Official positions held: chief manager of the Armory and the Expedition of the Kremlin Building, director of the Imperial Theaters (1791-1796), director of the Hermitage (1797), headed the palace glass, porcelain and tapestry factories (since 1792), senator (since 1788), active privy councilor ( 1796), minister of the Department of Appanages (1800-1816), member of the State Council (since 1823).

Biography

The only son of the Moscow mayor Boris Yusupov, a representative of the richest princely family of the Yusupovs, who died on his great-granddaughter Zinaida.

Helping to acquire works of art for Empress Catherine II and her son Paul I, the prince was an intermediary in the execution of imperial orders by European artists. Thus, the Yusupov collection was formed from the same sources as the imperial one, therefore, the Yusupov collection contained works by major landscape painters.

Family traditions and membership in the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs had a significant impact on his personality and fate. In its long life, several stages can be distinguished that were of decisive importance for the formation of the collection.

First of all, this is the first educational trip abroad in 1774-1777, staying in Holland and studying at the University of Leiden. Then interest in European culture and art awakened, and a passion for collecting arose. During these years, he made a Grand Tour, visiting England, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria. It was presented to many European monarchs, was adopted by Diderot and Voltaire.

My books and a few good pictures and drawings are my only entertainment.

N. B. Yusupov

In Leiden, Yusupov acquired rare collectible books, paintings and drawings. Among them is the edition of Cicero, issued by the famous Venetian firm of Aldov (Manutius), with a commemorative inscription about the purchase: “a Leide 1e mardi 7bre de l’annee 1774” (in Leiden on the first Tuesday of September 1774). In Italy, the prince met the German landscape painter J. F. Hackert, who became his adviser and expert. Hackert painted on his order the paired landscapes Morning in the Outskirts of Rome and Evening in the Outskirts of Rome, completed in 1779 (both - the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate). Antiquity and modern art - these two main hobbies of Yusupov will continue to determine the main artistic preferences, consonant with the era of the formation and development of the last great international artistic style in European art - classicism.

Second milestone in the formation of the assembly began the 1780s. As a person versed in the arts and well-known at European courts, Yusupov entered the retinue and accompanied the Count and Countess of the North (Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna) on a trip to Europe in 1781-1782. Possessing great knowledge, a taste for the fine arts, he carried out the instructions of Pavel Petrovich and significantly expanded his ties with artists and commission agents, for the first time he visited the workshops of the most famous artists - A. Kaufman in Venice and P. Batoni, engraver D. Volpato, widely known for reproduction engravings from the works of Raphael in the Vatican and Rome, G. Robert, C. J. Vernet, J.-B. Greuze and J.-A. Houdon in Paris. Then relations with these artists were maintained over the years, contributing to the replenishment of the personal collection of the prince.

1790s - the rapid rise of Yusupov's career. He fully demonstrates his devotion to the Russian throne, both to the aging Empress Catherine II and to Emperor Paul I. At the coronation of Paul I, he was appointed supreme coronation marshal. He performed the same role at the coronations of Alexander I and Nicholas I.

From 1791 to 1802, Yusupov held important government posts: director of the imperial theatrical performances in St. Petersburg (since 1791), director of the imperial glass and porcelain factories and tapestry manufactory (since 1792), president of the manufactory board (since 1796) and minister of appanages (since 1800). ).

In 1794, Nikolai Borisovich was elected an honorary amateur of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1797, Paul I gave him control of the Hermitage, where the imperial art collection was located. The art gallery was headed by the Pole Franz Labensky, who had previously been the curator of the art gallery of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, whom Yusupov accompanied during his stay in St. Petersburg. A new complete inventory of the Hermitage collection was carried out. The compiled inventory served as the main inventory until the middle of the 19th century.

The government posts held by the prince made it possible to directly influence the development national art and arts and crafts. He acquired the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, turning it into a model of a palace and park ensemble. Yusupov is the founder of the famous tribal assembly, an outstanding and most striking personality. He collected a large collection of paintings (over 600 canvases), sculptures, works of applied art, books (over 20 thousand), porcelain, most of which he placed in the estate.

