Union of the Descendants
of the Hereditary Commanders and Knights
of the Russian Grand Priory
of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
(Union des descendants des Commandeurs Hereditaires et Chevaliers du Grand Prieure Russe de l'Order de St. Jean de Jerusalem)
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Disclaimer: The details here presented are compiled from such sources as were available to the author. He will willingly correct and errors, omissions and make such necessary additions as to correct the history. He apologises beforehand for any errors, inadvertent or otherwise, and will make such corrections as are needed to produce an accurate account. A bibliography of sources is given at the end of this history. Dr Michael Foster. |
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In 1917, the Russian Revolution placed the Russian society in disarray. A number of Russian Nobles escaped and settled in France following the upheaval. On the 24th November 1925 the "Union de la Noblesse Russe" was formed and incorporate under French Law on the 14th February 1926. The unity of Russian Nobles which had been maintained in Paris led to discussions about the Order of St. John, and in 1928 a number of Hereditary Commanders of the Russian Grand Priory had arranged to meet in Paris. Of the 21 possible families entitled to provide a Commander for membership, thirteen had been traced as surviving. Despite attempts in the preceding decade to trace the remaining families, the research had failed to be conclusive. In some cases the family line had thought to have become extinct, although more recently, with ongoing research, surviving families members have come to light. As a result of the contact between Commanders, on the 24th June 1928, the Feast of the Birth of St John the Baptist, twelve Russian Hereditary Commanders, a Polish Catholic Hereditary Commander and three aspirants met and signed a declaration whereby they re-established the activity of the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of Malta and declared that the re-establishment was by virtue of their inviolable privilege as Russian Nobility.
The twelve Commanders were; Leo Narichkine, Count Dmitri Chérémeteff,
Prince Serge Bielosselsky-Bielozersky, Prince Serge Dolgorouki, Denis Davydoff,
Paul Demidoff, Prince Nikita Troubetzkoy, Count Hilarion Worontzoff-Dachkoff,
Count Dmitri Olsoufieff, Dmitri Jerebzoff, Dmitri Boutourline, Nicholas
Tchirikoff. |
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Present at the gathering in 1928 was Count Vladimir Borch, a Hereditary Commander
of the Catholic Grand Priory of Russia. Also present were Aspirants for
Knighthood, Prince Vladimir Galitzine, Count Alexander Mordvinoff, and Count
Andre Lanskoi. |
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The meeting made Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch the Grand Prior, with a request that the Grand Duke approach King Alfonso XIII of Spain to undertake the role of being Protector to the Order, as King Alfonso had been given the protection of Russians abroad by Emperor Nicholas II. Informal discussions established the limitations of the King of Spain, who had been effectively sidelined by the Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera, who ruled as a Dictator. In addition to being Grand Prior, as a result of these discussions, Grand Duke Alexander also took on the role of Protector, and sent a courtesy letter to Alphonso III, informing him of the formation of an Association of Hereditary Commanders of the Russian Grand Priory |
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The Hereditary Commanders who re-established the activities of the Russian Grand Priory were mainly Orthodox with a certain exception of the one Roman Catholic of Polish descent. The Roman Catholic Priory had ended in 1810, when the Russian organisation was made a domestic Russian Order. The continuing Priory, was that which was created by Imperial Authority - the Russian Grand Priory, which from the first allowed Christians of other denominations into membership. As at least one of the Hereditary Commanders was a Roman Catholic (of Polish descent), the Association was continuing the ecumenical tradition of the Russian Grand Priory's foundation. The continuing Priory was that founded by Emperor, Emperor Paul I as Grand Master in 1799, consisting mainly of Orthodox nobles, but which from the first allowed Christians of other denominations into membership. Whilst this aspect remained true of the continuing Priory in exile, with the failure of discussions with the Grand Magistracy in Rome, Commander Borch transferred to the Roman Order of Malta's Polish Association. |
