Born March 10 (February 26 old style) 1845 in St. Petersburg. He was the second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

He received a military engineering education traditional for the Grand Dukes.

In 1865, after the death of his elder brother, Grand Duke Nicholas, he became Tsarevich, after which he received more fundamental knowledge. Among Alexander's mentors were Sergey Solovyov (history), Yakov Grot (history of literature), Mikhail Dragomirov (martial arts). The teacher of jurisprudence Konstantin Pobedonostsev had the greatest influence on the crown prince.

In the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, he commanded the Ruschuk detachment in Bulgaria. After the war, he participated in the creation of the Volunteer Fleet, a joint-stock shipping company designed to promote the foreign economic policy of the government.

He ascended the throne on March 1, 1881 after the assassination of Alexander II by terrorists-Narodnaya Volya. The first years of his reign he spent in Gatchina under heavy guard of troops and police.

In his father's reforms, he saw, first of all, negative aspects - the growth of government bureaucracy, the difficult financial situation of the people, imitation of Western models. The political ideal of Alexander III was based on ideas about patriarchal autocratic rule, the planting of religious values ​​in society, the strengthening of the estate structure, and national and distinctive social development.

On April 29, 1881, Alexander III issued a manifesto "On the inviolability of autocracy" and launched a series of reforms that were aimed at partially curtailing the liberal initiatives of his father-reformer.

The domestic policy of the king was characterized by increased control of the central government over all spheres of state life.

To strengthen the role of the police, local and central administration, the "Regulations on Measures to Protect State Security and Public Peace" (1881) were adopted. Adopted in 1882, the "Provisional Rules on the Press" clearly outlined the range of topics that could be written about, and introduced strict censorship. In addition, a number of "counter-reforms" were carried out, thanks to which it was possible to suppress the revolutionary movement, primarily the activities of the "Narodnaya Volya" party.

Alexander III took measures to protect the class rights of the noble landowners: he established the Noble Land Bank, adopted the Provision on hiring for agricultural work, which was beneficial for the landowners, strengthened administrative guardianship over the peasantry, helped to strengthen the community of the peasants, the formation of the ideal of a large patriarchal family.

At the same time, in the first half of the 1880s, he took a number of measures to alleviate the financial situation of the people and alleviate social tension in society: the introduction of compulsory redemption and the reduction of redemption payments, the establishment of the Peasant Land Bank, the introduction of factory inspection, the gradual abolition of the poll tax.

The emperor paid serious attention to enhancing the social role of the Orthodox Church: he increased the number of parochial schools, toughened repressions against the Old Believers and sectarians.

During the reign of Alexander III, the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was completed (1883), parishes closed in the previous reign were restored, and many new monasteries and churches were built.

Alexander III made a significant contribution to the reorganization of the system of state and social relations. In 1884, he issued the University Charter, which curtailed the autonomy of the universities. In 1887, he issued a "circular about the cook's children," which limited the admission of children from the lower classes to the gymnasium.

He strengthened the social role of the local nobility: since 1889, peasant self-government was subordinate to the zemstvo chiefs - who combined judicial and administrative power in their hands to officials from local landowners.

He carried out reforms in the sphere of city government: zemstvo and city regulations (1890, 1892) tightened the control of the administration over local government, limited the rights of voters from the lower strata of society.

He limited the scope of the jury, restored closed court proceedings for political trials.

The economic life of Russia during the reign of Alexander III was characterized by economic growth, which was largely due to the policy of increased patronage of domestic industry. The country rearmed the army and navy, became the world's largest exporter of agricultural products. The government of Alexander III encouraged the growth of large-scale capitalist industry, which achieved notable successes (metallurgy products doubled in 1886-1892, the railway network grew by 47%).

The foreign policy of Russia under Alexander III was distinguished by pragmatism. The main content was the turn from traditional cooperation with Germany to an alliance with France, which was concluded in 1891-1893. The aggravation of relations with Germany was smoothed out by the "Reinsurance Treaty" (1887).

