by Coryne Hall
Early in March a reserve armoured-car division occupied Mathilde’s house and its excellent garages. They set up a reading room, reception room, medical attendant’s room and guards’ workshops on the ground floor. Other Bolshevik organisations followed. Anything of Kschessinska’s which remained was now preserved ‘for the people’. The upper floor remained empty.
On 10 March an officer from the Department of the Petrograd Prefect discovered some of her property which had escaped the looting. An inventory was compiled. The twenty-three items included a large gold wreath and two smaller ones, silver sugar basins, vases, salt cellars, ladles, wine glasses, goblets, napkin rings and a gilded pail. Also there was a bundle of her personal correspondence: six packets of letters from Grand Dukes Andrei, Sergei and Boris; some papers relating to the office of the Inspector General of Artillery, two plans of Kschessinska’s house and her letters to Grand Dukes Andrei and Sergei; other correspondence and a few telegrams. Some of the later missives of Andrei and Sergei bore the hallmark of a cipher. All these things were sent to the City Prefect.16
Denisov had already told Mathilde about the devastation in the house. The linen, clothes and even the boots had been stolen. All that remained was what she and Vova were wearing, along with some items in the mansion’s laundry. Too fearful to go and see for herself, she begged Julie and Vladimiroff to go instead.
The door was opened by an armed soldier with an open tunic. He assured Julie that everything was in place and showed them the gold cups on the dining-room shelves. However, they soon discovered that some cases had been taken to the Prefect’s office. When Vladimiroff telephoned, the Prefect asked Julie to come and see him. Meanwhile Vladimiroff went to clear up another question relating to Mathilde’s possessions.
In the Prefect’s office Julie was shown the gold crown given to Mathilde by the balletomanes in 1904. Confirming that she recognised it, Julie was taken into another room and shown the cases from the mansion. Although the Prefect promised to take measures to save what was left, nothing was done.
Fabergé, fearing searches and confiscations of the valuables in his strongroom, then asked Mathilde to remove her large items of jewellery. It was equally dangerous for Mathilde to keep these in Joseph’s flat. Every day there were searches, confiscations, arrests and executions for the ‘crime’ of concealment of valuables. Mathilde therefore put these items, together with the things she had taken from her house, into an official savings box in the State Lending Exchequer on Fontanka 74 and sewed the receipt into the hem of her dress. Only Mathilde or Julie were authorised to remove the box. For the first time in her life Mathilde was in financial difficulties and when estimating the value of the box’s contents she purposely gave a lower figure to avoid a large payment. The bank’s director was startled, protesting that the collection must be worth ‘several millions’.17
Once she had recovered her equilibrium Mathilde decided to engage a lawyer. She turned to Nicholas Karabtchevsky, a friend of Kerensky’s in whose house she had once performed. Mathilde was certain he would use his influence but he said it was not the time to be taking up the cudgels for Kschessinska. Mathilde slammed down the telephone receiver in disgust.
With the help of the journalist Vladimir Krymov, Mathilde wrote a letter to Kerensky which they delivered to the Ministry of Justice. Soon afterwards Kerensky telephoned, promising to do all he could, giving her his home telephone number so that she could phone day or night if necessary. Sergei told his brother that she had received ‘special powers from the very top, which grant her inviolability’, ensuring that her doings would never be investigated by the Provisional Government.18
Mathilde also had the support of other friends, including Michael Stakhovitch, recently appointed Governor General of Finland. Alexander Viktorov, who had arranged her visit to the front the previous year, offered to retrieve the jewellery from Youriev’s apartment. Mathilde later regretted not asking him to bring also the Tsar’s photograph, which she had secretly slipped between the pages of a magazine (without telling Youriev, in order not to compromise him, although the result would doubtless have been the same if the picture was found). Viktorov returned, accompanied by a soldier who he had asked to carry the case, rightly anticipating that a soldier would not be searched.
Mathilde next visited the Petrograd Soviet of Soldiers’ and Workers’ Deputies in the Tauride Palace in order to have the soldiers evicted from her house. After being led through grubby rooms and corridors reeking of tobacco, she finally found an official whose name she recalled as Beliavin. Mathilde asked for her house back so that she could lend it to an embassy, or at least the upper floor so that she could make a living by opening a restaurant à chambres (where patrons could stay as well).
