Prince Nicholas Maximilianovich, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg
1843–1891 (age 48)
Biography
Nicholas Maximilianovitch, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg (4 August 1843 - 6 January 1891) was a Russian Prince and soldier who was the 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg from 1852 until his death in 1891. Head of the House of Beauharnais, he was a grandson of Nicholas I of Russia and was a candidate for the throne of Greece and of Romania. Like his father, he was also a renowned mineralogist.
Son of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg and of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Nicholas grew up in Russia. He followed a military career but also studied mineralogy, geology and palaeontology. His was a candidate for the throne of Greece in 1862 and for Romania in 1866 but his links with Russia meant he did not accede to either.
Appointed President of the Imperial Society of Mineralogy and Honorary President of the Russian Society of Technology in 1865 by Tsar Alexander II, he carried out several scientific missions in Russia. His relationship with Nadezhda Annenkova led him to flee the country in 1868. Deprived of his fortune and abandoned by his family, he was later partially forgiven by his uncle. He spent the rest of his life in exile and died at the age of 47 of throat cancer.