Alexander III went down in history as the Tsar-Peacemaker - during the years of his reign, Russia did not participate in any serious military-political conflict of that time. The only significant battle - the capture of Kushka - took place in 1885, after which the annexation of Central Asia to Russia was completed.

Alexander III was one of the initiators of the creation of the Russian Historical Society and its first chairman. Established the Historical Museum in Moscow.

He simplified court etiquette and ceremonial, in particular, abolished kneeling before the king, reduced the staff of the court ministry and introduced strict control over the spending of money.

The emperor was pious, distinguished by frugality, modesty, he spent his leisure time in a narrow family and friendly circle. Interested in music, painting, history. He collected an extensive collection of paintings, decorative and applied arts, sculptures, which, after his death, was transferred to the Russian Museum founded by Emperor Nicholas II in memory of his father.

The idea of ​​a real hero with iron health is associated with the personality of Alexander III. On October 17, 1888, he suffered in a railway accident near the Borki station, 50 km from Kharkov. However, saving the lives of loved ones, the emperor held the collapsed roof of the car for about half an hour until help arrived. It is believed that as a result of this excessive exertion, he began to progress kidney disease.

On November 1 (October 20, old style), 1894, the emperor died in Livadia (Crimea) from the effects of jade. The body was taken to St. Petersburg and buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The wife of Alexander III was the Danish princess Louise Sophia Frederica Dagmar (in Orthodoxy - Maria Feodorovna) (1847-1928), whom he married in 1866. The emperor and his wife had five children: Nicholas (later the Russian Emperor Nicholas II), George, Xenia, Mikhail and Olga.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Alexander III and his time Tolmachev Evgeny Petrovich

3. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ALEXANDER III

3. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ALEXANDER III

Sickness and death are at the core of our lot.

Gabriel Honore Marcel

1894 became fatal for Alexander III. No one could imagine that this year would be the last for the ruler of Russia, a man who, with his appearance, resembled an epic hero. It seemed that the mighty head of state was the personification of blooming health. However, life was not kind to him. In his youth, he was deeply shocked by the untimely death of his beloved older brother Nikolai.

At the age of twenty-seven, he suffered a severe form of typhus, as a result of which he lost half of his thick hair. The bloody months of the Russian-Turkish war and the terrorist orgy against his father in the final period of his reign became a serious test for him. The opinion was expressed that Alexander III especially tore his body due to excessive efforts on October 17, 1888, during the train crash in Borki, when he supported the roof of the car with his own hands, in which almost his entire family was. It was said that when the bottom of the car fell, "the sovereign received a bruise in the kidneys." However, “about this assumption ... Professor Zakharyin expressed skepticism, since, in his alleged opinion, the consequences of such a bruise, if there was one, would have manifested earlier, because the catastrophe in Borki took place five years before the disease was discovered” (186, p. 662).

In the first half of January 1894, the monarch caught a cold and felt unwell. He had a fever and cough got worse. Life surgeon G. I. Girsh found that it was influenza (flu), but the onset of pneumonia is also possible.

Summoned on January 15 to the Anichkov Palace, l. - the surgeon N. A. Velyaminov, in whom the royal couple had special confidence, listened to the patient together with Hirsch. Both doctors found a flu-like inflammatory nest in the lung at a very high temperature, which was reported to the Empress and Minister of the Court Vorontsov. On January 15, the latter secretly summoned from Moscow the authoritative therapist G. A. Zakharyin, who, having examined the patient, confirmed the established diagnosis, somewhat exaggerated the seriousness of the situation and prescribed treatment.

With the active control of Zakharyin and Velyaminov, the treatment went quite normally. In order to neutralize the fables and gossip that spread around the city about the illness of the sovereign, it was decided, at the suggestion of Velyaminov, to issue bulletins signed by the Minister of the Court. The illness of the 49-year-old autocrat came as a surprise to his inner circle and a real shock to the royal family. “As reported,” V. N. Lamzdorf wrote in his diary on January 17, “due to the appearance of some alarming symptoms, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, with the consent of the empress, telegraphed Professor Zakharyin from Moscow. The state of the sovereign turned out to be very serious, and last night the professor compiled a bulletin, published today in the press. Yesterday, at about one o'clock in the afternoon, Grand Duke Vladimir, leaving the sovereign's room, burst into tears and terribly frightened the children of His Majesty, saying that everything was over and all that was left was to pray for a miracle ”(274, p. 24).

