M.A. Zichy. "The highest reception in the Winter Palace on April 5, 1866 after the first attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II.

Patronizing enlightenment

The Empress founded countless shelters, almshouses and boarding houses. She marked the beginning of a new period of women's education in Russia, with the establishment of open all-class women's educational institutions (gymnasiums), which, according to the regulations of 1860, it was decided to open in all cities where it would be possible to ensure their existence. Under her, women's gymnasiums in Russia were supported almost exclusively by public and private funds. From now on, it was not only the Highest patronage, but social forces that largely determined the fate of women's education in Russia. Teaching subjects were divided into compulsory and optional. Compulsory classes in three-year gymnasiums included: the Law of God, the Russian language, Russian history and geography, arithmetic, penmanship, and handicrafts. In the course of women's gymnasiums, in addition to the above subjects, the basics of geometry, geography, history, as well as “the most important concepts in natural history and physics with the addition of information related to household management and hygiene,” penmanship, needlework, and gymnastics were required.

Ivan Makarov, wife of Alexander II.

"Like an unsolved mystery..."

Like an unsolved mystery

Living beauty breathes in her -

We look with anxious trepidation

To the quiet light of her eyes.

Is there an earthly charm in her?

Or unearthly grace?

My soul would like to pray to her,

And my heart is eager to adore...

F. I. Tyutchev. Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Timofey Neff Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Andrey Drozdov Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II.

Girls who were awarded gold or silver medals at the end of the gymnasium course of general studies, and who, in addition, attended a special special course of an additional class, acquired the title of home tutors. Those who did not receive medals received a “certificate of approval” for completing a full general course in a gymnasium and attended a special course in an additional class, and enjoyed the rights of home teachers. The transformative activities of Empress Maria Alexandrovna also affected her education in institutions. On the personal initiative of the Empress, measures were taken not only to protect the health and physical strength of children, by eliminating from their range of activities everything that has a purely mechanical, unproductive nature (drawing and copying notes that replaced printed manuals, etc.), but also to bringing pupils closer to their family and to the environment surrounding the parental home, for which they were allowed to go to the homes of their parents and immediate relatives during vacations and holidays. At the thought and initiative of the Empress, women's diocesan schools began to emerge for the first time in Russia. In the field of charity, the Empress’s most important merit is the organization of the Red Cross, to expand the activities of which during the Russian-Turkish War she put a lot of work and expense, refusing even to sew new dresses for herself, giving all her savings to the benefit of widows, orphans, the wounded and the sick. The “restoration of Christianity in the Caucasus”, “distribution of spiritual and moral books”, “Russian missionary”, “brotherly loving in Moscow” and many other charitable institutions owe their development and success to the patronage of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Peter Ernst Rockstuhl

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Ivan Makarov

And finally, the Empress, with the full support of her August husband, founded the largest theater and ballet school in St. Petersburg and all of Russia, which was later headed by Agrippina Vaganova. At the same time, both the school and the famous theater were entirely supported by the funds of the Imperial Family, the Empress personally, and, at the insistence of her August husband, Emperor Alexander II, bore her name. The theater still bears the sovereign name. A bust of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was recently installed in the foyer of the theater. From the first hour of the sovereign service of the Hessian Princess Mary on Russian soil, her burden was so voluminous and all-encompassing that the Empress spent countless amounts of energy to keep up everywhere, not to be late, to give gifts, to smile, to console, to encourage, to pray, to instruct, to answer, caress and: sing a lullaby. She burned like a candle in the wind! To her maid of honor and teacher, confidant, Anna Tyutcheva, the Tsesarevna, and later the Empress of All Russia, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, admitted with a tired smile more than once that she lived most of her life as a “volunteer” - that is, a voluntary soldier!

Karl Schulz Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Not a moment of rest or peace, moral or physical. Only an ardent feeling of reverent, selfless love for her husband, the Emperor, and an equally strong feeling of true faith, which at times delighted even people of primordially Orthodox faith, including: the confessor of the Imperial Family V. Ya Bazhanov and the famous Holy Hierarch of Moscow, Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov, supported the rapidly depleted fragile forces of the Empress. The Moscow saint left several evidence of his gratitude to the Empress, often addressing her with speeches and conversations given here.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna in mourning

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna,

I.K. Makarov

It is known that the Empress was extremely God-loving and generous, humble and meek. In her sovereign position, she was the only Empress in the Russian state for almost 20 years. She was kept on earth only by constant good spirits and that “unsolved mystery of living charm”, which the observant diplomat and poet Tyutchev so subtly noted in her. The powerful charm of her personality spread to everyone who loved and knew her, but over the years there were fewer and fewer of them!

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

But the trials, on the contrary, did not diminish in the life of the High Royal Person, surrounded by the close attention of hundreds of picky eyes. One of these difficult trials for Her Majesty Empress Maria was the presence in the Empress’s personal retinue of a young, charming lady-in-waiting, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukaya, with whom her much-adored husband, the ruler of the Empire, desperately, dizzyingly and quickly fell in love. Empress Maria Alexandrovna knew everything, because she was too smart and impressionable to deceive herself, but she could not do anything... Or did she not want to? She suffered all fourteen years of this scandalous relationship - silently, patiently, without lifting an eyebrow, without making a sign. This had its own pride and its own aching pain. Not everyone understood or accepted this. Especially the grown-up August children and sons, who literally idolized their mother!

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Firs Sergeevich Zhuravlev (1836-1901) Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Blessed death

I dare to urgently ask Your Imperial Majesty not to return for the winter to St. Petersburg and, in general, to central Russia. As a last resort - Crimea. For your exhausted lungs and heart, weakened from stress, the climate of St. Petersburg is destructive, I dare to assure you! Your villa in Florence has long been ready and is waiting for you. And the new Palace in the vicinity of Livadia is all at the service of your Imperial...:

- Tell me, Sergey Petrovich,- the Empress Botkin, the life-medic, suddenly interrupted, - Did the Emperor ask you to keep me here, away from Russia? He doesn't want me to come back?- thin, emaciated fingers nervously drummed on the sill of the high Italian window of the villa, which looked directly onto the sea coast. The sea behind the glass floated in the morning haze and was still sleepy and serene. It seemed to be swaying right at my feet:

August Behrendsen Küste bei Nizza

Stop all these curtsies, Sergei Petrovich! There are only tiny drops left of my priceless health, and only one drop of the August Will humility before God's permission!- the emaciated profile of the Empress was still abnormally beautiful with some unusual, painful subtlety, it was not there before, but even on his profile, it seemed, the imperious shadow of death had already fallen.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

- I dare to argue with Your Majesty about the last statement!

So - sir, rapid pulse, wet palms... You should lie down, Your Imperial Majesty, I’ll call the nurse now. We must follow the regime!

I’ll rest in the next world, Sergei Petrovich, I don’t have long to wait. Tell me to get ready, tomorrow morning I need to be in Cannes, from there to St. Petersburg, that's enough, I stayed too long by the sea. I want to die at home, in my bed.

Sergei Petrovich Botkin

The entire course of procedures has not yet been completed, and I don’t want to resort to oxygen pillows, like on my last visit to the capital! Your Majesty, I beg you! I received a letter from Their Highnesses, Tsarevich Alexander and Tsarevna Maria Feodorovna, they also find that it is extremely undesirable for you to be in the capital and sour in the stuffy Winter Palace. Autumn this year in St. Petersburg, as always, is not a smooth one!

- the life doctor smiled slightly, the Empress immediately picked up this weak smile:

Alexander II with his family I know, dear doctor, I know, but that’s not the reason! You are simply afraid of how the presence in the Palace, over my poor head, of a famous person, Sacred to the Sovereign Emperor, will affect my health! - The Empress chuckled slightly. Don't be afraid, I will no longer drop combs and break cups from the sound of children's steps

. (An allusion to Princess Catherine Dolgorukaya and her children from Emperor Alexander. There were three of them. They all lived in the Winter Palace and occupied apartments directly above the Empress’s head! This was dictated, as historians write, by considerations of the safety of the Princess and children. At that time, attempts became more frequent attempts on the life of the Emperor. But is it only this?.. - author’s note).

