To be a hero, it is not at all necessary to have a scattering of military orders and medals. Sometimes it is enough to be loyal and honest, not to change your beliefs. Ivan Kharitonov - the chef of the royal family, who remained loyal to Nicholas II until the end.
Biography
Ivan Kharitonov was born in St. Petersburg in 1870. His father Mikhail Kharitonovich in early childhood was left completely alone, was brought up in an orphanage. But this did not prevent him from achieving a lot - he devoted his entire life to the civil service and was awarded numerous awards. By the end of his service, he even received a Personal Nobility and was promoted to Titular Counselor. This gave the right to receive a pension of 1,600 rubles per year.
Mikhail Kharitonovich was able to identify all his children for education and service at the Imperial Court. So Ivan Kharitonov began his working career at the age of 12.
At first, he acted as a "cook apprentice of the II grade" - that was the title of his position at the court. Until the first grade, it will grow for eight years.
Ivan's training could be considered completed in 1890. It was at this time that he received the post of cook of the II category at the court. But he did not work for long, since the time had come to serve in the army. In December 1891, he was enlisted in the Imperial Navy, and served for four years.
After the service, Ivan returns to the Imperial Court, where he was restored to his former position. He happened to undergo an internship in Paris, where he was trained as a soup soup. In France, Ivan Mikhailovich met J.-P. Kyuba is a renowned restaurateur and culinary specialist. He will keep friendship with him for many years.
A family
In 1896, Ivan Kharitonov married Evgenia Andreevna Tur. The wife was from a kind of Russified Germans and was left an orphan early. The girl was raised by her maternal grandfather P. Stepanov. After serving in the tsarist army for 25 years, he lived in his home and raised his grandchildren.
Ivan and Eugenia were very happy in marriage. They had six children: Antonina, Kapitolina, Peter, Ekaterina, Cyril, Mikhail. In the year of the birth of the eldest son (in 1901), the head of the family receives the position of Chef of the 1st category.
At first, the entire large family lived in an apartment in a departmental house. In the summer they rented a dacha in Peterhof or in the village of Znamenka. Later, Ivan Kharitonov will build his own house in Taitsy. Here Emperor Nicholas II planned to build a palace for his heir.
In 1911, Kharitonov was appointed Senior Chef at the court. His profession was honorable, but not as simple as it seems at first glance. Contrary to popular belief, the table of the royal family was not decorated with food and pickles every day. They ate modestly enough for their position. The entire menu has been thoroughly thought out and approved. But even in such conditions, Ivan Mikhailovich tried to add variety to the daily diet, naturally in an acceptable form.
Senior chef Kharitonov perfectly knew the entire Orthodox cuisine with its fast days and festive meals. To this was added extensive knowledge of the national cuisines of other peoples. Preparing to receive numerous foreign guests, Kharitonov also studied the culinary culture of each country.
Nicholas II was accompanied by Kharitonov on almost all foreign trips. From any country he visited, he sent touching messages to his family. Having chosen a postcard with the main attraction of the city, he certainly wrote a few warm words to each member of his family.
Awards
Ivan Kharitonov served the royal family for a long time. His dedication has received numerous awards. In addition to those that were received from the emperor ("For diligence", "In commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty", etc.), there are awards from foreign states:
- Order of Merit - Bulgaria;
- gold medal - France;
- Honorary Cross - Prussia;
- gold medal - Italy and many others.
There were also memorable gifts. Most often, documents mention, for example, gold cufflinks or gold watches. The latter were presented to Kharitonov personally by Nicholas II and were with him almost until his death. After the execution, they were not found at the place of the death of the cook. Most likely they were given by Ivan Mikhailovich as payment for provisions.
Imprisonment with the Royal Family
Kharitonov never doubted what to do when the family of Nicholas II was sent to Tsarskoe Selo. Having chosen for himself the position of an arrested person (like that of members of the royal family), in addition to this, he took on a number of additional duties. Most of the servants and court staff were dismissed, and the most devoted remained near the Romanovs.
In 1918, the now former August persons were sent to Tobolsk. Kharitonov follows them again, but together with the whole family. The royal family had no means of subsistence left at all. Ivan Kharitonov appealed to wealthy townspeople with a request for help, as he could provide them with normal food. The attitude towards the former king and his family was no longer as respectful as before. Very often Ivan Mikhailovich received a refusal, sometimes quite rude. If someone agreed to help, they usually demanded to make a record in order to demand repayment of the debt in the future. Those who helped unselfishly were ordinary people and monks - they brought to the "House of Freedom" what they could share.
In May 1918, Ivan Kharitonov followed the tsar to Yekaterinburg - a city that would become a place of death for him, as well as for the entire royal family. His wife Eugene remembered his farewell to his family on the pier forever and later told her grandchildren.
The servants and the doctor who remained with the royal family were repeatedly offered to leave them, thus preserving their life and freedom. However, Botkin, Kharitonov, Demidova and Trup invariably answered that they forever linked their fates with the Romanovs. On the night of July 17, 1918, they were all shot in the basement, where they were brought together by Nicholas II and his family.
Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov was canonized by the foreign branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, along with members of the royal family. The Moscow Patriarchate, considering this case in 2000, found no reason for such a step.
In 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation rehabilitated 52 people who were close to the royal family. Among them was Ivan Kharitonov.
Descendants of Ivan Kharitonov
The eldest son of the Kharitonovs, Peter, for some time supported the side of the Bolsheviks, served as a physician in the army. Towards the end of his life, he became disillusioned with Soviet ideology.
V. M. Multatuli (1929-2017) - grandson of I. Kharitonov, philologist, theater critic, translator. He was among those who attended the reburial of the remains of the Romanovs in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
P. V. Multatuli (born 1969) - great-grandson of the tsar's cook, historian and biographer of Nicholas II.
