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Grand Duke Alexander of Russia
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (13 April 1866 - 26 February 1933) was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II an...view moreGrand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (13 April 1866 - 26 February 1933) was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II and advisor to him.
He was born in 1866 in Tbilisi, in the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Georgia), the son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia, the youngest son of Nicholas I of Russia, and Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (Cecily of Baden).
In 1885 he graduated from the Naval College in 1885 with the rank of midshipman and later served in the Navy. Between 1901-1902 he acted as the commander of the Black Sea battleship Rostislav, and in 1903 was appointed a junior flag officer of the Black Sea Fleet. From 1901-1905 he also acted as chief superintendent and chairman of several councils related to merchant shipping and ports, contributing to the development of commercial shipping, construction and equipment of new ports, training merchant mariners, creation of long-distance shipping lines and improvement of maritime trade legislation.
During the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905 he oversaw the auxiliary cruisers of the Volunteer Fleet and took part in the development of programs aimed at rebuilding the fleet. In 1909, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral.
Alexander also played a major role in the creation of Russian military aviation. He was the initiator of the officer’s aviation school near Sevastopol in 1910 and later the chief of the Imperial Russian Air Service during WWI. From December 1916 he was the Field Inspector General of the Imperial Russian Air Service. At the beginning of 1917 he advocated the formation of a government with the participation of public figures, speaking out against the “responsible ministry”.
He died on February 26, 1933 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in the south of France, the last surviving legitimate grandchild of Nicholas I of Russia. He was buried on March 1 in Roquebrune.view less