Death of RNA President Prince Vladimir K. Galitzine

(January 29, 1942 – February 22, 2018)

The Board of the Russian Nobility Association in America is profoundly saddened to report the untimely death of its President Prince Vladimir K. Galitzine, on Thursday, February 22, 2018.

Prince Vladimir Galitzine was one of the Russian Emigration’s most prominent and active leaders. He was the President of the Russian Nobility Association during the past year and Board member for over 50 years, mostly as Vice-President. He was the organization’s real public face, speaking for the membership in times of happiness and sorrow: his sense of humor enlivened our parties and our annual Charity Balls.

Prince Vladimir dedicated a very large part of his life to supporting what kept our emigration Russian despite 100 years of life outside of Russia: the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Social and Educational organizations, and the Charity balls of several organizations that he and Princess Tatiana actively participated in or chaired.

Prince Vladimir was, for 42 years, the Warden of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Thus, he organized every baptism, marriage and funeral held at the Cathedral, participating directly in the life of the families that made up this community.

Prince and Princess Galitzine dedicated a large part of their summers to the Russian Scouts’ summer camps, where they organized and acted as surrogate parents to generations of children and young adults, where life-long friendships and allegiances to Russian community organizations were formed.

For decades, Prince Vladimir also served on the Board of the Organization of the Russian Cadet Corps outside of Russia, and was instrumental in re-establishing their connections with Russia after 1991.

In his professional life of an international banker for the Bank of New York, Prince Galitzine was directly involved in the early stages of opening of the Russian market to the US banking industry. His personal charm and formidable diplomatic talent and dedication to the Russian community made him a recognized and admired figure on the Russian scene. Obituaries in Russia are up to 53 and counting, in all types of publications, including the provinces where readers are becoming aware for the first time that there is actually a Russian Nobility Association in far-off United States 100 years after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia.

Prince Vladimir Galitzine descends from one of the oldest and most important Princely families in Russia. Over the last 600 years, family members were known for their tradition of service to the Russian State and the Russian people, holding leadership roles in government and the military, diplomats, ministers, governors, leaders of nobility, scholars, artists and patrons of the arts.

Members of Prince Vladimir’s family fought the Bolsheviks to the last during the Russian Civil War in the ranks of the White Army, and retreated with Gen. Wrangel from Crimea in 1920. The Prince was born on January 29, 1942, to Prince Kirill Vladimirovich Galitzine and his wife, Marina Alexandrovna (nee von Enden), in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where many families of White officers found a new home.

The family emigrated again, to New York, in 1951, after a route through Germany and a Displaced Persons’ camp in Munich. Life was difficult for immigrants to New York after the war, but young Vladimir found scholarships and completed his education. He joined the Bank of New York in 1960, where one of his co-workers was Tatiana Vladimirovna Kazimirova, whom he married in 1963. Galitzine worked his way up from an accounting position to the International Department. In 1990, he became head of the Bank’s new Eastern European Department, which opened up banking relationships with Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and East Germany, and eventually, Russia where he first arrived in 1990. He described this time as the most challenging, rewarding and satisfying time in his professional life.

Funeral services will be celebrated Monday February 26th (10:30 AM) at the Synod Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, Park Avenue and East 93rd Street. Burial will be at the Novo Diveevo Russian Orthodox Convent in Nanuet, New York, following the funeral service.