Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia

The eighth child of Tsar Alexander II by his first wife Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse, he was born on Oct. 3, 1860. He entered the Russian Army and rose to the rank of General, but was known as a gentle person, religious and accessible to people.

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In 1889 he married Princess Alexandra Georgievna of Greece, who bore him two children: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Dimitry Pavlovich. Young Grand Duchess Alexandria died soon after Dimitry's birth. In 1893, the young widower became close to Olga Valerianovna von Pistolkors, who was married to an officer from his regiment. Such episodes were not rare in the frivolous Russian high society of those days, but what could have been a temporary liaison turned out to be a long-lasting, passionate love story. Pavel requested the Tsar's permission to marry Olga, but it was refused, and the couple settled in Paris. In 1902, after Olga's divorce was granted, they married in an Orthodox church in Livorno, Italy. The Bavarian government granted Olga the title of Countess of Hohenfelsen in 1904, but the marriage caused a scandal in the Russian Court. Paul was dismissed of his military commissions, all his properties were seized, and his brother Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich was appointed guardian of Maria and Dmitry. For many years, he lived in exile in France with Olga and the three children they had: Vladimir, who became a remarkable poet, and two girls, Irina and Natalia. Eventually he was pardoned and settled with his family in Tsarskoe Selo. In 1915 the Tsar granted Olga and their children the title of Prince and Princesses Paley.

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During World War I he was placed in command of the First Corps of the Imperial Guard and later was moved to a new appointment at the Tsar's headquarters. In 1917 he tried to convince the sovereigns to grant a Constitution, but his efforts failed. However, he was one of the few members of the Imperial Family who remained quite close to the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna during the final days of the old régime.

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After the Bolsheviks seized power, he and his family faced a terrible ordeal. Their properties were confiscated, they lived under constant harassment, and in March 1918 his son Vladimir Paley was exiled to the Urals, where he was to be executed on July 18, 1918.

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In August, 1918, he was arrested and taken to prison in Saint Petersburg. His health, already bad, declined sharply, and his wife did all she could to have him released. Her efforts were useless: on January 29, 1919, Paul was moved to St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress, and in the first hours of the following day he was shot there, along with his cousins Grand Dukes Dimitry Konstantinovich, Nikolay Mikhailovich and Georgy Mikhailovich. They were buried in a mass grave in the Fortress, the Bolsheviks having refused the distraught Princess Paley the right to bury her husband. His body has never been found.

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