Historians can say for sure how many bastards Louis XIV had and no one is shocked by such information. The life of the Russian rulers, too, was clearly not pious. According to rumor, Catherine II had 7 illegitimate children, Nicholas I - nine, Alexander II had 12 bastards.
Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was married twice. The ruler had 16 children. The most famous among them is the Emperor Peter I. However, as it turned out, the descendants of the "Quiet" were much more. One of them turned out to be the closest friend and colleague of Peter the Great - Ivan Musin-Pushkin. The assumption of Ivan's close relationship with the tsar was expressed by Prince Dolgoruky. Ivan was considered the son of the tsar's steward, but everyone knew about the tsar's "special" attitude to the steward's wife, Irina.
Ivan was born during the first official marriage of Alexei Mikhailovich. There was also indirect evidence of the words of Prince Dolgorukov. For example, Peter I often called Ivan "brother", assigned him the title of count, introduced him to the Senate, and also entrusted the management of the Mint. Once, during a merry feast, he, pointing to Musin-Pushkin, said that Ivan knew that they had a common father. Peter himself did not like to talk about his origin, since there were rumors that his father could be either Patriarch Joachim, or a groom, or someone else …
Yes, and Peter the Great himself is difficult to blame for monastic behavior. He was credited with numerous illegitimate children not only in Russia, but also abroad. Many have already heard the version that Mikhail Lomonosov was the son of Peter I. But the fact that Peter's blood flows in the veins of the intelligent and talented commander Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, few knew. The military documents indicate that he was born in Moscow, but, in fact, Countess Maria Rumyantseva gave birth to a son in a small Pridnestrovian village, where she was on the orders of Peter I. And the boy received the name in honor of his father - Peter. The Emperor's daughter, Elizaveta Petrovna, was very warm to her “half-brother”. It was she who, having ascended the Russian throne, promoted the young officer to the rank of colonel and conferred the title of count. By his behavior, the young aristocrat was very much like his real father: he loved a riotous life,constantly got into unpleasant situations. His official father, Count Alexander Rumyantsev, constantly hinted to his son that he wanted to deprive him of that inheritance and tried not to hear anything about the scandalous tricks of his son.
Until now, biographers are discussing the issue of the children of Catherine II. In the memoirs stored in the royal archives, there is confirmation that the real father of Paul I was the aristocrat Sergei Saltykov. However, until now, this version is constantly refuted. The main argument is that Paul I possessed the characteristics of a Western European that could not have belonged to Saltykov.
Among the bastards of Catherine II, Aleksey Bobrinsky is especially famous, whose father was considered to be Count Orlov. The birth of the child was kept secret. The baby immediately, after birth, was given to the empress's faithful servant - Vasily Shkurin. There is evidence that many years later the empress wrote a letter to Alexei, where she explained why she concealed the fact of his birth. Paul I treated his “brother” with warmth: he canceled the disgrace, conferred the title of count on him and allowed him to inherit his father, Grigory Orlov. Bobrinsky laid the foundation for a family, surprisingly necessary for Russia, whose representatives became outstanding managers and politicians.
Rumor attributed to Emperor Alexander I the paternity of 11 children. The most famous among them was General Nikolai Isakov. The official parents of the future military reformer were the horse riding teacher and student of the institute, Maria Karacharova. But the boy's convincing external resemblance to the emperor was very striking. In addition, the Russian autocrat forbade Isakov to look after his daughter, since he was sure of the girl's relationship with Nikolai Isakov. Bastard easily went up the career ladder, thanks to royal relatives: he completed his studies at the Imperial Military Academy, visited the Caucasian War, participated in the defense of Sevastopol, received the rank of general, carried out the reform of military education, and headed the Red Cross for a long time.
It was said about the mayor of St. Petersburg Fyodor Trepov that he was the bastard of Emperor Nicholas I. The reason for this opinion was the mysterious origin of the official’s huge financial fortune. In addition, he received an incredible salary for those times - 18 thousand rubles a year (it should be borne in mind that the salary of the highest paid minister was 15 thousand rubles a year). True, there was a version that his father was the German emperor Wilhelm I. Even if we do not take into account the possible high kinship, Trepov himself was a very talented manager: he successfully reformed the city police, waged a successful fight against corruption.
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Rumors did not pass by another progressive government official - Alexander Dembovetsky, who was considered the illegitimate son of Emperor Alexander II. Dembovetsky served as the governor of Mogilev, he was only 30 years old at that time. And many were outraged by the fact that such a young man took this position. The emperor was very kind to Alexander and helped in everything. In a short time, the governor managed to restore the disorganized affairs of the province and make it one of the most progressive regions of Russia.
Lev Gumilyov was constantly surrounded by rumors that he was the illegitimate son of Nicholas II. His mother, poetess Anna Akhmatova, although she spoke of her philistine origin, was distinguished by the "regal behavior" inherent in women of high status. In the work of Akhmatova there are words about the "gray-eyed king", and it was Nicholas II who had amazing radiant gray eyes. And if Akhmatova categorically denied her close relationship with Alexander Blok, she never denied her love relationship with the king.
Joseph Stalin had three children in two marriages: one died during the war, and the other two brought little joy to their father. According to available documents, he had two more illegitimate children.
In 1911, Dzhugashvili was in exile in Solvychegodsk. He lived in the house of a widow whose husband died in the fire of the war with the Japanese. Joseph was carried away by this woman and they had a son, Konstantin Kazakov. Years passed. Konstantin lived his own life and had no right to talk about his kinship with the leader of the Soviet state. The only confirmation of Kazakov's kinship with Stalin was his rapid party career: as soon as he joined the party, he was immediately transferred to the Central Committee and appointed to a high position in the propaganda department. In 1947, Kazakov was expelled from the ranks of the party, but this was a mild punishment, since his deputy was arrested on charges of espionage. After some time, Konstantin was reinstated in the ranks of the party and, for the rest of his life, he worked in leading positions in the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
Stalin's second son, born out of wedlock, lived his ordinary life with dignity. He was born during the Krasnoyarsk exile of Joseph Stalin. The child's mother was 14-year-old Lydia Pereprygina. The girl's relatives at first wanted to take the exiled to the police, but Dzhugashvili promised to marry Lydia, and the close girls gave up. Soon Dzhugashvili fled from exile, never fulfilling his promise. Lydia married a local fisherman Davydov, and the baby was born Alexander. The son of the Soviet leader fought at the fronts, was wounded, and rose to the rank of major. In peacetime he worked in the city of Novokuznetsk. In 2016, the son of Alexander Davydov received the result of a genetic examination, which confirmed his relationship with Stalin. But this information remained demonstratively unnoticed by the grandchildren of the former Soviet leader.
Today we can only look at the portraits of children born to the favorites of emperors and kings, and try to understand what secrets and secrets their images keep.