caption father house death_date mother birth_place death_place birth_date issue spouse image article_title name
portrait by george dawe paul i house of holstein-gottorp-romanov 27 june 1831 sophie dorothea of württemberg tsarskoye selo vitebsk 27 april 1779 3 konstasia -rrb- children with mistresses -lrb- pavel , konstantin , princess 1820 -rrb- joanna grudzińska -lrb- m. 1820 wid . 1831 juliane -rrb- of saxe-coburg-saalfeld -lrb- m. 1796 ann . konstantinpaulowrussland -lrb- crop -rrb- . jpg grand duke konstantin pavlovich of russia
 grand duke konstantin pavlovich
grand duke konstantin pavlovich of russia

konstantin pavlovich -lrb- ; 27 april 1779 -- 27 june 1831 -rrb- was a grand duke of russia and the second son of emperor paul i and sophie dorothea of württemberg .
he was the tsesarevich of russia throughout the reign of his elder brother alexander i , but had secretly renounced his claim to the throne in 1823 .
for 25 days after the death of alexander i , from 19 november -lrb- o.s. -rrb- / 1 december 1825 to 14 december -lrb- o.s. -rrb- / 26 december 1825 he was known as his imperial majesty konstantin i emperor and autocrat of all the russias , although he never reigned and never acceded to the throne .
the succession controversy became the immediate cause of the decembrist revolt .
konstantin was known to eschew court etiquette and to take frequent stands against the wishes of his brother alexander i , for which he is remembered fondly in russia , but in his capacity as the commander-in-chief and `` de facto '' viceroy of congress poland he is remembered as a ruthless ruler .
