Imperial Dancer: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs by Coryne Hall

Author:Coryne Hall [Hall, Coryne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752488233
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-06-08T23:00:00+00:00

Twelve

‘THAT TSARIST CONCUBINE’

With no clear idea of where they could go Mathilde had to think quickly. Suddenly she remembered the actor Y.M. Youriev, whose anniversary performance had taken place a few days previously. He had an apartment in the Lidval Building at 1–3 Kamennostrovsky Prospekt, the road north towards Vyborg. Its apartments were described as grand.

‘While it was still night, a confused and lost M.F. Kschessinska appeared,’ Youriev recalled. ‘She had run from her palace, which was situated not far from my home – and now she was seeking refuge at my place, afraid of the excesses – and not without reason.’ The dancer Vera Yureneva remembered Mathilde ‘dressed in a pathetic coat and some kind of kerchief with her little son, her dog and a tiny reticule, which contained all that was left of her palaces and incalculable riches’.1 Youriev agreed to take them into his fifth-floor apartment until they could return home.

By the end of that day 200 people lay dead on the streets. Rodzianko asked the Tsar for concessions but instead he sent reinforcements and ordered the suspension of the Duma. By Monday things were no better. Firing continued all day, the Hotel Astoria was looted and most of the Tsar’s regiments joined the Revolution. There were now two centres of authority – the Duma, which continued in unofficial session under a Provisional Committee with Rodzianko as president, and the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies, with its own Executive Committee.

The police were ordered to position machine guns on the city’s rooftops. Youriev lived on the top floor. Mathilde and Vova spent three days in the corridor, not daring to undress, because of the risk of stray bullets. Armed soldiers continually burst in, climbing up on to the roof to search for machine guns. They threatened to shoot everyone if they found any, so all large objects were removed from the windows so that the mob would not mistake them for guns. Meals were brought in from Mathilde’s house where, apart from Roubtzova and the cow-hand Katia, the servants had remained loyal, although Vova’s valet Koulakov disappeared. Mathilde declined the offer of some rooms in the SS Peter and Paul Fortress, fearing that a change of commander would make her situation impossible.

After three days Joseph arrived and it was decided that Mathilde and Vova would live with him. Leaving her jewellery, which it would have been dangerous to carry through the streets, Mathilde picked up Djibi and followed Joseph on foot across the Troitsky Bridge. It was bitterly cold, a strong wind was blowing and Mathilde’s light coat proved inadequate but there was no other means of transport. Her two cars had already been requisitioned. By the time they reached Joseph’s twelve-roomed apartment at Spasskaya Ulitsa 18 she was chilled to the bone. (Although Mathilde said his flat was at Liteiny Prospekt 38, it is clear from family letters that he had moved in 1914.)2 Once safely inside she burst into tears. Although Joseph had a wife and two young children he did not hesitate to give Mathilde their best room.

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