The article tells about the influential family of Irina and Felix Yusupov, as well as about their daughter Irina Feliksovna Yusupova (married to Sheremeteva). Very little information has been preserved about the life of Irina Feliksovna, but in order to understand what kind of person she was, it is important to learn about the life of her relatives. On the mother’s side, the emperor and the empress from the Romanov clan were relatives, and on the father’s side, the famous princes Yusupov.
Irina Sheremeteva
Irina Feliksovna Yusupova (married to Sheremetev) was born in St. Petersburg, in the palace, on the Moika River on March 21, 1915. She was the only child in the family of Irina Yusupova and Prince Felix Feliksovich and was the granddaughter of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
At baptism, Irina was taken into her cousin by her cousin Grandfather Nicholas II and great-grandmother Maria Fedorovna, who at one time also baptized her mother.
Up to nine years old, her grandmother Zinaida Nikolaevna was engaged in her upbringing. In 1919, parents took Irina into exile. Like her relatives, the battleship with the sonorous name "Marlboro" took Irina far from home to the UK.
Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev was a representative of another famous Russian family in France. Both of these famous families had already lost their wealth.
June 19, 1938 Irina Feliksovna Yusupova married Count Sheremetev. His sister was married to the nephew of the Queen of Italy. Sheremeteva Irina Feliksovna cheated on France and left for Italy with her husband.
Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren
After the wedding, the Sheremetevs began to live in Rome. March 1, 1942 they had a daughter, Ksenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva. Irina Feliksovna died in France, in Cormay, but was buried in a Russian cemetery, next to her relatives and husband. Ksenia really enjoyed living in Greece. Her husband's last name is Sfiri, so the Yusupovs surname disappeared with the death of Felix.
Ksenia Sfiri also has only one daughter - Tatyana Sfiri. She and her mother were in Russia, in a country where their ancestors made history. Ksenia Sfiri asked, and she was issued a Russian passport by special decree of the president. The blood of the Yusupovs in the mother and Sheremetevs in the father flow in it. Ksenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva (Sfiri) was present at the ceremony of burial of the remains of the royal family. She says that she would like to visit the homeland of her ancestors more often, but she does not have housing in Russia, so this is very problematic.
Tatyana Sfiri married Alexis Giannokolopoulos. But this marriage broke up, and Tatyana connected her life with Anthony Vamvakidis, from whom she gave birth to two children with a difference of two years. Parents gave them beautiful names. Marilia Vamvakidis was born in 2004, and Jasmine-Ksenia - in 2006. Now they are direct descendants of the Yusupovs and Sheremetevs.
Empress Maria Fedorovna - imperious great-grandmother of Irina Feliksovna Yusupova
Empress Maria Fedorovna is a significant figure in the history of the Romanov dynasty. She was the wife of Alexander III, the mother of Nicholas II. The future empress was born in Denmark on November 26, 1847. On June 11, 1866, Mary becomes the wife of Alexander III, the penultimate Russian emperor. Maria Fyodorovna and Alexander had 6 children, which at that time was quite normal.
Maria Fedorovna was a very active woman - she often had the last word in family matters. At that time, when the empress lived, the atmosphere in the royal family was very pleasant, friendly. This is very rare for the court, as intrigues are often woven in royal families. The husband loved his wife very much and deeply respected her for her political intuition and natural mind. The couple did not like to leave, so they mostly appeared together at all social receptions, parades, and hunting. If they were apart, then they managed to maintain their love with the help of detailed letters.
Maria Fyodorovna was very welcoming with everyone: with representatives of high society, and with simpler people. By her manners, it was immediately evident that she was of royal blood - there was so much greatness in her that this blocked her small stature. Maria Fyodorovna knew about everything in the royal palace, her charm affected absolutely everyone.
When the eldest son, Nikolai Alexandrovich, was about to marry a German princess, Maria Fedorovna opposed. However, this marriage still took place. In 1914, the First World War began. At that time, the empress was in Denmark. Upon learning of the start of hostilities, Maria Fedorovna tried to return to Russia, but chose the wrong route. Her path ran through unfriendly Berlin, where she was faced with a rude attitude. Therefore, the empress was forced to return to Copenhagen, to her native Denmark. For the second time, the Empress Dowager decided to return through Sweden and Finland. In Finland, she was especially warmly received by people: in her honor, at the railway stations, they sang national hymns and applauded. This is due to the fact that Maria Fedorovna has always defended the interests of the Finns in the government spheres of Russia.
If the Empress kept the word in the family, she rarely intervened in big politics. However, she was opposed to her son, Nicholas II, becoming the commander in chief, and did not hide her opinion from him. Also, when in 1916 Germany proposed a separate peace, Maria Fedorovna categorically objected and notified her son in a letter. In addition, she understood that Rasputin could harm the state, and often offered to send him.
