Prince Nicholas Borisovich Yusupov (Russian: Князь Никола́й Бори́сович Юсу́пов—младший; 24 October 1827 – 31 July 1891) was one of the wealthiest landowners in the Russian Empire, as well as a musician, philanthropist, Active State Councillor (1864) and Chamberlain (1875). He was the maternal grandfather of Felix Yusupov who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina Alexandrovna, a niece of Emperor Nicholas II.
Born 24 October 1827 to Boris Nikolaevich and Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova, born Naryshkina. His grandfather, who he was named after, wrote: "The wife of my son, Princess Zinaida Ivanovna, has been safely delivered in Saint Petersburg of their son, my grandson, Prince Nikolai Borisovich." He was christened on 13 November at the Saint Nicholas Naval Cathedral, with Emperor Nicholas I and his paternal grandmother as godparents.
Art and music were both important subjects of his education. His father, Prince Boris wrote: "Other than me and your mother, who care only for your happiness, may your first friends be your violin and your paintbrush. These will not betray you."
Yusupov was a skilled violinist. He was tutored by the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881), composed pieces for the piano and violin and authored several books on the subject of music. He was an honorary member of the Roman Academy of Music, the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna and the Paris Conservatory.
In 1849, his father died and at age twenty-two Nikolai Yusupov inherited the entire Yusupov fortune. The year after, he graduated from Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Law and was admitted to His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery as a secretary. He was banished to the Caucasus in 1852 for trying to elope with his half-cousin, Princess Tatiana Ribopierre.
In June 1856 he was back in favour and created Master of Ceremony at Emperor Alexander II's coronation. That same year, Nikolai married Tatiana. The marriage was originally deemed illegal, because of the bride and groom being too closely related according to Russian law, but the union was legalised by order of Alexander II. The pair had two daughters, Zinaida (1861) and Tatiana (1866) and a son in 1863, who died at three months old.
From 1862 to 1868, Yusupov was a manager of the Public Library of Saint Petersburg. He used his position to research his family history, the results of which he published in his 1866 and 1867 essays. The Yusupov family spent most of its time abroad to improve Princess Tatiana's failing health. Nevertheless, she died in 1879 aged only 51. Nine years later, his daughter of the same name died from typhoid. Knowing the Yusupov line would die with him in the male line, Yusupov filed a request to bequeath his land, surname and title to his son-in-law, Count Felix Elston, husband of his only surviving child Zinaida. On 15 October 1884, the request was approved by the Government Senate, on the condition that the transfer would only occur after Prince Nikolai's death.
Yusupov died from a heart attack in Baden-Baden on July 31, 1891, aged 63. He was survived by his mother, daughter and two grandsons. He was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra monastery.
