matilda Kshesinskaia’s Parisian home remained a center of attraction - F. Chaliapin, A. Pavlova, T. Karsavina and S. Diaghilev visited here.
Kshesinskaya possessed a mimic and dramatic gift that made her ballet roles unique. But, as it turned out later, the talent of the writer was no stranger to prima. This is evidenced by her book “Matilda Kshesinskaya. Memories ”, released in Paris in 1960. Having survived her husband and oncology, a hip fracture chained to a chair, this strong woman began to write a book which, as evidence of history, is priceless in itself, because the author was the great Matilda Kshesinskaya. The memoirs were written in good language and designed in excellent style. It is very interesting to read them, we recommend (they are widely available).
Lived happily ever after
Genetically, this woman was programmed for a long life - her grandfather, already mentioned by Yang, lived to be 106 years old and died not from his death, but from burnout. So the legendary Malya did not live up to a century of 9 months. The megastar of the ballet died in 1971 and was buried in the “Russian cemetery” of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois with her husband and son (he died in 1974). The inscription on her grave says that here lies the Grand Duchess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters, Kshesinskaya Matilda Feliksovna.