Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke of Leuchtenberg

Sergei Georgievich
Duke of Leuchtenberg
Sergei Georgievich, c. 1917
Born (1890-07-04)4 July 1890
Peterhof, Russian Empire
Died 7 January 1974(1974-01-07) (aged 83)
Rome, Italy
House Beauharnais
Father George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg
Mother Princess Anastasia of Montenegro

Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke of Leuchtenberg (4 July 1890 – 7 January 1974) was the son of George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg and his second wife Princess Anastasia of Montenegro. He succeeded his half-brother Alexander Georgievich as Duke of Leuchtenberg from 1942 until his death.

Background and early life

Prince Sergei was born on 4 July 1890 in Peterhof, Russian Empire to George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro. Like his father,[nb 1] Sergei was styled His Imperial Highness from birth. George's first wife, Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg, died in 1883, leaving a young son. Sergei's father remarried six years later, when he caught the attention of Princess Anastasia of Montenegro at her sister Milica's wedding. George and Anastasia soon married and produced two children, Sergei and Elena. Anastasia divorced her husband in 1906 in order to marry Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia.[2][3]

Later years

Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg

Sergei introduced Alexander Andreyevich Svechin to his step-father Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, who was known for his religiosity and interest in mysticism.[4] Grand Duke Nicholas died in 1929, and Sergei attended his funeral along with his sister Princess Elena.[5]

Sergei died 16 December 1974 in Rome and was buried in the non-Catholic cemetery for foreigners in Testaccio, Rome, Italy. He was the last Duke of Leuchtenberg (now living descendants of the Duke of Leuchtenberg are descended from a morganatic marriage, which is why they lost their dynastic status of the members of the Russian Imperial House and the right to the Bavarian ducal title).

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑ George's father Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg had married into the Russian imperial family (with marriage to Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia) and adopted Russian titles and coats of arms.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Prince Seeks Hand of Marjorie Gould". The New York Times. Paris. 26 October 1909. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  2. ↑ Massie, Robert K. (1967). Nicholas and Alexandra. Random House, Inc. p. 244.
  3. ↑ Ferro, Marc; Brian Pearce (1990). Nicholas II: Last of the Tsars. Oxford University Press. p. 45.
  4. ↑ Curtis Perry, John; Constantine V. Pleshakov (1999). The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga. Basic Books. p. 212.
  5. ↑ Curtis Perry and Pleshakov, p. 293.
Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke of Leuchtenberg
Born: 4 July 1890 Died: 7 January 1974
German nobility
Preceded by
Alexander Maximilianovich		 Duke of Leuchtenberg
26 September 1942 – 7 January 1974		 Succeeded by
Nicholas Nikolaevich (contested)
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