Nice France: 2009

Baroness Ada de Manteufel, née Countess Apraxin (1849-1914) is burried in the Cimetière de Caucade in Nice, France. She was the founder of an institution for the deaf in Nice.
After the October Revolution most Apraxins escaped to Belgium, and from there they emigrated to the United States, during and after the forties.

May 2, 1926: the night of Russian Easter: Grand Duke André Vladimirovich Romanoff and Mathilde Kshessinskaya have invited Serge Diaghilev and his company. Mathilde: `The cars I rented brought all of us to the Cathedral of Nice. After midnight mass we returned to the villa for the "razgoveni'', the traditional Easter meal with "pashka's'' and "kulich'', painted eggs, ham and other tasty dishes. (...) After the meal the guests started to dance. Serge Lifar, who was a little bit tipsy, wanted to court Tamara Karsavina, but Diaghilev was offended and put an end to the flirt by saying, "Young man, you are obviously a little too merry! It is time to go home!'', and they left together for Monte Carlo.'

Nice, France, September 14, 1927: After finishing her book My Life the dancer Isadora Duncan dies, in a car, just like her children Deirdre and Patrick. Her long scarf gets stuck in the spokes of her car, in front of the Negresco Hotel, and literally strangles her. Isadora Duncan caused a stirr by appearing on stage barefooted and only dressed in a tunic. In 1922 Isadora married the Russian poet Serge Esenin. They met in February 1921, when Isadora danced with the Bolshoy Theatre in Moscow. From 1921 to 1924 she had a school of dance in Moscow.

November 19, 1928: Count Alexander Buxhoeveden is a real estate agent in Paris, and because his business is doing well he and his family move to Nice.

Nice, Southern France, June 2, 1932: Count Anatol (Alec) Buxhoeveden (1905-), the eldest son of Count Alexander Buxhoeveden, marries Vera Illarionov, daughter of Count Nicholas Illarionov and Countess Natalia Peresviat-Soltan.

Nice, Southern France, July 1, 1934: Count Theodor Buxhoeveden (1934-1965), Count Alexander's first son out of his marriage to Rosine-Marie Vidal, is born.

November 23, 1934: Igor Strawinsky becomes a French citizen. Until now he lived in Brittany, Garches, Biarritz, Nice and Voreppe, but from now on he will live in Paris, in the chique Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Due to the fact that Russia didn't sign the Bern Convention, Strawinsky can't claim royalties and copyrights. Had he been German, French or American, then he would have been a rich man.

Nice, Southern France, June 29, 1936: Count Alexander Alexandrovich Buxhoeveden, Count Alexander's second son out of his second marriage, is born.

Nice, Southern France, December 1944: Countess Elisabeth Buxhoeveden, Count Alexander's first daughter out of his first marriage, marries the Russian nobleman Vladimir Panov (1880-1945).

Nice, Southern France, December 7, 1948: Countess Elisabeth Buxhoeveden, Count Alexander's eldest daughter, dies. Her husband Vladimir Panov died on August 19, 1945, also in Nice. Their marriage didn't even last one year.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a Russian-French painter, sculptor, stained-glass artist, lithographer, etcher and ceramic artist. From 1910 to 1914 he lived and worked in Paris. After the Revolution he was director of the Academy of Arts in Vitebsk and a theatrical designer in Moscow. From 1922 he lived permanently in Paris, except during World War II, when he stayed in the United States, in view of his Jewish background. His wife died in New York. Chagall became famous with his bible illustrations, his fantastic colours, and his intuitive feeling for rhythm and harmony. He made stained-glass windows for a synagogue in Jerusalem, the ceiling paintings of the Opéra in Paris and a glass plate for the secretariate of the United Nations in Paris. He illustrated Gogol's Dead Souls and even made wall hangings. His symbolism is based on Jewish folklore and he developed a characteristic mixture of Christian and traditional Jewish iconography. Since 1973 the work of this versatile artist is exhibitioned in the Chagall Museum in Cimiez (Nice). He died in 1985 and is burried in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Metropolitan Vladimir (Viacheslav Tikhonitsky) (1872- 1959). Studied theology in the seminary of Kazan. Worked in Nice from 1925 to 1945. In 1946 he succeeded Metropolitan Evlogi, and he performed this task until his death, December 18, 1959.

LAST RESTING PLACES:

Cimetière de Caucade, 78 Avenue de Sainte-Marguerite, Nice:

Grigori Viktorovich (Georges) Adamovich (1894-1971). Poet and critic. Studied history in the university of St. Petersburg. Escaped in 1922 to Paris.

Princess Nina Bagration-Moukhransky (1882-1972). Lady in waiting to the Tsaritsa.

Vladimir Bezobrazov (1857-1932). Cavalry general, aide-de- camp to the Tsar.

Adam Cwiecinsky (1827-1881). General and aide-de-camp to Alexander II.

Michael Grulev (1857-1943). Lieutenant-General and author of Carnets d'un général juif, in which he sharply criticized the Imperial Army.

Nina Ivanov-Lutzevin (1888-1986). Lady in waiting to the Tsaritsa.