According to Velyaminov, from the time the capital learned about the illness of Alexander III, groups of people gathered in front of the Anichkov Palace who wanted to receive information about the health of the emperor, and when a new bulletin appeared at the gate, a large crowd grew up opposite. As a rule, those passing devoutly took off their hats and crossed themselves, some stopped and, turning to face the palace, prayed fervently for the health of the popular emperor with their heads bare. By January 25, the crowned man recovered, but for a long time he felt weak and weak and began to work in his office, despite the requests of doctors to give himself rest. Pointing to the sofa, on which piles of file folders lay from one handle to the other, he said to Velyaminov: “Look what has accumulated here over the several days of my illness; all this awaits my consideration and resolutions; if I run things for a few more days, then I will no longer be able to cope with the current work and catch up with the missed. There can be no rest for me” (390, 1994, v. 5, p. 284). On January 26, the tsar no longer received doctors, Zakharyin was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky and 15 thousand rubles, his assistant Dr. Belyaev received 1.5 thousand rubles, and a little later Velyaminov was awarded the title of honorary life surgeon.

Velyaminov notes that Alexander III, like his brothers Vladimir and Alexei Alexandrovich, was a typical hereditary arthritic with a sharp tendency to obesity. The tsar led a rather moderate lifestyle and, as many of his entourage note, contrary to the recollections of P. A. Cherevin, he was not fond of alcohol.

Of course, a number of additional factors did not contribute to the health of the monarch, such as the constant spicy cook's table, excessive absorption of liquid in the form of chilled water and kvass, and many years of smoking a large number of cigarettes and strong Havana cigars. Alexander was forced from a young age to take part in numerous festive tables with the use of champagne and other wines, namesakes of members of the royal family, receptions, receptions and other similar events.

In recent years, struggling with obesity, he overloaded himself with physical labor (sawed and chopped firewood). And perhaps most importantly, mental overwork had an effect from constant hidden excitement and overwork, usually until 2-3 o'clock in the morning. “With all this,” says Velyaminov, “the sovereign has never been treated with water and, at least temporarily, with an anti-gout regimen. The fatal illness that struck him in the autumn of that year would not have been a surprise if the general practitioners had not looked at the sovereign's enormous enlargement of the heart (hypertrophy) found at the autopsy. This blunder made by Zakharyin, and later by Leiden, is explained by the fact that the sovereign never allowed himself to be thoroughly examined and became annoyed if it was delayed, therefore professors-therapists always examined him very hastily ”(ibid.). Naturally, if the doctors knew about the acute form of heart failure in the monarch, perhaps they "with the help of the appropriate regimen" could delay the sad outcome for several months. The transferred malaise dramatically changed the appearance of the king. Describing a ball in the Winter Palace on February 20, Lamzdorf notes in his diary: “As usual, the sovereign approaches the diplomats who lined up in order of seniority at the entrance to the Malachite Hall. Our monarch looks thinner, mainly in his face, his skin has become flabby, he has aged a lot” (174, p. 44).

Alexander III himself took little care of his health and often ignored the prescriptions of doctors. However, as Witte notes, “during the time from Easter to my last all-submissive report (which was probably at the end of July or at the beginning of August), the sovereign’s illness had already become known to everyone” (84, pp. 436-437). During the summer of 1894, the weather in St. Petersburg was damp and cold all the time, which further aggravated the sovereign's illness. Alexander III felt weak and tired quickly. Recalling his wedding day on July 25 in Peterhof with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Alexander Mikhailovich later wrote: “We all saw how tired the sovereign looked, but even he himself could not interrupt the tiring wedding dinner earlier than the appointed hour” (50, p. 110) . About the same day, a prominent official of the Ministry of the Imperial Court V. S. Krivenko recalls that those present at the performance in the summer theater when the autocrat appeared in the box “were struck by his sickly appearance, yellowness of his face, tired eyes. They started talking about jade” (47, op. 2, case 672, sheet 198). S. D. Sheremetev clarifies: “The wedding day of Xenia Alexandrovna is a difficult day for the sovereign ... I stood in the row when everything was over and returned to the inner chambers of the Great Peterhof Palace. The sovereign walked arm in arm with the empress. He was pale, terribly pale, and seemed to waddle, speaking heavily. He looked completely exhausted” (354, p. 599).

