Vladimir Makovsky. Empress Maria Feodorovna. 1912. State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg.
One of the most tragic figures of European royalty is the Empress Maria Feodorovna, widow of Alexander III, and mother of Nicholas II of Russia.
The revolution that toppled the Romanovs came as no surprise to many members of the imperial family. Only Nicholas and Alexandra seemed shocked by the Russian people’s decision to overthrow a regime that had epitomized inefficiency and corruption. Maria Feodorovna had one opportunity to see Nicholas II just after his abdication in early 1917. After a brief encounter with her son, the Dowager Empress headed towards one of the imperial villas in the Crimea. While revolution spread throughout Russia, Maria Feodorovna was joined at her seaside refuge by Grand Duke Alexander and Grand Duchess Xenia, their six sons, Prince Yussupov, his parents and his wife Grand Duchess Irina, daughter of Xenia and Alexander, and Grand Duchess Olga and her new husband Colonel Koulikovsky.
Nicholas and Alexandra, along with their children, were sent into exile in the provinces. The imperial couple were initially sent to Tobolsk, and later on moved to Yekaterinburg, near the Ural Mountains. They were all assassinated by Bolshevik guards in Yekaterinburg in July 1918. Grand Duke Michael was also apprehended and eventually executed while in prison during the summer of 1918. Not content with the massacre of these Romanovs, Bolsheviks went around the civil war torn country trying to execute all remaining Romanovs. The year 1918 also saw the assassination of the following Romanovs: Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, uncle of Nicholas II; Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich, grandson of Nicholas I; three children of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich: Ivan, Constantine and Igor; Grand Duke Dimitri Constantinovich, grandson of Nicholas I; Grand Dukes Nicholas Michaelovich, Serge Michaelovich and George Michaelovich, grandsons of Nicholas I; Grand Duchess Elizabeth, widow of Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich and sister of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Prince Dimitri Pavlovich Paley, son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, was also assassinated. In all nineteen Romanovs were brutally executed by the blood-thirsty Bolsheviks. The imperial family never recovered from this tragedy.
Maria Feodorovna and her surviving family left Russia in the spring of 1919. They boarded the British ship HMS Marlborough and never again set foot in their country.
On September 28, 2006, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna was laid to rest beside her beloved husband, Czar Alexander III at the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
«She never left the children brought up in her institutions afterwards, but helped them all her life, went into all the details that concerned them, and was a true mother to everyone. None of those who served her died in the palace except in her presence. She comforted everyone to the end and always closed the eyes of the dying. Doctors once told her that her retired lady-in-waiting, who lived on Vasilievsky Island, was suffering greatly from breast cancer, that it would be possible to save her, but she did not agree to the operation otherwise than if the Empress herself would be present during her production. “Well,” she said, “if only her recovery depends on it, then I will fulfill her wish.” She went to her and held her head during the whole operation. She went into the smallest details about her establishments and not only supervised the upbringing of the children, but also did not forget to send them treats and give them all sorts of pleasures. One boy was forced to stay in bed for a long time due to illness; she brought him drawings, pencils and various things. With every courier she was informed about the state of his health — she was in Moscow at the time. When appointing honorary guardians, the choice was the strictest: she corresponded with each of them herself weekly, inquired about the pupils and pupils, about their behavior and health, and always gave wise humane advice … Everything was invented by a tender heart for the benefit, joy and peace of all who depend on her. It was not a dry, lifeless patronage, but maternal care. But her arrival at the institute was a real holiday. Maman, mam an, Mutterchen — could be heard from everywhere. Sometimes, at a big dinner, she would order dessert to be taken off and sent to some institute in turn. And she asked guardiansin her testament to remember that the first basis of all actions should be a boon!Babies abandoned by their mothers enjoyed her special attention. One day my father, who always accompanied her when she visited institutions, expressed surprise that she so tenderly kissed the little members of these unfortunate people, examined the laundry on the nurses and so on. “Ah!” she replied, “all these abandoned children are now mine and must find in me the care they are deprived of."»
(с) Maria Sergeevna Mukhanova, lady-in-waiting of Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna.
