Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich
Russian School, Circa 1870
Oil on Canvas
Tsarskoe Selo Museum-Preserve
Inv. No. ED-480-X,
The Grand Duke was one of the three sons of Alexander II. He was born in
1850 and was considered the best looking man in the Romanov clan at the time.
In 1871 he toured the
USA, where he met Buffalo Bill Cody and President Grant on an itinerary that took him all over the
country. A return trip to Americas took place in 1877, when the Grand Duke accompanied a squadron
of four Russian naval vessels that made port at Norfolk, Virginia. Alexei became Admiral of the Russian
Navy in 1888. He was quite the ladies man and spent much time abroad where he could live the free and
easy life he loved. This wasn't possible within Russia where his many affairs and wild life would not
have been tollerated. He especially loved France and the Riveria. Alexei died in Paris in 1908.
