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1856
Franz Ivan Roubaud is born on June 3 (15)* in Odessa as fourth of five children into the Catholic family of the French bookseller and stationer Honorè Fortune Alexandre Roubaud, who originates from Marseille. His wife Madeleine with the maiden name Seneque is a seamstress from Clermont-Ferrand.
 
1865
At the age of nine Roubaud is enrolled in the newly opened drawing class at the Odessa Society of Fine Arts. The class is directed by F. A. Malman. Between 1868 and 1870 Roubaud does not attend the class.
 
early 1870s
The Roubaud family travels to Tiflis.
 
late 1870s
Roubaud lives for some time in Poland, where he works as an accountant and later also as tutor.
 
1877
Roubaud moves to Munich on November 16. .
 
1878
He enrolls at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (Kgl. Bayerische Akademie der Bildenden Künste) on April 20.
 
1880
C. von Piloty, director of the academy, attests Roubaud diligence and vocation. But unable to maintain his living Roubaud returns to Odessa, where he is promised employment as drawing master.
 
1881
Roubaud travels to Paris and Bouches-du-Rhone in the south of France. By the end of the year Roubaud returns to Munich, where he continues his studies in the private class of the battle-painter Josef von Brandt.
 
1882 / 1884
Tsar Alexander III sponsors Roubaud’s yearly summer sojourns in the Caucasus and Ukraine, and his visits to Eriwan, Tiflis, Baku, Tashkent, and Samarkand.
 
1882
Later in the year he creates his first recognized painting
Street in Yarmolnitsy in the Province of Podolia.

 
1883
Street in Yarmolnitsy in the Province of Podolia
is exhibited at the spring exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Roubaud is awarded his first medal.
 
1885
Roubaud travels the Caucasus, Turkey, and Central Asia. Galerie Wimmer, Munich’s oldest art gallery, continuously includes Roubaud in their permanent exhibition until 1911.
On June 20 the Munich registry office creates a personal dossier on Roubaud, listing him as Russian citizen from Odessa. This dossier is subsequently amended in 1888, 1890, 1893, 1897, 1909, and 1915. The original ink entry is amended in pencil at a later date changing his nationality to French citizen from Marseille (Hauptliste für den Ausländer Nr. 125970). This alteration is made upon request by Franz Roubaud.
 
1886
Tsar Alexander III commissions 19 large paintings for the Museum of Military History in Tiflis called “Hall of Fame”. Instead of completing the full commission Roubaud executes only 17 paintings. Roubaud repeatedly travels the Caucasus and Central Asia accompanied by the Austrian artist R. Otto von Ottenfeld and the military historian V. A. Potto. Roubaud creates 15 paintings depicting the most important episodes from the Caucasian War, two pictures from the wars with Turkey and Persia, and from the Central Asian campaigns spanning from 1722 to 1855.
 
1887
Roubaud lives in St. Petersburg, Bolshaya Morskaya Street 109.
 
1888
In Tiflis on September 30 Roubaud is introduced to Tsar Alexander III and his heir to the throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich.
 
1889
The Imperial Society of the Benefaction of the Arts in St. Petersburg organizes the first single- artist exhibition by Franz Roubaud. Panoramic paintings with an all-encompassing view of a landscape, military battle, or historical event are popular in Europe and America. Without a commission and based in Munich Roubaud starts painting
The Storming of Achulgo
depicting the Russian capture of Chamil’s residence in 1859.
 
1890
Roubaud completes
The Storming of Achulgo
assisted by the Munich painters H. Fricke, J. Rosen, H. Bartels, and L. Schönchen. It is exhibited in Munich as
The Conquest of the Caucasus
. Its success secures Roubaud admittance to the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. Prince regent Luitpold awards Roubaud the Order pour le Merite of St. Michael.
 
1891

The Storming of Achulgo
is exhibited in Paris. The French president, Sadi Carnot, visits it twice. Roubaud is awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor. Lack of care concerning management of the show and conservation of the painting generates substantial losses in every respect. Roubaud is appointed professor at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts.
 
1892
Julia Franziska, Roubaud’s first child, is stillborn to Katharina Kellner on February 21.
Roubaud is awarded the First class Medal of the Columbian Historical Exhibition in Madrid.
 
1893
Anna is born on May 3. She dies prematurely by drowning on April 5, 1912.
Roubaud is awarded the Second class Medal of the annual exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Munich. N.D. Osten-Sacken, Russian ambassador at the Bavarian court, introduces Roubaud to grand duke Vladimir Alexandrovitch, commander of guards in St. Petersburg. Roubaud asks permission to show
The Storming of Achulgo
in Russia.
 
