RUSSIAN EXILES WHO LIVE IN LONDON

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 828, 23 November 1929, Page 18

RUSSIAN EXILES WHO LIVE IN LONDON

r -_ a __ 7 i llElli: is a sad little ''■W colony of Russians living today in London. Tllt se strangers from 1 I that country, which was A ** the scene of the greatest social upheaval in the history of the world, are comparatively recent arrivals. They are Russians of the upper and middle classes who had to flee for their lives from the murderous hands of the Bolsheviks; and they have sought refuge in the peaceful and secure land of England, writes George Popoff in "Pearson's Weekly.” English people, living in their safe little island, untouched for centuries by invasion, or revolution, find it ditfi.•ult to understand what the revolution meant to the wealthier classes in j Russia. For three million Russians it meant ruin, a hasty flight from home, and the difficult problem of starting life afresh in a strange land. The Russian colony in London is j leally a small one. Compared with : the more Bohemian crowd in Paris, the Russian colony in London seems ; quiet. Most of the Russian aristocrats, although some have opened shops or j gone into business, are prominent and popular members of English society. J How have the Russian nobles solved the problems of their new life of exile in London? There are residing in j England several members of the Rus-I

Where Arc All the Russian Aristocrats I Who fled From the Revolution: Some Are in Germany. Some in Paris. i and London lias a Small ‘ *Colony. sian Imperial family, relatives of the late Tsar Nicholas 11., so brutally murdered in IP IS. The Grand Duchess Xenia, sister of the Tsar and cousin of the King of England, lives with her son. Prince Vassili of Russia, at Frogmore Cottage. Windsor, which the King has I placed at her disposal. Prince George of Russia is popular I in society. He is one of the aristo- j crats who have gone into business, j and is to he found during the day- 1 time presiding over a smart West i End interior decorating shop. ; Then there is the Grand Duke Dmitri —although he spends only a portion J of the year in London. He married an English girl. Miss Emery, and has j a son who was born in England. On j the occasion of the marriage. Miss j Emery received from the Grand Duke j Cyril, the head of the family of [ Romanoff, the title of Princess | Ilyinky. The late Grand Duke Michael j Mihailovitch. an uncle of the late j Tsar, lived for over III) years in Eng-1 land, and was considered as the head < of the Russian nobility in Great . Britain. He married the Countess ! Torby, and his son. Count Michael Torbv, is still living in London, ami is a painter by profession. He also left two daughters, one of whom is now Lady Milford Haven, considered to be among the most beautiful women in society. The , : other is Lady Zia Wernher, also a popular society beauty. . Besides the “royalties.” there are j several other Russians of the nobility j j who take a more or less prominent j part in the life of English society, j i Prince Imeretinsky, who was at one 1 time an officer in the British Army . and is a keen sportsman, married an^i

English girl, a daughter of Sir John Mullens. Another, Prince "Viasemsky, is wedded to one of the daughters of Mr. Gordon Selfridge. Many Russian ladies of the aristocracy have married prominent Englishmen. First of all, of course, must be mentioned London’s recent Lady Mayoress, Lady Studd, who was Princess Lieven, and a daughter of the Master of Ceremonies of the Tsar. Then there is Lady Deterding, wife of Sir Henry Deterding. She was, before her marriage, Lydia Kandayaroff, and is the daughter of a Russian general. The great Russian dancer, Tamara Karsavina, is married to Mr. Henry Bruce, ex-diplomat and formerly British Delegate in Bulgaria. Another famous Russian ballet dancer, Lydia Lopokova, who is par- j ticularly popular in England, is the j wife of Mr. Maynard Keynes, the Cam- 1 bridge economist. Several distinguished Russian j women have opened dressmaking j businesses in London. Princess j Soumbatoff has an elegant fashion j shop—“ Lydia” —in Brompton Arcade. ! In the musical world we have the pianist. Prince Chevchavadze, and the Moussorgsky Quartet, which performs in a Soho restaurant and consists of four ex-officers of the Russian Guard. As well as these Russians of the aristocracy, there are, of course, many Russians of the poorer classes living

more obscurely In different parts of London. They have every reason to be grateful to the English people, who have shown much kindness and hospitality toward them.