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A LINK WITH THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY GRAND PRIORY Prince Paul Alexandrovitch Demidoff who was listed in the Almanach de St. Petersbourg 1913-1914 page 178 as "ancient officer du reg. des chevaliers gardes, commandant Hereditaire de l'Ordre de Malte" was one of the Hereditary Commanders who re-established the Russian Grand Priories activities in exile, thereby providing unquestionable proof of the continuous existence of those who were not members of the Roman Catholic Order but, who claimed to be members of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. |
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In September 1929 de Taube was charged with the task of seeking rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Grand Magistracy. Discussions took place during the course of two and a half years. The eventual reply from Rome was given on the 12th February 1932, and was extremely disappointing, as it had misread the 1810 Ukase as creating the suppression of the Russian Grand Priory. However, almost as a contradiction, it was also stated that the reconstruction of the Priory could be undertaken, only if the members became Roman Catholics. Following this disappointment, de Taube began to gather the necessary documents with which to begin a refutation of what he saw as "l'incompréhensible grosse erreur". HOUSE OF ROMANOV, ROYAL PROTECTORS OF THE RUSSIAN GRAND PRIORY. The concerns of the 1928 Association of Hereditary Commanders were quite modest as it sought to continue the Russian tradition of St. John. In contrast, the so-called "American Grand Priory" founded in the mid 1950s but which had falsified its beginnings to 1908, and had imitated the pedigree of Russian Hereditary Commanders was more pretentious. The American Priory had from its foundation sought to re-invent the Order itself, complete with a Grand Master. From the outset the mimic "Russian tradition" American group declared itself to be the Convent of the Order of St John. |
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The claims of the 1928 group were more humbler, in that it was an Association of Hereditary Commanders brought together to continue the activities of the Russian Grand Priory. They were not claiming that the Order subsisted in themselves. Their concern was to ensure legitimacy, which they saw in the continuation of the Royal Household of Russia providing a Protector to the Russian Grand Priory, and that this 'protection' was a commitment made by Emperor, Paul I, and binding on his successors in the creation of the Priory. Hence the contact with King Alfonso XIII, whom they saw as a custodian of the Royal Protectorship, to confirm Grand Duke Alexander as the Protector of the Order. The model of their existence was akin to the National Associations of the Roman Catholic Order, which had replaced the defunct Langues and Priories in various European States. Professor Baron Michael de Taube's writings make it very clear that the Association (or Union) of Hereditary Commanders, was an organisation within and part of the Russian Grand Priory in exile. |
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Grand Duke Alexander died in 1933, after which Grand Duke Andrew Wladimirovich was elected Protector and Grand Prior of the Association. Andrew was the son of Alexander's cousin. Grand Duke Kyrill Wladimirovich, Andrew's elder brother and claimant to the Russian throne had formally passed on to his brother, responsibility for matters concerning the Russian Grand Priory. In the summer of 1938, the Danish Committee wrote to Commander G. Gadd, Grand Duke Kyrill's personal representative in Copenhagen, about the possibility of joining the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Gadd suggested, that a direct approach to Grand Duke Kyrill ought to be made. |