1894
His third child, Adolf Franz Alexander, is born May 9. Roubaud marries Katharina Kellner, born August 29, 1868, in Munich on June 20 (Standesamt München I, Register no. 1452). Before she met Roubaud Katharina had one illegitimate daughter, Josefa, born March 9, 1885.
Roubaud exhibits at the fall exhibition of the Academy in St. Petersburg
Daniil Bek and Kabito Magoma, the main fellow combatants of Chamil, bowing to the Russian emperor, represented by Prince Baryatinsky on June 25, 1859
. Roubaud suggests its acquisition at 5,000 Rubles to Ivan Tolstoi, vice-president of the academy, on behalf of the Imperial collections. N. D. Osten-Sacken asks Tolstoi about the possibility of a one-man show for Roubaud in the context of the upcoming fall exhibition of the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. Roubaud is increasingly admired by Munich art critics. Roubaud resides in Munich at Schwantaler Str. 34.
 
1895
Roubaud is awarded a Bronze Medal of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. His address in Munich is: Herzog Heinrich Str. 15
 
1896
The Storming of Achulgo
celebrates a big success in a specially designed pavilion at the All-Russian Exhibition of Industry and Art in Nishni Novgorod, where Tsar Nikolai II visits it. Roubaud’s addresses are: Schwantaler Str. 56 in Munich, and Bolshoi Prospect 10 on the Vassilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg.
 
1897
His wife Katharina dies June 13 leaving the artist with three conjugal children and an illegitimate 13-year-old girl. Roubaud manages the Russian section at the International Art Exhibition in Munich. He is awarded the Third Class Order of St. Anna. The Russian government acquires
The Storming of Achulgo.
Due to the absence of a museum in the Caucasus the painting is temporally stored at the Hall of Fame in Tiflis.
 
1898
Roubaud’s address in Munich is: Neuhauser Str. 7. Together with I. Repin, N. Samokish, V. Serov, V. Surikov, V. Vasnetsov, and other eminent Russian artists Roubaud illustrates the four luxurious volumes of Grand-Dukes’, Tsars’, and Emperors’ Hunting in Russia edited by N. Kutepoff (1896-1911).
 
1899
Roubaud marries Elsa Maria Haberl (born February13, 1873 in Wiener Neustadt) in Vienna on June 3. This marriage produces four children.
 
1900
Nikolaus Luitpold Karl is born on October 8.
 
1901
Roubaud again manages the Russian section at the International Art Exhibition in Munich. The council of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg decides to acquire six paintings from his single-artist show. This is exceptional, since the academy’s constitution does not envisage purchases from foreign artists. Roubaud’s
The Storming of Geok-Tepe
is appraised at 2,670 Rubles. The commitee in charge of erecting monuments for the 50th anniversary of the Crimean War (1853  – 1856) commissions Roubaud to paint
The Storming on June 6, 1855
. Roubaud travels to Russia to sign the contract on August 17, and in October he drafts a first sketch on location.
 
1902
This sketch is shown at the Winter-Palace in St. Petersburg in January, and it is officially approved in February. Roubaud is retroactively awarded the Second Class Order of St. Stanislas in acceptance of his management of the Russian section at the International Art Exhibition in Munich the previous year.
Hermine Maria Helene is born on June 1.
 
1903
Roubaud resides in Munich. On February 24 in his absence he is appointed professor of horse- and battlefield painting for a duration of five years at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. Roubaud succeeds the late P. O. Kovalevsky.
His son Karl is born on April 10.
In May Roubaud asks I. I. Tolstoi for a sabbatical to comply with his Sevastopol task. Roubaud starts painting
The Storming on June 6
probably using the atelier of Louis Braun. He is assisted by Munich painters L. Schönchen, S. Merte, C. Frosch, and at least twenty students from the academy. Roubaud’s address in Munich is: Herzog-Heinrich Str. 15. In the fall Roubaud travels to St. Petersburg to meet with his new students. He delegates the direction of his atelier to D.N. Kardovsky. Roubaud then travels to Sevastopol.
 
1904
The painting is completed in June and sent from Munich to Sevastopol. K. E. Tir and I.Y. Perlman, two students from his class help Roubaud to install the panorama, but the building is not finished. On December 13 the painting is finally mounted. Due to exhaustion Roubaud decides to return to Munich without stopping in St. Petersburg.
 
1905
Roubaud falls ill in Berlin. He informs I.I. Tolstoi about his financial losses as a result of painting
The Storming on June 6
. The Imperial Academy grants Roubaud a monthly allowance of 200 Rubles (430 Mark). On May 14 (27)
The Storming on June 6
is opened to the public.
Helene Hermine (Tamara), last and seventh child of Franz Roubaud, is born on February 25.
 
