The Zgurovka/Dubovitchi Kotschoubeys

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Varvara Vassilievna and Vassili Petrovitch (Zgurovka 1906)

Of the, eight children who grew up between their main estate of Zgurovka near Kiev and St. Petersburg, no male heir has survived into the 21st century. More information is available in the section on the Dubovitchi Kotschoubeys.  One daughter, who was born in Retkivschtina, Russia was Ekaterina Vassilievna (27.07.1894-19.07.1965) who married firstly Leonid Ivanovitch Kulnev / , Леонид Иванович Кульнев (1882-1967), a colonel in the 4th Life Guards Infantry Imperial regiment / 4-й стрелковый Императорской фамилии лейб-гвардии полк who in 1916 was already appointed a Vice-Governor but only served on his second appointment as Vice Governor of Smbirsk in 1917. Their marriage was unfortunately brief and Leonid Ivanovitch was divorced from Ekaterina Vassilievna during the revolutionary years. He later emigrated to France where he died in 1967, ironically, the same year as Ekaterina’s second husband. Her second husband was  Count Nikolai Aleksandrovitch Mussin-Pushkin (1892-1967) in Kiev on November 13, 1919. She died in 1965 in Monterrey California. The families were very close and a number of marriages had unified the Kotchoubeys and the Mussin-Pushkins together. In that generation, there were three marriages between the families (see: Mussin-Pushkin Geneology) with two Kotschoubey (Nikolai Vassilievitch’s 2nd marriage) brothers, Nikolai Vassilievitch / (11.02.1885-1947) and Piotr Vassilievitch (1880-26.01.1918) marrying two Mussin-Pushkin sisters and their cousin Ekaterina marrying a Mussin-Pushkin brother. Piotr and Lubov were married on June 7th 1908.

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Kotschoubey brothers on horseback Zgurovka 1909 (Henri Schutz family collection)

Ekaterina and Nikolai had three children:

1) Count Alexei Mussin-Pushkin (Pöbring, Austria, 09.07.1922-26.08.1982, Long Island, NY) married Marina (née Voytsekovsky) in 1953 (later divorced). Their son is Count Nicholas Alexeivitch Mussin-Pushkin (1954-).

2) Maria Nikolaivna (née Countess Mussin Pushkin) Baratoff  (Pöbring, Austria, 24.08.1924-24.03.1987) married Oleg Baratov (17.08.1924-20.05.1997) but divorced, too. There daughter is Irene Baratoff.

3) Countess Alexandra Nikolaivna (Pöbring, Austria, 1920-1922)

4) Their oldest surviving child was daughter Irina Nikolaivna (née Countess Mussin-Pushkin) (Lausanne, Switzerland 28.03.1921-Petaluma, CA 23.03.2010) (see: Irene Issakow’s Obituary) who married Serge Issakow (1919-2006) (see: Serge Issakow’s Obituary) also a Mussin-Pushkin through his mother a distant relative, Lubov Vladimorovna Mussin-Pushkin (1897-1938). Serge’s father Sergei Sergeievitch Issakow (1894-1919) was the grandson of Nicholas Vassilievitch Issakow (1821-1891), the illegitimate son of Tsar Alexander I and his mistress Natalia Ivanovna Katatcharova. Alexander I was to have nine recognized illegitimate children and two daughters from his marriage to the Empress Elisabeta Alekseievna. The Issakow’s daugher and son now live in California with their families and represent the only survivng descendents of the Dubovitchi Kotchoubeys.

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Vassili Petrovitch & Varvara Vassilievna’s eight children: (back row) Varvara, Vassili, Maria (middle row) Elena, Georgi, Ekaterina, Alexandr (front row) Nikolai

The Kotschoubey male line was made up of Vassili Vassilievitch (1892-1971) who moved to Berlin and married Sophia Casimirovna Ostrorog-Sadowska with whom they had a daughter, Varvara Vassilievna who became Schubskaya/Shoubskaya and gave birth to a daughter Irina Schubskaya. He died in 1971 in Neuffen, Germany.  His brother, Alexander “Sasha” Vassilievitch (1897-1946) married a German called Antonina “Antonovna” (neé Strauss (1899 – 10/VII/1937) and they lived in Germany.  He had lived with his family when having first arrived via Poland to Ottmarhausen at the current address of Ottmarshauser Str. 41, 86356 Neusäß, Germany. Antonina died in Munich in 1937 and was buried there while, Alexander lived through the war in Augsburg, Germany and died there in 1946, childless.  Shortly after his wife’s death he traveled to Florence after easter in 1938 where he was the Godfather to his distant nephew, Andrei Sergeivitch (31.03.1938-) who was christented at the church in Florence. Together with Elena Alexandrovna Rakhmanova (1875-1946) who sttod in as godmother for Olga Victorovna (née Mankovskaya), they welcomed Andrei into the Orthodox faith. His baptismal cross had once belonged to Alexander Vassilievitch (-1866) and was passed down through Andrei’s grandfather Mikhail Nikolaivitch (1863-1935) who was heir to Alexander Vassilievitch’s estate, when he died unmarried and childless.

In contrast to his brothers, Nicolas Vassilievitch (1903-1984) lived and worked in Switzerland. He married Erna (née Piker) and he died in Zug leaving an adopted daughter Ruth von Kotschoubey.  He spent time between his many homes in Marbella, Lugano and of course Zug. The cadet of the family, Georgi Vassilievitch (1905-1919) never left Russia as he died of the flu in 1919. In addition, the female line was made up of Barbara Vassilievna (1893- ) who married firstly Kamensky and then her second husband Prince Devlet-Kideev with whom she had a son, Pr. Nicolas Divlet-Kildeev. As discussed in the section on the origins of the Kotchoubeys, the Divlet-Kildeev descended from the first Crimean Khan, Haci I Giray. Her sister, Maria Vassilievna (1895-1944) married Count Yakov Alexandrovitch de Balmain (1885-1932) a Russian noblemen who served in the Preobrozhenski Regiment and the Volunteer army (see: Ct. Yakov de Balmain). They married and lived in France and they died childless. Finally, in addition to Ekaterina Vassilievna, there was Elena Vassilievna (1899- ) who was unmarried and lived in Brussels with her sister Barbara who were both good friends with their cousin Elena “Nelly” Mikhailovna Kotchoubey.

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Tsarskoe Selo. May 20 1911. Visit of Germany’s crown prince with Emperor Nicholas II

Vassili Petrovitch (1868-24.03.1940)…Zarząd Cmentarza Prawosławnego, ul. Wolska 138/140, 01-126 Warszawa, Poland

Varvara Vassilievna (née Kotchoubey) (1868-1948)…Augsburg, Germany (TBD)

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