#ella and sergei

[the-last-tsar]

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Grand Duke Sergei.

[dozydawn]

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov Artistic Program, 1994.

The Man I Love by Ella Fitzgerald.

[slumberingrose-fandom]

The Life of Fantasies - Season 2 - Part 3

Bonus

[krasivaa]

A page of the diary of 12-years old Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, when she met Tsesarevich Nikolai of Russia at the wedding day of her sister Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, who was marrying Nicholas' uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Both poem and drawing made by Alix!!

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857 - 1905)

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich is in some ways a mystery and in others he is not.

He was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of his brother Emperor Alexander III of Russia (who trusted him) and his nephew Emperor Nicholas II, who was also his brother-in-law through Sergei's marriage to Elizabeth, the sister of Tsarina Alexandra. Sergei served for almost 15 years as the governor-general of Moscow until becoming a victim of terrorist violence in 1905 just when he was getting ready to leave the post. He was a very cultured man and spoke four languages in addition to Russian. He was also very religious (even though sometimes he showed concern about what he considered his wife Ella's excessive religiosity).

There is always much talk about the fact that his marriage to Ella was childless and that he wore a corset under his uniform (this was standard practice at some point in Prussia.) His sexual orientation seems to always be an issue. We don't really know because Ella and he left no papers, diaries, or letters that could enlighten us in that area. We do know why he wore the corset and why he seemed so impatient and uptight a great deal of the time: He had osteoarticular tuberculosis and was in a lot of pain most of the time. Within the family, he was extremely close to Grand Duke Pavel, his younger brother, and his sister Marie. He was also close to Tzar Alexander III and to Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.

Several interesting quotes about him:

Consuelo Vanderbilt then Duchess of Malborough met him in Moscow, she considered him to be "One of the most handsome men I have ever seen."

Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse: " He was tall and fair with delicate features and beautiful light green eyes".

Marie, Queen of Romania: "Dry, nervous, short of speech, impatient, he had none of the rather careless good humor of his three elder brothers ... but for all that we loved him, felt irresistibly attracted to him, hard though he could be. Few perhaps cherish his memory, but I do."

Grand Duchess Marie, Duchess of Edinburg by marriage and later Grand Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha adored him and called him "an exceptionally nice young man... and can be recommended one very possible way, not because he is my brother, but because he is an exception among princes."

His wife sustained that she adored him. She also said that Sergei was the type of person you liked more as you got to know him better (paraphrase.)

I have read that many of the malicious rumors about him came from William II, the German Keiser, who had been in love with Ella; she turned him down to marry Sergei. Certainly, Grand Duke Alexander Milkhailovich (Sandro) did not do him any favors in his book "Once a Grand Duke." Although his book is quoted on the Romanovs very frequently, he is not always reliable.

The pictures of Sergei above are not frequently seen - all of them were reblogged from the tumblr blog sergei-and-ella-romanov

One more thing: His nickname was Giga.

Smilies Sergei and Ella

[elsalouisa]

"... I had already learned from Ella that she had learned Tatyana's final monologue secretely from her husband, and the Tsarevich had taken the role of Onegin. They had a small stage set up in the room of Ella's lady in waiting, Kozlyaninova, and they would gather there and rehearse. When everything was ready, they played two scenes from Eugene Onegin in front of Sergei...

... The curtain rose. There was a garden with a bench on the stage; Ella ran out, Nicholas followed her. Both were dressed in costumes from the beginning of this century and very well dressed. The Tsarevich very sweetly and clearly delivered his monologue: "You wrote to me, do not deny it!" Only in his voice was it heard that he was very timid. - Then the stage turned into Tatyana's room. Ella delivered her monologue with a great sense. She had not yet been in Russia for 6 years, and she had already appeared on the stage. Of course, her pronunciation betrayed her, but it was redeemed by the depth of feeling in her acting."

Journal of Grand Duke Constantine 1890 February 27. Petersburg.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Little Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna with members of her family.

She appears on the lap of Princess Maria of Greece, the sister of her late mother, Alexandra. In the back stands her father, Paul Alexandrovich, and on the left, her eventual guardians, her Uncle Sergei and Aunt Ella.

