Count Michael Mikhailovich de Torby (8 October 1898 – 25 April 1959) was a

Russo Russo may refer to: * Russo (surname) * Russo (footballer, 1915–1980), full name Adolpho Milman, Brazilian football forward and manager * Russo (footballer, born 1976), full name Ricardo Soares Florêncio, Brazilian football defender * Russo brot ...

- German nobleman, an artist living in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life and ancestry

Born as the only son of

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was raised in the ...

(1861–1929), exiled member of the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...

, and his morganatic wife

Countess Sophie of Merenberg Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, Countess de Torby (1 June 1868 – 14 September 1927), was the elder daughter of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and his morganatic marriage, morganatic Russian wife, Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (who ...

(1868–1927), descendant of the

House of Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

. He was the great-grandson of Emperor

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

and Russian poet and novelist,

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

Biography

Count Mikhail Mikhailovich de Torby was the youngest child and only son of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich and his morganatic wife Countess Sophie von Merenberg. The marriage was not only

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

but also illegal under the Imperial

house law House laws () are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles. Prevalent in European mo ...

s and caused a scandal at the Russian court. The Grand Duke was forbidden to return to Russia for life so he moved to England. Mikhail was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. A gifted artist, his work is distinguished by "pleasant colours and free style." He had a special fondness for Chinese subjects and their works created mainly on rice paper in a thin Chinese-style. He was a collector of

Chinese porcelain Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...

, which he often portrayed in his still lifes. He also served as a theatre artist. He took British citizenship in 1938, when he was forty years old. He died 25 April 1959 without issue.

Ancestry

Links

"Chinese poet's dream" "Chinese poet's dream"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torby, Michael Mikhailovich of 1898 births 1959 deaths People educated at Eton College Morganatic issue of Romanovs Counts of the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Russian painters British painters Russian collectors British collectors