Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia. He followed a military career, but was banished from living in Russia when in 1891 he contracted a morganatic marriage with Countess Sophie of Merenberg. He spent the rest of his life living in exile in England and in the French Riviera, escaping the Russian Revolution. His two daughters married within the British aristocracy.

Early life

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich was born at the palace of Peterhof outside St. Petersburg on 16 October 1861, the third child and second son of the seven children of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (born Princess Cecile of Baden).Known in the family as “Miche-Miche”, he was a year old when, in 1862, the family moved to Tiflis, Georgia on the occasion of his father's being named Viceroy of the Caucasus. Grand Duke Michael spent his early years and his youth in the Caucasus, where his family lived for twenty years. He had a spartan upbringing that included sleeping in army cots and taking cold baths. He was educated at home by private tutors. The relationship with his parents was troublesome. His father, occupied in military and governmental endeavors, remained a distant figure. His demanding mother was a strict disciplinarian who did not show affection towards her...
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