Grand Duke Dimitri Constantinovich of Russia
| Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
13 June 1860 Strelna, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 28 January 1919 (aged 58) Petrograd, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
| House | House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov |
| Father | Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia |
| Mother | Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg |
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich of Russia (Russian: Димитрий Константинович; 13 June 1860 – 28 January 1919) was a son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia. He followed a military career. Although he never played any political role, as a relative of Tsar Nicholas II, he was executed by firing squad at the walls of Peter and Paul Fortress during the Russian Revolution.
Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich was born at Strelna on 13 June 1860, the third son and fifth child of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, born Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. When Dmitry turned 7 his education was turned over to Alexei Zelenoy, an officer who had served under his father in the Imperial Navy.
His lessons followed the usual course: science, arithmetic, Russian and world history, composition, and geography alternating languages and the arts. He learned besides Russian, French, German and English. Like all the male members of the Romanov family, he was destined from birth to follow a military career. At his christening, Dmitry was named honorary colonel in Chief, a month later he was enrolled in the Guard Equipage, and in the Imperial family’s 4th Rifle Battalion Life Guards Infantry Regiment.
Dmitry's father, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, was Admiral General of the Russian Navy and hoped one of his sons would follow in his footsteps. With this in mind, Dmitry received lessons in naval warfare and tactics. His religious education left a big imprint on him. He would be a deeply religious man all his life. As both of his parents were musical, he received singing lesson and learned to play the piano and the violin. Dmitry was a diligent and good student, polite and attentive, capable and kind. He was also very shy and introverted, preferring quiet times reading to more usual pursuits of childhood.
His parents' marriage was unhappy and Dmitry was still a child when his father started a new family with his mistress, a Russian ballerina. A second family setback scared him even further. Dmitry was 14 when his eldest brother Nikolai Konstantinovich was disinherited, declared insane and sent into internal Russian exile, after stealing some diamonds from an icon in his mother’s bedroom. Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna made her three remaining sons: Konstantin age 16, Dmitry 14, and Vyacheslav 12, promise her that they would never drink, never give themselves to a life of self-indulgence, never forget that all the privileges of their wealth and rank were meant for use and not enjoyment. Brought up under these conditions, the younger Konstantinovich grand dukes grew into thoughtful, introspective men
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