Paul Ilyinsky

Three time Mayor of Palm Beach

Paul Dmitrievich Romanovsky Ilyinsky (January 27, 1928 – February 10, 2004) was a three time mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, and the only child of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Cincinnati heiress Audrey Emery. He was a great grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and, following the death of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich in 1992, the heir male House of Romanov (a position now held by his elder son), a first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, first cousin of Lennart Bernadotte and the second cousin of Charles III.

Prince Paul Romanovsky Ilyinsky was born on 27 January 1928 at his parents' home, 26 Manchester Square, London. His father, Grand Duke Dmitri, as a direct consequence of his involvement in the murder of Grigori Rasputin in 1916, had been sent to the Persian front, which ultimately saved his life, as many of his Imperial relatives were executed by the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution. Dmitri, who was working as a champagne salesman, married Cincinnati heiress Audrey Emery in 1926. Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia, Dmitri's cousin and the self proclaimed emperor in exile, elevated Grand Duke Dmitri's wife and their descendants to Russian princely (knyaz) rank (rank of nobility, not royalty). Any children the couple would have would be known as Romanovsky Ilyinsky, the latter half of the surname derived from Dmitri's former property in Russia, Ilinskoe. Ilynskiy's parents were divorced in 1937, and Ilyinsky was raised by his mother, who mostly lived in France. That same year, she married her second husband, Prince Dimitri Djordjadze, a member of a Georgian princely house; they also later divorced. Dmitri Pavlovich's health had always been somewhat frail, and in the 1930s, his chronic tuberculosis became acute, leading to his death in 1942.

Ilyinsky, who was a U. S. citizen, attended Woodberry Forest School in Virginia and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England, before joining the U. S. Marine Corps. He served with distinction as a combat photographer in the Korean War and retired a lieutenant colonel. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1953. Ilyinsky lived in Cincinnati for about 20 years, serving on the board of the company founded by his mother's family, Emery Industries, and working as an author and photographer. In 1980, he returned to Palm Beach, Florida, where he had lived before moving to Cincinnati. He served on the Palm Beach Council for 10 years and was mayor for three terms as Republican candidate. He resigned for health reasons in 1999. Ilyinsky died at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 10, 2004.