House of Yusupov

[1] In the 14th century, Edigu, a Mongol from the Manghud tribe and one of Tamerlane's greatest strategists, settled on the north shores of the Black Sea, establishing the Nogai Horde and laying the foundations for the Crimean Khanate.

Besides their only male child, the youngest, she also gave birth to four daughters:[citation needed] Boris's eldest son, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751–1831), Senator, Minister of State Properties and Director of the Imperial Theatres, was a keen traveller who spoke five languages and was also a patron of the arts.

Nicholas served under a series of sovereigns, including Catherine the Great, Paul I and Alexander I as a private councillor and diplomat.

[citation needed] In 1793 Nikolai married Tatiana Vasilievna von Engelhardt (1 January 1769 – 23 May 1841), one of Prince Potemkin's nieces.

[citation needed] At the age of 42, Prince Boris Nikolaievich Yusupov (9 June 1794, Moscow – 25 October 1849, Arkhangelskoye Estate), Marshal of the Imperial Court, inherited his immense family wealth, including more than 675,000 acres (2730 km2) of land and more than 40,000 serfs living on it.

[citation needed] Boris's only son, Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (12 October 1827, Moscow – 31 July 1891, Baden-Baden), Marshal of the Imperial Court, was much like his uncle Nicholas I, a patron of the arts.

[citation needed] When Nicholas Yusupov died in 1891, he was succeeded by his daughter, Zinaida, who was considered a legendary beauty at the time, as well as one of the richest women in the country.

Princess Zinaida Nikolaievna Yusupova (2 September 1861, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 24 November 1939, Paris, France) married Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston (5 October 1856, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 10 June 1928, Rome, Italy), General-Governor of Moscow Military District (1915), son of Count Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston.

[citation needed] After his father-in-law died, Felix was granted special permission from Tsar Alexander III to carry the title Prince Yusupov and Count Sumarokov-Elston and to pass it to his and Zinaida's heir.

[citation needed] The older son of Zinaida and Felix Sumarokov-Elston, Nikolay Felixovich Yusupov (1883–1908) was killed in a duel at the age of 25.

Felix Yusupov married Princess Irina, niece of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and a great-granddaughter of King Christian IX.

After the murder of Rasputin he was exiled to the Crimea, but returned to St. Petersburg in 1917 to find the city in massive disorder after the February Revolution.