Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky

George Alexandrovich
Prince George Yuryevsky
George with his sisters Olga and Yekaterina
Born	(1872-05-12)12 May 1872 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	13 September 1913(1913-09-13) (aged 41) Marburg, Hesse, German Empire
Burial	St. Elizabeth's Church, Wiesbaden, German Empire
Spouse	Countess Alexandra Konstantinovna von Zarnekau
Issue	Prince Alexander Georgiyevich Yuryevsky
Full name Георгий Александрович Юрьевский
Father	Alexander II of Russia
Mother	Catherine Dolgorukov

Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky (Russian: Гео́ргий Алекса́ндрович Ю́рьевский; 12 May 1872 [30 April 1872 O. S.] – 13 September 1913) was the natural son of Alexander II of Russia by his mistress (and later wife) Catherine Dolgorukov. The marriage of George's parents' eight years after his birth, on 6 July 1880, resulted in the legitimation of their three surviving children, so that George gained the style of Serene Highness.

George's mother Catherine Dolgorukov met Tsar Alexander II when he visited the Smolny Institute in the autumn of 1864. She became his mistress in July 1866, despite early resistance. Their affair caused great scandal at court, with Alexander's heir the Tsarevich in particular protesting, though it was to be in vain. The tsar was devoted to Catherine and promised to marry her as soon as he was "free," meaning when his estranged and sickly wife Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna finally died. George ("Gogo") was the first child of Catherine and Alexander and was born in the tsar's study on 12 May 1872, in a difficult birth that almost killed his mother. Alexander had ordered that if the circumstances called for it, Catherine, and not the child, must be saved; but mother and son both lived, and the father happily wrote "The Lord is so generous. I praised God, in tears I thank Him". Three more siblings later followed: Olga, Boris, and Catherine. Their births further tied the couple together.

The devotion Alexander showed to his mistress and children concerned all around him, many feeling that the relationship damaged his reputation irreparably. In 1878 Alexander secretly had his children legitimated with noble status under the name "Yuryevskii," clearly marking his second family as Russian, compared to the German heritage of his other children. When revolutionary groups like the Nihilist movement increased in power, the tsar's "first family", as well as the princess and their children, removed themselves to the Winter Palace for security reasons, where their rooms were said to be directly above the dying tsarina.