Grand Duke Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov was born in 1892 in St. Petersburg. He died in 1914 in Vilna at the age of 22. He was the great-grandson of Nicholas I. The prince left no descendants behind him. The injury and death of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov occurred during the First World War.
First years of life
His mother was Elizabeth Augusta Mary Agnes. Father - Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. Oleg became the fifth of nine children in this family. He was born in the Marble Palace in the northern capital. Oleg's childhood years passed here. His notebook, which contained symbolic marks, has been preserved. It shows how strictly Oleg followed himself and was careful - he marked the untruth 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 the real education was received in the family. Teachers noted his curiosity and sensitivity. Most of all, the great-grandson of Nicholas I loved history, literature, music anddrawing.
In 1910, he passed the exams at the end of the cadet corps and set out to get a higher education. The young man was enrolled in the Alexander Lyceum. Grand Duke Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov became the first person of imperial blood to be educated here. Although he studied at the lyceum formally: for he alth reasons he was taught at home, and at the educational institution he appeared at exams.
According to the recollections of those who knew the prince personally, he zealously prepared for the exams. The results pleased him and inspired him to new achievements.
In 1913, the Lyceum was completed. Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov received a silver medal. In addition, he prepared for printing autographs of A. S. Pushkin, taking them from the lyceum collection. He worked on this for a long time. Released a 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 has accelerated.
Personality
From the early years of his life, the prince was inspired by A. S. Pushkin. There are entries in the diary of Oleg Konstantinovich that his soul is "in this book" - this is how he wrote about "Pushkin's Youth". In 1911, the young man decided, along with the poet's signatures, to publish his manuscripts. He found specialists to work on this project. But soon the First World War began - by this time he managed to release only one collection. As the researchers said, this activity of the prince of imperial blood, Oleg Konstantinovich, was a kind of prayer to the cult of the poet. For such publications, it was necessary to work long and hard. He made sure that the reproduction of the poet's creations corresponded to the source.
Oleg himself also composed poetry, 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 have been preserved in handwritten format. Oleg planned 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.
On duty
In 1913, the young prince became a cornet of the Life Guards Hussars. From the very beginning of the First World War, 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 proudly noted in his diary the fact that he was marching with five of his brothers on a par with the regiment. Then he was assigned to keep a regimental diary. Then Oleg began to crave 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 the German patrols. Oleg was the first to overtake the enemy and cut into the ranks. By the end of the fighta wounded German cavalryman, lying on the ground, shot at 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 … It will make a good impression in the troops when they find out that the blood of the Royal House has been shed."
The next day, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, Oleg's father, arrived at the hospital and brought him the Order of St. George. Once it belonged to Konstantin Nikolaevich himself. Elizaveta Mavrikievna, the mother of the Grand Duke, also arrived. They pinned the order to the clothes of Oleg, who died on the same day in front of their eyes. At the time of his 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 took a heavy toll on his father. Mother made a donation to the Alexander Lyceum so that a silver medal named after Prince Oleg Konstantinovich was made there every year. It was awarded for the best essays.
Could the prince have been saved
The memoirs of Prince Yermolinsky, who accompanied Oleg Konstantinovich in his last days, contain information about how the young man matured in the war. He looked calm in the days before his own death.
After the prince was wounded, he was carefully examined and revealed that blood poisoning had begun. By thisreason and proceeded to 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 that time could not cope with such damage.
After the surgery, Oleg felt better, he was conscious. But at night, the first signs of imminent death appeared. He became pale and sickly. Soon the delirium began. The last happy moment in the prince's life is the arrival of his parents. They came in at 7 pm, and at 8:20 he died.
Just a few years later, his brothers were destroyed near Alapaevsk.
Funeral and grave
The funeral was attended by the Archbishop of Vilna, Lithuanian Tikhon, who later became a patriarch. There was a funeral service in the Romanovskaya Church, dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Imperial House. With the permission of Nicholas II, Oleg was buried not in St. Petersburg, but in Moscow. The coffin was accompanied by a guard of honor, the crowd was huge. Relatives were also represented by Elizaveta Feodorovna.
There are entries in the diaries that when the priest read the word on paper at the funeral, he broke into sincere sobs, and no one could listen to it 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 destroyed by stealing a sword from the coffin, the Order of St. George. The buttons from the tunic were also cut off. Then the local population independently reburied the remains of the prince in the village cemetery. The coffin was carried across the Ruza River and buried near the Church of St. A. Nevsky. In 1939 the templeblew up and demolished the cemetery. Then private houses were built here. Two years later, the entire Ostashevo estate was in a dilapidated state due to the German occupation.