«The Empress with the medical staff went around the wounded, provided first aid, tried in every possible way to ease the sufferings of the sick, despite the fact that she herself had a damaged arm above the elbow and she wore just a dress. An officer’s greatcoat was thrown over the shoulders of the tsarina, in which she walked along the crashed train…»
A. Myasnikov about Empress Maria Feodorovna on the day of the tragedy at the Borki station.
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia to Maria Feodorovna, «Various facts from November 12 to November 19, 1916»
Count Gudovich told me that his niece, the little Countess Hendrikova, told him that two ladies, i.e., A.F. (Alexandra Feodorovna) and Anya (Anna Vyrubova), had notebooks where the names of people of all classes were written alphabetically, and that in these notebooks they usually looked for people fit to be ministers. Admit that this is pure madness. There is only one remedy, Sandro and Pavel do not mind, it is for the closest, for you and your children to take the initiative to conduct a medical consultation of all our celebrities from a medical point of view, and then send them to a remote sanatorium, with or without Vyrubova, to undergo serious treatment. Otherwise, be prepared for any accidents. Tell that to Sandro-because that’s my firm opinion.
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia to Maria Feodorovna, «Various facts from December 17 to December 22, 1916»
The balding man writing to you has been thinking a lot, spending sleepless nights, running around the empty St. Petersburg embankments at dawn — and now he tells you — never look for the names of the brave souls who performed this act of civic courage, high patriotism and deliverance*. The word is silver, and silence is gold!
Madame (Alexandra Feodorovna) is madder than ever. On the night of the 19th, after the autopsy of the corpse, the order came to transport… the body of the insignificant to the emperor’s palace!!!
Two more appointments to positions took place under the influence of the murdered man …
Madame is getting more and more in charge of drowning Nicky… And time passes, gossip intensifies, the general situation inspires fears.
I’m putting the same dilemma before you again. After the hypnotist, it is necessary to try to neutralize A.F., while she is hypnotized. By all means, it is necessary to send her as far away as possible, either to a sanatorium or to a monastery. We are talking about saving the throne - not the dynasty, which is still strong, but the present sovereign. Otherwise it will be too late. … All Russia knows that the late Rasputin and A.F. are the same. If the first one is killed, the second one should disappear. The general peace of mind depends on it. …
The Grand Duchesses: The daughters of Tsar Paul I: Part IV: Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna (1788- 1819)
The fourth daughter and sixth child of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna was named “Ekaterina” after her paternal grandmother, Catherine the Great. Her family called her “Katya.” She was born at the Catherine Palace in Tsarkoe Selo. Like her sisters, she received a good education. She loved to read. She was said to have been beautiful and had a pleasant and vivacious personality.
Katya was close to her brother Alexander I. They remained close throughout her life. Ekaterina was Alexander’s favorite sister and one of the few persons he loved unconditionally. In his letters to her, he includes phrases like “I am yours, heart and soul, for life,” “I think that I love you more with each day that passes,” and “to love you more than I do is impossible.” Although Paul and Maria Feodorovna were initially disappointed at the birth of a fourth daughter, Ekaterina later became her mother’s favorite daughter.
At one point, Napoleon Bonaparte, who needed a young and suitably high-born bride to provide him with an heir and had decided to divorce Josephine, showed an interest in Ekaterina. The union would have been advantageous to Napoleon in more than one way. Still, its prospect horrified Ekaterina’s family, who promptly arranged for the young woman to marry a maternal cousin, Duke Georg of Oldenburg (1784-1812). Their descendants became the Russian branch of the Oldenburg.
Although the marriage had been hastily arranged, the bride and groom seemed compatible. They had two sons: Peter Georg (b. 1810 – I could not find any paintings or photographs of him - he died at age 19) and Constantine Friedrich Peter (b. 1812). The couple resided in Tver, where George had been appointed governor-general. Catherine lived a lavish court life and entertained with balls, grand dinners, and similar events in the pattern of the Russian court to create “a Small Saint Petersburg” in Tver. Like her sister Maria, she greatly enriched the cultural life of her adopted country. Unfortunately, Ekaterina’s husband died of typhoid barely three years into the marriage.
During the years immediately after the death of her husband, Ekaterina stayed with her siblings and traveled with her brother Alexander I; she traveled to England with him to meet the future George IV and accompanied him to the Congress of Vienna.
