Left everything in Russia in the hope of returning

On the morning of September 24, 1920, the most famous jeweler of the Russian Empire, Carl Faberge, died in poverty in the Belevue Hotel near Lausanne.

As the son of the jeweler, Yevgeny Karlovich Faberge, reported in a brief note written on February 13, 1937 at the request of an employee of the Faberge firm, Henry Charles Bainbridge, when the revolution broke out in Russia, Faberge shops remained open, they were closed only for a while:

“For a year and a half, the Faberge family lived under the revolutionary regime, from this period – one year under the Bolsheviks. Then C. Faberge emigrated to Riga, which at that time became the capital of Latvia.”

In July 1918, when it became known that the Bolsheviks had shot the entire royal family, including young children, Carl Faberge decided to curtail production and leave Russia. The secretary of the British embassy, ​​Mr. Derick, conveyed to Karl Gustavovich the proposal of the Queen of Great Britain: to leave under the guise of a diplomatic courier. Mr. Derick also hinted that the Bolsheviks did not search diplomatic baggage. He was sure that the king of jewelers would want to take out of the country something hidden for a rainy day. But in Carl Faberge’s suitcase, when he boarded the train in September 1918, there was only a change of linen, since he, apparently believing that the Soviet regime would not last long, planned to return soon. Therefore, all the valuables that belonged to the Faberge family were left in Russia for safekeeping to trusted people or hidden in hiding places. As Tatiana Faberge, the jeweler’s daughter, told a Swiss newspaper in an interview (published in Nashagazeta.ch), in December of the same year, when the wave of revolution reached Latvia, he left for Germany and settled first in Bad Homberg and then in Wiesbaden:

“His eldest son Eugene, together with his mother (August Faberezhe – S.I.), traveled to Finland through a forest littered with snow on foot and on a sleigh – their dangerous journey ended in December 1918.”

As noted in a note by Eugene Faberge, it is not difficult to understand that all these moves and a nervous life began to undermine his father’s health, because at that time he was already 74 years old. In Wiesbaden, Carl Faberge fell ill, although earlier in Russia he had always been in very good health. In June 1920, his wife and eldest son Eugene brought him to Lausanne. The excellent Swiss air had a beneficial effect on him, and he felt better; he even sometimes made walks along Lake Geneva to Ouchy, Montreux, Nyon, and others with his grandson Peter, the second son of Agathon Faberge.

However, as Yevgeny Karlovich writes, his father was very burdened by the inability to do what he loved, to which he devoted his whole life:

“He suffered from inactivity, he is always so hardworking and active, smart, efficient, diligent. Such a life without work was unbearable for him. He often repeated: “This life is no longer life when I cannot work and be useful. There is no point in living like this.” His heart was broken after 50 years of creative work, after he created a first-class jewelry enterprise, after he became successful and famous throughout the civilized world, this man had to watch his life’s work be ruined so stupidly and so pointless – that was the last blow.”

According to the note, one day, at the end of July 1920, he fell to the floor in his room from weakness and after that he was already bedridden:

“Until the end of his life he remained sane, he was interested in everything that happens in the world. He read daily newspapers and interesting books that we brought him every day from the library. Doctors discovered that he had liver cancer, but fortunately he did not suffer and never complained. He died quietly, without suffering, early in the morning of September 24, 1920, in the presence of his wife, having smoked half a cigarette an hour before. According to his last wish, his body was cremated in the crematorium of Lausanne to the sounds of Beethoven’s mass, which he loved. Madame Augusta Fabergé, widow of Carl Fabergé, (…) also died peacefully and without suffering at Cannes on the French Riviera on January 27, 1925, at the age of 73, while my father had reached the age of 74 years and 4 months. In May 1930 I moved my father’s ashes from Lausanne to Cannes and buried them in my mother’s grave.”

Dying in poverty in a foreign land, Carl Faberge still hoped that his sons would someday return to Russia and restore the family business. He hoped that all the valuables hidden in hiding places or left with trusted persons would return to the family. Therefore, drawing up a will, he carefully distributed all the property between his sons. He did not know that he was leaving his children long-stolen jewelry and a company that no longer existed. In 1925, after the death of Karl Gustavovich, his son Eugene tried to get the hidden valuables. He gave a list to his acquaintances in Russia: “Where our things are hidden.” The list was returned to him with notes against each item: “stolen”, “lost”, “found by the Cheka” …

Sergei Ishkov.

A photo www.culture.ru