Sergei Belosselsky-Belozersky

Prince (Knyaz) Sergei Konstantinovich Belosselsky-Belozersky (Russian: Сергей Константинович Белосельский-Белозерский) (1867–1951) was a Russian aristocrat, general and member of the International Olympic Committee.[1]

Sergei Konstantinovich Belosselsky-Belozersky
Sergei Belosselsky-Belozersky
Born(1867-07-25)July 25, 1867
Russian Empire
DiedApril 20, 1951(1951-04-20) (aged 83)
Tonbridge, Kent, England
AllegianceRussian Empire
Service/branchImperial Russian Army
Years of service1887-1918
RankLieutenant General
Battles/warsWorld War I, Russian Civil War
AwardsOrder of St. Anna
Order of Saint Stanislaus
Order of Saint Vladimir

Early life

Prince Sergei was a member of the Belosselsky-Belozersky family and was in 1916 one of the largest landowners in Russia.[1] He was the son of general Konstantin Esperovich Belosselsky-Belozersky (1843–1920) and the former Nadezhna Dmitrovna Skobeleva (1847–1820), the sister of general Mikhail Skobelev.[2]

Career

Sergei graduated from the Imperial Cadet Corps in 1887 and was gazetted as a cornet in the Life Guards. He was attached to the Russian embassies in Berlin and Paris. He left military service in 1894 but returned in 1895. between 1896 and 1905 he served as aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia.[3] From 1908, he commanded the 3rd Novorossiysk dragoon regiment and from 1913, the Uhlans (Lancers) of the Imperial Guard. He owned an estate on Krestovsky Island, where, in 1908, Nicolai, the brother of Felix Yusupov was killed in a duel with a jealous husband.

During World War I, he commanded the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division and the 3rd Don Cavalry Division. From 1915 he served on the Caucasus front under General Nikolai Baratov. On January 1, 1917, the body of Grigory Rasputin was found in the Malaya Neva near Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge.[4]

In 1917, he joined the white movement and served on the staff of White Finnish leader, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim during the Russian Civil War. He was subsequently a staff officer in the North Western Army of General Yudenich. After the end of the Civil War Prince Sergei settled in England and died in Tonbridge, where he befriended Denton Welch, in 1951.[4]

Prince Sergei was a keen sportsman. He was one of the founders of the St Petersburg Sports Club and was Russian representative on the International Olympic Committee between 1900 and 1908.[1]

Personal life

In 1894,[5][6][7] Prince Sergei married Susan Tucker Whittier (1874–1934),[8] daughter of Charles A. Whittier of Boston.[3] Together, Sergei and Susan were the parents of two children:[9]

  • Sergei Sergeivich Belosselsky-Belozersky (1895–1978), who married Florence Crane Robinson (1890–1969), the former wife of William Albert Robinson and daughter of Richard Teller Crane, in 1943.[10]
  • Andrei Sergeivich Belosselsky-Belozersky (1909–1961), a bachelor who was head of the "incoming news section" of the BBC.[11]

Belosselsky-Belozersky died on April 20, 1951 in Tonbridge, Kent, England.[1]

References
  1. "AIDE TO LAST CZAR DIES; Prince S. Belosselsky-Belozersky Was Former Cavalry Officer" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 April 1951. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  2. "Prince Sergei Sergeievich Belosselsky-Belozersky". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  3. "Some Americans Who Have Married Titles". Cosmopolitan. 27: 233. 1899. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  4. Methuen-Campbell, James (2004). Denton Welch: Writer and Artist. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 79. ISBN 9781860649240. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  5. "MARRIED TO A RUSSIAN PRINCE.; Three Wedding Ceremonies for Miss Whittier of New-York". The New York Times. 24 October 1894. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  6. "DRESS OF AN AMERICAN BRIDE IN PARIS; Princess Sergius Belosselsky-Belozersky's Wedding Gowns and Laces". The New York Times. 27 November 1894. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. "SHE IS NOW PRINCESS BELOZERSKY.; The Two Religions Weddings of Miss Whittier of New-York". The New York Times. 25 October 1894. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. "PRINCESS IS DEAD; WAS SUSAN WHITTIER; Wife of Belosselsky-Belozersky Member of Old New England Family--Ill Ten Years". The New York Times. 11 December 1934. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  9. "Susan Whittier (1874–1934)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  10. "Princess Serge Belosselsky. Belozershy IS Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 October 1969. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  11. "EX-RUSSIAN PRINCE DIES; A. Belosselsky-Belozemky, an Aide of the B.B.C., Was 51" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 April 1961. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
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