Prince Felix Yusupov | |||||
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Born | 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1887 Moika Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
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Died | 27 September 1967 Paris, France |
(aged 80)||||
Burial | Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery | ||||
Spouse | Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia | ||||
Issue | Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova | ||||
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House | Yusupov | ||||
Father | Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston | ||||
Mother | Princess Zinaida Nikolayevna Yusupova |
Full name | |
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Feliks Feliksovich Yusupov |
Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (Russian: Князь Фе́ликс Фе́ликсович Юсу́пов, Граф Сумаро́ков-Эльстон; 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1887 – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat, prince and count from the Yusupov family, best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin.
He was born in the Moika Palace in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. His father was Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, the son of Count Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston. Zinaida Yusupova, his mother, was the last of the Yusupov line, of Crimean Tatar origin, and very wealthy. For the Yusupov name not to die out, his father (5 October 1856, Saint Petersburg – 10 June 1928, Rome, Italy) was granted the title and the surname of his wife, Princess Zenaida Nikolaievna Yusupova (2 September 1861, Saint Petersburg – 24 November 1939, Paris) upon their marriage, on 4 April 1882 in Saint Petersburg.
The Yusupov family, richer than any of the Romanovs, had acquired their wealth generations earlier. It included four palaces in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), three palaces in Moscow, 37 estates in different parts of Russia (Kursk, Voronezh and Poltava), coal and iron-ore mines, plants and factories, flour mills and oil fields on the Caspian Sea.
Felix led a flamboyant life. "At twelve he began wearing his mother's gowns. He describes in his autobiography often spending time with Gypsy bands and adopting female clothing. His older brother took him often to restaurants and cafés". Felix became one of the richest men in Russia after his older brother, Nikolai Felixovich, Count Sumarokov-Elston (1883-22 June 1908), had an affair with a married woman and was killed on Krestovsky Island in a duel by the jealous husband, Arvid Manteuffel, in the summer of 1908. From 1909 to 1913, he studied fine arts at University College, Oxford, where he was a member of the Bullingdon Club, and established the Oxford University Russian Society. Yusupov was living on 14 King Edward Street, had a Russian cook, a French driver, an English valet, a housekeeper, and he spent much time partying. He owned three horses, a macaw and a bulldog called Punch. He smoked hashish, played polo and became friendly with Luigi Franchetti, a piano player, Jacques de Beistegui, who both moved in. At some time, Yusupov got acquainted with Albert Stopford and Oswald Rayner. He rented an apartment in Curzon Street, Mayfair, and met several times with the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who lived in Hampstead.