George, Count Brasov

Infobox Russian Royalty|prince
name = George Mikhailovich
title = Count Brasov

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imgw = 180px
caption = George Mikhailovich photographed in 1931.
spouse=
issue =
imperial house = House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
father = Michael II of Russia
mother = Natalia Brassova
date of birth = birth date|1910|08|06
place of birth = Udinka, Russian Empire
date of death = death date and age|1931|7|22|1910|08|06
place of death = Auxerre, France
place of burial = Passy Cemetery, Paris, France|

Georgy Mikhailovich, Count Brasov ( _ru. Георгий Михайлович, граф Брасов; July 24 O.S./August 6 N.S., 1910 – July 22, 1931) was a Russian noble and a descendant of the House of Romanov through a morganatic line.

Early life

His parents were Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his mistress, Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya. His father was the youngest son of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and Empress Maria Fyodorovna (formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark), a sister of King George V of the United Kingdom's mother, Queen Alexandra.

George was born in Udinka, near Moscow. His mother had only just recently divorced her second husband Rittmeister (Captain) Vladimir Wulffert, an army officer serving in the Regiment of Cuirassiers under George's father. He is the namesake of his uncle, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, who had died from tuberculosis in 1899.

At the time of his birth, his father was second in line to become Emperor after George's cousin, Alexei. Alexei suffered from hemophilia and it was feared would not live long enough to inherit the throne. Under Russian House Law, his father, as a member of the Imperial Family, could not marry without the consent of the ruling monarch. This consent would not have been granted as his mother was twice divorced and not of royal blood. In 1912, Alexei suffered a life-threatening hemorrhage in the thigh and groin while the family was at Spala, Poland. Fearing that Alexei would not survive and then Michael would be forced into a dynastic marriage, his parents married in a Serbian Orthodox Church in Vienna on October 30, 1912. The significance of this kind of ceremony was that the marriage could not be invalidated by Russian Imperial Courts or Russian Orthodox Church authorities. This was viewed as an act of cowardice and betrayal of duty by the Imperial family, especially as it was done while the Tsarevich was so close to dying. Michael and his family were sent into exile. They took a tour of Europe before settling in England.

Imperial Return

In the fall of 1914, his father requested permission to return to Russia to rejoin the army, which was fighting on the Eastern Front of World War I. This request was granted and Grand Duke Michael and his family returned. His father would become a general and would later earn a cross of St. George, the highest military award. His uncle, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, later created his mother Countess Brasova, named after one of Michael's estate. George took his title from mother and created Count Brasov. Although he had been legitimatized, he and his descendants would be excluded from the order of succession. Later Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich, the pretender to the throne, granted him the title of Prince.

February Revolution

In 1917, during the February Revolution, Nicholas II abdicated for himself and his son and nominated Michael to succeed him. However, all of Petrograd's troops had joined the demonstrators, henceforth the Grand Duke refused and the Provisional Government took control of Russia by default. George and his family were first placed under house arrest in Gatchina, and then later his father was exiled to the remote city of Perm. Michael managed to smuggle him and his half-sister Natalia, his mother's daughter from her first marriage, out of the country to Copenhagen to join relatives of his grandmother, the Dowager Empress. In the early hours of June 12, 1918, his father was shot on the outskirts of Perm by the Cheka and his corpse was burned. The circumstances of his father’s death would not become known until after George’s death.

Exile from Russia

He and his mother went into exile in London and he was enrolled at Harrow, a prominent public boarding school. In 1927, due to financial problems, his mother relocated to Paris and he remained in England to finish his school year. He then went to another boarding school, École des Roches, in Verneuil, Normandy. Although the idea of him claiming the throne was circulated during his lifetime, George often treated the idea with amusement whenever it was mentioned to him. As he matured, many remarked at his strong resemblance to his father. In the summer of 1931, having finished his final examinations at the Sorbonne, George decided to celebrate with a holiday in the south of France with his Dutch friend, Edgar Moneanaar. They planned to drive from Paris to Cannes, but their car skidded on the road and crashed into a tree. Nineteen-year-old Edgar, who had been at the wheel, was killed. George, who was taken to hospital with both thighs broken and severe internal injuries, died without recovering consciousness in Auxerre. He was buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris. In 1952, following his mother's death from cancer, she was interred beside him. Their grave is marked by a slavonic cross of stone above a chest-tomb of green-and-black marble with the simple gold-lettered inscription: "Fils et Epouse de S.A.I Grand Duc Michel de Russie".

Although he had no succession rights due to the morganatic marriage of his parents, George was the last male-line descendant of Alexander III of Russia.

References

* [http://www.permonline.ru/~museum/romanov/ Museum of Romanov, Perm]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/royalty/russia/survivor.html The Fate of Romanovs: The Survivors]
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/mikhail.html Alexander Palace Time Machine; Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9870&pt=Natasha%20'Madame%20de%20Brassow'%20Romanov Find A Grave]