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia (St. Ella)

1864-1918

Feast Day: July 5

Saint Elizabeth of Russia was born a German princess and granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. In 1884 she married Grand Duke Sergei of the Russian Imperial Court. She had a happy loving marriage and converted to the Russian Orthodox faith in 1891. In 1905 Sergei was assassinated whereupon she forgave the killer, sold her personal possessions and started the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow, that served the poor, suffering and orphans through prayer and action. In 1909 she formed the Sisters of Love and Mercy. In 1918 she and others from the Imperial Family were murdered in a mineshaft with grenades by the Bolsheviks. 

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[maigawa]

"con protecciones de la mismísima fe" comenta sin dejar de olvidar que los del clan local habían sido beneficiados con aquellos rezos y curaciones de quién eran devotos. "o" eleva el índice y se acerca un paso al mayor examinándole. "está buscando que todos los que están bajo su eterna devoción no se olviden que la quien manda es él, y que su merced por la estadía nuestra no es más que caridad suya" comenta, pero repetía lo que sabían ambos, nada nuevo. "no está jugando con nosotros, realmente quiere decirte que si él quiere quitarte algo, lo hará si no respetas sus ordenanzas" suspira, algo tan clásico de quien debe mantener al ganado organizado y entre las cercas de su poder. "¿de qué manera harías valer tu palabra si no es más que evocando la violencia y las diferencias entre el pueblo mismo?" consulta con impaciencia, la emoción arraiga sus venas con una idea tan estúpida como fehaciente para aquellos que destilaban alarde de superioridad frente a otros cainitas. hija de haqim sonríe "entonces validas su palabra y su decisión" tuerce un poco la respuesta ajena, en realidad buscaba extraer más sobre lo que podría ofrecerle el lasombra. @belyakovs

Una sonrisa se estira de sus labios. Sí, se lo buscó, pero no por eso le causa menos gracia. "Eso es correcto," admite, con un solemne asentimiento. "Nosotros probamos nuestra fe al enfrentarnos a nuestra mortalidad por nuestra propia voluntad," por un lado, ladea el rostro en una dirección. "El príncipe fuerza nuestras necesidades más elementales para desenmascarar al menos leal." Ahora la cabeza para el otro lado. Dos costados de una balanza. "Tanto poder es casi respetable, cómo se extiende a tanto Cainita sin discriminación." Ahora la mira. Eso que ella sugiere, es la peor idea que ha oído en décadas. "Pero somos todos parte de la misma especie, al final de la noche. Desperdiciar sangre Cainita solo nos hace más débiles, no sirve para distinguir fortalezas." Una señal de la cabeza, un buenos días silencioso. "Hasta el príncipe sabe eso."

@maigawa

[adini-nikolaevna]

"Oh, my dear! What a pity that Ella rejected dear Fritz of Baden [Prince Friedrich of Baden], who is so good and reliable, with such a safe and happy situation, and all this for the sake of the Russian [Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich]. I deeply regret it. Ella's health could never bear the climate that killed poor Aunt [Empress Maria Alexandrovna] ,and ruined the health of almost all the German princesses who lived there.”

— Queen Victoria in a letter to her granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse.

[the-last-tsar]

Sergei Alexandrovich, Elizabeth Feodorovna, Michael Alexandrovich and Olga Alexandrovna.

(source: 📷)

[roses-of-the-romanovs]

Do you relate to any of the Romanov / hesse if so which sister and why?

Hello and thank you for the question!

Of the Romanovs, I relate the most to Olga and Anastasia. Like Olga, I have a pretty hot temper and my tongue often flies loose and becomes absolutely scathing. (Online, I can sometimes be pretty blunt. Not a good thing, and definitely something I'm trying to curb.) Like Anastasia, I can be very silly and cheerful, lazy, and (another character defect) criticize and make fun of others. Although I like to think of it more as social satire! These two sisters also have some overlaps in their merry, lazy characters, so you can see why'd I could be both of them!

I also relate to both of the Marias--specifically, Dagmar and Maria Nikolaevna. Perhaps it's simply mental illusions, but I am often convinced that I am being excluded or less valued in a group. As for Maria Feodorovna, I can understand her frustration as she nagged at Alix to get out more into society. Although I lack her willpower. (And although I've got a hot temper like Olga, I don't have the obstinacy of either Maria! I'm rather a pushover!)

Moving on to the Hesse family.

Firstly, not Ella. I don't have her sweet and innocent ways, nor the strength of will she ultimately showed in pursuing Sergei, Nicholas's marriage to Alix, and her monastic life.