Köhler I. P. Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

- As always, I will find a natural explanation for such natural noise, so as not to confuse the young maids!- The Empress tried to smile, but her face was distorted by a painful grimace. She lowered her head, trying to suppress a coughing fit, and pressed a handkerchief to her lips. He was instantly soaked in blood.

Your Imperial Majesty, I beg you, there is no need

It’s not his fault that he is Caesar, and I am Caesar’s wife! You will object now that he insulted the Empress in me, and you will be right, dear doctor, of course you are right, but let God judge him! I don't have the right to do this. Heaven has long known and known my resentment and bitterness. Alexander too. And my true misfortune is that life takes on full meaning and multicolored colors for me only next to him, it doesn’t matter whether his heart belongs to me or to someone else, younger and more beautiful... It’s not his fault, which means more to me than anything else , I'm just built so strangely.

Princess Dolgorukaya Ekaterina Mikhailovna. - Late 1860s - early 1870s. - Photo

And I'm happy that I can leave before him. Fear for his life greatly tormented me! These six attempts! Crazy Russia! She always needs something stunning foundations and foundations, disastrous shocks... And maybe the heartfelt personal weaknesses of the Autocrat will only benefit her, who knows? “He’s just like us, a weak mortal, and an adulterer at that! Trample him, kill him, kill him!” - they shout, forgetting themselves. Perhaps, with my prayer, There, at the Throne of the Heavenly Father, I will ask for a quiet death for him, in return for the martyr's crown of the sufferer, driven into a corner by the raging mob, foaming at the mouth, forever dissatisfied.

-Maria Alexandrovna sighed wearily and bowed her head on her folded palms. Her strength had completely left her. Your Imperial Majesty, you are tired, take a rest, why tear your soul apart with gloomy thoughts?

! - the life doctor muttered helplessly, trying to hide the confusion and excitement that gripped him.

Sergei Petrovich, tell us to get ready! - The Empress whispered tiredly. - While I have the strength, I want to return and die next to him and the children, on my native land, under my native clouds. You know, nowhere there is such a high sky as in Russia, and such warm and soft clouds! - the shadow of a dreamy smile touched the Empress’s bloodless lips.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Instead of answering, the life physician only respectfully pressed to his lips a small feverish palm with blue streaks of veins and a feverishly beating pulse. He, this pulse, was like a small bird, greedily rushing upward under the warm and high, native clouds... So greedily that there was no point in keeping it on Earth any longer! Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress of All Russia, Maria Alexandrovna, died quietly in St. Petersburg, in the Winter Palace, in her own apartment, on the night of the second to third of June 1880. Death came to her in a dream. According to the will, like all the Empresses of the House of Romanov, she was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg six days later, on May 28 (June 10), 1880.

Funeral procession

After her blessed death, a letter was found in the box addressed to her August husband, in which she thanked him for all the years spent together and for the gift given to her so long ago, on April 28, 1841 (Date of the marriage of the Royal couple) - vita nuova - new life.

In her marriage to Alexander Nikolaevich, Maria Alexandrovna had eight children:

Alexandra Alexandrovna

Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich ( September 8, 1843 - April 12, 1865) - died of tuberculous meningitis in the city of Nice;

Portrait of Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich. Sergei Konstantinovich Zaryanko

Alexander III(February 26, 1845 - October 20, 1894) - Emperor of Russia in 1881-1894;

Ivan Tyurin. Portrait led. book Alexander Alexandrovich. 1865. State Historical Museum

Alexander III with his family

Vladimir Alexandrovich(April 10, 1847-1909) - in 1874 he married the Princess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, with whom he had five children;

Portrait of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (Zaryanko S.K., 1867)

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich with his wife and children.

Vladimir Alexandrovich with his family

Aleksey Aleksandrovich(January 2, 1850-1908) - from 1883 to 1905, Admiral General of the Navy of the Russian Empire;

Alexey Ivanovich Korzukhin (1835-1894) Portrait of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich

Maria Alexandrovna(5 October 1853-1920), Grand Duchess, Duchess of Great Britain and Germany, wife of Alfred of Edinburgh;

Maria Alexandrovna (5 October 1853–1920), Grand Duchess, Duchess of Great Britain and Germany

"Called to Forgive." Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

"Called to Forgive."

Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

“What a mystery in human fate,
the secret of untapped abilities!
Anna Tyutcheva

Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Franz Xaver Winterhalter

The life of the Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880), wife of Alexander II, seemed to her contemporaries to be a feat of self-denial.
Forced to witness her husband's infidelity for many years, she was doomed to suffering and daily humiliation. Alexander Nikolaevich's romance with Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruka, which began in 1867, continued until the death of the empresses s.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova

Immediately after her funeral in 1880, less than 2 months later. Alexander married Dolgoruka, entered into a morganatic marriage with her, she became Princess Yuryevskaya.

The affair took place in front of everyone. People close to the royal family said that the Empress learned about everything from the Emperor himself. “Who can know,” wrote the maid of honor Tolstaya, “what was said between them and what feeling she obeyed, showing patience and condescension?” No one ever heard a word of reproach from her; her “heroic silence” lasted 15 years.

Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, 1866

Most likely, her relatives believed, this was because she did not want to humiliate her husband in the eyes of her family and the Emperor in the eyes of his subjects. “Called to forgive day after day for many years,” wrote Tolstaya, “Maria Alexandrovna never uttered either a complaint or an accusation. She walked her path as if in silence.” The stamp of silence, hidden suffering, and asceticism also lay on the appearance of the empress.

Firs Sergeevich Zhuravlev (1836-1901) Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

The collection of the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg contains a portrait of Maria Alexandrovna by the artist F.S. Zhuravlev. She is depicted in a black dress with a white collar, a black cape on her head, and if it weren’t for the precious stone in a gold frame adorning the dress, and the large pink flower on the headdress, reviving the appearance of the empress, then one would think that this is a portrait. nuns. “One could well imagine her under a monastic veil, kneeling under the shadow of high Gothic vaults. Surrounded by her mother, wife, empress, she seemed like a stranger and had not settled in,” noted Anna Tyutcheva, who was Maria Alexandrovna’s maid of honor for 13 years.

Anna Fedorovna Tyutcheva

But let's return to Maria Alexandrovna. This feeling of being “alien and not at home” was inherent in her throughout her life. Perhaps this was caused by the early orphanhood of the German princess.

Princess Wilhelmine of Baden (1788-1836)

motherPrincess Wilhelmina Louise of Baden left the world when she was 13 years old and she, together with her sovereign brother Prince Alexander (1823 - 1880), was raised as a governess for several years, living in the country castle of Jugenheim near Darmstadt.

At the time of her birth, the princess’s august mother had not lived with her sovereign husband for a long time. Everyone had their own love, and according to conversations, the princess was born from Baron de Grancy, a Swiss of French origin, who was the Grand Duke's master of horse.

Ludwig II of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Rhine

Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, in order to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's brother and sisters (Grand Duke of Baden, Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna of Russia, Queens of Bavaria, Sweden and Duchess of Brunswick), officially recognized Maria and her brother Alexander as his children (the other two illegitimate children died in infancy). Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately V Heiligenberg, while Ludwig II was in Darmstadt..

When Maria turned 15 years old, a sharp turning point occurred in her destiny - a Russian prince entered the life of the young princess.
In general, the beginning of Maria’s “adult” life resembles the plot of a fairy tale. From the German outback, as if by magic, she was transferred to a luxurious and magnificent palace, and miraculously turned from a provincial German princess into the wife of the heir to the throne of a huge empire, and then the Russian empress.

