caption father house death_date mother birth_place death_place image_size birth_date spouse issue image article_title name
photo by sergei lvovich levitsky alexander ii of russia house of holstein-gottorp-romanov 17 february 1909 marie of hesse and by rhine saint petersburg , russian empire saint petersburg , russian empire 200px 22 april 1847 marie of mecklenburg-schwerin grand of russia grand duke boris vladimirovich grand duke andrei vladimirovich duke grand duchess elena vladimirovna alexander vladimirovich cyril vladimirovich , grand duke grand duke vladimir alexandrovich.jpg grand duke vladimir alexandrovich of russia
 grand duke vladimir alexandrovich
grand duke vladimir alexandrovich of russia

grand duke vladimir alexandrovich of russia -lrb- '' Влади́мир Александрович '' -rrb- -rrb- -lrb- 22 april 1847 -- 17 february 1909 -rrb- was a son of emperor alexander ii of russia , a brother of tsar alexander iii of russia and the senior grand duke of the house of romanov during the reign of his nephew , tsar nicholas ii .
grand duke vladimir followed a military career and occupied important military positions during the reigns of the last three russian emperors .
interested in artistic and intellectual pursuits ; he was appointed president of the academy of fine arts .
he functioned as a patron of many artists and as a sponsor of the imperial ballet .
during the reign of his father , tsar alexander ii , he was made adjutant-general , senator in 1868 and a member of the council of state in 1872 .
his brother , alexander iii , also promoted his career .
he became a member of the council of ministers , commander of the imperial guards corps and military governor of saint petersburg .
he tried to exert some influence over his nephew tsar nicholas ii , but had to content himself with holding a rival court with his wife grand duchess maria pavlovna at his palace in saint petersburg .
the events of bloody sunday in 1905 , while he was military governor of st petersburg , tarnished his reputation .
during the last years of his life , the rift between his family and that of nicholas ii widened .
he died after a stroke in 1909 .
