Nicholas Maximilianovitch, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg (4 August 1843 - 6 January 1891) was a Russian Prince and soldier who was the 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg from 1852 until his death in 1891. Head of the House of Beauharnais, he was a grandson of Nicholas I of Russia and was a candidate for the throne of Greece and of Romania. Like his father, he was also a renowned mineralogist.
Son of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg and of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Nicholas grew up in Russia. He followed a military career but also studied mineralogy, geology and palaeontology. His was a candidate for the throne of Greece in 1862 and for Romania in 1866 but his links with Russia meant he did not accede to either.
Appointed President of the Imperial Society of Mineralogy and Honorary President of the Russian Society of Technology in 1865 by Tsar Alexander II, he carried out several scientific missions in Russia. His relationship with Nadezhda Annenkova led him to flee the country in 1868. Deprived of his fortune and abandoned by his family, he was later partially forgiven by his uncle. He spent the rest of his life in exile and died at the age of 47 of throat cancer.
Family
Nicholas was the eldest son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. His father was the grandson of Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon and also a grandson of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. His mother was the granddaughter of Paul I of Russia and of Frederick William Ill of Prussia.
Biography
Childhood and education
The first grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, Nicholas was born in a Dacha on the Serguievka estate near Petergof in Russia on 4 August 1843. His birth was difficult and he was born with one leg shorter than the other. This disability later led his parents to seek orthopaedic treatments abroad. During his childhood, he underwent no less than four operations on his leg in Germany and the United Kingdom before being entrusted to the care of Dr Nikolay Pirogov, who proscribed him gymnastic exercises. Due to this program, Nicholas grew almost normally and he no longer had this physical problem.
Following the promise his grandfather made upon his parents' marriage, Nicholas received the style of Imperial Highness and title of Prince Romanovsky. Although being a part of the Imperial family, he was not entitled to any appanage. However, his parents had a large fortune and received a pension from the Tsar. After the death of his father, Maximilian de Beauharnais, in 1852, the family sold their property abroad in order to provide income for Nicholas and his siblings.
After his father's death while he was still aged 9, Nicholas became very attached to his mother whom he spoke Russian with despite most members of his class preferring French. In 1854, his mother secretly remarried to Count Grigori Aleksandrovich Stroganov, and Nicholas maintained cordial relations with his step father. Nicolas was also close to his uncle, Tsar Alexander II, who often took Nicholas on trips with the Imperial family in Russia or abroad. He was also close with his first cousin, the Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, with whom he spent a lot of time.
Nicholas received his education supervised by Colonel Rebinder. His tutors also included several artists such as Nikolai Tikhobrazov, who taught him in drawing and painting. His interest in science saw him take courses at the University of St. Petersburg from 1860, whilst pursuing a military career at the same time.
Claim to the Greek throne
In the 1850s and the 1860s, the Kingdom of Greece faced a succession crisis as King Otto and Queen Amalia of Oldenburg had no children. The constitution required that one of the monarch's brothers, Luitpold or Adalbert, to be proclaimed the heir to the throne. However, both were of Catholic faith and refused to convert to the Church of Greece. As Otto unsuccessfully attempted to persuade his brothers to raise at least one of their children in orthodoxy, the Greek population began to consider a change of dynasty. As early as 1858, placards were placed in the Greek capital to demand the appointment of Nicholas as the heir. As a cousin of the King and of Orthodox faith, the supporters of the Russian Party considered Nicholas as the ideal heir to the throne.