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Prince Felix Yusupov (Феликс Феликсович Юсупов) (March 23, 1887 – September 27, 1967), (variously transliterated from Russian as Yussupov, Yossopov, Iusupov, Youssoupov, or as Feliks, Graf Sumarrokow-Elston (граф Сумароков-Эльстон)), was a Russian nobleman best known for murdering Grigori Rasputin, the mystic peasant faith healer whom Yusupov and other Russian nobles believed held undue sway over Czar Nicholas II.
Yusupov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and died in Paris, France. He married Princess Irina of Russia. His family were descendants of Tatars, fabulously wealthy, and it was in their Moika Palace (one of many luxurious estates) that he and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch Romanov killed Rasputin. The Yusupov family acquired their wealth generations earlier through extensive land grants in Siberia, and they owned a string of profitable mines and fur trading posts.
Felix was raised in opulent excess by his doting mother. He was later known to be bisexual and a transvestite, and some have asserted that he and Grand Duke Dmitri were lovers as well as fellow-assassins. Felix claimed to have caught the eye of King Edward VII of England while in drag. There is also a strong sense that there was a homoerotic undertone to Felix's fascination with Rasputin. Rasputin, however, was apparently more interested in Yusupov's wife Irina, and it was on the pretext of a tryst with her that Felix invited him to the Moika Palace on the night he died. Rasputin, in keeping with his mysterious nature, withstood an amazing amount of abuse before finally dying. Reportedly he was repeatedly poisoned, shot half a dozen times, beaten severely, and finally drowned in a sack, while still struggling.
The assassination of Rasputin failed to prevent the Russian Revolution. The Yusupov family fled Russia with some of their great wealth but lived out their lives as emigrees in greatly reduced circumstances.
Felix and Irina successfully sued MGM through the English courts for invasion of privacy and libel in connection with the 1932 film "Rasputin and the Empress". The alleged libel was not that the character based on Felix had committed murder, but that the character based on Irina was portrayed as Rasputin's mistress. They were awarded £25,000 damages, an enormous sum, which was attributed to the success of their counsel Sir Patrick Hastings' arguments.
Felix also was able to sell a pair of Rembrandt paintings from his palace for a significant fortune.
References
- Greg King, The Man Who Killed Rasputin, Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ, 1995.
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