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Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich of Russia ((ロシア語: Гавриил Константинович); 15 July 1887 – 28 February 1955) was the second son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna. A great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, he was born in Imperial Russia and served in the army during World War I. He lost much of his family during the war and the Russian Revolution. He narrowly escaped execution by the Bolsheviks and spent the rest of his life living in exile in France. == Early life == Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich was born on 15 July 1887 at Pavlovsk.〔Vassiliev , ''Beauty in Exile'' , p. 285〕 He was the second son among the nine children of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna (born Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg). Gabriel and his brother Prince Ivan, born a year earlier, were the first to suffer the effects of the reforms of Emperor Alexander III, his father's cousin, who decreed that in the name of economizing the state budget, only the children and grandchildren of the reigning sovereign would bear the title of grand duke.〔 Gabriel was three days old when Tsar Alexander III issued a manifesto announcing his title as a Prince of the Imperial Blood with the style of Highness.〔King & Wilson , ''Gilded Prism'', p. 123〕 Grand dukes received 280,000 gold rubles annually from the imperial treasury, which guaranteed a comfortable life. Gabriel given a one-time sum of 1 million gold rubles, and he could count on nothing else.〔 Gabriel spent his early life living in fabulous splendor on the last period of Imperial Russia. His father, a respected poet, was a second cousin of Tsar Nicholas II and one of the wealthiest members of the Romanov family. As a child, Gabriel was frail and or poor health; he was pale and prone to illness.〔Zeepvat, ''Romanov Autumn'', p. 209〕 He and Ivan were both often sick and together spent more than a year of their childhood living at Oreanda in the Crimea, with a doctor and several servants.〔King & Wilson , ''Gilded Prism'', p. 119〕 Their health improved in the temperate climate, and the boys enjoyed their time spent on the beaches and in short tours around the peninsula. With only each other, for company, they forged a strong sibling relationship that was to last to the ends of their lives.〔 Gabriel was brought up strictly; he and his siblings were taught to speak pure Russian without a mixture of foreign phrases, and they had to memorize prayers.〔Vassiliev , '' Beauty in Exile '', p. 285〕 The best writers and musicians were invited to Pavlovsk and the Marble Palace, and Grand Duke Konstantin devised a programme of lectures for his children, providing a good education for them.〔Zeepvat, ''Romanov Autumn'', p. 210〕 From a very early age, Gabriel was passionately devoted to his father and to all things military.〔 Following his father's example, Gabriel Constantinovich chose a military career, traditional for the male members of the Romanov family.〔 In his memoirs, he recalled: ''Since the age of seven, I dreamed of entering the Nikolaevsky Cavalry School.''〔 In 1900, he was allowed to join the 1st Moscow Cadet corps as preparatory training; in 1903 he finally received permission to join the Nikolaevsky school.〔 "Having worn a cadet's uniform for five years," he wrote, "at last my dream came true, and I became a real military man."〔 At 19, he was promoted to officer's rank and awarded several orders. On 19 January 1908 Gabriel Constantinovich took his oath of allegiance to Nicholas II in a ceremony held in the church of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.〔 His family was close to Nicholas II, and he spent many times with the emperor and his family.〔 Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and her brother, Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, were often his playmates.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Prince Gabriel Constantinovich of Russia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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