Let’s talk about the trials and incredible, in terms of the events of the Civil War, the escape of the Lobanov-Rostovsky family from the Red Terror to Orthodox Bulgaria, which they chose as a place of forced emigration. Both common sense and knowledge of historical facts known to us now indicate that the salvation of the princes was impossible. Judge for yourself. The family was close to the Court of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II.
Common sense and knowledge of historical facts tell us that the salvation of the princes was impossible.
The head of the family, Prince Ivan Nikolaevich, a landowner, a close friend of the Bunin family, whose family nest was located not far from the Lobanovs’ estate near the town of Efremov in the Tula province, had the court rank of chamber junker. I should note that in connection with the biography of A.S. Pushkin, Soviet historians have long inspired us that this rank is supposedly small and, due to age, is humiliating for the great poet. The truth is different. By 1915, the number of those awarded with this rank throughout the Russian Empire did not reach even 400 people.
Prince Ivan was engaged in state stud farms. Before the October Revolution, Russia was the undisputed leader in the world of horse breeding, bred a great variety of unique and noble horse breeds. In the peasant and landlord economy, the horse was the most important assistant, comrade, friend. She was an essential part of life for every Russian, whose cultural worldview was formed before the revolution. Looking at the position of Ivan Nikolaevich through the eyes of the past, one can assess its significance for Russia.
Ivan Nikolaevich also bore the rank of a collegiate adviser (VI grade in the Table of Ranks, corresponded to a military colonel) and was assigned to the Main Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture. Of course, in this area he knew a lot, since he was a hardworking landowner, that is, the organizer of the economy on his estates: in the village of Lobanovo in the Efremovsky district of the Tula province and in the village of Troitskoye-Lobanovo in the Bronnitsky district of the Moscow province. His distillery in the village of Lobanovo gave 100 thousand rubles in annual income. The peasants were wealthy and respected the owner.
The prince owned a narrow-gauge railway for transporting grain to the city of Akkerman in Bessarabia. Apparently, in good years, Prince Ivan Nikolaevich transported surplus grain harvest from his estates abroad by this railway.
Prince Ivan often danced at court balls with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. And the prince’s wife, Princess Vera Lobanova-Rostovskaya, nee Kalinovskaya, a literary and artistically gifted woman, participated in the development of the art school created by the empress. So, Vera Lobanova-Rostovskaya recalled:
“The Empress … admires Russian art, trying to find its manifestations everywhere. She founded a school for this in St. Petersburg. There, step by step, a whole branch of ancient Russian production was restored, using lost patches and samples, which otherwise could have completely disappeared … beautiful and serious staging of it, conducted by the same empress, who is reproached for the lack of love for Russia ”[1].
The elder sister of Prince Ivan, Olga Nikolaevna (married to Lady Edgerton), was one of the favorite friends of the Queen of the Hellenes – Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna, granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I. Later, in exile, in London and Paris, she will open the Paul Kare fashion house, its most important goal will be to give work to impoverished Russians. But the artistic significance of the house is undeniable: Olga Nikolaevna managed to acquaint Europe with Russian culture and even introduce Russian elements of clothing into everyday life: a high collar, a train, as well as Russian embroidery and various types of ornaments.
The younger sister of Prince Ivan Nikolaevich, Princess Lyubov Nikolaevna (later Landfield, wife of a professor at the University of California), was the maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, as well as Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna, the youngest daughter of the Queen of the Hellenes.
It should be noted that the family is especially close to the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Her maid of honor was Prince Ivan’s cousin, Lyudmila Lobanova-Rostovskaya, later the wife of Konstantin Balyasny, who, in turn, was the adjutant of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, wife of Elizabeth Feodorovna. The sister of Prince Ivan, Alexandra Nikolaevna (or Fafka, as her relatives called her, – “Sashka” in the children’s pronunciation), was also in the retinue of the Grand Duchess.
It should be noted the special closeness of the family to the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
In letters 1895-1899. Elizaveta Fedorovna to her husband, home and warm, reporting information about events important only for the narrowest circle, Princess Alexandra Nikolaevna is a constant and active figure. In connection with Fafka’s illness, which deeply traumatized the Grand Duchess, Elizaveta Fedorovna writes about Vera Dmitrievna Lobanova-Rostovskaya:
“She is a warm-hearted and tactful woman; and how she understood us in this sad, painful time, how she helped us in our terribly difficult task … ”[2]
And in 1907, Elizaveta Fedorovna became the godmother of the Lobanov-Rostovsky son, Dmitry.
An active family that is engaged in farming, improving the lives of peasants, charity work, restoring folk culture – a brilliant position in the days of the Russian Empire! And just as dangerous when the wheel of fate abruptly broke Russia into two warring parts …
The other side of the life of the Lobanov princes is their spiritual leaders and elders. They considered themselves “Optina children”. They were nourished by the elders who asceticised in the famous Russian monasteries: in the Optina Hermitage, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and others. Among them are the venerable Optina elders Barsanuphius (Plikhankov), Ambrose (Grenkov), Joseph (Litovkin), Anatoly (Potapand), schemedikimtriy Dyakonov) and Elder Zosima (Minaev), the schema-abode confessor Sofia (Grineva), the priest George (Yegor) Chekryakovsky, the wife of Nilusa. And when trials overtook the family, the elders did not leave them with their care, directing their actions.