Parents of Irina Feliksovna Yusupova - Irina Aleksandrovna and Feliks Feliksovich
Irina Yusupova, whose biography is extremely interesting, was the first daughter of Princess Xenia and Prince Alexander Mikhailovich. Although she was from the Romanov family, she went down in history as Yusupova. She became famous not only thanks to powerful parents. This woman made her unique contribution to the story. However, without the story of her parents, her own story would not have been, therefore, it is worth mentioning who her father Alexander Mikhailovich and mother Ksenia Alexandrovna were.
I must say right away that both father and mother of Irina belonged to the ruling dynasty. Alexander Mikhailovich, if you count, was a cousin of Ksenia, his future wife. Because of this, the young did not immediately succeed in obtaining the consent of the parents to marry. The Empress and the Emperor did not approve of this marriage. After all, there was an unwritten law that grew into a rule that forced members of the ruling clan to marry members of other European ruling dynasties.
Ksenia at first sight fell in love with Alexander. He often visited them in Gatchina, because he was friends with the brothers Ksenia. She told about her feelings only to her elder brother Nikolai. Sandro was a versatile person. He liked to talk about naval affairs and aviation, and also read a lot. His famous library, unfortunately, was destroyed during the riots of the revolution. Princess Xenia was a kind of subtle and intelligent. She tried to share all her husband's hobbies. For thirteen years of marriage, their couple had seven children, the very first and only girl was Irina.
Unfortunately, the farther the time flowed, the more relations between spouses worsened. Her husband cheated on Xenia, and she got used to this lie and found solace in the arms of other men. The girl Irina suffered most from such relationships in the family.
Irina Aleksandrovna Yusupova could be proud of the love of her parents for each other. Despite the fact that they were separated by old age, they were buried in one place in the south of France, where her parents often lived since 1906.
Thus, Irina Yusupova is the niece of Emperor Nicholas II, the granddaughter of Alexander III and the great-granddaughter of Nicholas I. She was born in Peterhof on July 3, 1895. Everyone was notified of this event by the Highest Decree issued on the same day. Fifteen days later, she was baptized. The action took place in Alexandria, in a church near the palace. During the ceremony, Emperor Nicholas II and the empress grandmother took Irina into their arms. The girl was considered one of the most enviable brides of her time in imperial Russia. They often called her Irene because of the strong influence of French fashion. She did not bear the title of Grand Duchess, but was called princely imperial blood.
She grew up in the love of her grandmother, and her parents, as it seemed, did not care about her. Her aunt Alexandra Fedorovna also took an active part in the life of the girl. Her daughter Olya was the best friend for Ira. The girl studied various languages. She studied German, French and English. The house spoke all of these languages, so the training was fairly easy. The child spent a lot of time reading books and drawing. Despite the versatile training, the girl grew too shy. This is very disturbing in everyday life. According to etiquette, the servant could not be the first to start a conversation with the owners, so she had to wait for the princess to overcome her timidity.
At nineteen, Irene married Felix Feliksovich Yusupov and became Princess Yusupova, Countess Sumorokova-Elston. This young man was very shocking. Throughout his youth, he walked in a big way, but when he met Irina, who had already grown up, he realized that this was the very man he needed, the prince settled down. Although he had known the princess since childhood, now a completely different person had opened before him. He beautifully courted, honestly talked about his adventures and promised to be an exemplary husband, which is why he achieved the location of the princess and her love for life.
He became famous as the one who killed Grigory Rasputin. In addition to political intrigues, Felix had personal reasons to hate Rasputin, because he advised not to marry Felix Irin. For the Yusupov family, this marriage was a chance to become related to the ruling family, and for the Romanovs - to get a lot of money from the Yusupov family.
Yusupovs Wedding
When Alexander Mikhailovich proposed to marry his daughter to Felix, the Yusupovs gladly agreed. After the death of Nikolai, his elder brother, Prince Yusupov became the sovereign master of the entire inheritance of the clan. Parents wanted to cancel the wedding when they heard rumors about Felix's homosexuality. However, the wedding took place in 1914. The bride did not receive the title of Grand Duchess, therefore, she did not have a magnificent court dress in which the brides from the Romanov clan were married before.
At the wedding, the whole color of the empire gathered. The emperor and empress came from Tsarskoye Selo. All the great princesses gathered: Mary, Olga, Tatyana and Anastasia. They all gave their blessings.
Family life
A year later, a young couple was born to the Yusupovs. In honor of her mother, she was named Ira. The girl’s father felt responsible to the family, and there were much less rumors about him. From a frivolous youth, he turned into a husband who is fond of politics and discussing the future of the country. During this period, the empire experienced various unrest, including the preconditions for revolution and popular discontent among Rasputin’s influence on the ruling dynasty.
