Mentioning exiled Russians these days suggests pro-Ukrainian protesters or anti-Putin demonstrators. Malta’s reputation as a haven for Russian exiles goes back more than 100 years before Putin’s antics.
The revolution
The 1917 Russian revolution is a monumental part of Europe’s history for so many reasons. It started a great political and social upheaval that changed world history. Russia abolished its monarchy, and vengeful mobs killed many royals or noble families. Many escaped and, with connections to British royalty, many sought help from England.
On 7 April 1919, HMS Marlborough berthed in Sevastopol in the Black Sea1 carrying Vice Admiral Sir Francis Pridham. He had a letter from Britain’s Queen Alexandra to evacuate her sister and family from Russia. The sister was Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, mother of Tsar Nicholas II. The letter urged Marie to leave Russia before it was too late, and that England would help.
The ship proceeded to Yalta were they picked up about 100 people, far more than they expected. Marie agreed to evacuating, provided all those people she wanted to help could leave too. HMS Marlborough was on its own because while the French High Commission had promised help, the French changed their mind at the last minute. Marlborough was a warship and not prepared for passengers which led to the crew being creative in helping the refugees.
Marlborough picked up more in Koriez and Harax, the latter where Marie’s summer palace was. In total, 4 Romanov generations travelled on the British naval vessel out of Russia on 11 April, as the Red Army progressed further south.
Exiles
HMS Marlborough called at Constantinople on 11 April, before heading straight for Malta. It reached the island on Sunday 20 April 1919 at 5.15pm2. The landing took place in Valletta the next morning2 3, a little delayed as it should have called to port on 14 April2. The nobility on board were2:
- Empress Marie, with 6 attendants.
- Grand Duchess Xenia, with 5 children and 7 attendants.
- Prince and Princess Yousoupoff, with 7 attendants.
- Prince and Princess Yousoupoff junior, with 1 child.
- Princess Orloff, Prince and Princess Orloff junior, with 1 child and 4 attendants.
- Prince and Princess Doigorouki, with 2 children and 4 attendants.
- Princess Obolensky.
- Admiral Prince and Princess Wiasemsky.
- Countess Menghen and Mademoiselle Everinoff, ladies-in-waiting, with 3 attendants.
- Colonel Prince Orbellani.
- General and Madame Chatelain, and child.
- General Foguel.
At King George’s request, the Governor of Malta hosted Empress Marie at San Anton Palace in Balzan together with her attendants2. Robert Ingham, the Governor’s aide, described how the Governor prepared the Palace2. They even customised the small chapel to be suitable for Orthodox use, going as far as crafting a new stone altar for them2. The Governor made it a point to inform the King that he placed 40 dozen bottles of 1906 Champagne under lock and key, “for I have no confidence in the statement that the Russians have taken the pledge!”2.
The island welcomed the rest of the Russians and many stayed at Villa St Ignatius in Sliema. The Villa had been a hospice until January of that year4 so the exiles put it to good use.
Sliema was a sleepy place back then and was just becoming more popular, especially with the British.
Another famous exile who lived in Sliema was the Prince of Capua
The Dowager stayed till 29 April, when she departed for London to be with her sister2.
Life in Malta
Russians arrived, and left, Malta until 1922 keeping a constant stream of people on the island. They weren’t all royalty, but were all escaping the Reds for one reason or another. Russian starchitect Nikolay Krasnov was one of these5. He’s known for developing large parts of Yalta and Belgrade6. In Malta, he painted watercolours and taught art to earn a living. These watercolours show what the island was like at the time – and how some parts haven’t changed at all.
Oral history states that the Russian exiles used to bathe in the sea along the Sliema seafront. The Maltese started calling this half-kilometre stretch of rocky beach “Exiles”7.
The name stuck and as a result Exiles Bay is the official name of this stretch of the beach and promenade. I can attest that it is popular with Russian-speaking expats up till this day.
- HMS Marlborough Evacuates Members of the Imperial Family; Yalta, April, 1919; Alexander Palace; (Retrieved 2022-07-09) [↩]
- Russian Empress at San Anton; Robert Ingham; The Sunday Times of Malta; 1957-03-07[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Former People: The Last Days of the Russian Aristocracy; Douglas Smith; Pan Macmillan; 2012[↩]
- Contemporary Medicine in Malta [1798-1979]; Charles Savona-Ventura; 2016-05-08[↩]
- Russian Refugees 1919; (Retrieved 2022-07-09) [↩]
- Russian heritage in Belgrade; Serbia.com; 2014-04-14[↩]
- Exiles beach; Mr Victor Caruana Colombo; Times of Malta; 2007-09-09[↩]