In Moscow, Yusupov lived in his own palace in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky Lane. In 1801-1803. in one of the wings on the territory of the palace lived the Pushkin family, including little Alexander Pushkin. The poet also visited Yusupov in Arkhangelsk, and in 1831 Yusupov was invited to a gala dinner in the Arbat apartment of the newlyweds Pushkins.

It has been magnificently extinguished for eighty years, surrounded by marble, painted and living beauty. In his country house, Pushkin, who dedicated him, talked to him, and drew Gonzaga, to whom Yusupov dedicated his theater.

He died during the famous cholera epidemic in Moscow, in his own house in the parish of the Khariton Church in Ogorodniki. He was buried in the village of Spasskoye-Kotovo, Mozhaysky district, Moscow province, in the ancient church of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Dedicated to the 240th anniversary of the founding of the Moscow English Club.

Jean Joseph Vivien. “Portrait of Prince N.B. Yusupov. Lithograph based on the original by I.B. Lumpy Sr. Collection of the Moscow English Club.

Illustrations for publication from the collection of the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate and the author's archive

O.E. Matveev, Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate, Chairman of the Board of the Moscow English Club.

The Moscow English Club, founded in 1772, is one of the oldest public organizations Russia. Over the long years of its existence, the club changed the buildings in which it was located more than once, the club was closed several times, but there were always initiative Muscovites who revived the club's activities, its traditions and the unique club spirit.

In the palace on Tverskaya, which belonged to the club before the nationalization of 1918, there was a special hall called the Portrait Hall. Here, according to tradition, portraits of Russian emperors were placed, during whose reign the club existed, with the exception of Paul I, who banned club meetings. In addition to the royal ones, portraits of prominent members of the English Club were placed in the hall.

The traditions of the historical Moscow English Club are continued by its modern successor, restored in 1995 by a group of enthusiasts. Gradually, the club community collects the former Portrait. Picturesque portraits are located in the office of the club's board, and stories about the members of the club are placed in the magazine published by the English club and books, the author of which is Alexei Butorov.

In the first book - "Moscow English Cube. Pages of History”, released in 1999, has a special chapter “Portrait Room”. In 2002, the book Patrons and Gatherers of the Moscow English Club was published, which continued the description of prominent personalities in different years who were in the club. And now the reader has the third book in the series "Portrait of the Moscow English Club", dedicated to only one member of the club - Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751-1831).

The prince was one of the most enlightened Russian nobles at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is rightly called distinguished diplomat, a major manufacturer, an official of the highest Russian administration, an outstanding specialist in museum and theater business, an organizer of major state celebrations and an organizer of the production of art objects. Along with this, Yusupov collected the largest private art collection in Europe 1st half of XIX century, a valuable library and created a true pearl of the Moscow region - the architectural and park ensemble of the Arkhangelskoye estate.

For more than half a century, Prince Yusupov was a member of the St. Petersburg and Moscow English clubs, performing the duties of a club foreman.

This book, written by the club's historiographer Alexei Vyacheslavovich Butorov on the occasion of the 240th anniversary of the founding of the Moscow English Club, is a tribute to the memory and gratitude of the members of the modern club to their outstanding historical clubmate.

Not only in words, but also in deeds, the club preserves the memory of Prince N.B. Yusupov. At the initiative of the club, the Board of Trustees of the State Museum-Estate "Arkhangelskoye" was created and is actively operating, co-chaired by the current members of the English Club: Chairman of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences A.P. Kudryavtsev, the author of these lines, Chairman of the Board of the Moscow English Club O.E. Matveev and President of the Union of Museums of Russia, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, which was once headed by Prince N.B. Yusupov, - M.B. Piotrovsky.

O.E. Matveev,

Chairman of the Board of the Moscow

English club.

V.V. Dlugach, director of the Arkhangelskoye State Museum-Estate.

In history, there are personalities that seem to be well-known, very noticeable, but, as it were, relegated to the background by descendants. These include Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1751–1831), who once held the position of one of the first nobles Russian Empire. During his lifetime, the prince earned himself the reputation of a refined connoisseur and connoisseur of beauty, a collector of the largest private art collection.