However, the ruler of Russia strengthened himself and on August 7, when his illness was in full swing, traveling around the troops in the Krasnoselsky camp, he made more than 12 miles.

“August 7, at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon,” writes N. A. Epanchin, “the sovereign visited our regiment in the camp at Krasnoe Selo ... It was already known about the sovereign’s illness, but when he entered the assembly, it immediately became obvious to us what he felt yourself very badly. He moved his legs with some difficulty, his eyes were cloudy, and his eyelids were half-closed ... It was evident with what effort he spoke, trying to be kind and affectionate ... When the sovereign left, we exchanged impressions with bitterness and anxiety. The next day, during a conversation with the prince at the prize shooting, I asked him how the sovereign was in health, and said that yesterday we all noticed the sickly appearance of His Majesty. To this, the crown prince replied that the sovereign had long been feeling unwell, but that the doctors did not find anything threatening, but they considered it necessary that the sovereign go south and do less business. The sovereign’s kidneys are not functioning satisfactorily, and doctors believe that this largely depends on the sedentary life that the sovereign has recently led” (172, pp. 163-164). The tsar's personal surgeon G.I. Girsh stated signs of chronic kidney damage, as a result of which the tsar's usual stay in Krasnoye Selo and maneuvers were reduced.

After Alexander III fell ill from a sharp girdle pain in the lower back, the outstanding clinician-practitioner G. A. Zakharyin was again urgently called from Moscow to St. Petersburg, who arrived on August 9, accompanied by the therapist Professor N. F. Golubov. According to Zakharyin, after the study, it turned out “the constant presence of protein and cylinders, that is, signs of nephritis, a slight increase in the left ventricle of the heart with a weak and frequent pulse, that is, signs of consistent heart damage and uremic phenomena (depending on insufficient purification of blood by the kidneys), insomnia , constantly bad taste, often nausea. Doctors reported the diagnosis to the Empress and Alexander III, not hiding the fact that "such an ailment sometimes goes away, but extremely rarely" (167, p. 59). As the daughter of Alexander III, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, notes, “the annual trip to Denmark was canceled. We decided that the forest air of Belovezh, located in Poland, where the emperor had a hunting palace, would have a beneficial effect on the health of the sovereign ... ”(112a, p. 225).

In the second half of August, the court moved to Belovezh. At first, the emperor, along with everyone else, “went hunting, but then became indifferent to her. He lost his appetite, stopped going to the dining room, only occasionally ordered food to be brought to his office. Rumors about the dangerous illness of the monarch grew and gave rise to the most diverse and ridiculous stories and tales. “As they say,” Lamzdorf wrote on September 4, 1894, “the palace in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, for the construction of which 700,000 rubles were spent, turned out to be raw” (174, p. 70). Such speculation happens when the population is left without official information. On September 7, the ubiquitous A. V. Bogdanovich entered in her diary: “In Belovezh, while hunting, he caught a cold. A severe fever set in. He was prescribed a warm bath at 28 degrees. Sitting in it, he cooled it down to 20 degrees by turning on the cold water tap. There was blood in his throat in the bath, he fainted in the same place, the fever increased. The queen was on duty until 3 am at his bedside” (73, p. 180-181). Maria Fedorovna summoned Dr. Zakharyin from Moscow. “This famous specialist,” Olga Alexandrovna recalled, “was a little plump little man who wandered around the house all night, complaining that the ticking of the tower clock prevented him from sleeping. He begged the Pope to order them to be stopped. I don't think he made any sense. Of course, the father had a low opinion of the doctor, who, apparently, was mainly occupied with his own health” (112a, p. 227).