Nicholas Yudenich (Moscow 1862 - Saint-Laurent-du-Var 1933). Infantry general. From 1914 to 1917 commander of the Russian army on the Caucasian front. In October 1919 he was commander of the North Western White Army, and with 13,000 men he was about to capture St. Petersburg, when he was defeated by Trotsky's crack troops of the Red Army. He withdrew, to reinforce his troops, but abandoned the plan of a second attack and left for France. Princess Catharina Yurevsky, née Princess Dolgorouky.

(Moscow 1847 - Nice 1922). Second wife of Alexander II. When she was his mistress, she had three children: Grigori (1872), Olga (1873) and Catharina (1880). On July 18, 1880, a month after his wife Maria Alexandrovna had passed away, Alexander and Princess Catharina Dolgoroukaya married in St.-Petersburg, and in December 1880 she became, by virtue of an ukase, the title `Princess Yurevsky'. After the murder of her husband the Princess withdrew in France.

Serge Kanshin (1863-1944). Last Russian consul in Nice, from 1906 to 1917.

Arkadi Kostin (1863-1953). Minister and Privy Councillor of Nicholas II.

Vladimir Lazarevsky (Kiev 1897 - Nice 1953). Journalist. Finished law school in Prague and in Paris he founded the paper La Pensée russe.

Serge Lyubimov (1851-1918). Father confessor to Princess Olga von Württemberg, successively, from 1887 to 1918, archpriest of the church Saint-Nicolas-et-Sainte-Alexandra in Nice. Father Lyubimov is burried in the sanctuarium of the Saint-Nicholas Chapel, in the middle of the cemetery.

Serge Sazonov (Moscow 1860 - Nice 1927). From 1910 to 1916 Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1914 he tried to talk the Tsar into announcing a mobilisation, to show loyalty to Serbia. Soon afterwards World War I was a fact.

Princess Elena of Serbia (Reka 1884 - Nice 1962). Daughter of King Peter I of Serbia, spouse of Grand Duke Ivan Constantinovich Romanoff, who in July 1918 was murdered by the Cheka.

Dmitri Shcherbatov (Moscow 1857 - Nice 1932). Cavalry general, aide-de-camp to the Tsar.

General Michael Svekhin (Ekaterinoslav 1876 - Nice 1976). Grand-cousin of Sophie Svechin. From 1915 he was commander of the Guards Cuirassiers of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1917 he was promoted Divisional General, and in 1918 he joined the Don Cossacks of the White Army. In 1925 he escaped to France.

Cimetière de Roquebrune-Cap Martin:

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanoff (St. Petersburg 1875 - Hampton Court 1960). Daughter of Alexander III, sister of Nicholas II.

Her husband Grand Duke Alexander (Sandro) Mikhaïlovich Romanoff (Tiflis 1866 - Roquebrune 1933). Lifetime friend of Nicholas II. Vice-Admiral, Minister of the Merchant Navy, and in 1917 aide-de-camp to the Tsar.

Cimetière de Saint-Paul-de-Vence:
Marc Chagall (Vitebsk 1887 - Saint-Paul-de-Vence 1985). Painter who became very popular by his warm colours and emotionality. Escaped in 1922 to Paris, where he had lived from 1910 to 1914. After World War II he became many official assignments. In 1973 the Chagall Museum was opened in Cimiez (Nice).

Recently I moved to a new neighborhood, 5 minutes walk from the beach, 10 minutes from the central station, 15 minutes from Vieux Nice.
The Jardin Alscace-Lorraine is a nice little park, on the corner of Boulevard Victor Hugo and Boulevard Gambetta, and my street is right next to it.
This side of the park is a rather residential area, quite peaceful too, while the boulevards on the south and the west are extremely busy.
Only five minutes walk to the beach; boulevard Gambetta direction south.
Looking to the north: boulevard Gambetta, my little park, the railway viaduct, the Voie Rapide, and the Alps.
Since centuries Nice has been the favorite holiday resort for Russians. This is the Russian Cathedral in Rue Tsarewitch, off Boulevard Gambetta, and there's a Russian Church in Rue Longchamps.
In my neighborhood you can find Russian stores, Russian restaurants, and many Russians who's families live here since generations, or only moved here recently.
This is "Gastronomy Nissa", a Russian snackbar and foodstore.
Halal butchery Selim, in Rue Dante. Gigi is a nephew of the owner, and he works for his uncle as a butcher. His father is Tunisian, his mother is Italian, and every year he goes on holiday in Cuba.
When more and more Russians came to live in Nice, the Ashkenazi Jews came to join them, because of the cultural similarities. For the same reason the Sefardi Jews followed them, and they in turn attracted the Arabs, also because of the fact that they had cultural things in common. Now this is a neighborhood where you can hear French, Italian, Russian, Arabic, and Hebrew, and occasionally some English, Swedish or German.
This is the K'Gel Supermarket, where all kinds of people, not only Jews, buy their kosher food and wines. The local Casino supermarket, however, also sells matzes, kosher wine, memorial candles, falafel (or ta'amia), etc.
A friendly young man in front of the Synagogue asked me not to take photo's, because of security reasons. The Synagogue is a rather nondescript building and the Jewish community isn't particularly keen on attention. Quite understandable, because the political party of Jean-Marie le Pen is still quite active here in the south of France.
All in all this is a nice multicultural area to live in, and I feel at home here. But I still visit Vieux Nice every day, and my local (Irish) pub is there.

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