MATHILDE  KSCHESSINSKA - BALLERINA - FUGITIVE - PRINCESS

The Russian ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska had drunk vodka from gold goblets adorned with precious stones,  she had bronze window-latches ordered  from Paris for her palace in S:t Petersburg, she had owned two cars and she had her own small power plant in order to get electric öight in her summer house. Arriving in Turkey when she had fled the bolsheviks and the revolution, she had to undress for delousing.
 
But let us begin with her childhood.

After a school display Tsar Alexander III said to her: "Be the glory and adornment of our ballet". The astute little Mathilde curtsied deeply to the Tsar, kissed the hand of the Empress, and promised herself that it would come true. The Imperial couple were so interested in ballet that they even when to school displays, but it can also be explained by the fact that the Imperial ballet and its school was a part of the Imperial household. The small pupils were actually dressed in some kind of Imperial uniform and their schooling was paid for by the Tsar personally.

Both of Mathilde's parents were dancers and it came naturally that she would seek admittance
to the Imperial school. She was admitted in 1880 when she was eight years old. After ten years of studying she was enrolled in the company and was soon given small parts.

In spite of all the pomp and ceremoniel attached to the outward court life, the children of the tsar had quite a lot of personal freedom. Tsarevitch, who was to become Tsar Nicholas II, had fallen in love with the young dancer - to the extent that he visited her at home to the mixed joy and consternation of her parents. Nicholas really loved Mathilde, but it was also his duty to his country to marry a princess. Of all the royal candidates he preferred Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, she was usually called Alix. But she refused to convert to the orthodox faith, the engagement came to nothing. That must have been at least a temporary relief for Mathilde. She and Nicholas carried on meeting, and a house was purchased for her. That was actually sold by the composer Rimsky-Korsakov and there the young couple would be able to meet in private.
This went on for some time but Mathilde understood that this idyllic situation would come to an end sooner or later.

Princess Alix relented - she would embrace the orthodox faith and the engagement was announced.  At the same time came rumours about the frail health of Tsar Alexander, he suffered from a recurring kidney  ailment.  In the summer of 1894 he suddenly died, only 50 years old. The wedding took place a week later.
Mathilde was alone, at 22, and numb with sorrow. She wrote: My youth's happy springtime was over. A new life was beginning, the painful life of a woman with a prematurely broken heart.

She carried on dancing, however, better than ever and she got many new roles. The critics and the audience adored her.

Mathilde celebrated ten years on the stage as ballerina with a benefit evening where she danced "Arlequinade" and "The four Seasons". Just that very benefit night came to change her entire life. Afterwards she was hostess at a grand supper to which she had invited the Grand Dukes Cyril and Boris, cousins of the Tsar. They had asked to be allowed to bring their youngst brother along, Andre',  who was then 21.
Grand Duke Andre was an awkward and shy youth who managed to spill a glass of red wine over Mathilde's dress. But she was enchanted by the young Duke and he in turn became bewitched by the witty and beautiful Mathilde. When this affair became known people made jokes about and said that Mathilde had started playing with dolls again. Andre was seven years her junior.
The following fall they made a journey together to Italy. On their way home in Paris Mathilde began to feel sick - a doctor confirmed that she was pregnant.
In the summer of 1902 Mathilde gave birth to a son who was christened Vladimir, though she always called him Vova. Soon she finds that her house is too small, she sells it and builds herself a mansion on Kronversky Prospect. Most of the decorations were ordered from Paris. Later this building would play a prominent part in quite different circumstances: when the era of the glittering parties were over and the mistress of the house had fled, Lenin made his famous speech and  proclaimed the new USSR from the magnificent balcony.

She traveled to Europe and danced in London and Paris as a guest artist. Diaghilev had great success with his Russian ballet everywhere, but Mathilde chose to return to S:t Petersburg and give her services to her old theater, the Maryinski.

WW1 broke out and S:t Petersburg became Petrograd. Mathilde danced at charity functions and toured extensively to entertain the troops. The general atmosphere in Petrograd was threatening, everybody was worried, there were demonstrations and riots and Rasputin was
murdered. To be on the safe side Mathilde began packing her valuables and carrying them away. One Sunday evening when the family and some friends were having supper they heard shots being fired. The mob came closer and Mathilde made a decision which probably saved her life. The party dispersed and finally Mathilde sneaked out together with Vova. They spent the night with her brother. The following day her house was occupied by a gang of young bolsheviks led by a Georgian student called Agabagov. Mathilde's own house-keeper had received Agabagov, greeting him: "Come in, the bird has flown". And Mathilde notes in her diary: "This gentleman started giving dinner parties, forcing my cook to serve him and his guests. My champagne was flowing like rivers"
The Tsar abdicated. The situation was extremely severe and Mathilde decided to journey to Kislovodsk, a spa in southern Russia. There she would meet her husband - many others of the nobility were also there, ready to flee if life got politically worse. And it did;  Mathilde still had hopes of returning to Petrograd, but as the reds conquered one town after another, it became clear that there was no hope. When the reds took Piatigorsk only a few miles from Kislovodsk, Mathilde decided to flee the country.

In February 1920 the steamer was heading towards Constantinople with a party of refugees aboard fleeing from the Bolsheviks. Amongst them were the ballerina Mathilde Kchessinska, Grand Duke Andre`and their son of seventeen, Vova. The voyage had been paid for with a valuable brooch, and a pair of cufflinks from Faberge´was given to the captain upon arrival in Turkey.
The family had escaped from Russia which by now was in a state of total collapse, though the southern parts of that immense country, had remained fairly tranquil.
The Turkish authorities demanded that the passengers should be deloused after 28 days on board and that their luggage must be fumigated. That being accomplished, the party was allowed to continue on their way to Cannes via Venice to start their new life as immigrants.
 
Already in 1913 Mathilde had bought a property in the South of France on the Riviera. Actually it was a minor palace and that was a blessing as the family was literally destitute.
They mortgaged the villa in order to start a new life. The old epoch was over and none of them would ever be able to return. That was a fate they shared with thousands of Russians, but at least they had a home into which they could move. At this time Mathilde was 48 and Andre´41.
One of the few members of the Imperial family who had been able to escape was Andre' s
elder brother, Grand Duke Cyril. He was now head of the Romanov family in exile. When Mathilde and Andre got married in 1921 Cyril bestowed on her the title Princess Romanovsky-Krassinsky with the prefix Her Serene Highness. Vova became Prince Vladimir.

Some of the old glory and etiquette were maintained even in exile - though, money, or rather the lack of funds, was a serious problem. Mathilde decided to open a ballet school in Paris. Her studio was opened in 1929 and soon became very renowned. Many prominent ballerinas also went to her for coaching.
Mathilde´s own career on the stage was over, she did, though, accept a few short guest appearances. Her very last performance she did at the Covent Garden opera house in London in 1936 when she danced her Russian dance from the Imperial days. She was then 64 and devoted the rest of her life to teaching, well into the fifties when she was over 80.
Andre´ passed away in 1956 - fifteen years later Mathilde died - the Imperial ballerina, 99 yeas old.
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