1906 / 1907
Roubaud continues to live in Munich. He is awarded the Order of Merit of the Prussian Crown. This leads to some irritation in the Russian press. With the ongoing revolution Roubaud tends to aid his students in times of hardship. Though teaching is interrupted the Imperial Academy is annoyed by Roubaud’s long absence.
 
1908
Roubaud returns to St. Petersburg. The academy appoints him professor of horse- and battlefield painting for a duration of five years. He is elected member of the academy following the recommendation of A. I. Kouinji, V. A. Beklemishev, and A. P. Sokolov. Roubaud advises the academy council on how to improve teaching. Roubaud is awarded the Second Class Order of St. Anna. Roubaud spends the summer in Bavaria at Hochstätt am Chiemsee.
 
1909
Sevastopol exhibits its panorama in a temporarily built rotunda on the Champs de Mars in St. Petersburg. The vacant museum in Sevastopol is filled with The Storming of Achulgo, which travels later in the year to St. Petersburg to be added to The Storming on June 6. B. M. Kolyubakin and V. A. Afanasiev, members of the jubilee committee attached to the Military Historical Society, address Roubaud with a proposal to paint a panorama for the centenary of the battle of Borodino.
 
1910
On April 14 Roubaud is appointed regular member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Ilya Repin is his strong advocate. Roubaud paints the Tsar Nikolai II during a military maneuver in the summer of 1909. Roubaud travels to Moscow and visits for the first time the battlefield at Borodino. He signs a contract with a special emissary of the jubilee committee. But since the committee does not dispose of any funds, the contract is legally void. Roubaud’s first sketches for the panorama
The Battle of Borodino
are presented to the Tsar on September 23 without an immediate official response. Roubaud stays in close contact with experts in Russian military history, such as V. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov, B. M. Kolyubakin, and many others.
 
1911
Roubaud lives in St. Petersburg at Vassilyevsky Island 3, Line 2. On March 8 he signs an official contract to paint the panoramic painting
The Battle of Borodino.
General B. M. Kolyubakin, historian and teaching professor at the Military Academy is appointed official advisor to Roubaud to guarantee historical precision. Roubaud again creates this panoramic painting in Munich assisted by C. Becker, M. Zeno-Diemer, C. Frosch, P. P. Müller, S. Merte, and his brother Josef Roubaud. For his research Roubaud travels to Berlin, Paris, Moscow, and to the battlefield of Borodino in August. Press and public opinion in St. Petersburg is again irritated by Roubaud’s long absence as teaching professor.
 
1912
In less than a year Roubaud completes the panorama. In May it is exhibited for five days in Munich before it is sent to Moscow. Roubaud asks the Imperial administration to grant him the copyright of its photographic reproductions. On August 29 the panorama is exhibited in a special wooden pavilion on the Chystoprudny Boulevard in Moscow. Roubaud presents it to the Tsarist family. In September Roubaud addresses the director of the Imperial Academy with the plea for time off until January 1913 due to exhaustion. The council of the academy assigns the class of horse- and battlefield painting to N.S. Samokish. Roubaud is appointed superintendent of the 1913 International Art Exhibition in Munich.
 
1913
Roubaud is awarded the Fourth Class Order of St. Vladimir. His five-year teaching contract with the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg terminates. He has no intention to renew it partly because he feels overly criticized for his absences in the past. N. S. Samokish now heads the class. Roubaud returns to Munich, where he buys an apartment at Martinistr. 8/4 on October 5.
 
1914
Roubaud exhibits a total of 34 paintings at the annual art exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Munich, which almost resembles a single-artist show. WWI starts. Roubaud is detained as French citizen. Roubaud is nationalized as German citizen on December 19 (Einbürgerungsurkunde No. 76036). The naturalization includes his wife Elsa and the five children from his two marriages. The certificate of naturalization is issued to Roubaud on December 20. (Regulatory authority Munich no. 10274 & 11542 from December 29)
 
1917
The panorama painting on the Chystoprudny Boulevard loses its status as a museum.
 
1925
Roubaud exhibits at the annual art exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Munich together with his daughter, the sculptor Tamara.
 
1928
Franz Roubaud dies on March 11. The Munich registry office lists his death under no. 1847 St.-A. I. The Neue Galerie at Residenzstrasse opens a memorial exhibition.
 
Notes:
1
 June 3 (Gregorian calendar) June 15 (Julian calendar)
The Munich registry office from January 26, 1915 lists three different dates of birth:
Familienbogen, p. 1: 2. (crossed) 3. Juli 1856 Familienbogen, p. 3: 3. Juni 1856
BIOGRAPHY