Grand Cascade and Grand Palace in Peterhof. V.S. Sadovnikov. 1845

The front facade of the Catherine Palace. Vasily Sadovnikov, 1850. Watercolor

It happened as follows. In 1840, the eldest son of Nicholas I, 22-year-old Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, traveled around Europe (accompanied by his mentor, the poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, and several other associates) in order to choose a bride.

Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich

He paid visits to various German courts, where, in accordance with a pre-compiled list, he was presented with German princesses who could lay claim to the role of bride of the heir to the Russian throne. Princess Wilhelmina Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt was not included in the list due to her youth.
When the Grand Duke arrived in Stuttgart, he felt very tired and intended to leave Germany to go to Holland and England. But he was persuaded to go to Darmstadt for one day, where everything was ready for a meeting with him and where they wanted to introduce Wilhelmina Maria to him.

Darmstadt, Ansicht vom Riedeselberg aus (Südwesten)
In Darmstadt, Alexander Nikolaevich was greeted by the Grand Duke and his sons, they invited him that same evening to the opera house - “Vestal” was on stage.

Blick auf den Paradeplatz vor dem Hofoperntheater

In the depths of the theater box, the Grand Duke saw a young princess, almost a child, and was so touched by her “modest charm” that, upon returning home, he immediately announced to Zhukovsky thathis choice has been made, that he has found the wife he needs, and that he will not go anywhere further. Maria's fate has been decided.

Perhaps the romantic plot of “The Vestal Virgin” influenced such a quick decision of the Grand Duke. The main character of the opera performance, Julia, made a vow to her dying father to become a vestal virgin - a priestess of the goddess of the hearth and fire, Vesta, who is forbidden to marry. Julia's lover, the Roman commander Licinius, returning after defeating the Gauls, entered the temple where Julia guarded the sacred fire. Seeing her beloved, Julia forgot about the fire, and it went out. For violating the vow, lovers were threatened with death. But a miracle happened - a lightning strike lit a fire in the altar - the goddess Vesta forgave the young people. The performance ended with a solemn wedding.

A Vestal Virgin with a fuming incense burner,Willem Doudijns
Perhaps the plot of this opera seemed symbolic to the Grand Duke - he saw in Princess Mary an embodied vestal virgin, as pure and immaculate as Julia. Mary's fate was decided against the background and, perhaps, under the influence of this performance in which love triumphs. Let us note, however, that one of the options for Julia’s fate was leaving secular life and dedicating herself to the temple. Reflecting on our heroine, we dare to suggest that this was her true destiny. But life decreed otherwise.

Im Tempel der Vesta
In 1841, Wilhelmina Maria came to St. Petersburg, converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Maria Alexandrovna. Her wedding to the heir to the throne took place on April 14 of the same year, she was not yet 17 years old, her groom was 6 years older.

Grigory Nikolaevich Skamon Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse). 1891 from an engraving made by Ryall in 1841.

Unknown artist Portrait of Princess Marie of Hesse and the Rhine, future Empress of Russia.

The princess's wedding dress was luxurious - a white sundress embroidered with silver and decorated with diamonds, a red ribbon over the shoulder, a crimson velvet robe trimmed with ermine, a diamond tiara on her head, earrings, a necklace, and bracelets - also diamonds.

Wedding ruble for the wedding of the heir Alexander Nikolaevich 1841 St. Petersburg silver

But Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas I) considered that the “innocent and pure brow” of the young princess should be decorated not with diamonds, but with an orange flower. The Empress herself stuck several branches of fresh orange flowers between the diamonds into the crown, and pinned a small branch on her chest. “The pale flower was not noticeable among the regalia and precious diamonds,” the eyewitness recalled. “But its symbolic brilliance touched many.”

Maria Alexandrovna, Russian Empress.

Maria Alexandrowna

V. Gau. Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

After the wedding ceremony was completed, there was a formal dinner, then a ball, after which the sovereign and empress, accompanied by a retinue, escorted the newlyweds to their half. The princess's life turned into a continuous holiday that did not stop for a minute. Necessary trips to balls, concerts and performances, regular visits, audiences, introductions of new faces, congratulations to royalty - all this constituted mandatory court etiquette, which had to be observed strictly.

V.S. Sadovnikov. 1850s

Trinity Cathedral. V. S. Sadovnikov. 1850.

The auditorium and stage of the Bolshoi Theater. V. S. Sadovnikov,

Solemn taking of the oath, Timm

But he weighed on her, was deeply alien to her nature, timid, passive and indecisive. “How many people are called upon to laboriously perform a task for which they are completely incapable,” notes Anna Tyutcheva. She believed that the place of Maria Alexandrovna, who was distinguished by her sincere and deep religiosity, was in the monastery, that it was there, in the atmosphere of long church services, grueling fasts and vigils, that this pure soul would experience happiness. “Her soul was one of those that belong to a monastery,” wrote the insightful Anna Tyutcheva.

Maria Alexandrovna told Tyutcheva that when she got to the Russian court, the most luxurious, the most magnificent in Europe, she was not so much blinded as frightened. “She told me,” Tyutcheva recalled, “that many times, after long efforts to overcome shyness and embarrassment, at night in the privacy of her bedroom she indulged in tears and long-held sobs. Then, to eliminate the traces of her tears, she opened the window and exposed her reddened eyes to the cold air of the winter night. As a result of such carelessness, a rash appeared on her face, from which the amazing whiteness of her complexion almost forever suffered.”

Christina Robertson Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

Tyutcheva first saw the Grand Duchess, and then the Empress, when she was 28 years old. It was 1853. She already had five children. But she still looked very young. Tall, slender and fragile, she always seemed ten years younger than her age. Maria Alexandrovna reminded Anna Tyutcheva of Albrecht Durer's Madonnas with her spirituality, elegance and grace.

Maria Alexandrovna,Peter Ernst Rockstuhl

Her gentle disposition, constant goodwill and even mood, combined with an elegant and slightly mocking mind, “contained a thousand charms.” At the time in question, the Grand Duchess was happy: a happy wife, a happy mother, a happy daughter-in-law, adored by her father-in-law Nicholas I. In 1856, fate elevated her to the highest level - she became an empress.

Crowning of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna.August 26, 1866.Laying the crown on the Empress.

Anointing of Alexander II. / Myronsalbung Alexanders, V.F. Timm

Coronation of the Empress, M. Zichy

Coronation - portraits of the king and queen

Initiation into the Cossacks, respect for the Cossacks 1856

In general, Maria Alexandrovna’s life seems to fall into two parts: before 1865 and after. For the first almost 25 years after her marriage, she lived surrounded by people who loved her and was tenderly attached to her husband and children.

Cabinet of Emperor Alexander II

She conscientiously fulfilled her duties, which were imposed on her by her high rank. These duties did not bring her pleasure; on the contrary, they required constant tension from her. And yet, “she knew then only the joys and greatness of her position, but had not yet tasted either its bitterness or hardship,” Tyutcheva wrote.

Performance at the Bolshoi Theater, M. Zichy

Congratulations to Alexander II on January 1, 1863 by the diplomatic corps.
Mihai Zichy.

Costume ball in the palace of Princess Elena Kochubey in honor of Emperor Alexander II

Maria Alexandrovna

Maria Alexandrovna

Peter Ernst Rockstuhl Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. 1859

“Bitterness and hardship” in the life of Maria Alexandrovna began in 1865 with the death of her eldest son. 22-year-old Nikolai Alexandrovich, heir to the throne, died from a serious illness - tuberculous meningitis, which was examined by both doctors and parents.

Portrait of Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich., S.K. Zaryanko

The following year, 1866, the first attempt was made on Alexander II in St. Petersburg. A year later - the second, in Paris, where the tsar went to visit an industrial exhibition. Tolstaya believed that this was only an external reason; the real purpose of the trip was a meeting with Dolgoruky, who was then in Paris. 1867 was the beginning of their romance.

Attempt on the life of His Imperial Majesty Sovereign Emperor Alexander II on April 4, 1866.