An exquisite setting for the princely collection was his Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, the artistic ensemble of which was decorated according to the tastes and predilections of the prince. His descendants supported the famous estate, partly replenished the collection, but were no longer able to embody any grandiose artistic ideas. On May 1, 1919, a historical and art museum was opened in Arkhangelsk, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2009, having gone through many difficult periods of activity over the years.

In a congratulatory telegram addressed to the staff of the museum, the Prime Minister Russian Federation V.V. Putin noted that “this anniversary is a real holiday for everyone who knows national history, appreciates truly unique monuments of architecture and art, created by the labor and talent of several generations of museum workers. Over the past decades, Arkhangelskoye has carefully preserved the memory of our great compatriots - writers and poets, military leaders, public figures ... "

Only at the beginning of the 21st century, the name of the creator of the Arkhangelskoye estate - Prince N.B. Yusupov - regained its former brilliance. In 2001 in Moscow, in the Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin, where a considerable part of the prince's art collection is now concentrated, a grandiose exhibition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of his birth was held.

This book is the first scientific biography Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, which is a significant contribution to the study of Russian culture. It was written by Alexei Vyacheslavovich Butorov - famous historian culture, writer and local historian, deputy chairman of the "Old Moscow" society, member of the Moscow Local History Society. For the first time, the book contains a number of unique documents collected in the archives by the employees of the Arkhangelskoye Museum-Estate. At the same time, in the study of the life of Prince N.B. Yusupov, there are still many white spots, as the author informs the reader.

On behalf of the scientific team of the museum-estate "Arkhangelskoye" I express my deep gratitude to the initiator of writing and publishing this book - the Moscow English Club, known for its historical traditions of patronage, and personally to the Chairman of the Board of the club, Oleg Efimovich Matveev. The Board of Trustees created by the club does a lot to preserve the integrity and further development Museum-estate "Arkhangelskoye"

V.V. Dlugach,

Director of the State Museum-Estate "Arkhangelskoye",

Member of the Moscow English Club.

I. Toropov. "Rider". Free copy of the painting by A.O. Orlovsky. GMUA.

God will multiply!

The motto of the family of princes Yusupov

The life of another person who has long gone into the world, even though he left a noticeable mark on history, can hardly be fully revealed one hundred or two hundred years after his death, if he himself or his contemporaries did not leave at least brief biographical notes for posterity. Known Facts stories do not always allow us to find the causes of certain events, to reveal their influence on the fate of mankind or just one person.

Princess I.M. Yusupov. Record of the acquisition on the book of St. Demetrius of Rostov. 1786. GMUA.

Religious and moral education of children in Russia was usually assigned to the mother. Princess Irina Mikhailovna Yusupova was a woman of a modest, gentle, simple disposition, but firm, especially in the affairs of the Faith, character.
Little is known for certain about Princess Irina Mikhailovna and her relationship with her only son. One can only guess how touching they were. The princess bought books for her son, ordered his naive children's portrait in an officer's uniform. Nikolai Borisovich himself - in his old age one of the first Russian nobles - ordered to be buried next to his mother in her small family estate near Moscow, and not at all in a fashionable cemetery, where his surviving enemies could envy his magnificent gravestone ...