Beliavin accompanied her to the house, where in various rooms were established the Central & Petrograd Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Party of Workers (RSDRP), the Bolsheviks’ military organisation, and the soldiers’ club Pravda. The summer house was a club where the soldiers held meetings. Among the prominent Bolsheviks who spoke there was Jacob Sverdlov. As she entered the mansion Mathilde was rooted to the spot. Women were carelessly handling books strewn all over the marble staircase leading to the hall. As she began to climb the stairs they told her off for treading on their books. Mathilde was indignant, angrily telling the women that she would do whatever she wanted in her own home. In the study Mathilde was invited to sit down – in her favourite armchair.
Beliavin then asked one of the soldiers why they had stayed so long. In reply he indicated the corner window giving an excellent view of the Troitsky Bridge and the embankment. They had placed machine guns on the roof and Mathilde realised that the house was strategically very important to the Bolsheviks, who probably planned another uprising.
After telephoning Joseph’s flat to reassure Vova about her safety, Mathilde was invited to go upstairs, where she was greeted by a terrible sight. The bedroom carpet was stained with ink, most of the furniture had been taken downstairs and her sunken bath was a giant ashtray. A beautiful period wardrobe had the doors ripped off, the shelves torn out and guns stacked inside. As she ran downstairs, sickened, Agababov offered to share the house, saying she could have her son’s rooms. In the drawing room the mahogany Bechstein grand piano was wedged between two damaged pillars. As Mathilde surveyed her once lovely home, Denisov said that soon after she left the white pigeon had flown out of the window and never returned.
Mathilde then went to see Kerensky, of whom she formed a good impression. ‘He is such a bright person,’ she told Sergei.19 Kerensky said any attempt to vacate the house would involve bloodshed. In fact he was powerless to act. The Red Guards, who had replaced the police, ‘were unable or unwilling to prevent the illegal occupation of the abandoned mansion by various revolutionary groups, including anarchists’.20
No other mansion in Petrograd – not even the Imperial Palaces – was so vandalised as Kschessinska’s house. This was more than just hatred because of her connections with the Court. The Bolsheviks were looking for something. At first they were searching for the German money and German gold believed to be hidden there, which they needed to finance their revolution. Nothing was found and the house was destroyed in revenge. Then a legend took root that Mathilde had hidden valuables somewhere inside before she fled.21 (See Postscript)
Mathilde returned only once, this time with her lawyer Hessin, Pierre Vladimiroff and Paul Gontcharov. The same soldiers showed them into the Louis XVI drawing room and, pointing to the floor strewn with packing cases, told Mathilde that everything had already been looted. Vladimiroff heard two sailors discussing Mathilde’s small stature. ‘Why don’t we do away with her straight away?’ they said. Vladimiroff quickly hustled her out of the house.22
After about three weeks in Joseph’s flat, overwhelmed at being homeless, Mathilde moved in with Julie at English Prospekt 40, along the road from the house where she had long ago entertained the Tsarevich. Mathilde was an embarrassment and da
nger to those who sheltered her, so after three days she moved to Lili Likhatcheva’s apartment at Ofitserskaia Ulitsa 39, remaining there for another three days. Finally Vladimiroff lent his small flat at Alexeevskaya Ulitsa 10.23 Mathilde’s dresser Ludmilla and Arnold, an excellent cook (who had taken over as butler when Ivan Kournossov was called up), came to help in the kitchen.
As a Swiss citizen, Arnold was able to live in Mathilde’s mansion and he smuggled out many small items. Ludmilla reported that perfume bottles had been smashed against the bathroom mirrors and a cambric bedspread torn to shreds. She smuggled out several pairs of shoes by entering the wardrobe on bended knees, emerging wearing a pair of Mathilde’s shoes. Katia, hearing that Mathilde had Kerensky’s protection, returned a black velvet skirt she had stolen and unpicked because it was too small. She also brought Mathilde a childhood photograph of Grand Duke Vladimir, mistaking it for a picture of Vova.
