The sovereign who missed Russia had a cousin. He was very different from the crowned relative. Distinguished for the better.
Kings can do anything. They are allowed to choose on their own: whether to mess around, shooting crows from the balcony, or spend time writing rhyming lines, or reading non-fiction. Konstantin Romanov preferred education and art to other pleasures. The desire to make his knowledge useful to the state did not bring him to good and, unfortunately, did not save the country.
Childhood
Already his birth in August 1858 was one of the reasons for amending the legislation of the Russian Empire. His father, the son of Emperor Nicholas I and the brother of the reigning Alexander III, diligently increased the number of his heirs - Kostya became the fourth offspring of the Grand Duke, and after him two more boys were born. The monarch did not want to support such a crowd at the expense of the treasury and announced that the children of his nephews would not bear the grand ducal title.
The family was not too upset by the innovations. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich was known as a freethinker and was able to instill similar views in his son and namesake. At baptism, the baby was awarded a number of orders and enlisted in the guard, but he was not allowed to rest on his laurels. From an early age, the boy was prepared for service in the navy, for which a member of the Russian Geographical Society, Captain Alexander Zeleny, was appointed as a tutor. At the age of 16, the boy made a trip to the Atlantic Ocean on the frigate "Svetlana", after which he was able to pass the exam for the rank of midshipman.
War and love
In 1877-1878. Russia entered the war with Turkey. Constantine took part in it as a member of the navy. For his bravery shown in battles, he was awarded and promoted in rank, but his health was shaken. Having visited the famous Athos, the young officer even wanted to get a monk's hair, but the local monks, having found out who was in front of them, forbade him to think about such a thing. In 1882, the prince said goodbye to the career of a sailor and was appointed staff captain of the guard.
Still not fully recovered from his illness, Konstantin Konstantinovich took a vacation and went abroad to rest. In 1883, in the German city of Altenburg, a guest from Russia met the sixteen-year-old daughter of the Duke of Saxony. Elizabeth Augusta Maria Agnes fascinated him. The young man dedicated romantic poems to his princess and for a long time hesitated to ask for her hand in marriage. Having lingered at the resort, the young people were able to convince the girl's parents to give her in marriage to Konstantin. A year later, Lisa will be brought to St. Petersburg, where the wedding will take place.
Science and art
Rapid promotion through close kinship with the tsar was the facade of the life of Konstantin Romanov. He wanted more, in 1889 an inquisitive aristocrat was given the seat of president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. In this position, he was able to demonstrate what he is capable of. The Grand Duke took up the enlightenment of the broad masses of the people. He led the preparations for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin, facilitated the relocation of the zoological museum in the capital to a new building, and helped the first explorers of the Arctic. Konstantin's contribution to the development of educational institutions was appreciated by appointing him Trustee of pedagogical courses at women's gymnasiums.
Since childhood, who fell in love with music and literature, Konstantin found time for creativity. He wrote poetry. Most of them were naive elegies, but sometimes he took up serious philosophical topics, translations of the classics. Being familiar with the leading writers of the Fatherland, the noble poet signed his works with the initials K. R., without involving inveterate lackeys in publications.
In a noble family
Constantine's successes were noticed by his crowned cousin. Nicholas II in 1898 accepted his cousin into his retinue. The high position at the court was beneficial to the prince, who by that time was already a father with many children - during the entire marriage, his wife gave birth to nine children, of which only one daughter died in infancy.
Elizabeth never accepted Orthodoxy and did not share her husband's hobbies. She quickly became accustomed to the circle of court ladies and spent her evenings gossiping. Konstantin was looking for a like-minded person, and started a reprehensible relationship outside of marriage, which he later regretted. Neither the name, nor the age, nor even the sex of his love, none of the historians knows. True, it was not possible to mess around in St. Petersburg for a long time. When in 1900 he was appointed chief of the military educational institutions, Romanov went on a trip around the country in order to personally check the state of affairs on the ground. To put things in order in his personal life, the Grand Duke plunged into work.
War and death
On the eve of the First World War, Konstantin Konstantinovich returned to a peaceful family life. He acquired several old mansions associated with the history of the Decembrist uprising, and took his children there. The news of the beginning of the war found Romanov and his wife in Germany, where they had a great time with her relatives. The attitude towards the Romanov couple instantly changed. The Altenburg nobility did not hesitate to expel Elizabeth and her husband from the country as criminals.
The righteous anger of the noble family was expressed in the fact that one of the sons of Constantine, in 1914, Oleg, as part of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, went to the front. He was offered a place in the headquarters, but the young man refused. A few months later, sorrowful news came to St. Petersburg - a young officer was killed. He was all like a father - he was interested in the biography and poetry of Pushkin, he himself tried to compose poetry. Constantine took this loss hard. He tried to find solace in the family, but it didn't work out. In June 1915, Konstantin Romanov died in Pavlovsk, a suburb of St. Petersburg.
