Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia
Russian grand duke and field marshal (1832-1909); the fourth son and seventh child of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Николаевич; 25 October 1832 – 18 December 1909) was a Russian field marshal, the fourth son and seventh child of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia. He was the first owner of the New Michael Palace on the Palace Quay in Saint Petersburg.
Marriage and issue
On 16 August 1857, he married Princess Cecilie of Baden (1839–1891), daughter of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Sophie of Sweden. Cecily adopted the name Olga Feodorovna, and had the following children with him:
Career
He served 20 years (1862–1882) as the Governor General of Caucasia, being seated in Tbilisi, the town which most of his children remembered as the home of their childhood. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he was nominal Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops in the Caucasus and was appointed Field Marshal General in April 1878.
In the course of his life, four members of his family ruled as Emperors of Russia: his father, Nicholas I; his brother, Alexander II; his nephew, Alexander III; as well as his grand-nephew, Nicholas II, whose second daughter, Grand Duchess Tatiana, the Grand Duke was godfather to.
He died in Cannes, France, on 18 December 1909. He was the last surviving legitimate grandchild of Paul I of Russia.
Legacy
He was remembered by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, granddaughter of his eldest brother, in her memoirs: "My great-uncle, Grand Duke Michael came from time to time to pay us visits. He was an old gentleman of great height and unforgettable elegance; he fascinated us by the perfection and harmony of his gestures, by his affability and his air of a grand seigneur of an epoch already vanished.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q161199. VIAF identifies the subject as 15580655. The Library of Congress control number is n86127451. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1832, 1909, 1857 and 1839.
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