Register of the Cherkasskii Family papers
Finding aid prepared by Natasha Porfirenko
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2008
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Cherkasskii Family papers
Date (inclusive): 1798-1974
Collection Number: 75105
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes
(3.74 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Cherkasskii family archives includes diaries, correspondence, writings, genealogy, books, clippings, printed matter, and photographs,
relating to social conditions in Russia before the Russian Revolution, the Russian imperial army, the Russian Revolution and
Civil War, Russian émigré affairs, and the Russian Orthodox Church abroad.
Creator:
Cherkasskiĭ family
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
Box 5 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials
must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection,
they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1975
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Cherkasskii Family Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Biography / Administrative History
The Cherkasskii family was prominent in the Russian government and the army from about 1500 until the very end of the seventeenth
century. They were also the single richest boyar clan in Russia. From the end of the sixteenth century to Peter's time, they
were the most important group of aristocrats of foreign origin at the court of the Russian tsars.
The Cherkasskis were clearly proud of their origins, evident from the section on the Circassian princes that appeared in the
"Sovereign's genealogy", the quasi-official genealogy of the Russian aristocracy.
The papers cover the life of three generations of the Cherkasskii family: Prince Mikhail Alekseevich, born 1867, a civilian
of high rank, who entered the guards officers lists. He joined the Kirasirs military Regiment and was in charge of a medical
hospital, field hospitals, emergency, and first aid of the Kirasirs Regiment. Mikhail Alekseevich married Vera Pavlovna Likhacheva
in 1892. They both died in 1953 in Brussels.
Their two sons Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich (1898-1920) and Prince Igor Mikhailoich (1895-1975) fought against the Bolsheviks
during the Russian Civil War. The younger Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich, died in February 1920 fighting the Bolsheviks, and
Prince Igor Mikhailovich, member of the corps of Pages, Lieutenant-Colonel lived long life and died in Brussels in 1975. He
was married to Zoia Sergeevna Rodzianko (1901-1949) in 1921. Their daughter Princess Irina Igorevna has no heirs.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Cherkasskii family archives include diaries, correspondence, writings, genealogical materials, books, clippings, printed
matter, and photographs, relating to social conditions in Russia before the Russian Revolution, the Russian imperial army,
the Russian Revolution and Civil War, Russian émigré affairs, and the Russian Orthodox Church abroad.
The Cherkasskiis were clearly proud of their origin, evident from the section of the collection that appears in the genealogical
charts. The collection also includes an official genealogy of the Russian aristocracy with the place of the Cherkaskii family
prominent.
The Cherkasskii family papers consist of material related to the life and work of this prominent Russian family, both in Russia
and abroad, from 1798 to 1974. The collection includes a wealth of biographical material found in the series related to the
last three generations of the family. Of special interest is material from the period of the Russian Civil War, which includes
a descriptive essay on Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich written by his brother. The biographical file further includes documentary
material related to the Cherkasskii family life abroad and their exile to Belgium. Also interesting are materials related
to family political activities, and participation in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into 4 series: Cherkasskii family archives, Photographs, Subject file, and Printed matter
Related Material
Russian Subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russia -- Emigration and immigration
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
Officers
Russia -- Court and courtiers
Russia. Armii͡a
Russkai͡a pravoslavnai͡a t͡serkovʹ
Cherkasskii family archives
1798-1967.
Scope and Contents note
Arranged chronologically by age of the family member
box 1, folder 1
Memoirs
1883-1903,
Scope and Contents note
Holograph written by Princess Natalia Petrovna and continued by her daughter Princess Natalia Evgenievna Cherkasskii
Prince Mikhail Alekseevich Cherkasskii, 1867-1953, and Princess Vera Pavlovna Cherkasskaia (born Likhacheva)
1867-1953.
box 1, folder 2
Family coat of arms.
General note
See also oversize material for extended genealogical chart
Scope and Contents note
Includes photograph, description, and copy of the certificate issued by the governing senate of Russia on September 6, 1798,
as well as Cherkasskii family genealogical survey.
box 1, folder 3
Personal documents
1920-1947.
Scope and Contents note
Includes passports, visa documents, and identity certificates from Belgium and the Dutch consulate in Constantinople
box 1, folder 4
Biography, Mikhail Alekseevich Cherkasskii
1965.