Sometimes it seemed to the family that, following the unusual recommendations of the spiritual leaders, they were acting recklessly, illogically, and strangely. However, the result was a successful and incredible coincidence that helped the family once again avoid death.
The tests began long before the fatal events of the October Revolution. The death of the young son of Prince Ivan and Princess Vera was the first, personal stage of the family’s ordeal. This was followed by the gradual (and therefore especially painful) ruin of the family nest; then – the hardships and trials of other family members, the hardships of friends, acquaintances; finally – the misfortunes of people of their circle and class. And after that – adversity, misfortune and mutual bitterness of many people in Russia, drawn out by the elements of general collapse. Princess Vera Lobanova recalled:
“The underground strained every effort to bring the catastrophe closer: it undermined, shattered and undermined the foundations of our fatherland, pushing it into a terrible abyss” [3].
However, the family’s connection with the peasants, with the people, was not lost. Masha, a woman from the people, spiritually close to Vera Dmitrievna, her dearest friend and former “maid Marikhen”, and before the October Revolution – the nun of the Duginenskoy monastery, which arose under the spiritual leadership of Optina Hermitage and led by her child, Abbess Sofia (Grineva), wrote to her :
“The fate of Russia, Your Excellency, as the guardian of Orthodoxy and the homeland of the host of saints, according to the testimony of the elders, is quite special: it is not for nothing that it is called among the people“ Holy Russia ”. At the same time, we know that she began to behave almost worse than other countries. “
The princess with concentration, at times fiercely fought with the black thoughts that overcame her like a temptation. Her faith, alive, trembling, was far from everything external, leafy, picturesque. As it happens in life. When her little son died, she then fell into the abyss of despair, then with prayers she rose again, then again the ocean of grief suppressed her. And she again clutched at the prayer straw. That rise, then fall, then consolation, then inconsolable pain. And it is this real path of grief that can now and today support and strengthen Russian women:
“I started to pray three or four times a day. But what a burden, what a torment! Stone dryness in my soul and heart. The more I forced myself, the more furiously the enemy tormented. Exhausted after the prayer, I began to read … However, with the beginning of the prayer for death, my condition worsened even more … As soon as I lay down in the evening and close my eyes, a special kind of numbness came over me. With full consciousness, I could not move my arm or leg, and the enemy, under the guise of a shapeless, gray, disgusting beast-man, either approached me or hid from me. At such moments it took me a great deal of work to remember the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to scorch the enemy with it. “
Prayer to the priest to the Monk Seraphim of Sarov on Easter gave her a dream. The son’s words “I died, but I am alive” “sang in my soul and soothed my heart.” The mother’s grief remained with her until the end of her life, but the dream brought freedom from bitterness.
Her mentor was the Monk Barsanuphius of Optina, “every word of which I wrote down in time and remembered for the rest of my life.” He helped her cope with sorrows during this period, who did not yet know Bolshevism. The second elder of the princess was “ailing John”, whose spiritual guidance invisibly led her through the trials in the era of “Sovdepia” – and brought her “out of purgatory.”
The spiritual mentor of the princess was the Monk Barsanuphius of Optina
To this day, the real name of “ailing John” is hidden – a perspicacious old man, a peasant by origin, who lived in the monasteries of the Tambov province near the district town of Lebedyan: until 1912 in the monastery “Shield and Fencing”, then (until his death in 1921) – in Exaltation of the Cross monastery, where his meetings and conversations with Princess Vera took place in 1918.
When a mortal danger loomed over the family, the living faith of Princess Vera led her to “ailing John”, and he gave her invaluable advice. And she followed them – with all the firmness of will, supported by prayer. She stumbled, did not trust herself, but acted in accordance with the instructions of the elder. She played a major role in saving the family. She is a stronghold and support for all household.
The family was known and loved by everyone in Efremov, near which the Lobanovs’ estate was located. However, fierce aggression against the landowners, fueled by red agitators, forced the princes to flee their homes. “Aching John” gave advice: “Go.” And it was simply impossible to escape. The landlords could not get on the refugee train. Princess Vera recalled:
“If you tell all that we are doing to an ordinary-minded person, he will think that we are a family of insane: at the word of a half-dead peasant, we are selling all our property by the coming winter and expect to take a train, which we have no right to approach.”
The princess, feeling herself responsible for the family, hesitated, was tormented by doubts, but with an effort of faith followed the advice given by “ailing John.” And there were people who helped the disguised princes get on the train.
Photo: Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna with her maid of honor (Princess Alexandra Nikolaevna Lobanova-Rostovskaya)
