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Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia

Tsarskoye Selo, 8 Aug 1831 – Alupka, 25 Apr 1891

10 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 8 Aug 1831

    Born in Tsarskoye Selo

  2. 1856–1877

    7 children are born

  3. 25 Apr 1891

    Dies in Alupka, aged 59

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 7

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Tsarskoye Selo.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1830s · Grand is born in Tsarskoye Selo

In the news1837

Winter Palace Fire in 1837

A devastating fire destroyed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1837, leading to a massive, rapid rebuilding effort that was completed within just 15 months.

Getting around

Four-day coach journeys between capitals

Traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow by stagecoach took four days of constant travel before the railway was completed.

Around the world1825–1830

The first passenger railway

In England a steam locomotive pulled the first public train in 1825; within decades railways crossed every continent.

Daily life

Low rates of peasant literacy and education

Literacy among serfs was extremely low, with estimates not exceeding 1%. Education was largely confined to home training by local sextons or clerks, often limited to reading, writing, and basic arithmetic.

What people wore

Everyday men's clothing and footwear

Ordinary men typically wore a skewed-collar shirt (kosovorotka) belted over trousers, with bast shoes (lapti) being standard everyday footwear.

Music

The origins of the Russian garmon

In 1839, a Tula gunsmith purchased an imported harmonica for 40 roubles and used it to create the garmon, an instrument that became central to Russian village celebrations.

At the table

Meal Customs in Peasant Households

Peasant families frequently ate from common dishes without individual cutlery, often eating in a set order led by the head of the household. Hygiene was minimal; dishes were typically rinsed in cold water after use rather than thoroughly washed.