Zinaida Yusupova

Zinaida Yusupova

Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, (Russian: Зинаида Николаевна Юсупова; 2 September 1861, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – 24 November 1939, Paris, France), (variously transliterated from Russian as Yussupov, Yossopov, Iusupov, Youssoupov, Youssoupoff), was a Russian noblewoman best known as the mother of Prince Felix Yusupov, the murderer of Rasputin.

The greatest Russian heiress of her day, and the last of her line at the House of Yusupov, she married Count Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston. She had her own mansion in Liteyny Avenue, where the Institute of Economic Relations, Economics and Law is currently located. As a leading figure in pre-Revolutionary Russian society, she was famed for her beauty and the lavishness of her hospitality. In private, she became a severe critic of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. Her eldest son Nicholas was killed in a duel, an event which cast a shadow over the rest of her life. Following the Russian Revolution, she and her husband moved to Rome. After his death she relocated to Paris, where she died in 1939.