Solovyov's assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II on April 2, 1879

"Strange affair! - exclaims Tolstaya. “The emperor’s criminal connection seemed to usher in an era of attempts on his life.” News of the assassination attempts plunged Maria Alexandrovna into a state of confusion and horror; her husband’s “criminal affair” caused suffering and melancholy. This is how the last 15 years of her life passed, overshadowed by illness, fear for her loved ones, and everyday humiliation.

Maria Alexandrovna

Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, S.L. Levitsky

Several years before the death of Maria Alexandrovna, her portrait was painted from the Hermitage collection, which we have already mentioned. Its author is the Itinerant artist Firs Sergeevich Zhuravlev, whose works were exhibited not only in Russia, but also in Paris and Philadelphia. It is obvious that the empress’s “thousand spells” affected him, as Tyutcheva once did. In the portrait she is still youthful, although she is already about 50, but, as before, she can be considered ten years younger. She still has a delicate complexion, smoothly tied “wonderful hair” emphasizes the perfect oval of her face, large blue, slightly bulging eyes, a barely noticeable, ironic smile - there is quiet charm and charm in her entire appearance.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Late 1850 - early 1860s.Unknown photographer

Alois Rockstuhl Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

It is difficult to imagine in this reserved woman, immersed in her inner world, as if detached from the outside world, the owner of a luxurious apartment. Meanwhile, it was for her that the best Russian and European masters created beautiful interiors in the Winter Palace - the Golden and Crimson Living Rooms, the Green Dining Room, the Boudoir and the Blue Bedroom - these are some of the most famous halls of the palace, now attracting crowds of tourists. They are also remarkable because they are the only rooms in the former residential part of the palace that have come down to us unchanged since the second half of the 19th century. They were called “historic rooms” and were preserved in memory of their owner.

Boudoir of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, E.P. Gau

Golden living room

But luxury left Maria Alexandrovna indifferent. She had a huge amount of jewelry, but rarely wore it.
She turned gold and silver things into money and gave them to charity. She refused expensive gifts, and accepted from the sovereign only money, which was also intended for those in need. She patronized many organizations, including the Red Cross. On her initiative, gymnasiums were created in different cities of the country. During the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878), Maria Alexandrovna refused to sew new clothes for herself, and spent the saved money on helping widows and orphans, the wounded and sick. Someone else's grief could not leave her indifferent - she herself knew too well what suffering and pain meant.

Emperor Maria Alexandrovna blesses the sisters of mercy going to war in 1877.

Russian-Turkish war. 1877-1878. Departure of the first ambulance train, K. Weyerman based on a drawing by S. Chamot, 1877

Unknown artist. Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna in mourning. After 1865.

Maria Alexandrovna herself, who had been distinguished by fragile health all her life, had been very ill in recent years, was treated in Germany and France, lived in solitude, not taking part in the life of the court. She died in St. Petersburg on May 22, 1880, at night, alone. No one could pinpoint the minute of her death. She once said: “I don’t like these picnics near my deathbed.” Her wish was fulfilled. “This quiet, lonely death,” wrote Tolstaya, “became a harmonious and sublime final chord of life, so alien to noise and earthly glory.”

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

In Bose, the late Empress Maria Alexandrovna May 22, 1880. May 22 (June 8) 1880

Funeral of the Empress, 1880Maria Alexandrovna died on May 22 (June 8), 1880.

A year after her death, her husband died - the 7th attempt on the life of Alexander II on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg on March 1, 1881 was finally “successful.” Princess Yuryevskaya died in 1922, outliving the imperial couple by more than 40 years. But in this classic triangle we are interested in one character - the other two have constantly attracted the attention of writers and filmmakers. Maria Alexandrovna always remained in the shadows. We found it interesting to turn to the image of this woman, silently suffering, bringing goodness and quiet charm to the world

Monument to Maria Alexandrovna

The poet, F.I. Tyutchev, dedicated sublime and sincere lines to the Grand Duchess, albeit not the best, but sublime and sincere:

Whoever you are, if you meet her,

With a pure or sinful soul,

You suddenly feel more alive

That there is a better world, a spiritual world

Maria Alexandrovna gave birth to Alexander II - 8 children:

Alexandra Alexandrovna(1842—1849)

Alexandra was their first child. She died suddenly at the age of almost 7 years. After her death, no one in the imperial family called their daughters Alexandra, since all the princesses with that name died suddenly before reaching the age of 20.

Alexandra with little Nikolai.

Maria Alexandrovna (1853—1920)

Nikolai Alexandrovich(1843-1865) and Aleksey Aleksandrovich (1850—1908)

Sergey Aleksandrovich(1857-1905) and Pavel Alexandrovich (1860-1919)

Future EmperorAlexander Alexandrovich(1845-1894) and Vladimir Alexandrovich(1847&a

All-Russian Emperor Alexander II (1818 - 1881), Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland (since 1855) from the Romanov dynasty, was married twice. His first wife was Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. True, the crown prince’s mother was against the marriage, suspecting that the princess was actually born from the duke’s chamberlain, but Nicholas I simply adored his daughter-in-law. In the august marriage of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna eight children were born. However, soon relations in the family went wrong and the emperor began to have favorites.
So in 1866 he became close to an 18-year-old Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. She became the closest person to the king Alexandra II and moved to the Winter Palace. She gave birth to Alexander II four illegitimate children. After the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, EmperorAlexander II and Ekaterina Dolgorukova got married , which legitimized common children. Who were the descendants of Emperor Alexander II - you will find out from our material.

Alexandra Alexandrovna
Alexandra was the first and long-awaited child of the grand ducal couple. She was born on August 30, 1842. Emperor Nicholas I was especially looking forward to the birth of his granddaughter. The next day, the happy parents accepted congratulations. On the ninth day, the Grand Duchess was moved to the chambers prepared for her and the child. Maria Alexandrovna expressed a desire to feed her daughter on her own, but the emperor forbade this.

On August 30, the girl was baptized in the Tsarskoe Selo Church, but unfortunately, the little Grand Duchess did not live long. She fell ill with meningitis and died suddenly on June 28, 1849, before she was 7 years old. From then on, girls in the imperial family were no longer called Alexandra. All the princesses with the name Alexandra died mysteriously before reaching the age of 20.

Nikolai Alexandrovich

Tsarevich Nicholas was born September 20, 1843 and was named after his grandfather Nicholas I. Emperor Nicholas I was so excited by the birth of the heir to the throne that he ordered his sons - the Grand Dukes Konstantin and Mikhail , - kneel before the cradle and take an oath of allegiance to the future Russian emperor. But the crown prince was not destined to become a ruler.
Nikolai grew up as everyone’s favorite: his grandfather and grandmother doted on him, but his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, was most attached to him. Nikolai was well-mannered, polite, courteous. Was friends with his second cousin Evgenia Maximilianovna Romanovskaya, Princess of Oldenburg, who was the third daughter in the family of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1845 - 1925) from her first marriage to Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg from Bavaria. There were even negotiations about the wedding of the Tsarevich Nikolai and Evgenia , but in the end the princess’s mother, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, refused.
In 1864, the Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich went abroad. There he is on his 21st birthday got engaged to a princess Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar (1847-1928) , who would later become the wife of Alexander III - Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last emperor of Russia, Nicholas II. Everything was fine until during a trip to Italy Nikolai Alexandrovich did not suddenly fall ill, he was treated in Nice, but in the spring of 1865, Nikolai’s condition began to deteriorate.

On April 10, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Nice, and on the night of the 12th the Grand Duke Nikolai died after four hours of agony from tuberculous meningitis. The heir's body was transported to Russia on the frigate Alexander Nevsky. Mother Maria Alexandrovna she was inconsolable and, it seems, was never able to fully recover from the tragedy. After years Emperor Alexander III named his eldest son in honor of his brother Nicholas , whom he “loved more than anything in the world.”

Alexander Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was two years younger than his older brother Nicholas and, by the will of fate, it was he who was destined to ascend the Russian throne and become Emperor Alexander III . Since Nicholas was being prepared to rule, Alexander did not receive the appropriate education, and after the sudden death of his brother, he had to take an additional course of science necessary for the ruler of Russia.