The patient attributed the deterioration of his health to the climate of Belovezh and moved to Spala, a hunting ground not far from Warsaw, where he became even worse. Therapists Zakharyin and Professor Leiden from Berlin, summoned to Spala, joined Hirsch's diagnosis that the ruler of Russia had chronic interstitial inflammation of the kidneys. Alexander III immediately summoned his second son to Spala by telegraph. It is known that led. book. Georgy Alexandrovich fell ill with tuberculosis in 1890 and lived in Abbas-Tuman at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. According to Olga Alexandrovna, "dad wanted to see his son for the last time." George, who soon arrived, "looked so ill" that the king "sat for hours at night by his son's bed" (112a, p. 228).

Meanwhile, on September 17, 1894, an alarming message appeared for the first time in the Government Gazette: “His Majesty’s health has not completely recovered since the severe influenza he suffered last January, but in the summer a kidney disease (nephritis) was discovered, requiring more successful treatment in cold weather. the season of His Majesty's stay in a warm climate. On the advice of professors Zakharyin and Leiden, the sovereign departs for Livadia for a temporary stay there ”(388, 1894, September 17). The Greek Queen Olga Konstantinovna immediately offered Alexander III her villa Monrepos on the island of Corfu. Dr. Leiden believed that "stay in a warm climate can have a beneficial effect on the patient." On September 18, they decided to go to the Crimea and stop for a few days in Livadia before sailing to Corfu.

On September 21, the royal family arrived on the steamer of the Volunteer Fleet "Eagle" in Yalta, from where they proceeded to Livadia. The sovereign stayed in a small palace, where he used to live as an heir. This palace looked like a modest villa or cottage. In addition to the Empress, Grand Dukes Nikolai and Georgy Aleksandrovichi also settled here, the younger children lived in another house. The fine weather seemed to cheer up the dejected master of the country a little. On September 25, he even allowed himself to defend mass in the court church, after which he went to Ai-Todor to see his daughter Xenia. However, the king's health did not improve. He did not receive anyone and daily rode with his wife in an open carriage along hidden roads, at times to the Uchan-Su waterfall and to Massandra. Only a few knew of his hopeless condition. The emperor lost a lot of weight. The general's uniform hung on him like on a hanger. There was a sharp swelling of the legs and severe itching of the skin. The days of severe anxiety have come.

On October 1, on an urgent call, the life surgeon Velyaminov arrived in Livadia, and the next day - doctors Leiden, Zakharyin and Girsh. At the same time, the Kharkov professor, surgeon V. F. Grube, who wished to cheer him up, was introduced into the sovereign's chambers. The monarch gladly received Grube, a calm, very balanced old man, whom he met in Kharkov after a railway accident on October 17, 1888 in Borki. Grube very convincingly explained to the king that it was possible to recover from inflammation of the kidneys, as an example of which he himself can serve. This argument seemed to Alexander III quite convincing, and after Grube's visit he even cheered up a little.

At the same time, it should be noted that since October 3, when the doctors examined the patient rather superficially, he no longer left his rooms. From that day until his death, Velyaminov became almost permanent duty officer with him day and night. After the doctors visited the tsar, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the minister of the court and bulletins were compiled, which from October 4 were sent to the Government Gazette and reprinted in other newspapers. The first telegram, which made the whole of Russia shudder, reported: “Kidney disease has not improved. Strength has decreased. Doctors hope that the climate of the Crimean coast will have a beneficial effect on the state of health of the Most August Sick.” As time has shown, this did not happen.

Aware of the hopelessness of his situation, suffering from swelling of the legs, itching, shortness of breath and nighttime insomnia, the king did not lose his presence of mind, did not act up, was equally even, amiable, kind, meek and delicate. He got up daily, dressed in his dressing room, and spent most of his time in the company of his wife and children. Despite the protests of doctors, Alexander III tried to work, to sign cases for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and military orders. He signed the last order the day before his death.