Scope and Contents note
Holograph written by his son Igor
box 1, folder 5
Correspondence
1918-1941.
Scope and Contents note
Includes military order for medal award to Prince Mikhail Alekseevich Cherkasskii, 1919
box 1, folder 6
Career records from Graham Station Service (automobile business), Brussels
1923-1948.
box 1, folder 7
Russian Orthodox Church in Brussels and the Committee on the construction of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral-monument to the
martyred Russian Tsar and other victims of Bolshevism
1930-1950.
General note
See also material from the second All International Congress of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, Sremskie Karlovtsy, Yugoslavia,
1938. Printed copy
Scope and Contents note
Includes correspondence, newsletter, and photographs.
box 1, folder 8
Greeting on the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Prince Mikhail Cherkasskii and Princess Vera Cherkasskii
1892-1942.
Scope and Contents note
Includes photographs
box 1, folder 9
Obituaries and letters of condolences on death of Mikhail and Vera Cherkasskii written to their son Igor
1953.
Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich Cherkasskii
1898-1920.
Scope and Contents note
(son)
box 1, folder 10
Photographs (from the family album)
1898-1920.
box 1, folder 11
Will, addressed to his brother Igor Cherkasskii
circa 1919-1920
Scope and Contents note
(fallen in February 1920 at Bolshevik hands, Russian Civil War)
box 1, folder 12
Necrology, written by Igor Cherkasskii on the death of his brother Aleksei
1920.
box 1, folder 13
Picture from the memorial plaque of Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich Cherkasskii in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral-monument in
Brussels, Belgium
undated
Prince Igor Mikhailovich Cherkasskii (Corps des Pages, Stab-rotmister), 1895-1975, and Zoia Sergeevna Cherkasskii (born Rodzianko)
1901-1949.
box 1, folder 14
Marriage certificate of Igor and Zoia Cherkasskii
1921.
box 1, folder 15
Personal documents
1942, 1945.
Scope and Contents note
Includes letter of reference and work permit
box 1, folder 16
Correspondence
1946-1967.
box 1, folder 18
Photographs from the family album.
Scope and Contents note
Includes pictures of Mikhail and Vera Cherkasskii, Igor and Zoia Cherkasskii, and their daughter Princess Irina Igorevna Cherkasskii,
as well as photographs from the funeral of the General Peter Vrangel, Commander of the Russian Army in exile. Arranged by
the family
Subject file
1866-1920.
Scope and Contents note
Arranged alphabetically
box 1, folder 19
Memoirs, Lagodovskii B. A.
1918-1920.
box 1, folder 20
Personal papers, Baron Vrangel Kiril Konstantinovich
1909-1917.
Scope and Contents note
Includes passport, visa, certificate of award, and appeal
box 1, folder 21
Russian Imperial bonds
1866.
Printed matter
1884-1974.
Scope and Contents note
Arranged chronologically
box 1, folder 22
Leroy-Beaulieu, Anatole,
Un homme d'État russe (Nicolas Milutine) d'après sa correspondance inédite; étude sur la Russie et la Pologne pendant le règne
d'Alexandre II (1855-1872)
, Paris, Hachette et cie
1884.
box 2, folder 1
Deianiia Vtorogo Vsezarubezhnogo Sobora Russkoi Pravoslavoi TSerkvi Zagranitsei, s uchastiem predstavitelei klira i mirian,
sostoisvshegosia 1/14-11/24 avgusta 1938 goda v Sremskikh Karlovitsakh v IUgoslavii
(
Minutes of meetings of the Second All International Congress of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, Sremskie Karlovtsy, Yugoslavia, 1938), Belgrade
1939.
box 2, folder 2
Pouchkine, N. de,
Armorial de la Noblesse de Russie, armoiries des Familles resident en Belgique, Brussels
1940.
box 2, folder 3
Pashennyi, Nikolai,
Imperatorskoe uchilishche pravovedeniia i pravovedy v gody mira, voiny i smuty(
Imperial law college during years of peace, war, and unrest), Madrid
1967.
box 2, folder 4
Voennaia Byl' (Le Passé Militaire), military bulletin of the all cadet union, Paris
1973, 1974
box 3
Two oversize Cherkasskii family genealogical charts
undated
box 5, folder 1
Family treaty on parchment
possibly 1700s
Conditions Governing Access
Box 5 may not be used without permission of the Archivist
box 4
Material not yet described
