Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1972) Ballerina and Courtesan

[lexi4]

Yeah, it's not like Nicky ran off and joined the Monaco circus with his children or anything. . . .

Exactly. Although that is visual gave me quite a laugh. But there is a huge difference in the circus and the Imperial Ballet.

 

[AGRBear]

This may seem way off the discussion but it does connect in a 'round about way, I think.

Did Steve Berry create his heroine Akilina in his book THE ROMANOV PROPHECY as a circus preformer because he needed someone to be agile and athletic or was he linking her to Mathilde Kschessinska, who was from a circus family and who was the only person who might have given Nicholas II a son before his marriage to Alexandra??

As far as I can remember Berry never links Thorn bloodline to Akilina's family in this book.

For those who have never read the book, Berry had GD Anastasia and Tsarvich Alexei surviving the execution, being rescued and later Alexei married and was the father of Thorn.

No, I am not saying Mathilde had a child by Nicholas II. Berry's book is fiction based on fiction. I just thought it was a possible and interesting association by Berry who spins his female heroine character from a circus family.

I don't think anyone ever has claimed in real life that Mathilde had a child by Nicholas II.

AGRBear

 

[Al_bina]

Pikul commended Mathilde Kschessinkaya (also known as Malechka among gentlemen-at-arms) for her perseverance and hard work. Yes, she was a mistress of two Grand Dukes and lived large by taking the full advantage of her affairs. There were periods of time, when Malechka would forget about the regimen of the ballet dancer and eat/drink/play cards/ dance. However, she used to lock herself in a ballet studio for 3-4 days forgetting about the outside world and focus on rehearsing her roles and polishing her performance.
By the way, Pikul mentioned that Mathilde preferred Grand Duke George Aleksandrovich to Nicholas II because he was more compassionate, outgoing, and full of fun.

 

[lexi4]

Thank you for posting that Al_bina and for giving us your source. I can see that Mathilde would prefer the Grand Due to Nicholas, he was more outgoing, more her type I think.

 

[Tsarina Anastasia]

Here is what I know about Mathilde:
She was picked by Alexander III for his son Nicholas because she was beautiful, outgoing, compassionate, and she was a prima ballerina (imperials picked ballerinas for mistresses a lot).
Nicholas was in love with her, but still always in love with Alix. He gave Mathilde jewels and a mansion in which they lived together in for a time.
Nicholas did confess to Alix that he had had an affair with her so that they could have an honest relationship with no skeletons in the closet : ) Alix said it was in the past and that she forgave him.
Mathilde ended up being linked to two more of Nicholas's cousins and since she had a son (born in 1902), the one she assumed was the father, Andrei, married her in 1921, although it is still disputed as to who was his real father. The family moved to Paris where she opened a ballet school. Since Andrei and Sergei were cousins it makes DNA testing even harder.

 

[Grace Angel]

Her technique was supposed to be very good.
I haven't read Mathilde's autobiography but Imperial Dancer by Corynne Hall is an excellent book about her. If I remember correctly her son was fairly sickly and weak. I think that he died reasonably young.

Her son lived to be in his 70s I think, but I don't think had any descedents- that's from genealogical tables in the Flight of the Romanovs the 1990s book, which I saw awhile ago. I don't think they ever tried to DNA test him for paternity, as it doesn't matter much now.

 

[Royal Fan]

so were they ever ......uhhh Without being to tacky did they sleep together

 

[Grace Angel]

Who? Her and Nicholas II? Yes from what I understand. She was also defintely the mistress of both the men who could have been the father of her son. She had a very long relationship with Andrei Vladmirvitch.

 

[Russophile]

She ended up marrying Andrei with Kyrill's okey dokey.

 

[Grace Angel]

By that time, after the Revolution, so many of the Romanov men were marrying commoners, that's likely why Kyrill gave his permission. By that time it wasn't like Andrei was going to marry equally to a fellow royal anyway. Kyrill must have figured it would be best to have his brother legitimize his long standing relationship with Mathilde.

 

[Attaining Grace]

It was very strange that Mathilde kept the two Dukes on a string!

What do people think about her being accused of arms smuggling?

 

[Grace Angel]

I think she loved Andrei and yet had been with Sergei longer though she didn't love him romantically and thus she couldn't force herself to end the affair with him, until he died in the Revolution. Sergei who knew she didn't love him as he did her even proposed to her around the time of the Revolution, and she had to turn him down. So he obviously never gave up. And she truly loved Andrei, so she didn't want to leave him.

 

[AristoCat]

She was adept at surviving being dumped and I read in the Massie book that she felt devastated when she witnessed the coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra, knowing that she would never have him as her own.

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

She seemed to be the "official" courtesan for the Grand Dukes of Russia! I know that the mob sacked her mansion during the revolution because of the ties to the royal family and because she was suspected of being an arms dealer, but from whence did that accusation arise?

 

[Al_bina]

TV series "Matilda" will be released in 2017 in Russia.

Matilda (2016) - Trailer - Kino-Teatr
Matilda (2016) - Photos - Kino-Teatr

 

[Marengo]

Thanks for the update. What a pity that it will probably not be available for English speakingaudiences. I suppose the two men on the poster portray Nicholas II and GD Andrej?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Grand Duke Andrei with Mathilde and their son
http://www.alamy.com/grand-duke-andrei-mathilde-image349505979.html