Georgy Gruzinskiy (1762–1852) — a Nizhny Novgorod prince and meme of Historic Center.
"The Volga Tsar" — that was what contemporaries called the most controversial and flamboyant figure in nineteenth-century Nizhny Novgorod history: Prince Georgy Gruzinskiy. There was indeed something regal about this extraordinary man. When asked about his lineage, the prince would say: "My grandfather was the King of Georgia, my family tree is the history of Georgia, and before that — the Bible."
His grandfather, the Georgian king Bakar Vakhtangovich, had served the Russian court faithfully from 1724 and received the rank of Lieutenant General of Artillery. The prince's mother was a daughter of Alexander Menshikov, a favorite of Peter I. Georgy Gruzinskiy himself owned estates and property in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, and gained notoriety through his untameable temperament and the "tsarist" order he established on his Nizhny Novgorod estate at Lyskovo.
As befitted a "capital," Gruzinskiy's domain occupied an exceptionally advantageous location. It stood on the right bank of the Volga River, directly opposite the Makaryev Monastery and its famous yarmarka, over which the prince considered himself absolute master. On the opening day of the yarmarka, Georgy Aleksandrovich would arrive at the monastery in a gilded carriage drawn by twelve horses in tandem with outriders. No one dared begin the church service before he arrived, and the entire clergy headed by the archimandrite, together with all the officials headed by the governor, would stand waiting for the "Lyskovo tsar" to appear… Gruzinskiy's "castle" was enclosed by a stone wall with single-story service wings built into its corners in the shape of the letter "G." The estate was surrounded by a park with gazebos, pavilions, orangeries, ponds, and other conceits in the spirit of the long-vanished eighteenth century — an age that loved to flaunt its luxury and in which this "autocratic" and formidable landowner seemed to go on living. The prince's habitual daily occupation was meting out judgment and punishment to people both within and beyond his jurisdiction. He was frequently chosen as judge or mediator in disputes and litigation among landowners, merchants, and peasants. The peasants were most often satisfied with his rulings, held him in their own kind of affection, and called him "Prince Yegor." It was said that runaway serfs who came under Gruzinskiy's protection were given flour and grain free of charge, and that craftsmen were always paid promptly for their work. Like the autocratic feudal lords of the past, this contradictory, extravagant, yet undeniably gifted man combined high-handedness with philanthropy, pettiness with generosity, willfulness with patriotism, and his own personal code of noble honor. His lack of restraint earned the "Volga Tsar" many envious enemies. Ill-wishers deliberately distorted the facts in attempts to discredit him before the provincial and capital authorities. Matters went so far that he was even accused of organizing bandit gangs that plundered merchant vessels on the Volga… But to no avail. Yet there came a day when the patience of the provincial authorities finally ran out, and a "case" of arbitrary rule landed on the desk of Emperor Paul I himself. To avoid inevitable punishment, the prince made a move that defies imagination: by means of an enormous bribe, he arranged an elaborate funeral for himself and was considered… dead for a full three years! He "rose from the dead" at the beginning of Alexander I's reign; the emperor scolded the prince "for his liberties," granted him an amnesty, and later promoted him to the rank of Chamberlain. Thanks to Prince Gruzinskiy's organizational abilities, his temperament, and his fabulous wealth, he inspired fear and reverence in everyone. It is no wonder that the Nizhny Novgorod nobility elected him their marshal seven times. And he proved worthy of the role, displaying remarkable qualities at the most decisive historical moments. It was Gruzinskiy who was the first among Nizhny Novgorod residents to voice the idea of forming a people's militia in 1812; he then not only became its commander but maintained it at his own expense. For his services to the fatherland, Emperor Alexander I awarded the prince the Order of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles, 4th degree, and honored him with a court rank… The "second life" of the Volga little-tsar began after the yarmarka was relocated to Nizhny Novgorod. He settled in the city center in his vast mansion, whose park spread out for more than a verst in every direction.
The wing of Prince Gruzinskiy's estate has survived — Alekseevskaya, house 20; the main house itself burned down in the nineteenth century. The street named in his honor was "cut through" the estate at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Even in the provincial capital, the grand prince did not abandon his old habits and lived as he pleased, heedless of laws and "ranks." And once again only the emperor himself could rein in his willfulness: the perennial marshal of the nobility was removed from his post by imperial decree of Nicholas I.
Prince Gruzinskiy spent the remainder of his life on his estate at Lyskovo. It is said that he died of an apoplectic fit brought on when he saw a peasant who failed to remove his hat in the prince's presence.