I do admire Victoria very much, and I think I may resemble her the most. I'm chatty, but reserved (as in intensely shy!), and I feel as though if I had any siblings and beloved Grandmamma entrusted them to me, I could also rule with an iron rod. (I'm kind of fond of power ...) Also I am interested in "intellectual" pursuits.

Irène I don't think I resemble much. My morals are somewhat lax and focused more on the basic goodness and betterment of humanity rather than "conduct." Nor am I fond of dancing. I'm in awe of Ernie because of his divorce in defiance of his relatives, but maybe he did that because he couldn't bear it any longer (and his grandmother was dead). As for Alix, I can understand her trial of coming to a foreign country and feeling that crippling shyness.

[thepaleys]

1905, Bloody Sunday and Sergei Alexandrovich's Murder

In order to achieve their desired position in Paris society, there was a pressing need for Olga, denied the use of the title grand duchess, to acquire a title suitable to her new station in life. For her difficult position as the morganatic wife of a senior Romanov created all kinds of problems of protocol and precedence at official functions. Thanks to the Prince Regent of Bavaria, she was invested with the title Countess von Hohenfelsen in 1904. This more lowly title still did not solve all the precedence issues, however, and Olga's status remained a subject about which Paul was highly sensitive. Events in Russia in 1905 caused both Grand Duke Paul and Countess von Hohenfelsen a great deal of anxiety. The slaughter in January 1905 by Cossack troops of innocent and unarmed protesters on a peaceful protest march for better wages and living conditions had brought shame and ignominy on the Russian tsarist system- both at home and abroad. Paul and Olga were horrified by the events of what became known as Bloody Sunday. Over dinner at their apartment on rue d'léna with French diplomat Maurice Paléologue (a future ambassador to St. Petersburg from 1915 until the revolution), they spoke candidly of their fears for their home country. All three were privy to the intense political gossip then swirling around the salons in St. Petersburg and Paris and aware of German intrigues to try to force Russia into an alliance against Britain. Olga and Paul were both convinced that the protests in St. Petersburg would be the downfall of the old Russia: "Well! We're lost aren't we?" Paul told Paléologue. "You can see for yourself: within and without, everything's crumbling."

The assassination by an anarchist of Paul's brother Sergey in Moscow barely a month later seemed to him a clear act of retaliation, and it confirmed how dangerous life in Russia was becoming for the Romanov family. Nicholas II had immediately commanded that Paul return to Russia for Sergey's state funeral. But he crossed the border from Germany alone; Olga was turned back as an "undesirable alien" a fact much reported by the British and French press. Despite his refusal to make concessions to Paul's morganatic wife, Nicholas, in a private meeting with Paul after the funeral, informed his uncle that he had pardoned him and that he himself could return to Russia whenever he chose. His state appanage-worth several million francs a year and his honors would be restored to him. But Paul was not allowed to reclaim his children from his widowed sister-in-law Ella, and Olga was not welcome. The scandal of her adultery had found its fiercest critic in Nicholas's highly moral wife Alexandra, who insisted that the countess should not be welcomed back at the Russian court for several more years.

The Last Days of the Romanovs - Helen Rappaport

[cinemaslife]

#190 Kraven (2024)

Tras la muerte de su madre, Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) y su medio hermano Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) son llevados por su padre Nikolai (Russell Crowe) para prepararse para hacerse cargo de sus operaciones de tráfico de drogas.

A Nikolai no le gusta Dmitri, lo considera débil y aniñado, por eso decide llevarlos de caza con él para que se refuercen sus caracteres. Sergei es consciente de que su madre se suicidó por lo cruel que fue su padre con ella, y es algo que no es capaz de perdonarle, su padre, es un tirano que no siente amor por nada ni por nadie.

En la sabana son acechados por un león centenario, mito del país, Sergei intenta proteger a Dmitri y es atacado por el león por culpa de su padre, el león se lo lleva hasta una niña llamada Calipso (Ariana DeBose) a la que su abuela le da una poción con poderes que sabrá cuando usarla.

Calipso, como chamana haitiana de larga generación, encuentra a Sergei moribundo y le da la poción, pero cree que es demasiado tarde porque lo llevan al hospital prácticamente muerto.

Sergei se recupera milagrosamente y cuando se encuentra lo suficientemente fuerte, abandona su casa para no convertirse en lo que su padre quiere, pero para ello tiene que dejar atrás a Dmitri, aunque no quiera.

Dmitri tiene un don para imitar las voces de los demás y siempre lo usa como broma para entretener a su hermano.