The Yusupovs have lived soul to soul all their lives. Although they were so different, their support for each other was always felt. They say that Irina Yusupova dissolved in her husband and daughter. They always did everything together.
Felix Yusupov and Rasputin
Prince Yusupov became famous primarily as the murderer of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. Later, he wrote many memoirs and memoirs about the time that in difficult days did not allow their family to slide into poverty. Gregory was a peasant who managed to achieve friendship with the imperial family. He lived in the Tobolsk province, in the village of Pokrovsky. He was called a royal friend, healer, visionary and elder. It seems that they loved him only in the royal family, but the people considered his influence on the king to be bad, and his image remained negative in history.
Rasputin had a tremendous influence on Alexandra Fedorovna, as he was trying to treat Tsarevich Alexei for hemophilia. Once they tried to kill him, but the elder survived after being wounded in the stomach. Purishkevich, Sukhotin and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich developed a new murder plan. On the night of December 17, 1916, a murder occurred. Information about the incident confused everyone: from the conspirators themselves to the authorities. The first shot was taken by Felix Yusupov, who lured Rasputin into the basement, what happened after that is unclear.
Away from trouble
From the serious consequences of the conspirators saved the fact of participation in this case, Prince Dmitry. He went to Persia. Purishkevich went to the front, and Yusupov left for the Kursk province. Irina and her daughter moved to the Crimea for a while, until gossip calmed down. From Crimea, the Yusupovs, like many aristocrats, sailed to Malta in 1919, and then to Paris. They were left with nothing after the revolution, but they saved their lives.
In France there were many such families, according to some estimates - about three hundred. The Yusupovs were able to remove some values from the country, but they had to be sold for nothing. The Parisians were no longer surprised by the various jewelry items, because the refugees brought with them a lot of valuables. However, the sale of only two Rembrandt paintings allowed the Yusupovs to buy a house. Together with them, Zinaida Nikolaevna and Felix Sr. settled in the Bois de Boulogne. In difficult, unfamiliar conditions, the Yusupov family not only survived, but also became influential and wealthy. Felix and Irina opened their own fashion house and called it "IRFE". To help emigrants find work, they opened an employment agency at their own expense.
Personal business
Felix took on the work of designer and artist. The unique taste of Irina and her energy played a big role in promoting the collections. She herself showed dresses from "IRFE". Guests of the fashion house came not only for outfits, but also to look at the legendary owners of the house. Translucent silk dresses shocked with eroticism and elegance. Soon there was no end to customers. This made it possible to open three more branches of the IRFE fashion house in other European countries. Even at the royal court in England, one could find outfits made by the Yusupovs. The crisis of that time soon robbed the family of a large number of wealthy customers. For some time, the perfume brand “IRFE”, which was invented by Felix, kept the fashion house afloat, but soon they were ruined, like many other fashion houses of that time.
After the defeat in business, Felix Yusupov wrote a book of memoirs, mainly these were memories of the murder of Rasputin. The proceeds from the sale of books provided them with a decent life for some time. Rasputin's daughter Matron, who also lived in France, filed a lawsuit, but lost. Despite the proximity of events, the American company made a film about Gregory Rasputin and his influence on the Empress. The Yusupovs filed a lawsuit, as the picture presented Irina in a bad light. The court they won and received more than one hundred thousand pounds compensation. This amount allowed not to think about money until death, but to live for pleasure and engage in artistic activities.
Felix and Irina Yusupov painted watercolors and made engravings that earned praise from critics. They also collected various art objects, such as books and paintings. Although the couple had an attempt to leave for America, they could not stay there, because they were very used to France. They were together until death. Felix died in 1967. Irina Yusupova outlived him for several years. Not far from Paris is the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, her son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and her husband were buried there.
In exile
The first wave of Russian immigrants in France are people who left for Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some of them, for example, the Yusupovs and Romanovs, have left wonderful fame about themselves. However, not everyone was lucky to break into people abroad. Many officers became taxi drivers and workers in car assembly plants. The former perfumer of the imperial palace invented the famous fragrance “Chanel No. 5”. Such geniuses as Chaliapin and Grechaninov taught at the Russian Conservatory, and Rakhmaninov himself was the rector. Russian women became the faces of Chanel and Chantal, as well as the Lanwan fashion house.
Bunin, Tyutchev, Gogol, and many other writers and poets belong to the Russian emigration of the first wave . Russian figures have made a significant contribution to the cultural heritage and still have a strong influence on various facets of French art. In France, lived one of the most famous philosophers of our time - Berdyaev. Recently, the fashion house "IRFE" was revived, which was promoted by Russian owners. Jean-Christopher Mayo recreated the Russian ballet of Sergei Diaghilev in a new form of Monte Carlo ballet. But something ceases to “breathe” in the Russian form and remains only a shadow of fashionable culture.