In England, Ekaterina met the Crown Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg (1781-1864). They fell in love at first sight. However, Wilhelm was already married to princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria. Crown Prince Wilhelm and Caroline Augusta sought and got an annulment of their marriage; apparently, no love was lost between them; their marriage had been an unsuccessfully arranged one, and after its dissolution, Caroline Augusta married Emperor Franz of Austria as promptly as Wilhem married Ekaterina.
The couple’s first daughter was Princess Marie Friederike Charlotte, who was born on the same day that her grandfather died, and her father acceded to the throne of Wurttemberg; her mother thus became Queen Katharina of Württemberg. As Queen, Ekaterina supported elementary education and organized a charity foundation during the hunger of 1816. In 1818, she gave birth to another daughter, Sophie Frederike Mathilde, who would marry Ekaterina’s nephew Willem III of Orange and become Queen of the Netherlands.
While researching this piece, I read two different versions of the causes of Ekaterina’s death. Ekaterina dies of erysipelas (not caught on time) complicated by pneumonia at Stuttgart in the first one. In the second version, Ekaterina travels to Italy, where he finds her husband with a mistress (although he loved Ekaterina, he had not given up “dalliances”). Heartbroken, Ekaterina returns home not caring to dress warmly enough and catches pneumonia that kills her at age thirty.
What is certain is that Ekaterina died six months after the birth of her youngest child, leaving four small children scattered across two families behind. Her (perhaps) unfaithful and surviving husband, built Württemberg Mausoleum in Rotenberg, Stuttgart, dedicated to her memory. He promptly married his first cousin, Pauline of Wurttemberg.
The Grand Duchesses: The daughters of Tsar Paul I: Part II: Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (1784 - 1803)
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was Tsar Paul’s third child and second daughter. She was born in Saint Petersburg, less than a year after her sister Alexandra. The Grand Duchesses were very close and their lives seem to have run along similar paths.
Elena, like Alexandra, was born when Catherine II (the Great) was still alive. Catherine named the child after Helen of Troy; this was a reference to the little girl’s great beauty. Initially Catherine thought that Elena was a more attractive child than Alexandra (it seems that later on Alexandra became the favorite.) While Catherine was at the helm of Russia, Paul and his wife Maria Feodorovna did not even get to name their children.
Negotiations for Elena’s marriage began when she was still a child. The bridegroom selected came from one of the small duchies which were part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time and which later would be absorbed by Germany. His name was Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schewerin was described by a Russian courtier as “a handsome man but essentially rustic and ignorant, although a good person.”
The couple married at Gatchina Palace. At the time, marriages among nobles usually took place in the country of origin of the groom. Only Russian Grand Duchesses were allowed to sidestep this custom and usually married in Russia. Elena’s title after her marriage was Hereditary Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Elena had two children, Grand Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Elena’s life was as brief as her sister’s Alexandra. The Hereditary Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin married at age 15 (1799), had her first child at age 16 (1800) and her second child at age 19 (1803); she died that same year, several months after the birth of her son. Some sources mention that she died suddenly, of an unknown malady, others state that she might have had tuberculosis. She is interred in the “Helena Paulovna” Mausoleum in Ludwigslust
The Grand Duchess gave the Romanov and the Schwerin lines a number of well known descendants. I have highlighted a few below.
Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg was Elena Pavlovna´s great-granddaughter and therefore descended from Tsar Paul I. She added additional Romanov blood to her line by marrying Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and becoming Grand Duchess Elisabeta Mavrikievna.
Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was Elena Pavlovna´s great-granddaughter and also descended from Tsar Paul I. She married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and boasted of her Pauline descent by choosing the name Pavlovna at the time of her marriage.
Maria Pavlovna´s brother was likewise Elena Pavlovna´s greatgrandson. Frederick Francis was the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin when he married Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich (who was Tsar Paul’s grandson). He eventually became Frederick Francis III.
Frederick Francis III´s daughter, Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin great-granddaughter once removed of Elena Pavlovna on the paternal line and Tsar Paul’s great-grandaughter once removed on the maternal line, married into Keiser Wilhem Il’s family and became the last Crown Princess of Prussia.
