Feliks Sumarokov-Elston

Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston (;17 October 1856 – 10 June 1928), later known as Prince Yusupov after his marriage in 1882, was a Russian nobleman, military officer and administrator. From 1915, he served as the governor-general of Moscow, a post previously held by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov. He was the father of Nicholas and Felix Yusupov.

Early life Count Felix was born as the third of seven children to Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston and his wife, Countess Elena Sumarokova, and was named after his father. His godmother was Dolly de Ficquelmont. His father had been an illegitimate child of questionable birth. A popular theory, repeated by the family itself, was that the father of Felix Elston was Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. It was also claimed that the name "Elston" was derived from "elle s'étonne" (she is surprised), a supposed reaction of his birth mother.

Only a month before the birth of Count Felix, special permission had been obtained by Felix Elston to add his father-in-law's surname (Sumarokov) to his own, as his father-in-law had no sons. Count Felix was raised with his brothers Sergei (1853–1881) and Paul (1855–1938) in preparation for a military career. He studied at the Page Corps and passed his final exams in 1876. After serving in Odessa for three years, he was promoted to the Chevalier Guard Regiment.

Marriage and issue

In 1882, Count Felix was present at a reception meant to introduce Prince Alexander of Battenberg to Russia's wealthiest and most eligible heiress, Zinaida Yusupova. Count Felix met Zinaida and fell in love. They married in Saint Petersburg on 4 April 1882, to the disappointment of Zinaida's father, who had hoped for a royal son-in-law.

Only ten months after the wedding, their son Nicholas was born. Two more sons died in infancy, followed by the birth of Felix in 1887. Like his father before him, Count Felix was granted the right to bear his wife's surname and title, and to bestow it upon their sons in addition to his own title.

The couple had over fifty estates and palaces but mostly lived at the Moika Palace, their Crimean Palace and Arkhangelskoye. He was ill-equipped to manage his wife's immense fortune and made many bad investments.

His younger son later wrote in his memoirs: "Our relations with our father were always very distant. They merely consisted of kissing his hand in the morning and evening. He knew nothing of life and neither my brother nor I ever talked frankly with him."

In 1914, his remaining son Felix married Princess Irina Romanova, Nicholas II's only niece, despite the groom's scandalous reputation. Only two years later, his son murdered Grigori Rasputin and was banished from the capital. The disgrace affected the entire family, and Prince Yusupov had to retire from the army. He moved to his estate in Rakitnoye. While Zinaida Yusupova approved of her son's actions in murdering the starets, Prince Yusupov's feelings are unknown.

Revolution After the October Revolution in 1917, Prince Yusupov fled to the Crimea with his wife. They stayed there for over a year, until the HMS Marlborough evacuated Prince Yusupov, his wife, their son, their daughter-in-law Irina and their granddaughter, along with 39 other Romanov relatives, in April 1919. Prince Yusupov and his wife settled in Rome. He had a severe stroke in 1924 and died aged 71 in 1928.

Second family

In 2016, an auction of the possessions of Prince Yusupov's son Felix revealed the existence of his father's secret, second family. After the death of their son Nicholas in 1908, Prince Yusupov and his wife grew apart. Their surviving son wrote: "His nature was so different from my mother's that he never really understood her."

After the Revolution, Zina accompanied Prince Yusupov to Alupka in Crimea, where she gave birth to a girl named Tatiana on 5 July 1919. Through forged documents, Prince Yusupov was able to get Zina and their two children to Rome in 1920. From the start of their relationship, Prince Yusupov had let Zina use the last name Svetilov, so she could pose as the wife of his private secretary. In Rome, Zina was told by Prince Yusupov to use specific routes when shopping for her children in order to avoid his wife. The family later moved to Venice, and then to France.