Irina Mikhailovna read not only fashionable French novels, which was then supposed to be done by any lady of high society. She spent many evenings reading the Menaion, the Lives of the Saints of Saint Demetrius of Rostov. For several centuries this extensive edition has been considered in Rus' a favorite popular reading. Irina Mikhailovna became a great admirer of Saint Demetrius, who in the middle of the 18th century had just been canonized as an Orthodox saint who shone forth in the Russian Land. She dedicated her house church in the St. Petersburg house to the memory of the Rostov Metropolitan. The books of St. Demetrius were carefully kept in his library by Prince Nikolai Borisovich.
In the age of Voltairianism and fashionable mockery of religious feelings, Irina Mikhailovna managed to instill in her son a deep Faith, as evidenced by some documents from the prince's archive. It’s another matter that outwardly showing one’s personal religiosity in those days was supposed to be very restrained - after all, the Yusupovs were not enthusiastic converts that literally pester everyone with their petty religious problems and doubts.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., grandson of the prince, a man of a completely different time, was more open in his religious views. He provided considerable support to Orthodoxy in the difficult years of the approaching unbelief, one of the first to point out to Russian society the future saint, the righteous John of Kronstadt, through whose prayers several miracles happened in the Yusupov family.
In Arkhangelsk, a small bas-relief by the little-known Russian sculptor F. Titov is kept, where Irina Mikhailovna is depicted playing solitaire, a kind of “gymnastics for the mind”. This portrait was in the personal rooms of Nikolai Borisovich. The simplicity and gentleness of the mother's disposition largely passed on to the son, although the position of a great nobleman sometimes forced him to behave with strangers in a closed and emphasized arrogance. The sculptor also sculpted a profile bas-relief portrait of the youngest prince at the age of twelve or thirty, emphasizing some self-confident arrogance, so characteristic of adolescents. Apparently, the portrait adorned the rooms of Irina Mikhailovna in Spas-Kotovo. A small hole for a nail was made in the upper part of both bas-reliefs, so that the image would be more convenient to hang on the wall.

According to tradition, for the people of the circle of princes Yusupovs, home education was not limited only to classes with tutors. Nikolai Borisovich's father, taking advantage of his official position, as well as the love of the cadets and teachers of the Cadet Corps for him, invited them to study with his son. Among the teachers of the young prince there were many immigrants from Holland. The Dutch, as you know, had a great influence on the formation of the emperor-transformer Peter the Great and on the formation new capital Russia - Petersburg. Indeed, the representatives of this people have a lot to learn. Constant communication with foreigners, an example of their "German" punctuality, developed perseverance in the young prince, the ability to work regularly. These skills allowed Nikolai Borisovich, already in his youth, to freely master five foreign languages both the living and the dead. Moreover, living languages ​​- not only French - were in constant use. This characterizes Yusupov as a person who constantly strived, at the behest of his own soul, to master new knowledge.

Nikolai Borisovich also had an excellent command of Russian; not so much literary as colloquial. Everyday intonation is constantly present in his written instructions, to a certain extent conveying the style of the prince's oral speech with all its whimsical turns of a learned husband, often communicating with ordinary peasants. By the way, Yusupov was taught Russian, as was the custom then, by an ordinary deacon. That is why in the princely orders - and he did not write them with his own hand very often, traces of knowledge of Church Slavonic letters are clearly traced. For the eighteenth century, the phenomenon is quite common among people from high society.
“Those residents of St. Petersburg and Moscow, who consider themselves enlightened people, take care that their children know French, surround them with foreigners, give them expensive dance and music teachers, but do not teach them their native language, so that this beautiful and expensive education leads to complete ignorance of the motherland, to indifference and even contempt for the country with which our existence is inextricably linked, and for attachment to France. However, it must be admitted that the nobility that lives in the interior provinces is not infected with this unforgivable delusion. .

He recalled in some detail about his childhood, about his studies, about knowledge. mother tongue in the "Notes" that I have just quoted, Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, Yusupov's senior peer, who was related to him on the maternal side through his brother Semyon Romanovich, who was married to one of the Zinovievs, is a man who belonged to the same circle with Nikolai Borisovich. Alexander Romanovich was born in 1741 and was ten years older than Yusupov. The sister of the brothers A.R. and S.R. Vorontsov was the famous Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, president of two Russian Academies, a lady as educated as she was bilious, who left to posterity her much more famous Notes. A very wise essay by her brother, alas, is known mainly to a narrow circle of specialists in the history of the eighteenth century.

Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, like Yusupov, was immensely rich, had many activities that were pleasant for the soul and mind - he loved the theater, collected paintings and graphics. His interlocutors were the most smart people era. It seemed that nothing prevented him from living as a free master-sybarite. However, Vorontsov also entered into public service, held many responsible and troublesome positions, reached the highest rank in Russia of the State Chancellor (as the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs was then called) and did a lot of useful things for his country. Despite the fact that Catherine II and Paul I treated him personally, as well as the entire Vorontsov family, without the slightest sympathy - only business qualities were valued, because there were many simply nice people, few workers.
Here is a clear evidence of the quality of home noble education of that time: “Father tried to give us such a good upbringing as was possible in Russia,” recalled A.R. Vorontsov. “My uncle sent a governess for us from Berlin. We quietly learned French, and already from the age of 5 or 6 we showed a decided inclination to read books. I must say that although the education we were given was not distinguished by either the brilliance or the extra expenses used for this subject in our time, it nevertheless had many the good side. Its main advantage was that at that time they did not neglect the study of the Russian language, which in our time is no longer included in the education program. It can be said that Russia is the only country where they neglect the study of their native language and everything that concerns the country in which people were born into the world; It goes without saying that I mean here the modern generation.(8a).

An important role in the education of the young Prince Yusupov was played by books that entered the life of Nikolai Borisovich early. The parents tried to lay the foundation for his future famous library, although they themselves were not great bibliophiles and hardly imagined that their son's library would become one of the largest in Russia and Europe. Books in the house were more like familiar interlocutors. Boris Grigoryevich, a great lover of reading, took the publications of interest to him at the Academy of Sciences for reading, and Irina Mikhailovna bought them.
One of the first books of the young prince was preserved in the Arkhangelsk library. This is the Court Letterbook, published in Amsterdam in 1696. On the flyleaf at the end of the book there is also the first ex-libris of the prince - the signature: “Prince Nicola a’ 9 ans.”. There is also a “self-portrait”, a figurine of a boy - a hand-drawn drawing of the nine-year-old prince Nicola.
Some educational drawings of the young Nikolai Borisovich have been preserved, and even a painting work - “The Cow”. Drawing was included in the circle of obligatory subjects of education for noble youth not only in the middle of the 18th century, but also much later, as evidenced by clearly amateur charade drawings from the Yusupov family album of the middle of the 19th century.
Irina Mikhailovna, presumably, quite often pampered her son with book gifts - another thing is that relatively little special children's or simply good educational literature was produced in the middle of the 18th century. So I had to donate books intended more for adult reading. In 1764, Irina Mikhailovna presented her 13-year-old son with the "History of Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia", about which a corresponding entry was made on the flyleaf of the book. It is still kept in the library of the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum.
It was the library that could tell a lot about Prince Yusupov; to tell about what Nikolai Borisovich's contemporaries remained unknown to, and his descendants were not at all interested in. Unfortunately, the scientific catalog of the Arkhangelsky estate library, unique in its preservation, has not yet been introduced into scientific circulation, and a significant part of the Yusupovs' book collection remains inaccessible to researchers outside the museum.
Count A.R. Vorontsov: “My father wrote out for us a fairly well compiled library, which contained the best French authors and poets, as well as books of historical content, so that when I was 12 years old, I was already well acquainted with the works of Voltaire, Racine, Corneille, Boileau and other French writers. Among these books was a collection of almost one hundred volumes of numbers of the journal: The Key to Acquaintance with the Cabinets of European Sovereigns, which began in 1700. I mention this collection because from it I learned about everything that happened in Russia, the most interesting and most remarkable since 1700. This edition had a great influence on my inclination towards history and politics; it aroused in me a desire to know everything that concerns these subjects, and especially in relation to Russia. .

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, studied all his life, because he read all his life and strove to acquire new knowledge. By his old age, he had collected a huge library, distinguished not only by bibliographic rarities, but also by great completeness. Many books on the most various areas knowledge - both humanitarian and natural - have been preserved by the prince's own handwritten notes, indicating that he was an attentive and interested reader, and not just a collector of books. It is no coincidence that S.A. Sobolevsky - the largest Russian bibliophile, a bilious person and by no means inclined to give out compliments, called Prince Yusupov an outstanding scientist - an expert on culture, not only foreign, but also Russian. The habit of everyday reading is usually laid down in childhood. By the way, Yusupov and Sobolevsky were clubmates and met more than once at the Moscow English Club.

