Figure 1.--This is a portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Michailovich with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna and their two eldest children Prince Andrei and Princess Irina. The photograph would have been taken about 1899.

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich was born in Tbilisi (1866). Tbilisi in modern Geporgia was the administrative center the Tsarist Empire's Caucasia--the Caucasus He was the the fifth child (1866-1933) of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich. His mother was Princess Cecile of Baden, the youngest child of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sofia of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. Alexander was known as Sandro within the family. He had five brothers and one sister.T The family lived in Tbilisi becuase tharir father was the Governor of the Viceroyalty. Sndro has been a childhood friend of th future Tsar Nicholas II. They were first cousins once removed and born only 2 years apart. The children were brought up to share the prevalent anti-Semitic views. Tsar Alexander III was a ravid anti-semite. Sandro pursued a career in the Imperial Navy. He entered the Sea Cadet Corps, This was a school for training naval officers located in Saint Petersburg, graduaring (1885). He then enlisted in the Guards Crew, a presigious naval unit. He served aboard the corvette Rynda as it participated in an around-the-world voyage (1886=89). It was the smallest class of vessel considered to be an acrual ('rated') naval warship. At the time the concept of a desroyer was just beginning to materialize. Notavly the viyage included a good-will visit to the Japanese Empire. He sailed to India on his own yacht Tamara (1890-91). He was given command of the desroyer Revel (1892). He served on the armored cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi when it made a goodwill visit to America (1893). It marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus's duscovery if America. The Grand Duke married Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (1875–1960) (1894). They had one daughter and six sons. Alexander became a close adviser of his brother-in-law Tsar Nicholas II. He objected to the political role of the Tsarina Alexandria and the influence of illiterate Siberian monk Rasputin. He regretted that Nicholas did not use troops to resist the Revolution. He appealed to Tsar Nicholas II, as his children began to reach adulthood that the the requirement for equal marriage for Romanov dynasts was rejecte. All all seven of his children married titled but non-royal Russian aristocrats, but only his daughter obtained permission to do so. Sandro's eldest son, Andrei Aleksandrovich, married at Yalta in the Crimea (1918). He managed to escape the Bolsheviks during the Revolution and Civil War. Alexander departed the Crimea with Andrei and his son's new bride, Elisabetta Ruffo Di Saint Antimo, who was pregnant (December 1918). His wife and other children were subsequently rescued by the British Royal Navy. Three of Alexander's brothers were murdered by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution and onset of the Civil War. In ibe stroke, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and five other Romanovs were executed by fieing squad (July 18, 1918). As a result, Alexander's and Xenia's children are the ancestors of most of the modern Romanov descendants.

Created: 2:00 AM 9/28/2011
Last updated: 2:00 AM 9/28/2011