Evening star., 1923-08-12
French Courts Bar the Publication
OF the Diaries of Czar Alexander III

these diaries had in some way or
another, come into the possession OF
Cen RYlceff. one of the most in
innate friends and trusted retainerS
of Alexander II, who had taken up
his residence in Italy after the as
saSsinatiOn of his imperial master
The general lived very quietly and
even obscurely until 1907, when his
death attracted no attention. and his
belongings fell into the hands of the
people with whom he had been liv-
ing. who took them TO Paris for sale
at auction. They were picked up
there for a mere song by a fellow
countryman, NJ. Markoff. living in
Paris. He had no conception of
Drouot. He had no conception of
the value of his purchase until he
and trunks. in which he found sew
eral volumes of the diaries of the
emperor as Well as number of
confidential papers which had evil
IDENTIFY been Confided to the general
by his imperial master.
x x
on the strength of this find. Markoff
found means of approaching the late
Princess Yourievska and suggested to
her that. in view of the documents in
his possession and which had be-
longed TO Gen. Ryleeff. 1t would be
well if she would allow him to as
sumo. in her behalf, the charge of
editing and preparing for publication
the diaries and the emperor's letters
which she had owned. so as to enable
him to complete, after a fashion, the
story This was in 1915 and 1916 The
princess was very reluctant to do so.
and her hesitation had not been over
come when the revolution took place
at Petrograd in the early spring of
1917 and the monarchy was over
thrown. The subsequent massacre by
the bolsheviks of Emperor Nicholas.
of his wife and children and of so
many other members of the sovereign
house of Russia. including the Grand
Duke Nicholas Michelovich, who by
reason of his ultra liberalism had al
ways been known as the Red Grand
Duke" naturally put an end to all
negotiations, and they were not re-
sumed until 1921. when, the princess
having, in the meantime, sustained
through unwise investments heavy
losses, seriously diminishing the i'm
mense fortune which Alexander II had
invested in England and France for
her benefit and for that of her chill
dren, Markoff found her more amen
able TO reason by pointing out to her
the enormous sale which these diaries
and letters would have and the very
large returns which he would be able
to obtain for her therefrom.
So. accordingly, in the fall of 1921
the diaries. a well as quantity of
Alexander lis letters to the princess.
were brought by her from the Bank
of England in London and confided
to Markoff for editing and publica-
ton in her name and in her behalf,
she retaining the copyright. Early
hafnra he h n
pleted his work, she died rather sud-
denly at Nice.
X * X x
Markoff thereon undertook to pub
lish these diaries and the letters of
the emperor in his own name and for
his own benefit and profit, and had
three volumes completed for issue
when, at the instance of the now
widowed Empress Marie, who is liv-
ing with her sister, Queen Alexandra,
in England, and of the other members
of the imperial family of Russia, the
two princesses above named success
fully appealed to the French courts
for an injunction.
A complication was caused by the
Intervention of the young nephew of
the two princesses, namely, the
twenty -three-year- old Prince Alex
ander Yourievski, only son of their
/, dead brother George. The young
Prince Yourievski who is in very
straitened circumstances in Germany,
employed in a subordinate capacity
on state railroads there, put forward
a plea that. as one of his grandmoth- :
er's heirs. he had a voice in the mat
ter and sided with Markoff. He took
the ground that on account of the
great historical value of the diaries
and letters they should be published
But his plea, obviously dictated by ex-
pectations Of deriving pecuniary ben
ef1ts from Markoff's venture, was ig-
| nored. Coming from subordinate