He was the cadet member of the Mikhailovichi branch of the Romanov family and the only Grand Duke to bear the name and patronymic of a Tsar: Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia.

[2][disputed – discuss] Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia spent his early childhood in Georgia while his father was the Governor-General of Russian provinces of Transcaucasia.

[2] He received a Spartan upbringing that included sleeping in army cots and taking cold baths and was educated at home by private tutors.

[2] A brilliant boy of liberal heart and absolute sincerity, according to his brother Alexander, Alexei was intelligent and lively.

“The first time he wore his midshipman’s uniform”, Kiril wrote, “was in his coffin.”[3] His brother Alexander who wrote in his book of memoirs that he felt closer to Alexei than to any other member of his family,[5] said that he did not regret his passing, because Alexei suffered acutely in the oppressive atmosphere of the palace and his early death perhaps spared him a worse fate.