PrinceVladimir Emanuelovich Galitzine (17 June 1884 – 13 July 1954) was a Russian émigré who lived in England. He was the Chairman of the Russian Society of Support to Russian Emigrants in England.
Galitzine was born on 17 June 1884 inSt. Petersburg, Russia.[1] He was one of four children born of Prince Emanuel Vasilievich Galitzine (1834–1892) and, his second wife, Ekaterina Nikolaevna Gordeeva. His father served in theLife Guards Horse-Grenadier Regiment. Vladimir and his elder brother, Nikolai, became orphans at a very early age and were brought up by their maternal uncle, Nikolai Gordeev and Valentina Sergeevna (née Ushakova) as they had no children of their own. Gordeev served as vice-governor ofRiazan, governor of the Polish town ofPłock, and governor ofKursk from 1903 until his death in 1906. After Gordeev's death, Valentina Sergeevna went to theMarfo-Mariinsky Convent (founded byGrand DuchessElizabeth Feodorovna) and gave theYakshino estate inTula to Prince Nikolai and Prince Vladimir.
His paternal grandparents were Prince Vasili Sergeevich Galitzine,aide-de-camp to EmperorAlexander I (and a son of Prince Segei Ivanovich Galitzine), and Countess Adelaïda Pavlovna Stroganova (a daughter of CountPavel Alexandrovich Stroganov andSophie Stroganova (née Princess Golitysn) and granddaughter of PrinceVladimir Borisovich Golitsyn andNatalya Golitsyna (née Countess Chernyshyova), who was the inspiration forThe Queen of Spades byAlexander Pushkin). In 1845, his grandmother inherited theMaryino Estate, a vast estate in the province of Novgorod (today theTosno district inLeningrad region), from her mother. The estate was later inherited by her eldest son Prince Pavel Vasilievich Galitzine and his descendants.[2]
In 1907, Prince Galitzine graduated with honours from theImperial Lyceum in Moscow. He then moved to St. Petersburg and enlisted as a volunteer in theHorse-Guards Regiment of The Dowager EmpressMaria Feodorovna;[3] soon he passed his exams and become an officer. On the eve of theWorld War I, he was invited to becomeaide-de-camp to the Grand DukeNikolai Nikolaevich, commander in chief of theImperial Russian Army up until 1915, thenViceroy to the Caucasus. Galitzine emigrated from postRevolutionary Russia in June 1919, arranged by his aunt,Princess Helen ofSaxe-Altenburg on aBritish Naval vesselHMSGrafton fromNovorossiysk (accompanied by theHMSMarlborough which carried the Tsar's sister,Grand Duchess Xenia and her children, and theEmpress DowagerMaria Feodorovna), arriving inTaranto, Italy and gradually making their way as a family to Rome, Paris and eventually arriving in London in July 1919.[4]
In order to support his family, he "proceeded to make a livelihood out of a hobby in which he had long qualified as a connoisseur",[5] by setting up an Art and Antiques shop inBerkeley Street, inMayfair, of which QueenMary was a regular customer. The family were nationalised as British in 1933. He became known as a leader of theWhite Russian émigré colony in London.[1][6] They initially settled atCoulsdon, Surrey thenNevern Square before they began renting theGeorgian country houseChessington Hall in Surrey (the home from whichFrances Burney wroteEvelina in 1778),[7] in 1921. They stayed for fourteen years before moving into a house at 131Croxted Road inWest Dulwich, London.[4]
In 1912, Prince Galitzine was married to Countess Ekaterina "Katia" Georgievna Carlow (1891–1940). Born atOranienbaum, Russia, Katia was the eldest daughter of themorganatic marriage ofDuke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Countess Natalia Feodorovna Vanljarskya,[4] she was also distantly related to thePrincess Marina, the Duchess of Kent.[8] Together, they were the parents of:
After his first wife was killed in October 1940 by a bomb during the first days ofThe Blitz inWorld War II,[7] he married Mabel Iris (née FitzGeorge) George (1886-1976), widow of Robert Shekelton Balfour and daughter of Col.George FitzGeorge, from whom Mabel was descended from KingGeorge III through the king's grandson,Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, and his mistressSarah Fairbrother.[16] From her first marriage, she was the mother of SirVictor FitzGeorge-Balfour.[17]
Prince Galitzine died on 13 July 1954 in a nursing home in London.[18] He was buried atBrompton Cemetery inWest Brompton.[1] His widow died in London on 13 April 1976.[4]
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