The traditional education of boys and girls in Russia took place in a certain social circle. The children of Prince Yusupov were brought up with peers from familiar aristocratic families.
One of them is the family of the Counts Panins and their nephews, the princes Kurakin brothers. Yusupov was related to the Kurakins through sisters. Alexander and Alexei Kurakins became childhood friends of Nikolai Borisovich. One was a little older than him, the other, like the future Emperor Paul I, was several years younger. In childhood, as you know, even a small difference in age is very noticeable. Therefore, Yusupov cannot be called a childhood friend of the heir Pavel Petrovich. Closer and warmer relations arose only in early youth, and later strengthened when Nikolai Borisovich accompanied the heir to the throne and his wife on a trip abroad. Yusupov remained a close friend of the imperial couple until the death of Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna.

In the 18th century, court etiquette, of course, was observed very strictly, but for the children of nobles close to the court of Elizabeth Petrovna, quite understandable concessions were made - children are children. It is no coincidence that one of the Kurakin brothers called the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, in letters simply and familiarly affectionately - Pavlushka. That's who observed the court etiquette to the smallest detail, so it's just the grown-up Paul I, who ascended the imperial throne after the death of his mother, Catherine the Great.
Much more information has been preserved about the first years of the life of the future emperor than about the childhood of the “simple” Prince Yusupov, although the circle of their occupations at that time did not differ much. Here are some extracts from the famous "Notebooks" for 1765 by S.A. Poroshin, who was constantly with the young heir to the throne and made notes immediately after the events.

March 27th. Shoe became, wood lice crawled; he was afraid that they would crush him, and he shouted. March 28th. Before that, he quarreled with the Grand Duke (Paul), forcing him to play music. Very reluctantly vulgar, he defended himself with his right that he was now completely dismissed from teaching; lazy person; after that he played chess with Kurakin; frolic, ate supper, went to bed. 30th of March. When they arrived, they played Kurakin and played chess ... before dinner, I watched the puppet theater. March 31. They played chess, rolled Kurakin and put him on a bottle, in a billbox. We sat down at the table, dined with us Pyotr Ivanovich (Panin), gr. Ivan Grigoryevich, Talyzin, Cruz, Stroganov. We talked about various poisons, then about the French ministry. We got up, again dragged Kurakin. 5th of April. We went to the kurtag, which was in the gallery. The Empress played picket. The Tsarevich stood like that. Arriving there, he teased Kurakin with his prank, and he did not stay for supper. After that, he became very polite.” .
The April 16 entry is perhaps the most remarkable. It shows how simplicity of morals was present in everyday court life, if even the enlightened educator of the heir, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, did not disdain the described “fun”. “I played shuttlecocks. I learned very well. Fektoval. In berlan. Had supper. As soon as the undresser conceived, Nikita Ivanovich came and was here until the Sovereign lay down at half past nine. Then Nikita Ivanovich himself led Kurakin into the dark passage to Stroganov and, after a fright, returned. The others took Kurakin to Stroganov. There, Stroganov's servants dressed up in a white shirt and a wig. Kurakin was a cruel coward." The next day, the "frightening" of the tsar's friend Kurakin continued. Meanwhile, Paul, ten years old, already expressed quite sound thoughts; some of them are fixed: “we always want the forbidden, and that this is based on human nature” or “you study well: you always learn something new”.

Already at the age of 11, the future emperor knew firsthand about some of the problems of family life. Once at dinner, he said: “When I get married, I will love my wife very much and I will be jealous. I really don't want to have horns." Pavel very early turned his favorable attention to some court ladies, among whom, according to rumors, was one of the beautiful princesses of the Yusupovs, the sister of Nikolai Borisovich ...

During the reign of Empresses Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine the Great, the children of all people close to the Court began to go out early, much earlier than Natasha Rostova, by the way, the daughter of the foreman of the Moscow English Club, whose first ball is described by Count L.N. Tolstoy. Here is what Count A.R. recalled about his first trips to high society. Vorontsov.
“Empress Elizabeth, distinguished by benevolence and friendliness to all those around her, was even interested in the children of persons belonging to her court. She largely retained the old Russian customs, which were very similar to the old patriarchal customs. Although we were still children, she allowed us to be at her court on her reception days and sometimes gave, in her inner apartments, balls for both sexes of the children of those persons who were at court. I have a memory of one of these balls, which was attended by 60 to 80 children. We were seated for supper, and the tutors and governesses accompanying us dined at a special table. The empress was very interested in watching us dance and dine, and she herself sat down to dine with our fathers and mothers. Thanks to this habit of seeing the yard, we imperceptibly got used to the great light and society. .

