Editing Felix Yusupov (section)

==Early life==
He was born in the [[Moika Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], the capital of the [[Russian Empire]].{{Efn|Felix was a direct descendant of sisters '''Anastasia Romanova''', the wife of Prince Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolenskiy, one of the [[Seven Boyars]] of 1610, and '''Marfa Romanova''', the wife of Prince Boris Keybulatovich Tcherkasskiy. Anastasia and Marfa were the daughters of [[Nikita Romanovich]] ({{langx|ru|Никита Романович}}; born c. 1522 &ndash; 23 April 1586), also known as '''Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev''', who was a prominent [[boyar]] of the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. His grandson [[Michael I of Russia|Michael I]] (Tsar 1613–1645) founded the [[House of Romanov|Romanov dynasty]] of Russian [[tsar]]s. Anastasia and Marfa were the paternal aunts of Tsar Michael I and the paternal nieces of [[Tsaritsa]] [[Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva]].}} His father was [[Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston|Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston]], the son of Count [[Felix Sumarokov-Elston|Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston]]. [[Zinaida Yusupova]], his mother, was the last of the [[House of Yusupov|Yusupov line]], of [[Tatars|Tatar]] origin, and very wealthy. For the Yusupov name not to die out, his father (1856, Saint Petersburg – 1928, Rome, Italy) was granted the title and the surname of his wife, Princess Zinaida Yusupova, on 11 June 1885, a year after their marriage, but effective after the death of his father-in-law in 1891.{{Efn|1885 – on June 11, by the most highly approved opinion of the State Council of the Guard, Lieutenant Count Felix Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston was allowed to take the title and surname of his father-in-law, Chamberlain Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov and be called Prince Yusupov Count Sumarokov-Elston so that the princely title and surname of the Yusupovs passed only to the eldest of his descendants.}}{{Efn|It is well known that according to the laws of the Russian Empire when a princess married, she lost her title and assumed the title and surname of her husband. However, as we can see, a rare exception was made for them. Moreover, the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III issued on December 2, 1891, a letter of grant allowing the husband and wife to be called Princes Yusupov, Counts Sumarokov-Elston. Thus, he received the right for himself and his wife from December 1891 to be called Princes Yusupov, Counts Sumarokov-Elston, and in the future, the princely title and surname of the Yusupovs should be transferred only to the eldest male heir in the descending line and only after the death of the titleholder.}}

[[File:Arkhangelskoe 3.jpg|thumb|left|The family estate near Moscow; [[Arkhangelskoye Palace]]]]

The Yusupov family, one of the richest families in Imperial Russia, had acquired their wealth generations earlier. It included four palaces in Saint Petersburg, three palaces in Moscow, 37 estates in different parts of Russia, in the Crimea (at [[Koreiz]], [[Sokolyne|Kökköz]] and [[Balaklava]]), coal and iron-ore mines, plants and factories, [[flour mills]] and oil fields on the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guide-guru.com/best-of-st-petersburg-attractions/yusupovs-palace/|title=Yusupov Palace|work=guide-guru.com|access-date=5 August 2015|archive-date=4 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104192613/https://www.guide-guru.com/best-of-st-petersburg-attractions/yusupovs-palace/|url-status=dead}}</ref> His father served between 1886 and 1904 as an adjutant to [[Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich]] the [[Moscow Military District|General-Governor of Moscow]] (with the support of Grand Duke [[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)|Nikolas Nikolaevich]]).{{Efn|He was talkative, had no administrative experience and within a few months removed after (anti-German) riots.<ref>D. Smith, p. 185</ref> The city was declared under martial law.}}

[[File:Palace of Prince Yusupov in Kokkoz.jpg|thumb|left|The hunting lodge at [[Sokolyne]] ]]

Felix led a flamboyant life. As a young man, he [[Cross-dressing|cross-dressed]], which he later recalled to get into cabarets, which denied entrance to those in school uniforms. [[Nicholas Yusupov|His brother]]'s mistress Polya had helped him out by giving him her clothes which were a perfect fit. He had ceased doing that one night when he impersonated a singer at a club when a member of the audience spotted the family jewelry. Yusupov made a quick exit by smashing a champagne bottle over the nightclub's power box to cause a temporary blackout and ran off into the winter's night.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yusupov |first1=Felix |title=Lost Splendor |date=1954 |isbn=978-1885586582 |page=88 |chapter=IX|publisher=Helen Marx Books }}</ref><ref>[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/christophe.martyn/Direct_Article/Direct_Article/brotherskeeper.pdf Gretchen Haskin (2000) His Brother's Keeper. Atlantic Magazine; Lost Splendour, p. 111.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222214718/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/christophe.martyn/Direct_Article/Direct_Article/brotherskeeper.pdf |date=22 February 2014 }}</ref> From 1909 to 1913, he studied Forestry and later English at [[University College, Oxford]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Danzinger|first1=Christopher|title=The Oxford alumnus who helped to assassinate Rasputin|url=http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/features/oxford-alumnus-who-helped-assassinate-rasputin|access-date=4 January 2017|work=www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk|agency=Oxford Today|publisher=University of Oxford|date=12 December 2016}}</ref> where he was a member of the [[Bullingdon Club]],<ref name="NY Times">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/01/14/102309358.pdf Prince Yusupoff Defended in Rasputin Case –  Fellow-Collegian at Oxford Tells of Nobleman's Career There, and Says It Is Impossible to Associate Him with a Murder] 14 January 1917 ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> and established the Oxford Russian Club.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About Us|url = http://oxrussoc.wix.com/ours#!about/cazn|website = OURS|access-date = 14 January 2016}}</ref> Yusupov was living on 14 [[King Edward Street]], had a Russian cook, a French driver, an English valet, and a housekeeper, and spent much of his time partying. He owned three horses, a [[macaw]], and a bulldog called Punch. He smoked [[hashish]],<ref name="NY Times"/> danced the tango, and became friendly with Luigi Franchetti, a piano player, and Jacques de Beistegui, who both moved in.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alexanderpalace.org/lostsplendor/XV.html|title=Chapter XV – Lost Splendor – Felix Yussupov|website=www.alexanderpalace.org}}</ref> At some time, Yusupov became acquainted with [[Albert Stopford]] and [[Oswald Rayner]], a classmate. He rented an apartment in [[Curzon Street]], [[Mayfair]], and met several times with the ballerina [[Anna Pavlova]], who lived in [[Hampstead]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}