170 years ago, on December 20, 1849, Prince Sergei Maximilianovich Romanovsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg, was born. He became the first member of the Russian Imperial House to die in war, serving as an officer at the front. Shortly before his death, he was awarded the Golden Weapon inscribed "For Bravery" and received the rank of Major General for the capture of Tarnovo.

Sergei Maximilianovich was the sixth child and third son of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. He was the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I and the great-grandson of Empress of France Josephine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. From birth, he was listed in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment.

From 1867, Sergei received home education under the guidance of Vladimir Nikolaevich Zubov, the senior adjutant of the General Staff. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna raised her sons in the spirit of her father's methods, Emperor Nicholas I. According to the memories of his brother Nikolai Maximilianovich, the children "were far from being spoiled... They always slept on campaign beds, in summer on mattresses stuffed with hay, and were covered with a single pikey blanket." After completing his education, Sergei was supposed to start working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he chose a military career, like many Romanovs. He served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, which did not participate in combat, but Sergei managed to be sent to the front.

At the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War, Prince Romanovsky went to the front lines and participated in battles for the liberation of Bulgaria. He served with the heir Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III. For the capture of Tarnovo in 1877, he was promoted to Major General. On October 12, 1877, during reconnaissance in the Ruschuk detachment near the village of Yovan-Chiftlik (now the village of Ivanovo in Bulgaria), Sergei Maximilianovich was killed by a bullet to the head. He became the first member of the Russian Imperial House to die in war; the second was Prince Oleg Konstantinovich. Sergei was unmarried and left no descendants. He was buried next to his mother in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and after the construction of the Grand Ducal Mausoleum in 1908, his remains were transferred there. In his memory, a chapel was built in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh.