The Death and Burial in the Family Vault of the House of Romanoff of H.I.H., the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna (born H.R.H. Princess Bagration-Mukhranskaia-Gruzinskaia)
The Russian Imperial House has suffered a heavy loss. Her Imperial Highness, the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna—the most august mother of the Head of the Romanoff Dynasty, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna—has died in her 96-th year of life, in Madrid.
On 21 May 2010, the grand duchess’s health began to deteriorate sharply. Doctors were summoned and were able to stop the heart attack; and on the following day, Her Imperial Highness was feeling somewhat better. But by evening, the pain and labored breathing had returned.
On 10/23 May, on the Feast Day of the Holy Trinity, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna informed Fr. Andrei Kordochkin, the rector of the Church of the Nativity of Christ, a parish of the Moscow Patriarchate, of her most august mother’s illness. Fr. Andrei immediately arrived at the Imperial Family’s apartment and gave the grand duchess the Most Holy Mysteries of Christ, and read the Canon for the Departure of the Soul. In the evening, Her Imperial Highness was taken to “La Paz” hospital. At her side the entire time was Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna. At 11:55pm local time, the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna departed this life in the Lord.
News of the death of the senior member of the Russian Imperial House brought sorrow and expressions of sympathy from people all over the world. The first condolences received were from His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia:
TELEGRAM TO HER IMPERIAL HIGHNESS, GRAND DUCHESS MARIA WLADIMIROVNA
YOUR IMPERIAL HIGHNESS!
It was with enormous sorrow that I learned of the death in the Lord of Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna. She lived a full, long, and complex life. She confronted suffering in her life many times, and time has taken its toll, but through it all, she maintained a passionate love for Russia and for the traditions of Holy Orthodoxy.
We are grateful for her involvement in the life of the Church, both at home and abroad, and for her significant contributions to the reestablishment of the unity in the Church. Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna maintained an active interest in affairs in Russia, and sincerely empathized with our sorrows and rejoiced in our successes.
I will always remember the times I met her, especially the first meeting, which took place in 1992 during the historic visit of the grand-ducal couple to St. Petersburg. I well remember also my last meeting with her, in Smolensk. Please accept my heartfelt condolences on this loss that has befallen you and your family.
May the Lord grant rest to his servant in the abodes of the righteous, and grant us all His all-mighty help in the service of the fatherland and its people. With respect,
+KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA
In the days after the death of the dowager grand duchess, condolences were received also from the Chair of the Office of External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk; the First Hierarch of the Russia Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York; Metropolitan Kornilii of Talliinn and All Estonia; Archbishop Vikentii of Ekaterinburg and Verkhoturia; Archbishop Aleksei of Kostroma and Galitsa, Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America; Archbishop Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav; Archbishop Innokentii of Korsun; Metropolitan Polikarp of Spain and Portugal and Exarch of the Mediterranean; from King Juan-Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofia; Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and North Ireland; King Albert II of the Belgians and Queen Paola; King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen Silvia; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria and Tsaritsa Margarita; King Constantine II of Greece and Queen Anna-Maria; King Leka of Albania; the Head of the Yugoslavian Royal House Crown Prince Alexander Karageorgievich and Princess Catherine; the Head of the Austrian Imperial House, Archduke Otto; the Head of the German Imperial and Prussian Royal House, Prince Georg-Freidrich; the Head of the Bavarian Royal House, Duke Franz; the Head of the Portuguese Royal House, Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza; the Head of the Georgian Royal House, Tsarevich David Georgievich; the Head of the Italian Royal House, Prince Victor-Emmanuel of Savoy; from the vice-chair of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, L. K. Sliska; the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, V. D. Zor’kin; the Chair of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, V. M Lebedev; the Chairman of the Central Elections Commission, V. E. Churov; the governor of Tula District, V. D. Dudkin; the governor of Kemerovo District, A. I. Tuleev; the general director of the judicial department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, A. V. Gusev; the vice-chair of the State Duma Committee for Transport, S. A. Gavrilov; from the President of the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, I. N. Smirnov; the Minister of Culture of France, F. Mitterrand; from the great-great-grandson of Emperor Alexander III, P. E. Kulikovskii and his wife; from government and civic figures; representatives of the clergy; academic and cultural groups; from members of the Russian and European nobility; and from many countrymen, who have expressed their sincere feelings of support for the Imperial family at this difficult time of sorrow and loss. (Listed here are only those who sent condolences up to the time of the Imperial Family’s departure from Madrid to St. Petersburg on the night of 1-2 June. Condolences continue to stream in by post, telegraph, and email.)
The coffin bearing the body of the grand duchess, in accordance with the laws of Spain, was placed in a special hall in Madrid for the viewing, where the Orthodox clergy of the Russian and Constantinople Churches hold their requiem (panikhidy) and commemoration services. At the same time, requiem and commemoration services were served in many churches around the world. In Moscow, the first general requiem was served on 27 May in the Patriarchal court—in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, on Romanoff Street, which has long been associated with the House of Romanoff, and on the 9-th day, at the Don Monastery, which the Imperial Family visited in 1992 during its pilgrimage to many of the holy sites of Moscow. In St. Petersburg on the 9-th day, a requiem was served in the Family Vault of the House of Romanoff in the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress. Requiem services were also served in Jerusalem, Kiev, and in many other cities of Russia and abroad. In Tibilisi, on 1 June, His Holiness Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, served the first requiem for the newly-departed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna in the Sion Cathedral, and on 3 June, on the day of Her Imperial Highness’s funeral, a requiem was served in the Family Vault of the Kings of Georgia, in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, which was attended by the Head of the Georgian Royal House, H.R.H. Tsarevich David Bagration-Mukhranskii-Gruzinskii. In Tiraspol’, in the chapel of the Representative of the Chancellery of the Russian Imperial House in the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, a requiem was served, at which were present the President of Transdnistria, I. N. Smirnov, Vice-President A. I. Korolev, and other members of the republic’s government.
In accordance with the wishes of the newly-departed grand duchess and with the Federal Law “On Burial and Funerary Matters,” the grand duchess’s remains were buried in the Family Vault of the House of Romanoff next to her husband, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich.
On 2 June, the coffin bearing the body of the dowager grand duchess was flown from Madrid to St. Petersburg. Accompanying the coffin were the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and H.I.H., the Heir and Tsesarevich Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich. The coffin was placed in the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. At 2:30pm, in the presence of the Imperial Family, officials, other public figures, and parishioners, the rector of the cathedral, Hegumen Aleksandr (Fedorov) served the first grave-side requiem service in her native land for the deceased grand duchess. At 6:00pm, a parastas (all-night requiem vigil) was served. For the entire night, the remains of the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna remained in the cathedral, amongst the tombs of the All-Russian Emperors and Empresses, and the clergy of St. Petersburg took turns reading the Psalter over the body of the grand duchess.
On 21 May/3 June, on the Feast Day of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the day when the first Christian monarchs, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Constantine and Helena, are commemorated, at 10:00am, the Divine Liturgy for the Dead began. Attending this service, in addition to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, and H.I.H., the Heir, Tsesarevich Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, were representatives of the federal and municipal governments, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, the diplomatic corps, a delegation from the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, members of the Russian and European nobility, a delegation of civic organizations in Russia and abroad, and residents of St. Petersburg who came to pay their last respects to the grand duchess. As requested by the Imperial Family, entry into the cathedral for the viewing and for the divine services was entirely open for all, without any restriction.
During the Divine Liturgy, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After the service, the funeral began.
The funeral was served by His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, along with his vicar, the rector of the St. Alexander Nevskii Lavra, His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Vyborg, and Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America, who came from San Francisco as the special representative of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad at the funeral of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna.
After the funeral service, the coffin bearing the body of the grand duchess was carried out through the main entrance of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral and placed on a hearse. The remains of the dowager grand duchess, accompanied by the Imperial Family and other mourners, were then taken to the “New” (Grand Ducal) burial vault, an annex of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, built during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II the Passion-Bearer. After a brief service (Litiya) and before the lowering of the body into the earth, His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Vyborg gave a moving sermon about the life, labors, and personal qualities of the newly-departed grand duchess. Then the coffin was lowered into the grave, and over it was laid a temporary covering (the very same covering that was over the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, whose remains were moved to the family vault of the House of Romanoff from Denmark in 2006).
At the grave of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna was laid several garlands with the following inscriptions on their ribbons: “To the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia”; “To the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk”; “To the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Metropolitanate of St. Petersburg”; “To the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad”; “From Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko”; From Valerii Dmitrievich Zor’kin”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the President of the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, I. N. Smirnov”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Western American Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad”; “To Her Imperial Highness, the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Eparchy of Austrialia and New Zealand”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from Archbishop Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna; from the Knights of the Imperial Order of St. Anna”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Knights of the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonder Worker”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Russian Nobility Association”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the mourning citizens of St. Petersburg”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the faithful citizens of Moscow”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the loyal citizens of Ekaterinburg”; “To the pious Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the faithful citizens of Kostroma”; «To H.I.H. Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna from the Russian Imperial Union-Order» , “To Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the Society of the Descendants of the Veterans of the War of 1812”; “To the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, from the faithful servitors in Her Imperial Highness’s Chancellery”; as well as garlands from numerous other families and individuals.
After laying the body of the newly-departed grand duchess in the tomb, a commemorative meal was held in the atrium of the residence of the Commandant of the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress, organized by Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna’s executor, Prince V. O. Lopukhin. Several people spoke about the life of the deceased grand duchesss, including His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Vyborg; His Eminence Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America; the Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, A. V. Prokhorenko; Vice-President of the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, A. I. Korolev; the rector of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Hegumen Aleksandr (Fedorov); the director of the Office for the Preservation of the Memory of Those Who have Fallen in the Defense of the Fatherland of the Ministry of Defense, General A. V. Kirilin; the dean of the St. John the Forerunner Convent in Leushino and the curator of the Memorial Apartment of St. John of Kronstadt, Archpriest Gennadii Belovolov; the chaplain of the movement “For Faith and Fatherland,” Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets); the lawyer for the Imperial Family and the director of the Legal Department of the Chancellery of Her Imperial Highness, G. Iu. Luk’ianov; the Chairman of the Russian Nobility Association, Prince G. G. Gagarin; the Director of the Russian Imperial Union-Order, G. A. Fedoroff; Mr. V. V. Ren; the director of the Russia House Abroad, V. V. Leonidov; and the director of the Kiev Museum of the House of Romanoff, V. V. Pil’kevich. Archpriest Gennadii Belovolov presented to H.I.H. the Heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich the Psalter which was read over the coffin of his most august grandmother, signed by all the hierarchs and clergy and other participants in the Divine Services. His Imperial Highness accepted the treasured gift with enormous gratitude and solemnity.
That evening, the grand duchess and grand duke met in formal audience with a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, headed by Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America; with a delegation from the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, headed by Vice-President A. I. Korolev; with the General Director of OAO “Norilsk Nickel,” V. I. Strzhalkovskii, who had offered the Imperial Family his support during this sorrowful time; and with the well-known St. Petersburg philanthropist, V. N. Zhimirov, who took an active part in the formal planning of the funeral of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna and, in addition, played an active role in the days prior to the funeral in distributing donations from the Head of the Russian Imperial House to the monasteries and churches of St. Petersburg for the eternal commemoration of the soul of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna. The Head of the Russian Imperial House and her Heir expressed to all their friends their deep appreciation and asked them to extend their thanks also to all those who have worked or otherwise helped with the funeral arrangements.
On 4 June, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and H.I.H. the Heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich went to the Smolny, where they met with the governor of St. Petersburg, V. I. Matvienko. Present at the meeting were also the chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, A. V. Prokhorenko, Mr. V. N. Zhimirov; the director of the Chancellery of H.I.H., A. N. Zakatov; the executor for Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, Prince V. O. Lopukhin; and the Director of Heraldry of the Russian Imperial House, S. V. Dumin. V. I. Matvienko expressed his condolences to the grand duchess and grand duke on behalf of all the residents of St. Petersburg, and noted the services of the deceased Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna to Russia and the significant part she played in the patriotic service that the entire Russian Imperial House has rendered to the Fatherland. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich expressed their heartfelt thanks to the governor and to all the state and municipal authorities, as well as to all the people of St. Petersburg, for their expressions of sympathy, and for their moral and organizational support in these difficult and sorrowful days for the Russian Imperial House. Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko was then presented a copy of the book In the Cellar of the Ipatiev House, which contains materials about the process of rehabilitation of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers—which the deceased Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna herself considered one of the most important accomplishments in her service to Russia.
