THE REBEL ROMANOV

A woman caught in the whirlwind of history.

British historian Rappaport continues her studies of the Romanovs with a detailed biography of Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1781-1860), an aunt of Queen Victoria. Because Julie destroyed a great deal of her correspondence, and a journal she apparently kept has never come to light, much of her life, Rappaport admits, “remains hidden from us.” Nevertheless, Rappaport’s extensive knowledge of Russian and European history and culture allows her to create an informative chronology of a woman who was at times manipulated, victimized, despondent, and defiant. At 14, the German princess was betrothed to Konstantin Romanov, the impulsive, erratic, often violent grandson of Catherine the Great. Both Catherine and Julie’s mother, Duchess Auguste, favored the marriage, which marked an important political alliance and, for the financially strapped Coburgs, hoped-for access to Romanov wealth. Rappaport chronicles the arduous 40-day trip from Coburg to St. Petersburg, when Auguste brought three daughters for Konstantin and Catherine to choose among: When Konstantin finally made his selection, Auguste returned home confident that she had enacted a “glittering dynastic coup.” Soon, however, Konstantin’s rages, cruelty, and philandering led Julie to despair. Seeking any excuse to leave Russia, she finally succeeded in 1801, on the pretense of visiting her ailing mother. Although she vowed never to return, her family insisted she do so, fearful of severing ties to wealth. As Rappaport makes clear, Julie surely was not alone among women used as pawns in political machinations by “vultures of royal ambition,” but her eventual divorce from Konstantin, in 1820, granted by her sympathetic brother-in-law Tsar Alexander, was a rare occurrence. Rappaport reveals Julie’s affairs, two illegitimate pregnancies, and sustaining friendships: a life weathered within a context of war, assassination, disease, and betrayal.

A brisk rendering of tumultuous times.