Children formed friendships “in the light” and outside the walls royal palace. “There was another custom,” recalled Count A.R. Vorontsov, - who contributed a lot to making us cheeky, namely, that the children of persons who were at court mutually visited each other on holidays and Sundays. Balls were arranged between them, to which they always went accompanied by tutors and governesses. .

“The spectacle is a public fun that corrects human morals,” wrote the famous Russian actor of the 18th century P.A. Melters about theatrical performances. Count A.R. Vorontsov in "Notes" said that, according to tradition, people of his circle visited theatrical performances since childhood. “French comedies were given twice a week at the court theater, and our father took us there with him to the box. I mention this circumstance because it greatly contributed to the fact that from early childhood we received a strong inclination towards reading and literature. .

It is clear that the theater Cadet Corps Nikolai Borisovich also visited, using his father's official box, he also visited court performances in the Winter Palace.
Theater, books, painting - all this occupied far from the last place throughout the life of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. He joined everything beautiful in childhood, which passed under the scrutiny of his father. The death of Prince Boris Grigorievich was the first great loss of life for his eight-year-old son.

Meanwhile, as long as the young prince's home studies continued, his military career took shape by itself. In 1761, Nikolai Borisovich was promoted from cornet to second lieutenant of the same Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. According to the art critic Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, at the age of 16, Yusupov entered active military service. However, this information may turn out to be erroneous - one of the first biographers of Prince Nikolai Borisovich introduced many unique documents of the Yusupov archive into scientific circulation, but in his dating of events and facts, confusion occurred constantly, so that even at the age of 16, Yusupov could "serve", as well as before, at home.

In 1771, Nikolai Borisovich was promoted to lieutenant, and the military service of the prince ended there. Was there some kind of "story" that caused the collapse of Yusupov's military career, which is a dull mention in the two-volume book "On the family of the Yusupov princes"? Most likely no. It’s just that Nikolai Borisovich, according to the turn of his mind and character, was not intended to carry out commands and walk in formation, as well as prancing on a horse. The following year, he received his resignation and the title of chamberlain of the Imperial Court.
In the presence of "history", obtaining a court rank would be a difficult matter, even if big connections. Maybe the young prince lost a little at cards or got carried away by a married lady? Then such “sins of youth” were considered in the order of things and you can’t make a special “story” out of this with all your desire. In addition, Nikolai Borisovich, like his ancestors, always remained a person not only well-intentioned, but also very cautious.

It should be noted that Russian nobles, as well as nobles in all countries, from time immemorial have been divided into two very uneven categories. One, invariably large, was only listed in the service, while all matters were decided by ordinary secretaries and head clerks. The other - traditionally not numerous, was engaged in state affairs in the most serious way. Prince Yusupov belonged to the second. It would seem that he had very broad interests, backed up by huge material opportunities for their implementation, but instead of living for his own pleasure as a “great Russian master”, Prince Nikolai Borisovich devoted a lot of effort, attention and time to the performance of state duties, to which he regularly attracted all Russian emperors and empresses, from Catherine the Great to Nicholas I inclusive. At the same time, it must be remembered that the state salary-salary of a Russian official at all times remained quite modest - it goes without saying that the "sovereign's man" would simply pronounce the cherished formula - "you have to wait", and the rest depends on sleight of hand... Borisovich allows us to attribute him to a rare type of "not taking" officials. On the contrary, Prince Yusupov did his best to do good to his subordinates, including financially, giving them part of his salary, asking for them "at the top" awards and pensions.

Biography

Born into the family of a prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov And Tatiana Vasilievna, nieces and heirs of Prince Potemkin. At baptism, the successor (godfather) was Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. As a child, Borenka, as he was called in the family, received the Order of Malta, and the hereditary command of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. His younger brother died in infancy (about 1796).