Driving past her mansion one day in a taxi, Mathilde saw the Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai in the garden. She was parading round in Mathilde’s expropriated ermine coat. Later, Kollontai was often seen wearing Mathilde’s clothes.
Easter came and, at least on the surface, the situation seemed calm. On 2 April Denis sent over a traditional Easter feast, which Mathilde and Vova shared with two friends. Sergei heard that they were living in ‘terrible conditions’ and Vova had to study for the spring examinations. ‘I cannot do anything from here,’ he lamented.24
The following evening the Bolshevik leader Lenin arrived in the so-called sealed train from Switzerland. He drove straight to Kschessinska’s mansion, whose upper floor was now the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, and made speeches to the crowds below from Vova’s balcony. Troitsky Square provided ample room for noisy demonstrations and what Grand Duke Nicholas Michaelovich described as ‘a daily racket’.25
A large red flag now flew over the house. There was little furniture left in the once exquisite mansion, ‘just plain chairs, tables and desks. Upstairs in the dining-room tea was being served. The rooms were filled with happy Bolsheviks.… A little later Lenin was introduced to the assembled Party workers in Kschessinska’s ballroom.’26
Lenin formulated his April Thesis in Vova’s former bedroom and lived at his sister’s flat nearby. ‘The chambers of the famous ballerina had a rather strange and inappropriate look’, recalled a member of the Petrograd Soviet. ‘The exquisite ceilings and walls did not harmonise at all with the unpretentious furnishings … Kschessinska’s movable property had been put away somewhere.’27
From his office in Kschessinska’s mansion Lenin plotted to overthrow the Provisional Government.
Some time in April Mathilde received a visit from Grand Duke Nicholas Michaelovich, who had formerly been so hostile. ‘I am very grateful that you saw Malechka and had a talk with her,’ Sergei told him. ‘She wrote to me that she was very pleased with the meeting.’28
Mathilde was also pleased that the Provisional Government had begun to enquire about her money and that there would be an investigation into the bribery accusations. Articles had again appeared in the press with all sorts of false allegations. ‘I did not give any (artillery) orders to the Baltic Factory, neither myself nor Malia have ever heard the surname of Ovcharov and Malia has never had a secretary,’ Sergei told his brother.29 Mathilde was delighted by a chance to clear her name. She was summoned to the bank to open her strongbox but as the box was empty sent her representative. Mathilde then told the investigator exactly how much money she had and where it came from. ‘It looks like it is all about bribes which some people took under her name,’ Sergei said. ‘It looks like I will be called soon too concerning this business and Sukhomlinov’s business.’30 Sukhomlinov had been re-arrested. According to an anonymous contemporary Sergei and Kschessinska ‘were among those expected to give evidence at his trial’.31
Semion Rogov, balletomane and journalist, asked Mathilde to dance in a performance for soldiers at the Conservatoire. Mathilde was appalled but Rogov pointed out that it would be better to consent freely. He assured Mathilde that she would be received enthusiastically and afterwards would be able to move around Petrograd without fear, presumably because she had Kerensky’s protection.
The Russian costume was fetched (luckily intact) and on the day of the performance Mathilde, dressed and made up, waited anxiously while Vladimiroff, Gontcharov and Hessin went to the Conservatoire. At first the soldiers’ attitude was hostile but the reconnaissance party succeeded in turning their opinion and it was deemed safe for Mathilde to go to the theatre.
Leaving Vova alone in Vladimiroff’s flat Mathilde arrived at the Conservatoire stricken with anxiety. As she hesitantly stepped on to the stage the audience rose and gave her such a tremendous ovation that the orchestra had to stop playing. The applause, she was later assured, lasted for almost a quarter of an hour. After performing her Russian dance Mathilde had to give an encore, yet still the audience wanted more. The soldiers were throwing their caps on to the stage, in the wings others were crying from the simple release of tension. By this time Mathilde had no more strength. The effort had cost her dear.
This was Mathilde Kschessinska’s last appearance on the Russian stage. Ironically, the Conservatoire was constructed around the old Bolshoi Theatre where she had made her first stage appearance as a pupil of the Imperial Theatre School.
