Princess Anastasia of Montenegro
Princess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Montenegro ( born December 23, 1867jul / January 4 1868greg in Cetinje, Montenegro, .. † November 25, 1935 in Antibes, France ) was a member of the house of Petrović - Njegoš. They belonged to the group of women who made known the itinerant preacher Rasputin the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.
Life
Anastasia was the third daughter of King Nikola I of Montenegro (1841-1921) and his wife Milena Vukotić ( 1847-1923 ). Stana, as she was called in the family, grew up with her siblings in Cetinje.
In 1889 married Princess Anastasia of Montenegro in Saint Petersburg Georgy Maximilianowitsch de Beauharnais ( 1852-1912 ), 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince Romanovsky, the fourth son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Romanova. A grandson of the Russian Tsar Nicholas I. From the joint marriage came two children, Sergei Georgi Petrovich (1890-1974) and Elena Georgiowna (1892-1971), out. The marriage was divorced in October 1906, due to the divorce should have been their bondage of the itinerant preacher Rasputin.
Six months later, on April 29, 1907, she married in Yalta in the Crimea, the Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich Romanov ( 1856-1929 ), the eldest son of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov and Princess Alexandra of Oldenburg. The marriage remained childless. Both were deeply religious Orthodox Christians with a tendency to occultism and mysticism.
In 1903 Rasputin settled in Saint Petersburg and opened a consulting physician like in his rented apartment. His clientele consisted mostly of women of all educational and social circles. During the consultations, the ladies gathered in the dining room around the table, waiting for an invitation in Rasputin's bedroom, which he called the " Holy of Holies ". Quickly went to the most incredible rumors about the " miracles " of the alleged healer. The miraculous properties of Rasputin did not go unnoticed by the court of the Tsar in St Petersburg. For example, ensured Princess Anastasia and her sister Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna, wife of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich Romanov. In 1907, Rasputin was called to Tsar Nicholas II. His son Alexei suffered from hemophilia ( " hemophilia ") and Rasputin was able actually to alleviate the suffering of the young heir to the throne. This earned him a full favor with the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and the admiration of the Tsar. Rasputin used the patronage of Tsar court and gained an influential position. He avoided, however, to live at the court and still shocked the residents of Saint Petersburg with his wild debauchery.
Her husband, the Grand Duke Nicholas, was transferred as commander of the Caucasus front, where he was successful against the forces of the Ottoman Empire. With the February Revolution, his military career was over. Until 1919, the couple spent his time in the Crimea, standing partly under house arrest. In 1919 they were on the British warship HMS Marlborough flee shortly before the invasion of the Red Army. After a brief stay with her brother, the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III. let them settle in the vicinity of Paris. Early 1929, her husband died during his holiday on the Côte d' Azur.
In 1935 she died in Antibes, where her parents had a villa. In 1989, her remains were transferred to Montenegro ( by her parents and two of her sisters as well ).