From Smolny, the grand duchess and tsesarevich went to the Convent of St. John the Forerunner, founded by one of the foremost heavenly protectors of the Imperial Family, St. John of Kronstadt. At the convent, a moleben was served at the grave of the great wonder-worker John for the health of Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich. The august guests toured the refounded convent and visited the room where, on 24 October/6 November 1991, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna met for the first time His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia, of blessed memory, and with the current patriarch, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.
Then, in the upper Church of the Twelve Apostles, the Head of the House of Romanoff, in memory of her deceased and august mother, the pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, presented two holy relics to the St. John the Forerunner Convent: a fragment of the Honorable and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord, and an 18-th century copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin. After a Litiya for the newly-reposed grand duchess, a luncheon was served with the sisters of the Convent.
In the afternoon, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich visited the State Hermitage Museum, with holds so many treasured memories in general about the history of the Dynasty, but also of the first visit there together with their deceased mother and grandmother. The Head of the Russian Imperial House and her Heir were received by the Director of the State Hermitage Museum, M. B. Piotrovskii, and by the chairman of the Heraldric Council for the President of the Russian Federation, State Master of Heraldry G. V. Vilinbakhov, who both expressed to the members of the Imperial House their deepest condolences. Then the grand duchess and tsesarevich toured the Hermitage, calling to mind their first visits to Russia, when the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna was in full strength and vigor.
That evening, the grand duchess and grand duke were present for the raising of the Imperial standard on the yacht “Peter I,” which will soon set off on a record-breaking attempt to circumnavigate the world via the arctic oceans, a project to which the deceased grand duchess had given her enthusiastic endorsement. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and Tsesarevich Georgii Mikhailovich warmly addressed the crew of the yacht, encouraging them to advance the international prestige of their country.
On 5 June, the Head of the Russian Imperial House and her Heir went to Tsarskoe Selo. A Litiya was served for the deceased pious and blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna at the Feodorov Cathedral. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna donated an 18-th century copy of the Feodorov Icon of the Mother of God as a gift to the church for the eternal commemoration of her mother. The icon is an exact copy of the gen-encrusted metal icon mounting on the miracle-working Fedorov Icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, located in Kostroma (before which in 1613 the House of Romanoff was elected to the throne by the Assembly of the Land, and, in our own time, before which Patriarch Kirill was elected to the patriarchal throne by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church).
Then Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and tsesarevich visited the Alexander Palace, prayed at the Church of the Sign of Tsarskoe Selo, walked in the park around the Vladimir Palace (where her august grandfather, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Wladimirovich, was born and where soon will be opened a Palace of Weddings), visited St. Catherine Cathedral, which is currently under reconstruction, and, finally, went to the St. Sophia Cathedral. For the St. Catherine Cathedral, which is currently being rebuilt as part of the celebrations of the 300-th anniversary of Tsarskoe Selo, the Head of the Russian Imperial House gave a small reliquary containing a relic of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. A moleben was then served before this relic by the clergy of Tsarskoe Selo, and in their Imperial Highnesses’ presence.
On their return to St. Petersburg, the grand duchess and grand duke went to the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress, where, in the family vault before the tomb of the Pious and Blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna (upon which by this time there had already been placed the permanent marble gravestone), a Litiya was served by Hegumen Aleksandr (Fedorov). At the service were present, in addition to the close circle around the Imperial Family and parishioners of the cathedral, the President of the Russian Federation’s Commissioner for the Protection of Children, P. A. Astakhov, and his wife, who were sent to express the president’s condolences.
On the morning of 6 June, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, and H.I.H. the Heir, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, departed St. Petersburg for Madrid.
The funeral for the Pious and Blessed Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna in Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral was the first such Divine Service after the Revolution of 1917. The posthumous honor shown to the senior member of the Russian Imperial House, to the wife and mother of the Heads of the Romanoff Dynasty, was the clearest possible proof of the respect that the current Russian government has for the memory of ancestors who have conveyed to us a love and respect for the Fatherland, and faith in Goodness and Justice.
A.N. Zakatov
Director of the Chancellery of H.I.H.
