Princess Irina Alexandrovna Romanov

Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (Russian: Ирина Александровна; 15 July [O.S. 3 July] 1895 – 26 February 1970) was the only daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. She was the first grandchild of Tsar Alexander III and the only biological niece of Tsar Nicholas II. Irina was married to the wealthiest man in Imperial Russia, Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov. Her husband was one of the men who murdered Grigori Rasputin, "holy healer" to Irina's cousin, the hemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, in 1916.

Wikipedia

Birth by Julianus Calendar 3. juuli 1895

Before her marriage on 22 February [O.S. 9 February] 1914, Irina, the eldest child and only daughter in a family of seven children, was considered one of the most elegant women in Imperial Russia. Her family had spent long periods living in the south of France beginning in about 1906 because of her father's political disagreements with the Tsar.[1]

Her husband-to-be, Felix Yusupov, was a man from a very wealthy family[5] who enjoyed dressing in women's clothing and had sexual relationships with both men and women, scandalizing society,[6] but he was also genuinely religious and willing to help others even when his own financial circumstances were reduced. At one point, in a fit of enthusiasm, he planned to give all his riches to the poor in imitation of his mentor, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. "Felix's ideas are absolutely revolutionary," a disapproving Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna once said.[7] He was persuaded not to do so by his mother, Zenaida, who said he had a duty to marry and continue the family line because he was her only surviving son.[8] The future murderer of Rasputin also had a horror of the bloodshed and violence of war.[9]

Felix, being bisexual, was not certain if he was "fit for marriage."[9] Still, he was drawn to Irina and her icon[10]-like beauty when he first encountered her. "One day when I was out riding I met a very beautiful girl accompanied by an elderly lady. Our eyes met and she made such an impression on me that I reined in my horse to gaze at her as she walked on," he wrote in his memoirs. One day in 1910, he was paid a visit by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna and was happy to discover the girl he had seen on the riding trail was their only daughter, Irina. "This time I had plenty of time to admire the wondrous beauty of the girl who was eventually to become my wife and lifelong companion. She had beautiful features, clear-cut as a cameo, and looked very like her father."[11] He renewed his acquaintance with Irina in 1913 and was even more drawn to her. "She was very shy and reserved, which added a certain mystery to her charm.... Little by little, Irina became less timid. At first her eyes were more eloquent than her conversation but, as she became more expansive, I learned to admire the keenness of her intelligence and her sound judgment. I concealed nothing in my past life from her, and, far from being perturbed by what I told her, she showed great tolerance and comprehension." Yusupov wrote that Irina, perhaps because she had grown up with so many brothers, showed none of the artifice or lack of honesty that had put him off relations with other women.[11]

It was the society wedding of the year and the last such occasion in Russian society before World War I. Irina wore a 20th-century dress rather than the traditional court dress in which other Romanov brides had married, as she was a princess of the Imperial House, not a Grand Duchess. She wore a diamond and rock-crystal tiara that had been commissioned from Cartier and a lace veil that had belonged to Marie Antoinette. Guests at the wedding commented on what an attractive couple Felix and Irina made: "What an amazing couple–they were so attractive. What bearing! What breeding!" said one guest.[10]
Irina was given away by her uncle, Nicholas II, and his wedding present to her was a bag of 29 uncut diamonds, ranging from three to seven carats.[15] Irina and Felix also received a large assortment of precious gems from other wedding guests. They later managed to take many of these gems out of the country following the Russian Revolution of 1917 to use them to provide a living in exile.

Irina and Felix, close to one another as they were distant from their daughter, enjoyed a happy and successful marriage for more than 50 years.[4] When Felix died in 1967, Irina was stricken by grief and died three years later.[37]

Descendants of Felix and Irina are:

• Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova, (21 March 1915, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 30 August 1983, Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France), married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev (28 October 1904, Moscow, Russia – 5 February 1979, Paris, France), son of Count Dmitry Sergeevich Sheremetev and wife Countess Irina Ilarionovna Vorontzova-Dachkova and a descendant of Boris Petrovich Sheremetev; had issue:
  • Countess Xenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva (born 1 March 1942, Rome, Italy), married on 20 June 1965 in Athens, Greece, to Ilias Sfiris (born 20 August 1932, Athens, Greece); had issue:
    • Tatiana Sfiris (born 28 August 1968, Athens, Greece), married in May 1996 in Athens to Alexis Giannakoupoulos (born 1963), divorced, no issue; married Anthony Vamvakidis and has issue:
      • Marilia Vamvakidis (born 7 July 2004)
      • Yasmine Xenia Vamvakidis (born 17 May 2006)

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References

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg0IZ0C6A0&ab_channel=KaiserinFred...
• https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irina_Jusupova
• https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00006697&tree=LEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg0IZ0C6A0&ab_channel=KaiserinFred...

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irina_Jusupova

• Wikipedia

Княжна императорской крови (это полное название титула) Ирина Александровна Романова была родной племянницей Николая II. В 1914 году она вышла замуж за князя Феликса Юсупова – легендарного убийцу Распутина. На свадьбе в Аничковом Дворце на красавице Ирине Александровне была тиара из алмазов и горного хрусталя фирмы Картье и кружевная вуаль, принадлежавшая ранее Марии-Антуанетте.

А уже через несколько лет Юсупову оказались в эмиграции в Париже с маленькой дочкой на руках. Надо было на что-то жить. О дальнейшем развитии событий знаменитый певец Александр Вертинский вспоминал так: « Князь Феликс Юсупов, худой и стройный, с иконописным лицом византийского письма, красивый и бледный, открыл свой салон мод. Салон назывался «Ирфе» - по начальным буквам «Ир» - Ирина (жена) и «Фе» - Феликс. Салон имел успех. Богатые американки, падкие на титулы и сенсации, платили сумасшедшие деньги за его фасоны и модели не потому, что они были так уж хороши, сколько за право познакомиться с ним, о котором они столько читали в сотнях книг. Газет и журналов, - с человеком, убившим Распутина! Его жена Ирина, бледная, очень молчаливая и замкнутая, с необыкновенно красивым и строгим лицом, принимала покупательниц. Она никогда не улыбалась. У нее были светло-серые печальные глаза и светлые волосы».

Насчет редкой красоты Ирины Александровны нельзя не согласиться. А вот насчет причин популярности Модного Дома «Ирфе» можно поспорить. Клиенток привлекал, прежде всего, потрясающий вкус княгини Юсуповой, который чувствовался не только в создаваемых ею моделях (а модельером была именно она), но и в самом интерьере Модного Дома – на фоне затянутых серой тканью стен стояла красная мебель! А князь Феликс Юсупов помогал жене во всем, прежде всего, он взял на себя бухгалтерию и прочие нетворческие проблемы «Ирфе».

Именно финансовых успех Модного Дома «Ирфе» позволил Юсуповым принять участие в открытии модных парижских ресторанов «Ла мэзонет», «Лидо», «Монрепо». Баронесса Анастасия фон Нолькен, служившая манекенщицей в «Ирфе» вспоминала об Ирине Александровне, что княгиня «… была очень скромной и не любила, чтобы мы, манекенщицы, делали ей реверанс при встрече».

Birth by Julianus Calendar 3. juuli 1895