Rumours spread that a Bolshevik rising, coupled with grave street disorders, was expected on 1 May, Labour Day. Mathilde was afraid and immediately contacted the Siamese Ambassador, Vizan, who had been a frequent guest at her house. As a foreign ambassador, Vizan was not afraid to pay her a visit. He immediately offered shelter at the Embassy, which occupied a floor of a grand apartment building at Admiralty Embankment 6.32 Mathilde was joined by Julie and Ali, who were worried that he would be re-arrested. After two anxious days, Mathilde and Vova returned to Vladimiroff’s apartment.
The outpouring of support at the Conservatoire gave Mathilde hope of repossessing her house. ‘Before the war, people gossiped with a tinge of envious respectfulness about this den of luxury, spurs and diamonds located opposite the Winter Palace,’ Leon Trotsky recalled. ‘But in wartime they frequently remarked “stolen goods”. The soldiers expressed themselves even more accurately’ and the people’s feelings were now less benevolent. Nevertheless, as anger against the Bolsheviks grew, the right-wing press blamed Lenin for the armed seizure of the mansion from the defenceless ballerina. In bourgeois drawing rooms there was anger against ‘tattered workers and soldiers among those velvets and silks and beautiful rugs’. Kschessinska suddenly became ‘a symbol of culture trampled under the hoofs of barbarism’ and the Bolsheviks were accused of ‘undermining the pillars of human morality and hawking and spitting on [Kschessinska’s] polished floors’.33
All other efforts having failed, on 5 May 1917 the seizure of Kschessinska’s mansion was examined in court. She claimed 2 million roubles for the Provisional Government’s failure to evict the Bolsheviks. Mathilde ‘proved that the house was built with money earned by her work’, and all sixteen Bolshevik organisations were ordered to vacate the house. Nothing happened. After a complaint by Mathilde’s lawyer, the Executive Committee recognised that ‘in the interests of the revolution’ they should submit to the Court’s decision – but still they remained.34 This was the first instance of a judgment that could not be enforced.
Soon afterwards was published The Tsarevich’s Romance, or The Great Romance of Nikolai II, a tawdry fictionalised account by ‘Maria Evgenia’, written ‘by order’. The publication again suggested that Kschessinska had borne Nicholas two healthy sons.35
The gold wreath and the cases Julie had seen at the Prefect’s office were returned. Mathilde deposited the wreath and the boxes of silver in the Society of Loan Credit, along with several things Arnold had salvaged. Eleven other boxes were stored in the Bank of Azov & Don whose director, Kamenka, was her good friend and neighbour at Strelna. Mathilde still had the rece
ipt in the 1960s. One of her cars was also returned and she immediately sold it to raise much-needed cash before it was permanently confiscated.
Sergei returned to Petrograd at the beginning of June. He moved into the New Michaelovsky Palace, where his brother Nicholas Michaelovich was also in residence, although Sergei spent a lot of time with ‘his beauty La Kschessinska’.36 Mathilde badly needed his advice, ‘because she lived 23 years under my supervision’, he explained to his brother, ‘but now when this misfortune happened she had to make decisions herself’. They urgently needed to calculate their budget and make plans for the future. Sergei later estimated their loss as at least half a million roubles, ‘maybe even more’.37
The most urgent matter was Mathilde’s house, where the Bolshevik Central Committee, the Petrograd Committee of the Bolshevik Party, the Bolshevik Military Organisation and the editorial offices of Pravda were still resident. The steward willingly accompanied excursions to the house by the various Bolshevik associations. Privately he revealed a photograph of one of the rooms and told of the vast amount Kschessinska had lost at cards on the eve of the revolution.
On 5 June Sergei, Hessin and a squadron of loyal cavalry went to evict the Bolsheviks by force. ‘A squadron of dragoons with a kind of Prince approached the building,’ recalled one of the Bolsheviks. ‘He demanded that the residence be vacated in twenty-five minutes.’ Members of the soldiers’ club Pravda sent for help from the neighbouring regiment. The matter went to armed conflict but after negotiations between the Ministry of Justice and Sverdlov the mansion was left to the Bolsheviks. By the end of June the Bolshevik Military Organisation and the Petrograd Committee had abandoned Kschessinska’s house but other organisations remained.38