His health was so weakened that he often fell asleep during a conversation with loved ones. On some days, a severe illness forced him to go to bed after breakfast and sleep.

After the publication of the first bulletins about the illness of Alexander III, members of the imperial family and some of the highest persons of the court gradually began to gather in Livadia.

On October 8, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, the tsar's aunt, arrived with the queen of the Hellenes, Olga Konstantinovna, his cousin. The Grand Duchess also brought Father John of Kronstadt to the dying man, who during his lifetime had the glory of a people's saint and miracle worker. On the same evening, two brothers of the tsar arrived in Livadia - Sergei and Pavel Alexandrovich.

On Monday, October 10, the high-ranking bride of the Tsarevich, Princess Alice of Hesse, arrived. The heir to the throne noted this fact in his diary: “At 9 1/2 I went with village Sergey to Alushta, where we arrived at one in the afternoon. Ten minutes later, my beloved Alix and Ella drove up from Simferopol ... At each station, the Tatars were met with bread and salt ... The whole carriage was filled with flowers and grapes. I was seized with a terrible excitement when we entered the dear Parents. Papa was weaker today and Alyx's arrival, besides the meeting with Fr. John, weary him” (115, p. 41).

For all the time before his fateful end, Alexander III did not receive anyone, and only between October 14 and 16, feeling better, he wished to see his brothers and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna and Maria Pavlovna.

On the morning of October 17, the patient took communion with St. secrets from Father John. Seeing that the sovereign was dying, his legs were swollen, water appeared in the abdominal cavity, the therapists Leiden and Zakharyin raised the issue of performing a small operation on the suffering monarch, which involved introducing silver tubes (drainages) under the skin of the legs through small incisions to drain fluid. However, the surgeon Velyaminov believed that subcutaneous drainage would not bring any benefit, and vigorously opposed such an operation. The surgeon Grube was urgently called from Kharkov, who, after examining the sovereign, supported the opinion of Velyaminov.

On October 18, a family council was held, in which all four brothers of Alexander III and the minister of the court took part. All the doctors were also present. The heir to the throne and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich presided. As a result, opinions regarding the operation were divided equally. No decision was made. On October 19, the dying monarch again confessed and took communion. Despite his incredible weakness, the august patient got up, dressed, went into the office to his desk and signed the order for the military department for the last time. Here, for some time, his strength left him, he lost consciousness.

Undoubtedly, this case emphasizes that Alexander III was a man of strong will, considered it his duty to fulfill his duty, while his heart was still beating in his chest.

All that day the king spent sitting in an armchair, suffering from shortness of breath, aggravated by inflammation of the lungs. At night he tried to sleep, but immediately woke up. Lying down was a big pain for him. At his request, he was placed in a semi-sitting position in bed. He nervously lit a cigarette and threw one cigarette after another. At about 5 o'clock in the morning the dying man was transplanted into a chair.

At 8 o'clock the heir to the throne appeared. The empress went into the next room to change clothes, but immediately the crown prince came to say that the sovereign was calling her. When she entered, she saw her husband in tears.

"I feel my end!" - said the royal sufferer. "For God's sake, don't say that, you'll be fine!" exclaimed Maria Fyodorovna. “No,” the monarch confirmed gloomily, “it drags on too long, I feel that death is near!”

The Empress, seeing that her breathing was difficult and that her husband was weakening, sent for Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. At the beginning of the 10th hour, the entire royal family gathered. Alexander III affectionately greeted everyone who entered and, realizing the proximity of his death, did not express any surprise that the entire imperial family had come so early. His self-control was so great that he even congratulated Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna on her birthday.

The dying ruler of Russia sat in an armchair, the Empress and all those close to him on their knees. Around 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the king distinctly said: "I would like to pray!" Arriving archpriest Yanyshev began to read prayers. A little later, the sovereign said in a rather firm voice: "I would like to join." When the priest proceeded to the sacrament of communion, the sovereign patient distinctly repeated the words of the prayer after him: “I believe, Lord, and I confess…” and was baptized.