He received his initial upbringing in his parents' house under the supervision of his mother, and then spent several years in a fashionable French boarding school, which was managed in St. Having passed the exam in St. Petersburg pedagogical institute, Prince Yusupov from August 1815 began to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1817 he was granted the court rank of chamberlain.

Service

Countless wealth made Yusupov completely independent; he had no need to resort to hypocrisy; he did not value his service and constantly quarreled with important persons, incurring their displeasure with his sharp witticisms and ridicule. According to Count M.A. Korf, Prince Yusupov had:

Private life

After the death of his father in the summer of 1831 from cholera, Boris Nikolayevich inherited a huge inheritance - 250 thousand acres of land, more than 40 thousand peasants in different provinces of Russia, and at the same time a colossal debt of about 2 million rubles. Prince Yusupov, in his youth, was a reveler, over the years he became a prudent person. He was not as sociable as his father, and considered all his hobbies a waste of money and lordly manners.

Living permanently in St. Petersburg, Yusupov almost never visited Arkhangelsk, beloved by his father. To pay off debts, he farmed out fishing ponds, sold the Moscow University a botanical garden, and began to transport the priceless collection from the estate to his St. did not devastate.

A good business executive, Yusupov gave his freedom to his serfs, and by this act, strange in the opinion of others, he quickly liquidated all his own and father's debts. Moreover, he became a secret usurer and increased his family's fortune tenfold by buying factories and mines in Donbass. The evil-speaking prince P.V. Dolgorukov wrote:

Prince Yusupov owned estates in seventeen provinces, tried to travel around them regularly, and under him they flourished. On his estates, he opened hospitals, supplied them with medicines, kept doctors and pharmacists with them. During the time of cholera in the Kursk province, he was not afraid to come to his village of Rakitnoye, where there was an epidemic; without fear of infection, he walked everywhere in the village. During the terrible crop failure that befell Russia in 1834-1835, when rye was sold at eight times the usual price, Yusupov fed up to 70,000 people on his estates without resorting to government benefits. In a letter to one of the managers, the prince wrote:

Prince Yusupov devoted his morning to official and economic affairs, during the day he received his friends and acquaintances, and in the evenings he always went to the theater. The pragmatic Boris Nikolaevich shunned luxury in his home life, this trait of his was noted by many of his contemporaries. He was often the object of ridicule in society. Prince A. M. Meshchersky called Yusupov an extremely prudent person with a peculiar character.

The magnificent balls that Yusupov gave, the writer V. A. Sollogub found "deprived of a shade of innate panache and nobility", and attributed to the prince himself " legendary stinginess”, which forced him, at the meeting of the Sovereign and Empress, to immediately give economic orders in the way that "They gave two glasses of tea to their Majesties' visiting officer, and one to the coachman" .

He donated 73,300 rubles to the Board of Trustees of public charity institutions in St. Petersburg for city almshouses.

Last years

In 1845, Prince Yusupov was granted the rank of chamberlain. In the summer of 1849 he was appointed chief director of the exhibition of industrial works in St. Petersburg. The term for the opening of the exhibition was short, he had to take care of the preparation of the place for the exhibition at the same time, and all the orders for its placement and opening. Wanting to speed up the work, Boris Nikolaevich spent whole days in the vast halls among the crowd of workers, giving them orders in all parts of the exhibition. His health, already disturbed by the cholera he had suffered, could not bear the dampness and cold this time. Not paying attention to the signs of illness, Yusupov did not cease to dispose of the work until the end of the exhibition, and the victim of his zeal, was subjected to typhoid fever.

Prince Yusupov died on October 25, 1849 in St. Petersburg, his body was transported to the village of Spasskoe-Kotovo near Moscow, where he bequeathed to be buried in the Spasskaya Church next to his father. An inscription written by him during his lifetime was carved on his tomb: “Here lies a Russian nobleman, Prince Boris, Prince Nikolaev, son of Yusupov”, date of birth and death, and under them was written in French his favorite saying: "Honor above all."