Overview of the Personal Provenance Fond of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich from the State Archive of the Russian Federation: 1878-1918

Scientific article

УДК 930.23+651.5+930.25+930.22+002.6.048.26+002.63+091+32.019.5+659.4+321.01+321.1+321.8+323.2+341.232.1+323.4+329.21+329.63+342.3+342.4+342.5+342.535+342.7+343.4+351/354+354+35.977.535.3+35.081.64+35.081.72+35.081.716

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2023-3-906-921

Lavryonova, Anna M.

State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation

Sofjina, Marina V., Sofjin, Dmitriy M.

Perm State National Research University, Perm, Russian Federation

Overview of the Personal Provenance Fond of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich from the State Archive of the Russian Federation: 1878-1918

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the personal provenance fond of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich—member of the Russian Imperial House, younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II, a major military, state, and public figure, who held the posts of the Commander of the Savage Division, member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, Chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Museum, who for a time was heir to the throne—which is stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The archival fond, formed and described in the Soviet period, contains 137 storage units, including, among others, personal diaries of the fond-maker, epistolary and educational materials, business papers, official documents, photographs and drawings. The history of the fond formation is described, various groups of files are analyzed, their information potential, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of materials are assessed, source analysis of the most important documents is provided, most revealing quotes are given. Special attention is paid to the diaries of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, his correspondence and its most voluminous part, letters to his cousin and lover, Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and letters from the Grand Duke’s tutor Ferdinand Tormeyer and from his wife Natalia Brasova. Letters and telegrams from other relatives were deposited in smaller number (his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, his brother, Emperor Nicholas II, his sisters, Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga, his niece, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, his cousin, Princess Tyra of Denmark), as well as statesmen and courtiers: the Minister of the Imperial Court Baron Freedericksz, Lady-in-Waiting of the Imperial Court Countess Vorontsova-Dashkova, and others. The Grand Duke’s diaries and correspondence reflect his personal life, official and social activities. Illustrative material is presented in the fond quite voluminously, primarily, as photographs, including those taken by the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich himself, as well as his own drawings. A significant array of storage units of the fond was introduced into scientific use, mostly, by the historian Vladimir Khrustalev; some of the materials were published (mainly diaries and correspondence of the period of the World War I); however, many documents still require scientific research to reveal little-explored aspects of the Grand Duke’s life and work.

Keywords

Historical sources, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, Russian Imperial House, heir, State Archive of the Russian Federation, personal provenance fond, diaries, letters.

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About the authors

Lavryonova Anna Mikhailovna, PhD in History, State Archive of the Russian Federation, department of study and publication of documents, senior specialist, Moscow, Russian Federation, +7-495-580-88-65, 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, department of documentation and library and reference-providing information technologies, assistant professor; Perm State National Research University, department of interdisciplinary history, researcher, Perm, Russian Federation, +7-342-233-12-28, +7-342-239-62-84, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sofjin Dmitriy Mikhailovich, PhD in History, associate professor, Perm State National Research University, department of interdisciplinary history, assistant professor, Perm, Russian Federation, +7-342-239-62-84, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The study has been funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 23-28-01342 “Diaries of the Successor and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, 1899–1903,” https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-28-01342/

Submitted 18.03.2023, published (for citation):

LAVRENOVA, A. M., SOFJINA, M. V., SOFJIN, D. M. Obzor lichnogo fonda velikogo knyazya Mikhaila Aleksandrovicha v Gosudarstvennom arkhive Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 1878-1918 gg. [Overview of the Personal Provenance Fond of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich from the State Archive of the Russian Federation: 1878-1918. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2023, no. 3, pp. 906-921. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2023-3-906-921