After the departure of Yanyshev, the tsar-martyr wanted to see Father John, who at that time was serving mass in Oreanda. Wishing to rest, the autocrat stayed with the empress, the crown prince with his bride and children. Everyone else moved into the next room.

Meanwhile, having finished mass in Oreanda, John of Kronstadt arrived. In the presence of Maria Feodorovna and the children, he prayed and anointed the dying sovereign with oil. Leaving, the shepherd loudly and meaningfully said: "Forgive me, king."

The Empress was kneeling all the time on the left side of her husband, holding his hands, which were starting to get cold.

Since the breathing patient groaned heavily, Dr. Velyaminov suggested that he lightly massage his swollen legs. Everyone left the room. During a foot massage, the sufferer said to Velyaminov: “It seems that the professors have already left me, and you, Nikolai Alexandrovich, are still messing with me out of your kindness of heart.” For some time, the king felt relieved and for a few minutes wished to be alone with the heir to the throne. Apparently, before his death, he blessed his son to reign.

During the last hours, the emperor kissed his wife, but at the end he said: “I can’t even kiss you.”

His head, which was hugged by the kneeling empress, bent to one side and leaned against the head of his wife. The dying person no longer groaned, but still breathed superficially, his eyes were closed, his expression was quite calm.

All members of the royal family were on their knees, the clergyman Yanyshev read the waste. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, breathing stopped, the ruler of the most powerful state in the world, Alexander III, died.

On the same day, his son, Nikolai Alexandrovich, who became Emperor Nicholas II, wrote in his diary: “My God, my God, what a day! The Lord called back our adored, dear, dearly beloved Pope. My head is spinning, I don’t want to believe - the terrible reality seems so implausible ... It was the death of a saint! Lord, help us in these difficult days! Poor dear Mama!..” (115, p. 43.)

Dr. Velyaminov, who spent the last 17 days almost non-stop near Alexander III, noted in his memoirs: “Now it has been more than forty years that I have been a doctor, I have seen many deaths of people of various classes and social status, I have seen dying, believers, deeply religious , I also saw non-believers, but I have never seen such a death, so to speak, in public, among the whole family, neither before nor later, only a sincerely believing person, a person with a pure soul, like a child, with a completely calm conscience, could die like that . Many were convinced that Emperor Alexander III was a stern and even cruel person, but I will say that a cruel person cannot die like that and in reality never dies ”(390, issue V, 1994, p. 308). When relatives, officials of the court and servants said goodbye to the deceased according to Orthodox custom, Empress Maria Feodorovna completely motionless continued to kneel, hugging the head of her beloved husband, until those present noticed that she was unconscious.

For some time, the farewell was interrupted. The empress was lifted up in her arms and laid on a couch. Due to a severe mental shock, she was in a deep faint for about an hour.

The news of the death of Alexander III quickly spread around Russia and other countries of the world. Residents of the Crimean environs closest to Livadia learned about this from the rarely followed one after another shots from the cruiser "Memory of Mercury".

The sad news spread throughout St. Petersburg at about five o'clock in the afternoon. The majority of the population of Russia, as noted in the newspapers, was deeply saddened by the death of the tsar-peacemaker.

“Even the weather changed, too,” Nicholas II noted in his diary on October 21, “it was cold and roared into the sea!” On the same day, newspapers on the front pages published his manifesto on accession to the throne. A few days later, a post-mortem autopsy and embalming of the body of the late emperor were performed. At the same time, as the surgeon Velyaminov noted, “a very significant hypertrophy of the heart and fatty degeneration of it was found in chronic interstitial inflammation of the kidneys ... the doctors, no doubt, did not know about such a formidable enlargement of the heart, but meanwhile this was the main cause of death. Changes in the kidneys were comparatively insignificant” (ibid.).

Illness and death of Emperor Peter I On November 21, Peter was the first in the capital to cross the ice across the Neva, which had risen only the day before. This trick of his seemed so dangerous that the head of the coast guard, Hans Jurgen, even wanted to arrest the offender, but the emperor galloped past