Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia (; 24 November 1877 – 9 November 1943) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II. He followed a military career. After graduating from the in 1896, he served as coronet in the life Guards Hussar regiment. He took part in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and became a major general in the Russian Army in 1914. During World War I, he commanded the regiment of the Ataman Cossacks in 1915. He was known in Imperial Russia for his restless behavior and as a notorious playboy. After the fall of the Russian monarchy, he was put under house arrest by the provisional government in March 1917, but he managed to escape the former Imperial capital in September that year and joined his mother and younger brother in the Caucasus. He departed revolutionary Russia in March 1919 with his longtime mistress, whom he married in exile. Eventually, he settled in France where he spent the rest of his life. He died in occupied Paris in 1943. Early life Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was born on at his parents' palace in Saint Petersburg. He was the third child and second surviving son among the five children of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, née Duchess Marie Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His parents were very wealthy and lived in the luxurious Vladimir Palace in Saint Petersburg. His father, Vladimir Alexandrovich, a brother of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, was a renowned patron of the arts; his mother, Maria Pavlovna, one of the greatest hostesses of Russian society. Boris, more extrovert than his siblings, was his mother's favorite. Grand Duke Boris was educated at home. He initially was raised by a British nanny, the first language he spoke was English. As was customary in the Russian Imperial family, Boris and his siblings also have a sailor "nanny", a male attendant from the Imperial navy, who served as the children's companion looking after them. Boris Vladimirovich's education emphasized languages and military training. The parents chose the tutors, governors and friends for their children with care. The four siblings spent most of their time at their parents villa in Tsarkoe Selo where they had a lot of freedom and were able to visit a park with