In 1866, Alexander became engaged to Princess Dagmar. The ascension of Emperor Alexander III to the throne was also overshadowed by the sudden the death of his father - in 1881 Emperor Alexander II died as a result of a terrorist attack. After such a brutal murder of Emperor Alexander, his son did not support his father’s liberal ideas; his goal was to suppress protests. Emperor Alexander III adhered to a conservative policy. So, instead of the draft “Loris-Melikov Constitution” supported by his father, the new emperor adopted the “Manifesto on the Inviolability of Autocracy” compiled by Pobedonostsev, which had a great influence on the emperor.

During the reign of Alexander III in Russia, administrative pressure was increased, the beginnings of peasant and city self-government were eliminated, censorship was strengthened, and the military power of Russia was strengthened, namely, Emperor Alexander III said that "Russia has only two allies - the army and the navy." Indeed, during the reign of Alexander III, there was a sharp decrease in the protests that were so characteristic of the second half of his father’s reign. Terrorist activity in the country also began to decline, and from 1887 until the beginning of the 20th century there were no terrorist attacks in Russia.

Despite the build-up of military power, during the reign of Alexander III Russia has not waged a single war, for maintaining peace the emperor received the name Peacemaker. Alexander III bequeathed his ideals to his heir and last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Vladimir Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Vladimir was born in 1847 and devoted his life to a military career. He took part in the Russian-Turkish War, and from 1884 was the Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. In 1881, his brother Emperor Alexander III appointed him regent in the event of his death before Tsarevich Nicholas came of age, or in the event of the latter's death.
Grand Duke Vladimir gave the order to Prince Vasilchikov to use force against a procession of workers and city residents that was heading towards the Winter Palace on Sunday, January 9, 1905, known as “Bloody Sunday.”

After a loud scandal with the marriage of his son Kirill, Grand Duke Vladimir was forced to leave his post as Commander of the Guard and the St. Petersburg Military District. His eldest son Kirill married the former wife of the brother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - Princess Victoria-Melita of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was second daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. Even despite the blessing of Kirill’s mother Maria Pavlovna, the Highest permission was not given for this marriage, since by marrying a divorcee, Kirill and all his subsequent descendants (“Kirillovichs”) lost the right of succession to the throne. Vladimir was a famous philanthropist and was even the president of the Academy of Arts. In protest against his role in the execution of workers and townspeople, artists Serov and Polenov resigned from the Academy.

Aleksey Aleksandrovich

Fifth child Emperor Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna From childhood he was enrolled in military service - in the Guards crew and Life Guards regiments Preobrazhensky and Jaeger. His fate was predetermined; he was being prepared for military service.
In 1866, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was promoted to lieutenant of the fleet and lieutenant of the guard. He took part in the voyage of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky", which was wrecked in the Strait of Jutland on the night of September 12-13, 1868. The commander of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky" noted the courage and nobility of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, who refused to leave the ship, and four days later he was promoted to staff captain and adjutant.
In 1871 became the senior officer of the frigate "Svetlana", on which he reached North America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and, having visited China and Japan, arrived in Vladivostok, from where he reached St. Petersburg by land through all of Siberia.

In 1881 Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was appointed a member of the State Council, and in the summer of the same year - Chief of the Fleet and Maritime Department with the rights of Admiral General and Chairman of the Admiralty Council. While managing the Russian fleet, he carried out a number of reforms, introduced a maritime qualification, increased the number of crew, established the ports of Sevastopol, Port Arthur and others, and expanded the docks in Kronstadt and Vladivostok.
At the end of the Russo-Japanese War, after the Tsushima defeat, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich resigned and was dismissed from all naval posts. He was considered one of those responsible for Russia's defeat in the war with Japan. Died Prince Alexey in Paris in 1908.

Maria Alexandrovna

Grand Duchess Maria was born in 1853, and grew up as a “weak” girl, but despite doctors’ orders, her father doted on his daughter. In 1874 Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna married Prince Alfred (1844-1900), g Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Ulster and Kent -second son of the British Queen Victoria and Albert (1819-1861). Emperor Alexander II gave his daughter an incredible dowry of 100,000 pounds and an annual allowance of 20,000 pounds.

Emperor Alexander II insisted that in London his daughter be addressed only as “ Her Imperial Highness" and so that she took precedence over the Princess of Wales. Queen Victoria did not like this, however after marriage, the requirements of the Russian emperor were met.

Since 22 August 1893, the husband of Grand Duchess Maria was an admiral of the Royal Navy Prince Alfred became Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, since his elder brother Edward abdicated the throne. " Her Imperial Highness" Maria became a duchess Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , retaining the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. However, tragedy befell their family.

Children Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna and Prince Alfred (1844-1900):

Their eldest son, Crown Prince Alfred (1874-1899), was engaged to Duchess Elsa of Württemberg. However, Alfred was caught having extramarital affairs and in 1898 he began to show severe symptoms of syphilis. It is believed that the illness shook his mind. In 1899, he shot himself with a revolver during a family gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his parents' marriage. On February 6 he died at the age of 24. A year later, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died of cancer. The Dowager Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Their eldest daughter Princess Mary (1875-1936) married, January 10, 1893, to King Ferdinand I of Romania(1865-1927); left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Victoria Melita (1876-1936) married, April 19, 1894, to Ernest Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse; left offspring; divorced December 21, 1901
Second marriage Victoria Melita- October 8, 1905, with the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich; left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Alexandra(1878-1942) married, April 20, 1896, for Ernest of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; left offspring.

Their daughter Princess Beatrice(1884-1966) married, July 15, 1909, to Dona Alfonso, Infanta of Spain, 3rd Duke of Galliera; left offspring

Sergey Aleksandrovich

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) became Moscow Governor-General (1891-1904) in 1884 married Elizaveta Feodorovna (born Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt), second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, granddaughter of the British Queen Victoria.

With him The Moscow Public Art Theater opened, in order to take care of students, he ordered the construction of a dormitory at Moscow University. The darkest episode of his reign in Moscow was tragedy on the Khodynka field on May 30, 1896. In t At the festivities on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II, a stampede occurred, where, according to official data, 1,389 people were killed and another 1,300 people were seriously injured. The public found Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich guilty and nicknamed him “Prince Khodynsky”, Emperor Nicholas II - “bloody”.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich supported monarchist organizations and was a fighter against the revolutionary movement. He died on the spot as a result of a terrorist attack in 1905. When approaching the Nicholas Tower, a bomb was thrown into his carriage, which tore apart the carriage of Grand Duke Sergei. The terrorist attack was carried out by Ivan Kalyaev from the Combat Organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. He planned to carry out a terrorist attack two days earlier, but was unable to throw a bomb at the carriage in which the wife and nephews of the Governor General, Maria and Dmitry, were located. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna is the founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow. It is known that the widow of Prince Elizabeth visited her husband’s killer in prison and forgave him on behalf of her husband.

U Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna did not have children of their own, but they raised the children of their brother Sergei Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry , whose mother, Alexandra Grigorievna, died in childbirth.

Pavel Alexandrovich

made a military career, possessed not only Russian, but also foreign orders and badges of honor. He was married twice. He entered into his first marriage in 1889 with his cousin - Greek Princess Alexandra Georgievna, who gave birth to He had two children - Maria and Dmitry, but died during childbirth at the age of 20. The children were taken in by the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, to be raised by his brother Pavel Alexandrovich.

10 years after the death of the spouse Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich married a second time to a divorcee Olga Valerievna Pistolkors. Since the marriage was unequal, they could not return to Russia. In 1915, Olga Valerievna received Russian for herself and the children of Prince Pavel Alexandrovich title of the princes of Paley . They had three children: Vladimir, Irina and Natalya.

