‘The Noblest Soul’: A Sad Page in the History of the Grand Duchy of Hesse through the Eyes of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich. The Darmstadt Diary, 1892

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УДК 94(47)(092)

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-495-507

Dmitriy M. Sofjin

Perm State National Research University, Perm, Russian Federation

Marina V. Sofjina

Perm State Institute of Culture, Perm, Russian Federation

‘The Noblest Soul’: A Sad Page in the History of the Grand Duchy of Hesse through the Eyes of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich. The Darmstadt Diary, 1892

Abstract

This is the first publication of a fragment of the diary of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich of Russia for 1892 describing illness, death, and burial of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine, head of one of the states forming a part of the German Empire. Ever since the 18th century the Russian Imperial Family was bound by close kinship to the Hessian ducal family. The author of the diary was a member of the House of the Romanovs, a younger brother of Russian Emperor Alexander III. Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich held the post of the Moscow Governor-General. In 1884 he married Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, n?e Princess of Hesse, who was a daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV. This publication includes diary records from February 26 to March 9, 1892, covering the time when Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich and his wife were staying in Darmstadt. The diary describes the daily life of the Royal family in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine during said period and the participation in the obsequies of the deceased’s family and the representatives of the Russian, British and German ruling dynasties. Among others, the Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich’s diary mentions German Dowager Empress Victoria (the mother of Emperor Wilhelm II), Prince Henry of Prussia (the future Grand Admiral of the Imperial German Navy), Prince Louis Battenberg (the future British First Sea Lord), Princess Alice of Hesse, the younger sister of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, future Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The daily entries record family unity of the members of the Russian, the German, and the British Royal dynasties in the face of common tragedy against the backdrop of difficult relations between their empires. The deceased, Grand Duke Ludwig IV, enjoyed universal respect. Diaries of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich are stored in his personal provenance fond in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (Moscow).

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Keywords

Personal provenance source, State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Romanovs, Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Darmstadt, diary.

References

Velikaya knyaginya Elisaveta Feodorovna i imperator Nikolai II. Dokumenty i materialy (1884—1909 gg.). Avt.-sost. A. B. Efimov, E. Yu. Koval’skaya [EFIMOV A. B., KOVAL’SKAYA E. YU. (comps.). Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Emperor Nicholas II. Documents and materials (1884—1909). In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Aleteiya publ., 2009, 848 p.

Velikii Knyaz’ Sergei Aleksandrovich Romanov. Biograficheskie materialy. Sost. I. V. Plotnikova [PLOTNIKOVA I. V. (comp.). Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich Romanov. Biographical documents. In Russ.]. Moscow, Novospasskii monastyr’ publ., 2006, vol. 1, 400 p.; 2007, vol. 2, 280 p.; 2009, vol. 3, 360 p.; 2011, vol. 4, 671 p.

Dnevnik velikogo knyazya Sergeya Aleksandrovicha, 1905 god / publikatsiya D. M. Sof’ina [SOFJIN D. M. (ed.). The diary of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, 1905. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Seriya. Istoriya, 2014, no. 2(25), pp. 188—200.

About authors

Sofjin Dmitriy Mikhailovich, PhD in History, associate professor, Perm State National Research University, assistant professor, Perm, Russian Federation, +7-912-88-45-782, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sofjina Marina Vladimirovna, PhD in History, Perm State Institute of Culture, assistant professor, Perm, Russian Federation, +7-982-45-05-789, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

This publication has been prepared with financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (science project no. 17-31-01060 ‘Diaries of Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, 1892–1894’).

Submitted 27.12.2017, published:

SOFJIN, D. M., SOFJINA, M. V. “Blagorodneishaya byla dusha”: pechal'naya stranitsa gessenskoi istorii glazami velikogo knyazya Sergeya Aleksandrovicha. Darmshtadtskii dnevnik 1892 g. [‘The Noblest Soul’: A Sad Page in the History of the Grand Duchy of Hesse through the Eyes of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich. The Darmstadt Diary, 1892. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2018, no. 2, pp. 495-507. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-495-507

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