RUSSIA - OLDENBURG FAMILY - Lot 31

RUSSIA - OLDENBURG FAMILY Lot including an oval silver photographic print of Prince Pierre d'Oldenbourg d'Oldenbourg (1868-1924) and his wife on the beach at Biarritz, a color photographic print of Alexandre Nikonoff's wife featuring Alexandre Nikonoff's wife in front of Cottage Saint-Hubert, the prince's former Prince, bequeathed to him on his death, dated 1936, and various photographic prints and postcards featuring the Pierre d'Oldenbourg and Alexandre Nikonoff. ATTACHED is a postcard-sized watercolor signed by Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, and dated dated 1922, made for Passover, inscribed on the back "Christos Voskrese!" in Russian. Provenance - Alexandre Nikonoff (1893-1951), non-commissioned officer and savior of Prince Pierre d'Oldenbourg as he fled from Russia and across the river from Russia to Finland. - Then, by descent. History Son of Prince Alexander of Oldenburg (1844-1932) and Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna, née Princess Romanovsky, Duchess of Leuchtenberg (1845-1925), Prince Pierre of Oldenburg (1882-1960) married the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander III and younger sister of Tsar Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) of Russia, in Gatchina on June 27, 1901. A career military general of infantry, aide-de-camp general to His Majesty, knight of the Order of St. Andrew André and member of the Council of the Empire. During the First World War, he served on the Caucasus front as major general of the Caucasus front as a major general in the Imperial Family's 4th Rifle Regiment. His marriage with Nicholas II's sister was not a happy one, and their union was dissolved by decree on October 16 1916. It was at this time that he settled in Kiev, before fleeing the revolutionary turmoil with the help of one of his former non-commissioned officers, Alexandre Nikonoff (1893-1951). This man, a lieutenant in the protection of Tsarevich Alexis before the war, left Saint Petersburg during the Petersburg during the Revolution to join the White Army. In 1920, the advance of Bolshevik troops forced him to flee Russia by swimming across the river separating Russia from Finland. He managed to save the Duke of Oldenburg, who couldn't swim, by carrying him on his back during the perilous crossing. The only possessions the prince managed to save were in a small cardboard suitcase now on sale. Grateful to his savior, and having had no children children, even after his second marriage to Olga Vladimirovna Ratkov-Rojnov (1878-1955) in May 1922, he bequeathed his last possessions to her: a house, Cottage Saint-Hubert in Biarritz in Biarritz, a plot of land at Le Vert-Galant, and a few items of jewelry and objects, which later passed into the descendants of Alexandre Nikonoff's nephew.