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When Grand Duke Kyrill received the Danish Committee's letter, he passed it on to his younger brother Grand Duke Andrew, who had accepted responsibility for the Russian Grand Priory. Grand Duke Andrew, then asked Baron Michael de Taube the legal consultant to the Hereditary Commanders to discuss the matter with the Danes. Baron Michael de Taube had been Professor of Law at St Petersburg University and first legal adviser for the Russian Foreign Office, Senator of Russia and a member of the Council of the Empire. de Taube continued his work on International Law in exile in France, where he published a number of papers, cited by other authorities on International Law. Initially the first consideration was to widen membership of the Russian Grand Priory itself to include in a seamless way, a Danish group. The final conclusion of the discussions, was that a Priory would be created to serve the "North", under the title of Dacia. Authorisation for the creation of a Danish Priory was granted by Grand Duke Andrew, October 19th, 1938, and the Priory under the name of "The Ecclesiastical Knightly Order of Malta of Saint John of Jerusalem, Priory of Saint Andrew", and began its formal life on April 10th, 1939. It was later to be known as "The Autonomous Priory of Dacia of the Order of Malta". The Priory was declared to be “under the name of The Grand Priory of the North, in all respects to be the legal successor of the Grand Priory of Russia.” (Letter to the Dacia Priory from Baron Michael de Taube 8th June 1939). Prebend Wenck von Wenckheim as leader of the group became the first Prior. The war years halted any real activity of the Priory, and Baron Michael de Taube and Grand Duke Andrew gave assistance in continuing the work in the post war period from 1950 onward. Grand Duke Andrew fully acknowledged Dacia, and declared himself to be their Protector as well as being Protector to the Paris Group. In a letter to the Dacia Priory 17th November 1950, he writes; "The Protectorship of the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of Malta, which I have taken over after the death of my cousin H.I.H. Grand Duke Alexander embraces naturally also the Danish Priory (Prioratus Daciae) even though this became an autonomous part of the Grand Priory of Russia created in summer 1939". Recognising the need to regularise their exilic existence, on the 9th December 1953, the Hereditary Commanders framed a constitution to govern their affairs in conformity with the foundation Ukases issued by Emperor Paul I. The wording of the Constitution was approved by an expert in Russian and International Law; Baron Michael de Taube. The Constitution was needed to proceed with an Incorporation in France of their Association which was achieved on the 15th February 1955, when the Association registered as the "Russian Grand Priory of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem". On the 9th December 1953, the Hereditary Commanders held a reunion in Paris and drew up a Constitution for the Russian Grand Priory in exile. In February 1955, the exilic Grand Priory based in Paris was registered as a Foreign Association under French Law as "The Russian Grand Priory of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem". The pressure to resolve the Association's identity came from the fact that the original members were becoming scarce. Grand Duke Andrew died in the following year, 1956. Grand Duke Kyrill's son Grand Duke Vladimir then took on the role of Protector of the Order, but declined the post of Grand Prior. The practical leadership of the Grand Priory was taken over by Hereditary Commander Nicholas Tchirikoff as Dean, until his death in 1974. The Secretary of the Paris Group, General Georges Serguéevitch Rticheff died in 1975, leaving the group leaderless. Never-the-less the tradition has continued with various new initiatives into the third millennium, led by Russian Nobles who are descendants of the Hereditary Commanders, some of whom are based in Paris, and one of whom is listed as a member of the Order prior to its demise. "REVIVALS" OF THE RUSSIAN GRAND PRIORY. Most 'self-styled' Johannine Orders use the designation "Sovereign Order" in their titles. Below are notes on seven such 'Orders'. Nothing was heard about a Russian-American tradition of St. John until the late 1950s, when an organisation emerged complete with an invented pre-history which alleged that the organisation had been founded by Russian Hereditary Commanders, at New York in 1908, by Russian Hereditary Commanders. On the 2nd May 1960, a letter was written by the General Secretary of the Union of the Descendants of the Hereditary Commanders and Knights of the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, which stated that the American Grand Priory "wrongfully claims to have inherited the rights of the Grand Master Emperor Paul I of Russia.". They certainly viewed the American Grand Priory with suspicion. In this the Paris Group was right. Perhaps what may not assist clarity is an offshoot of one of these "Sovereign" Orders which uses the title of the Union of Commanders.