Oleg's grave, unmarked, according to the recollections of old-timers, is under 2 apple trees, there is no way to get to them - they remained in a private garden plot.
Private life
The personal life of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov was not covered. He was unmarried and had no descendants. Before the war began, the young man was engaged to the princess of imperial blood, Nadezhda Petrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Peter Nikolayevich. In 1917, she became the wife of N. V. Orlov.
Becoming a person
It is noteworthy that when Oleg was baptized in the Marble Palace, Nicholas II, the future emperor, was the successor.
Wrote a young prince 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. Since 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 imagined that he was "also at the Lyceum." In the course of his studies, Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov thought a lot about Pushkin's work during the lyceum period, plunging into the study of the life of his idol.
It is noteworthy that Oleg's father, Konstantin, also loved Pushkin. He wrote poems, like his son. For this reason, there was a special relationship between them.spiritual connection, and Grand Duke Konstantin grieved the loss of his son.
At the Lyceum Oleg studied on an equal footing with everyone else, he was addressed by his first name and patronymic, without giving a title. Family members constantly saw him for books: he took notes, taught. I tried to delve into the studied material. In moments of rest, he played the piano and read Pushkin.
The exams of that era required extensive preparation. Oleg himself believed that the princes "should carry 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 he alth, he studied at home until the last year, but in a fairly short time he got along with fellow students. As a rule, a crowd gathered around him during the exams to hear his answers. No concessions were made to Oleg.
Teachers noted that they were surprised by how zealously the prince relates to the educational process. He was a diligent student. Diligence combined with natural data gave an excellent result.
After the death of the prince, Pushkinists thought about the implementation of his plans regarding publications about the poet. It was obvious that they would have played an important role in the study of Alexander Sergeevich's work. This would help Pushkin's texts to take their final form. And after almost a century, the idea was turned into reality: the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences - Pushkin Dom began to publish, conceived by Oleg.
There is information about Oleg's trip to Ilyinskoye. There he visited the hospital, where the princesses looked after the soldiers like sisters.mercy. He 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 study law before the war. Military service attracted him less than writing. Most of all, Oleg, judging by the entries in his diary, thought about good for his homeland.
But the young man's ability was not destined to develop. At the same time, it looked as if fate had taken care of him, allowing him to accomplish the feat he so desired and not allowing him to catch the time when everything he loved would be destroyed. If he had not died a heroic death, he would have suffered the fate of his three brothers - they were thrown alive into a mine near Alapaevsk in 1918.
From diaries, letters, memories
Oleg's letters from the front to his parents have survived, in which he thanks them for everything. The young man notes that he shares their parcels with warm clothes and food for everyone, as it is a shame to take 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 campaigns, Russian soldiers lay down 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 cheer up, as Professor Oppel noted in his memoirs. Sometimes Oleg fell asleep, but his legs bothered him. Only sometimes it was noticeable how he suppresses the torment he experienced. Until the last moments, when his tongue no longer obeyed, he asked abouthe alth said: “I feel really-co-stucco-but.”
The newspapers of those days wrote commemorative notes about the prince. The fact that Oleg gave his life for the integrity of Russia was praised. At the same time, initially everyone was confident that the forecast for the wounded Grand Duke was favorable, and he would soon recover. At first he looked quite cheerful. What seemed to be a minor wound turned out to be fatal.
What happened to the relatives of the prince
Oleg's father was no longer in good he alth, and these events finally undermined him. In 1914, Oleg Romanov died, and a year later, in 1915, his father also died in his office. He was destined to become the last of the Romanovs who died before the revolution and was buried in the family tomb of the Peter and Paul Fortress. He did not witness the horrific 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 younger children to Europe. She died in 1927 in Germany. As the youngest daughter Vera, who accompanied her throughout the entire 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 educators, people who knew Oleg Konstantinovich personally, those to whom he was dear. In memory of him, Romanov readings are held in his former estate. A memorial plaque has been erected on the chapel that once stood over his first grave.
In the Polotsk Cadet School, founded in 2010, the memory of Oleg Konstantinovich Romanov is carefully guarded. ToFor example, in December of the same year, during the ceremony of initiation into the cadets, the writer V. Bondarenko gave the school a portrait of Oleg.
And in 2015, a monument to Grand Duke Oleg Romanov was erected in Tsarskoe Selo.