En la actualidad, Sergei, ahora conocido como Kraven, es un justiciero que caza criminales. Después de matar a un traficante de armas en una prisión rusa, Kraven viaja a Londres para el cumpleaños de Dmitri. Incapaz de dormir esa noche, sale a caminar, lo que lleva a Dmitri a ser capturado por mercenarios. Cuando Nikolai se niega a pagar el rescate, Kraven busca a Calipso, que ahora trabaja como abogada, y la convence de ayudar.

Su hermano es secuestrado por Rhino, un villano que buscaba secuestrar a Kraven, pero se conforma con Dmitri, esperando si derrocar a Nikolai.

Siguiendo a Kraven y Calipso hasta su santuario y usando a Dmitri como cebo, Aleksei y el Extranjero emboscan a Kraven. Drogandolo con neurotoxina, el Extranjero ataca a Kraven, pero Calypso lo mata con una ballesta y revive a Kraven. Luego usa una estampida de búfalos para atrapar a Aleksei, quien, a pesar de convertirse en el Rinoceronte y dominar brevemente a Kraven, es asesinado.

Al discernir que Nikolai fue quien reveló su existencia a Aleksei, Kraven rastrea a su padre en busca de respuestas; Nikolai revela que sabía que Aleksei lo estaba apuntando y manipuló a sus hijos para eliminarlo. Kraven logra que un oso mate a su padre.

Un año después, tras haber obtenido habilidades de cambio de forma del doctor Jackal, que experimentó con Aleksei, Dmitri descubre a este y repudia a Kraven, transformándose en el villano Camaleón, afirmando que a pesar de sus afirmaciones de ser moralmente superior, él y Nikolai eran lo mismo: cazadores en busca de su próximo gran trofeo.

En casa, Kraven descubre una nota de Nikolai junto con un chaleco hecho con la piel del león asesinado hace mucho tiempo, el cual se pone. Tomando el control de su vida como cazador.

Así, en esta entrega que llaman "la última del universo Spiderman", observamos a los villanos del hombre araña: Rinho, Kraven, Camaleón, Chacal, el Extranjero y Calypso. Estas se unen a Madame Web, Morbius y Venom. Que han sido todas películas que se han llevado un tremendo chasco en taquilla y que no tienen especialmente contentos a Sony y Marvel.

[loiladadiani]

Young Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich and Irina Maltzeva

The young woman in the picture with the Grand Duke was a friend and the daughter of one of his mother’s ladies in waiting. (Please note that what I am going to write below ostensibly comes from “the diary” of the Grand Duke and also from letters between Serge and Paul. My understanding was that Serge’s papers had been destroyed by Ella before she took the veil. I am aware of the contradiction but who knows if Paul had documents of Serge’s…bottom line, I will not outright say that this information is fictitious but I can not vouch for it. Perhaps it is just a pleasant fantasy. I am taking the story as apocryphal.)

Apparently the young Serge went to say goodbye to her before going to war and she gave him a little cross that said “don't be afraid, just believe.” When he came back from war he went to see young Ina and describes their meeting as very emotional. Apparently Ina and her mother traveled to Italy with Serge and his mother. Irina also had tuberculosis.

Ina died in 1883. Sergei wrote to his brother Paul “…how sad that poor darling Ina is no more!… with her also a long line of wonderful memories disappears…” Apparently Serge remained friends with Irina’s brother Nicholas for the rest of his life and after Serge died, Nicholas continued to visit Ella.

[imperial-russia]

Hi ! Do you think that if Ellas had married Wilhelm II,she would have had a happier marriage, considering that he adored her and I think he would have shown her a lot of affection.

I think it is quite fair to say that no, Wilhelm would not have made Ella happy, nor happier than she was with Sergei. Both these men had a very strong dominating streak and both, I believe, were capable of loving somebody in a very selfish way. That said, Sergei could offer Ella much more than Wilhelm in terms of intellectual and especially artistic interests which they both shared, the deep religious devotion that bound them together.

Furthermore, Ella, in the greatest possibility, was incapable of having children. While Sergei longed for them, he was not duty-bound to produce an heir and so there was no pressure on that front. Would Wilhelm, the Emperor of a new Empire, take kindly to a wife who could not give him heirs? Would his affections have lasted?

Wilhelm may have loved Ella, but he needed a wife whose only ambition was to have children and his back no matter what. His marriage to Donna was successful exactly because she had rarely any ambitions or ideas of her own. Ella would suffocate beside him.