Soon after Nicholas II abdicated the throne, the Provisional Government took measures against the Romanovs. Vladimir Paley was exiled to the Urals in 1918 and executed at the same time. Pavel Alexandrovich himself was arrested in August 1918 and sent to prison.

In January of the following year, Pavel Alexandrovich, along with his cousins, Grand Dukes Dmitry Konstantinovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgiy Mikhailovich, were shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress in response to the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany.

Georgy Alexandrovich

Georgy Alexandrovich (1872 - 1913) was born out of wedlock, but after marriage Alexander II with Princess Dolgoruky, June 6, 1880, the emperor wanted to equalize the rights of his morganatic children from Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruky with his legal heirs to the throne from the union with Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and his decree was sent to the Senate: “Having entered into the legal marriage with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruka, we order that she be given the name of Princess Yuryevskaya with the title of lordship. We order that the same name with the same title be given to our children: our son George, daughters Olga and Ekaterina, as well as those who may be born subsequently, we grant them all the rights belonging to legitimate children in accordance with Article 14 of the Fundamental Laws of the Empire and Article 147 of the Establishment of the Imperial Family. Alexander".

Prince George received the title His Serene Highness Prince Yuryevsky.

After the assassination of his father Emperor Alexander II, His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich together with sisters - Ekaterina and Olga, and mother Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky , left for France.

In 1891 Prince Georgy Alexandrovich graduated from the Sorbonne with a bachelor's degree, then returned to Russia, where he continued his studies. He served in the Baltic Fleet and studied at the dragoon department of the Officer Cavalry School.

February 4 1900 His Serene Highness Prince George got married with Countess Alexandra Konstantinovna Zarnekau (1883-1957), daughter of Prince Konstantin Petrovich of Oldenburg from a morganatic marriage with Countess Alexandra Zarnekau, née Japaridze. The marriage is dissolved. On October 17, 1908, Alexandra Zarnekau married Lev Vasilyevich Naryshkin.

His Serene Highness Prince George b was seconded to the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, and resigned in 1908. 4 years later he died of nephritis in Magburg, German Empire. He was buried in Wiesbaden in the Russian cemetery.

Children His Serene Highness Prince George and Countess Alexandra Zarnekau:

Son Alexander (December 7 (20), 1900, Nice, France - February 29, 1988).
Grandson George (Hans-Georg) (born December 8, 1961, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Olga Alexandrovna

Your Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya Olga Alexandrovna born in 1882, a year after her older brother George. It is interesting that Emperor Alexander II chose the title for children not by chance. It was believed that the princely family of his second wife Ekaterina Dolgoruky had its origins from Prince Yuri Dolgoruky from the Rurik family. It is known that the ancestor of the Dolgorukys was Prince Ivan Obolensky, who received this nickname for his vindictiveness. Prince Ivan Obolensky was the second cousin of Yuri Dolgoruky - Vsevolod Olgovich.

Your Serene Highness Princess Olga Yuryevskaya published in 1895 marry the grandson of Alexander Pushkin -graph Georg-Nicholas von Merenberg and began to be called Countess von Merenberg . During marriage she gave birth to a wife 12 children.

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

The youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander II, His Serene Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya (1878 - 1959) married unsuccessfully twice and became a singer. After the accession of Emperor Nicholas II, His Serene Highness Princess Catherine, together with her mother Princess Catherine Dolgoruka, brother George and sister Olga, returned to Russia.

In 1901, His Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya married the captain Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky (1870-1910), one of the heirs of an ancient family Rurikovich , who gave the world several saints, including the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and the Holy Blessed Prince Michael of Chernigov. Alexander Vladimirovich on his father’s side is the grandson of Lieutenant General Prince Anatoly Baryatinsky (1821-1881) and the cousin grandson of Field Marshal General Prince.

Prince Aleksandr VladimirovichBaryatinsky was one of the richest people in Russia, which allowed him to lead a luxurious and sometimes thoughtless life. Since 1897, he had been in an open relationship with the famous beauty Lina Cavalieri and spent huge amounts of money on her. His infatuation with Cavalieri was so serious that he asked Emperor Nicholas II to give him permission to marry her. Baryatinsky's parents did everything to prevent this from happening, and in October 1901, Prince Alexander Boryatinsky married the princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya.

The Most Serene Princess Catherine, loving her husband, tried to win his attention from Lina Cavalieri, but it was all in vain. The three of them went everywhere - performances, operas, dinners, some even lived in a hotel together. Their love triangle fell apart with the death of Prince Boryatinsky, the inheritance went to Catherine's children - the princes Andrey (1902-1944) and Alexander (1905-1992). Since the children were minors in 1910, their mother, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya, became their guardian.

After World War I, they moved from Bavaria to the Baryatinsky estate in Ivanovsky. Soon Ekaterina Yuryevskaya met a young guards officer Prince Sergei Obolensky and married him. After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia Princes Boryatinsky They lost everything and went to Kyiv using forged documents, and then to Vienna and then to England. In order to earn money, His Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya began to sing in living rooms and at concerts. The death of Catherine Dolgoruky's mother did not improve the princess's financial situation.

IN In 1922, Prince Sergei Obolensky abandoned his wife Ekaterina Yuryevskaya for another rich lady, miss Alice Astor, daughter of millionaire John Astor. Abandoned by her husband, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya became a professional singer. For many years she lived on allowance from Queen Mary, widow of George V, but after her death in 1953 she was left without a livelihood. She sold her property and died in 1959 in a nursing home on Hayling Island.

Based on the article

Alexander II Nikolaevich (Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov; April 17, 1818 Moscow - March 1 (13), 1881 St. Petersburg)

Alexander II

The eldest son of first the grand ducal, and since 1825, the imperial couple Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna, daughter of the Prussian king Frederick William III.

Born on April 17, 1818, on Bright Wednesday, at 11 o'clock in the morning in the Bishop's House of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, where the entire Imperial family, excluding the uncle of the newborn Alexander I, who was on an inspection trip to the south of Russia, arrived in early April for fasting and celebrating Easter; A 201-gun salvo was fired in Moscow. On May 5, the sacraments of baptism and confirmation were performed over the baby in the church of the Chudov Monastery by Moscow Archbishop Augustine, in honor of which Maria Feodorovna gave a gala dinner.

The future emperor was educated at home. His mentor (with the responsibility of supervising the entire process of upbringing and education) was the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, teacher of the Law of God and Sacred History - Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky (until 1835), military instructor - Karl Karlovich Merder, and also: M.M. Speransky (legislation), K. I. Arsenyev (statistics and history), E. F. Kankrin (finance), F. I. Brunov (foreign policy), Academician Collins (arithmetic), K. B. Trinius (natural history) .

According to numerous testimonies, in his youth he was very impressionable and amorous. So, during a trip to London in 1839, he had a fleeting, but strong, love for the young Queen Victoria, who would later become for him the most hated ruler in Europe.

Upon reaching adulthood on April 22, 1834 (the day he took the oath), the Heir-Tsarevich was introduced by his father into the main state institutions of the Empire: in 1834 into the Senate, in 1835 he was introduced into the Holy Governing Synod, from 1841 a member of the State Council, in 1842 - the Committee ministers.

In 1837, Alexander made a long trip around Russia and visited 29 provinces of the European part, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia, and in 1838-39 he visited Europe.

The future emperor's military service was quite successful. In 1836 he already became a major general, and from 1844 a full general, commanding the guards infantry. Since 1849, Alexander was the head of military educational institutions, chairman of the Secret Committees on Peasant Affairs in 1846 and 1848. During the Crimean War of 1853-56, with the declaration of martial law in the St. Petersburg province, he commanded all the troops of the capital.

In his life, Alexander did not adhere to any particular concept in his views on the history of Russia and the tasks of public administration. Having ascended the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy. None of the issues of his father’s 30-year reign (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) were resolved; Russia was defeated in the Crimean War.