Frederick Francis III other daughter, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was also a great-granddaughter once removed of Elena Pavlovna and a great-granddaughter once removed of Tsar Paul. She became the Queen Consort of Denmark when she married Christian X. She is the great-grandmother of the current Queen of Denmark, Magrethe II, who is, therefore, also related to Elena Pavlovna!
Photographs/Illustrations:1. Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna; 2. The Grand Duchess’ Grandmother, Catherine the Great, and her Parents, Paul I and Maria Feodorovna; 3 and 4: Elena Pavlovna; 5. Elena and her older sister Alexandra; 6. Elena Pavlovna and her husband Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; 7. Elena Pavlovna; 8. Elena Pavlovna’s children, Grand Duke Paul Friedrick of Meckleburb-Schwerin and Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwering; 9. Some of the descendants of Elena Pavlovna.
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova (1875 - 1960) - Part 1 of 3
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna was the fourth child and first daughter of Emperor Alexander III and his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. Her mother was eager to have a girl after her three boys, Alexander (who died as a baby), Nicky, and Georgy. Her parents and siblings received Xenia with great joy.
Xenia was born into the lap of luxury, during a time when her parents, who were not yet Emperor and Empress, had less social and state commitments and more time to devote to their children. Her childhood was genuinely idyllic. She grew up surrounded by cousins, who became playmates and lifelong friends (such as Marie, Princess of Greece and Denmark and Victoria of Wales) and even found a husband (Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich) among these childhood companions. European royalty of the time was almost all related, not only through Queen Victoria but also through Queen Louise and King Christian IX of Denmark, Xenia’s maternal grandparents, who were known as the “mother and father-in-law of Europe;” these extended families got together every year, and the royal children had a chance to form lasting relationships.
Xenia received the education typical of an aristocratic girl of her time, which concentrated on languages, drawing (she was as talented as her mother and sister Olga), and music. She took gymnastics lessons and was somewhat of a tomboy (despite her delicate and refined appearance.) She resembled her mother physically but her personality was not as gregarious; she was shy with strangers. In her letters, one can appreciate an intelligent, curious, friendly woman. All her life, she would be involved in many charitable causes (giving to others even when she was not in a position to do so anymore.) However, her generosity and good works did not seem to get as much publicity in her case as in that of other Russian female royals, perhaps because her roles were usually administrative and she did not have to wear a uniform.
By the time Xenia was sixteen, she knew she wanted to marry her cousin Alexander Mikhailovich. It is possible that the appeal of such a union resided not only in the dashing person of Sandro but also on the fact that the marriage would allow Xenia to stay in Russia rather than result in her contracting a dynastic union outside of it. Her parents made the couple wait until she was nineteen. Interestingly enough, Alexander was not the only Mikhailovichi who desired Xenia Alexandrovna’s hand in marriage. Sandro’s younger brother Sergei was also in love with the young grand duchess. Did Xenia ever questioned her choice of brothers later on in her life?
Xenia met and befriended Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine when they were both adolescents and they wrote to each other; it seems that Xenia did whatever she could to propitiate a union between the pretty princess and her brother Nicholas; the girls called each other “Chicken” (Xenia) and “Hen” (Alix). They would remain friendly even after their respective marriages, although the relationship eventually soured.
Photographs: 1. Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna with her mother, Tsarevna Maria (she was born before her father became Tsar and her mother Tsarina); 2. Grand Duchess Xenia with her older brothers, the Grand Dukes Nicholas and George; 3. Grand Duchess Xenia with her younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (I wish I knew the dog’s name); 4. Grand Duchess Xenia and her younger sister Grand Duchess Olga (the only one of Alexander III’s children to be born “in the purple;” 5. Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna with Xenia and Misha; 6. A nubile Xenia wearing Russian court dress; 7. Life- long friends Grand Duchess Xenia and her cousin Princess Marie of Greece and Denmark (the future “Grand Duchess George” after her marriage to Grand Duke George Mikhailovich who was an older brother of Xenia’s husband, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich); 8. Grand Duchess Xenia and her cousin, Victoria (”Toria”) of Wales; 9. From left to right, Olga, Nicholas, Xenia and the future George V; 10. Empress Maria Feodorovna (looking incredibly young) and Grand Duchess Xenia with Grand Duke Alexander (Sandro) Mikhailovich
