Mathilde Kschessinska was born on August 31, 1872, in Ligovo, near Peterhof (Russian Empire), and died on December 6, 1971, in Paris.
Daughter of a Polish dancer, Felix Adam Valerian Krzesiński (1823-1905), born into a family of minor Polish nobility, studied at the Imperial Ballet School in Saint Petersburg. In 1890, she joined the Mariinsky Theatre and remained there until 1917. She was appointed prima ballerina in 1893, and then prima ballerina assoluta two years later.
From 1890 onward, she had a relationship with Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich (the future Nicholas II), and after their breakup, with Grand Dukes Sergei and Andrei of Russia.
In March 1917, the Bolsheviks requisitioned her mansion to use as their headquarters.
In 1920, she left Russia and settled in Paris. The following year, she married Grand Duke Andrei, who recognized her son Vladimir Andreyevich Kschessinsky (June 30, 1902 – April 23, 1974). In 1929, she opened a dance school in Paris, counting among her students Boris Kniaseff, Yvette Chauviré, Alicia Markova, Tamara Toumanova, and Margot Fonteyn. She wrote her memoirs, entitled Souvenirs de la Kschessinska (Paris, Plon, 1960), and died in Paris on December 6, 1971, at the age of 99. She is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.