The first of his important decisions was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856. A “thaw” has set in in the socio-political life of the country. On the occasion of his coronation in August 1856, he declared an amnesty for the Decembrists, Petrashevites, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-31, suspended recruitment for 3 years, and in 1857 liquidated military settlements.

Not being a reformer by vocation or temperament, Alexander became one in response to the needs of the time as a man of sober mind and good will.

Alexander II

It is inappropriate to evaluate the results of the complex and contradictory reform activities of Alexander II in a reference article. At the moment we are interested in, only one reform has become a fact (but what a reform!) - the peasant one. But its practical implementation has only just begun. For details of the peasant reform, see the articles already posted earlier.
Next, I refer those interested to a rather good popular journalistic book: L. Lyashenko. Alexander II, or the story of three solitudes

***


Maria Alexandrovna (August 8, 1824, Darmstadt - June 8, 1880, St. Petersburg) - wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander II and mother of the future Emperor Alexander III.

Born Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Maria of Hesse (1824-1841), after her marriage she received the title of Grand Duchess (1841-1855), after her husband's accession to the Russian throne she became empress (March 2, 1855 - June 8, 1880).

Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and her chamberlain Baron von Sénarclin de Grancy. Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's siblings, recognized Maria and her brother Alexander as his children (the other two illegitimate children died in infancy). Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately in Heiligenberg, while Ludwig II lived in Darmstadt.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna

In 1838, the future Emperor Alexander II, traveling around Europe to find a wife, fell in love with 14-year-old Maria of Hesse and married her in 1841, although he was well aware of the secret of her origin.

Wedding silver ruble of Nicholas I for the wedding of the heir to the throne Alexander Nikolaevich and Princess Maria of Hesse

On the initiative of Maria Alexandrovna, all-class women's gymnasiums and diocesan schools were opened in Russia, and the Red Cross was established.

Cities in Russia were named in honor of Maria Alexandrovna:
Mariinsky Posad (Chuvashia). Until 1856 - the village of Sundyr. On June 18, 1856, Emperor Alexander II renamed the village to the city of Mariinsky Posad in honor of his wife.
Mariinsk (Kemerovo region). Renamed in 1857 (former name - Kiyskoe).

Here it is website(school local history museum), dedicated to Maria Alexandrovna.

* * *


At the point in time that interests us, the heir to the throne is considered... no, not the future Emperor Alexander III. And the eldest son of Alexander II is Nikolai Alexandrovich.

Nikolai Alexandrovich (8 (20) September 1843 - 12 (24) April 1865, Nice) - Tsarevich and Grand Duke, eldest son of Emperor Alexander II, ataman of all Cossack troops, major general of His Imperial Majesty's retinue, chancellor of the University of Helsingfors.

Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich

In the early 1860s, accompanied by his tutor Count S.G. Stroganov, he made study tours around the country. In 1864 he went abroad. While abroad, on September 20, 1864, he was engaged to the daughter of Christian IX, King of Denmark, Princess Dagmar (1847-1928), who later became the wife of his brother, Emperor Alexander III. While traveling in Italy, he fell ill and died of tuberculous meningitis.

Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich with his bride, Princess Dagmara

* * *


In total, at the time we are interested in, the imperial couple had seven children (and a total of 8 children were born in the family)

The first child of the future Emperor Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna, was born in 1842 and died suddenly at the age of seven. After her death, no one in the imperial family named their daughters after Alexander, since all the princesses with that name died early, before reaching the age of 20.

Second child - Nikolai Alexandrovich, Tsarevich (see above)
The third is Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III (born in 1845)
Further:
Vladimir (born in 1847)
Alexey (born in 1850)
Maria (born in 1853)
Sergei (born in 1857) (the same one who would later be killed by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist Ivan Kalyaev in 1905)
Pavel (born in 1860)

At least two other members of the imperial family played a major role in carrying out the Great Reforms: Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (September 9, 1827 St. Petersburg - January 13, 1892 Pavlovsk) - the second son of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I.

His father decided that Konstantin should become almiral of the fleet and, from the age of five, entrusted his upbringing to the famous navigator Fyodor Litka. In 1835 he accompanied his parents on a trip to Germany. In 1844 he was appointed commander of the brig Ulysses, in 1847 - the frigate Pallada. On August 30, 1848 he was appointed to the retinue of His Imperial Majesty and chief of the Naval Cadet Corps.

In 1848 in St. Petersburg he married Alexandra Friederike Henrietta Paulina Marianna Elisabeth, the fifth daughter of Duke Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg (in Orthodoxy Alexandra Iosifovna).

In 1849 he was appointed to sit on the State and Admiralty Councils. In 1850 he headed the Committee to revise and supplement the General Code of Naval Charter and became a member of the State Council and the Council of Military Educational Institutions. Promoted to vice admiral in 1853. During the Crimean War, Konstantin Nikolaevich took part in the defense of Kronstadt from the attack of the Anglo-French fleet.

Since 1855 - admiral of the fleet; from that time on he managed the fleet and the maritime department as a minister. The first period of his management was marked by a number of important reforms: the previous sailing fleet was replaced by a steam one, the available composition of coastal teams was reduced, office work was simplified, and emerital cash desks were established; Corporal punishment has been abolished.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich

He adhered to liberal values, and in 1857 he was elected chairman of the peasant committee that developed reform projects.

Viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland from June 1862 to October 1863. His viceroy fell on the period before and during the January Uprising. Together with the civil governor of the CPU, Marquis Alexander Wielopolsky, he tried to pursue a conciliatory policy and carry out liberal reforms, but without success. Soon after Konstantin Nikolaevich arrived in Warsaw, an attempt was made on his life. Journeyman tailor Ludovic Yaroshinsky shot him point-blank with a pistol on the evening of June 21 (July 4), 1862, when he was leaving the theater, but Konstantin Nikolaevich was only slightly wounded. (more details about the events in the Central Election Commission on the eve of the January Uprising will be discussed in a separate article)

* * *


A truly outstanding person was Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, widow of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (younger brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I).

Before accepting Orthodoxy - Princess Frederike Charlotte Marie of Württemberg (German: Friederike Charlotte Marie Prinzessin von Württemberg, December 24 (January 6) 1806 - January 9 (22), 1873)

Princess of the House of Württemberg, daughter of Duke Paul Karl Friedrich August and Princess of the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg Charlotte Dahlia Friederike Louise Sophia Theresa.
She was brought up in Paris at the private boarding house Campan.
At the age of 15, she was chosen by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, also a representative of the House of Württemberg, as the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the fourth son of Emperor Paul I.
She converted to Orthodoxy and was granted the title of Grand Duchess as Elena Pavlovna (1823). On February 8 (21), 1824, she was married according to the Greek-Eastern Orthodox rite with Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich.

In 1828, after the death of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, according to Her Highest will, control of the Mariinsky and Midwifery Institutes passed to the Grand Duchess. She was the chief of the 10th Dragoon Novgorod Regiment.

She showed herself as a philanthropist: she gave funds to the artist Ivanov to transport the painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People” to Russia, and patronized K. P. Bryullov, I. K. Aivazovsky, and Anton Rubinstein. Having supported the idea of ​​​​establishing the Russian Musical Society and Conservatory, she financed this project by making large donations, including proceeds from the sale of diamonds that personally belonged to her. The conservatory's primary classes opened in her palace in 1858.

She supported the actor I. F. Gorbunov, the tenor Nilsky, and the surgeon Pirogov. She contributed to the posthumous publication of the collected works of N. V. Gogol. She was interested in the activities of the university, the Academy of Sciences, and the Free Economic Society.

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna

In 1853-1856 she was one of the founders of the Holy Cross community of sisters of mercy with dressing stations and mobile hospitals - the community charter was approved on October 25, 1854. She issued an appeal to all Russian women not bound by family responsibilities, calling for help for the sick and wounded. The premises of the Mikhailovsky Castle were provided at the disposal of the community for storing things and medicines; the Grand Duchess financed its activities. In the fight against the views of society, which did not approve of this kind of activity by women, the Grand Duchess went to hospitals every day and bandaged the wounded with her own hands.

