Konstantin Pavlovich

Born Apr. 27 (May 8), 1779, in Tsarskoe Selo, now the city of Pushkin; died June 15 (27), 1831, in Vitebsk. Russian grand duke; the second son of Emperor Paul I.

From 1797, Konstantin was inspector-general of the cavalry. In 1799 he took part in the Italian and Swiss campaigns of A. V. Suvorov. During the wars against Napoleonic France of 1805–07 and 1812–14 he commanded the guards. From the end of 1814 he was commander in chief of the Polish Army and de facto viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland. He was the heir apparent to the Russian throne, but he renounced the throne in 1823 because of his morganatic marriage in 1820 to the Polish countess J. Grudziriska (later Duchess Łowicz). The act of abdication was kept a secret. After the death of Alexander I, he was formally the emperor of Russia from Nov. 27 to Dec. 14, 1825. Konstantin Pavlovich’s refusal to reign led to an interregnum, of which the Decembrists took advantage. In Poland he carried out a policy of national oppression. Konstantin Pavlovich took part in the suppression of the Polish Uprising of 1830–31.