Charles Pichel and the Shickshinny Order
and its filiants. |
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King Peter counted himself as the legal hereditary custodian of the relics of the Order of St. John. The relics had been sent to Princess Yelenda, sister of King Alexander in 1928, bequested from the deceased mother of the last Emperor. The relics were placed into safe keeping during the Second World and have remained in Yugoslavia since. The accession of King Peter's leadership allowed the American self-styled Orders to be taken more seriously. His leadership provided a fons honorum which transformed the organisation into a true knightly fraternity. King Peter's "Sovereign Order of St. John, Knights Hospitaller" (known by the acronym of 'OSJ') attracted into membership for a very brief period, two of the Hereditary Commanders, providing the Order with a member who belonged to the historic Russian tradition of St. John. |
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The filiants of the King Peter Order. According to the correspondence of Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy, and the history of the Order, authored by Robert Formhals, in the 1972, Count Nicholas A. Bobrinskoy, joined Troubetzkoy, and together with a genuine candidate for the office of Hereditary Commander, Prince Serge Serguiévitch Belosselsky Belozersky, (who was also a member of the King Peter Order) formed a Priory in New York. This became the basis for a new 'Order'. |
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Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy was the younger brother of Nikita Troubetzkoy who
had been a member of the Paris Group. Whilst all three founding members of the new Priory had relatives in the Paris Group, they themselves had never been members. |
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In 1974, according to Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy some discussions took place with a meeting at Capri between Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy, Baron Eric de Kolb, Wartenberg, Count A. Orssich, Prince Kyril Scherbatow of the ex-King Peter Order and Baron Sergei von Bennigsen, who was Chancellor of the Most Sacred Order of the Orthodox Hospitallers. At that time H.I.H. Prince Dimitri Alexandrovitch Romanoff of Russia (1901-1980) was the Grand Prior of the Most Sacred Order. Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy was brought into the picture just after the meeting. At the time he appears to have been the Prior of the ex-King Peter Order's New York Priory. It appears that as a result of this encounter, Count Nicholas is listed as the Lieutenant Grand Prior of an alliance of Orders consisting of his Priory, other King Peter II units under Troubetzkoy and the group, which made up the Most Sacred Orthodox Order. The alliance or merger between the Orders did not last long and seems to have been abandoned by 1975. |
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In that year of 1975, a scheme was mooted by Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy,
a member of the King Peter Order to create an "Order of Malta, Knights
of Saint John of Jerusalem, The Hospitallers of the Orthodox Tradition of
the Russian Grand Priory" in which he hoped to absorb the surviving
Hereditary Commanders with the weakened King Peter OSJ owing to the death
of the King in 1970. Other genuine Russian Nobles joined Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy, and in 1977, and at a meeting of Russian Nobles, at which three Hereditary Commander families were represented, Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy was elected Grand Prior of his "revived" 'Russian Grand Priory'. |
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The official title given to the new "Order" as led by Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy is "The Sovereign Order of Orthodox Knights Hospitaller Saint John of Jerusalem - former Grand Priory in St Petersburg". "OOSJ" for short. Whilst it is claimed that the new 'Order' was founded by a meeting of Hereditary Commanders, apart from Prince Serge Serguiévitch Belosselsky Belozersky, it appears that there were no other individuals who were indisputably qualified to make that claim. This 'Order' does have the backing of the Orthodox Church, and has done much toward raising vast sums of money for works of charity. Since November 2004, this 'Order' includes "Union des Commandeurs et Chevaliers Héréditaires" registered in Alsace amongst others by Prince Vladimir Bariatinsky imitating the historic "Union" of the Russian Hereditary Commanders group in Paris, begun in 1928. This "Union" is not a continuation of the 1928, group and its birth is described in an official notice issued within the "OOSJ". |
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Prince Andrei Vladimirovitch Bariatinsky, Prince Vladimir's grandfather was
a member of the Paris Group, although he was not a founder of the original
group in 1928 (as is claimed), but joined after its creation (see
above). |
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There is certainly no historical link between the previous
Union of 1928-1975, and the novum organisation of 2004,
with the exception that it can be argued that members of the novum "Union"
had past relatives who were members of the historic Paris Group. The latter two "Revivals" in terms of claiming the identity of the legal Russian Grand Priory, do have leadership from those of Russian descent, however they have no authority from the Paris Group of 1928 - 1975, which allows any claim to be the succeeding, or continuing group. More curious is the adoption by the web pages, which carry the novum "Union" details, of the title; "l'Ordre Orthodoxe de Saint Jean (ancien Grand Prieuré Russe à Saint Pétersbourg)" (see http://www.oosj.org/francais/sommaire.html) almost as it were a new "Order" separate from the "The Sovereign Order of Orthodox Knights Hospitaller Saint John of Jerusalem" as led by Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy. |
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Union des descendants des Commandeurs Hereditaires
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Sources used:
*Bobrinskoy Count Nicholas A, Informal and Confidential History of
the Revival of the Order of the Orthodox Knights Saint John of Jerusalem
by Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy" - not dated but circa 1994. Archives of the
"Russian Grand Priory of Malta" St Paul's Street, Malta. |
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| Revised 5th November
2005
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