For the cross that the sisters were to wear, Elena Pavlovna chose St. Andrew's ribbon. On the cross there were inscriptions: “Take My yoke upon you” and “You, O God, are my strength.” Elena Pavlovna explained her choice like this: “Only in humble patience do we receive strength and strength from God.”
On November 5, 1854, after mass, the Grand Duchess herself put a cross on each of the thirty-five sisters, and the next day they left for Sevastopol, where Pirogov was waiting for them.
On N.I. Pirogov, the great Russian scientist and surgeon, was entrusted with training and then supervising their work in the Crimea. From December 1854 to January 1856, more than 200 nurses worked in Crimea.
After the end of the war, an outpatient clinic and a free school for 30 girls were additionally opened in the community.

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna among the sisters of mercy, mid-1850s

The Grand Duchess provided guardianship to the school of St. Helena; founded in memory of her daughters the Elisabeth Children's Hospital (St. Petersburg), and the Elisabeth and Mary orphanages (Moscow, Pavlovsk); reorganized the Maximilian Hospital, where, on her initiative, a permanent hospital was created.

Since the late 1840s, evenings were held in the Mikhailovsky Palace - “Thursdays” at which issues of politics and culture, literary novelties were discussed. The circle of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, which met on “Thursdays,” became the center of communication for leading statesmen - the developers and conductors of the Great Reforms.
According to A. F. Koni, meetings with Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna were the main discussion platform where plans for reforms in the second half of the 19th century were developed. Supporters of reforms called her among themselves “the benefactor mother.”

In an effort to cause a positive shift in the sentiments of the nobility regarding peasant reform, in 1856 she took the initiative to free the peasants on her estate Karlovka, Poltava province, which included 12 villages and hamlets, 9090 acres of land, with a population of 7392 men and 7625 women. A plan was developed with the manager, Baron Engelhart, which provided for the personal liberation of the peasants and the provision of land to them for a ransom.
In March 1856, Elena Pavlovna, together with N. A. Milyutin (brother of D. A. Milyutin, also a liberal statesman and one of the main developers of peasant reform), developed an action plan for the liberation of peasants in Poltava and adjacent provinces, which received preliminary approval from the Sovereign .
By patronizing liberal figures - the Milyutin brothers, Lansky, Cherkassky, Samarin and others - Elena Pavlovna acted as one of the leading forces of the upcoming peasant reform.
For her activities to liberate the peasants, she received the honorary title in the society “Princesse La Liberte”. She was awarded a gold medal by the Emperor.

Elena Pavlovna was a widely educated person, in her youth she was friends with A.S. Pushkin, then with I.S. Turgenev, communicated with the entire intellectual elite of Russia at that time; attended lectures on a variety of subjects, including technical subjects - agronomy, military statistics, etc.

The death of her 4 daughters and her husband (in 1849), for whom she mourned until her death in 1873, made a grave impression on the Grand Duchess.

Growing up in a Protestant family, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was a deeply religious Orthodox Christian. Having been baptized in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helen of Constantinople, she became close to the Feast of the Exaltation, especially caring for the Exaltation Church of the Moscow Yamskaya Settlement in St. Petersburg; as a gift to the temple she brought icons of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen with particles of the Cross of the Lord, the honorable relics of John the Baptist, Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and St. John Chrysostom; I ordered a large altarpiece of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross for the church. The image was created by the icon painter Fadeev in a specially designated hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace.
On the instructions of Elena Pavlovna, the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, a short prayer book and the penitential canon of Andrew of Crete were translated and published in French, “in order to acquaint foreigners with the beauty and depth of our worship and make it easier for those who have accepted Orthodoxy to understand our prayers.” In 1862, in Carlsbad, A.I. Koshelev, with the approval of the Grand Duchess, initiated a subscription for the construction of an Orthodox church there, completed within two years.

According to Count P. A. Valuev, with the death of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in 1873, “the brilliant mental lamp went out. She patronized many things and created many things...”; “It’s unlikely that anyone will replace her,” I. S. Turgenev wrote sadly.

-), after the adoption of Orthodoxy on December 5 (17), 1840 - Maria Alexandrovna, after betrothal on December 6 (18), 1840 - Grand Duchess with the title of Imperial Highness, after marriage on April 16 (28), 1841 - Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess, after accession of her husband to the Russian throne - empress (March 2 - June 3).

Princess Mary was born on July 27 (August 8), 1824, into the family of Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. Biographers of the mother of Princess Maria Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse, are convinced that her younger children were born from a relationship with Baron Augustus of Senarklen de Grancy. Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's high-ranking siblings, officially recognized Mary and her brother Alexander as his children. Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately in Heiligenberg, while Ludwig II occupied the Grand Ducal Palace in Darmstadt.

In March 1839, while traveling around Europe, the heir to the Russian throne, the son of Emperor Nicholas I, Alexander, while in Darmstadt, fell in love with 14-year-old Maria. The first meeting of the Tsarevich and the princess took place in the opera house, where the Vestal Virgin was being staged. There is also a retelling of the description of the acquaintance in the memoirs of Olga Nikolaevna:

“...the retinue did not stop teasing him with unsuccessful brides. One of the retinue... remarked: " There is another young princess in Darmstadt". "No, thank you", answered Sasha, " I've had enough, they're all boring and tasteless". And yet he went there... the old Duke received him with his sons and daughters-in-law. In the depths of the cortege, completely indifferent, followed a girl with long, childish curls. Her father took her hand to introduce her to Sasha. She Since she was eating cherries at the moment when Sasha turned to her, she first had to spit out the stone into her hand in order to answer him. She counted so little on being noticed... The very first word she said to him made him wary; she was not a soulless doll like the others, she did not coy and did not want to please, instead of the two hours that were planned, he spent two days at her father’s house.”

Previously, one of the princesses of Hesse-Darmstadt had already married a Russian crown prince, she was Natalya Alekseevna, the first wife of Paul I; in addition, the bride's maternal aunt was the Russian Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna (wife of Alexander I). Arriving in Russia, Alexander Nikolaevich decided to marry Maria; the girl’s scandalous origin did not bother him; he wrote to his mother in a letter: “Dear Mother, what do I care about the secrets of Princess Maria! I love her, and I would rather give up the throne than give up her. I will only marry her, that’s my decision!”

Everyone in the family fell in love with the new relative, who “combined innate dignity with extraordinary naturalness.” In Alexandra Fedorovna’s diary entry, a sigh of relief is heard:

“After the wedding, the life of the newlyweds is going well... She has increased self-confidence, her posture has become more majestic since she was married and took a more defined position; there is so much nobility in her, she looks so much like in her beautiful clothes, chosen with such taste and grace"

Nicholas I's attitude towards his daughter-in-law was special. He began all his letters to her with the words “Blessed is Your Name, Mary.”

Maria Alexandrovna did not like noisy receptions and balls, or metropolitan life. All this weighed on her. She preferred a quiet life in the royal residences. However, “etiquette obliged us to do all this.”

She was distinguished by restraint, even shyness. She recalled that she grew up in solitude and even some neglect in a small castle, and almost never saw her father. Now she felt only horror at the brilliant fate that was so unexpectedly opening up before her.

.<…>Maria Alexandrovna became empress at the age of thirty. The coronation took place on August 26, 1856 in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. “The Emperor walked majestic, and the Empress was touching with her modest hairstyle; there was no decoration on her head, only two long curls hanging down from behind her ears over her shoulders.

Many condemned Maria Alexandrovna for her lack of initiative and activity in state affairs, in which the empress did not like to interfere. She was well educated, well versed in music, and knew the latest literature well. It was under her that the Red Cross was established in Russia, which quickly turned into the largest public-state structure, accumulating in its accounts huge sums transferred by philanthropists from all over Russia. The Empress was the highest patron of the Red Cross.

In total, the Empress patronized 5 hospitals, 12 almshouses, 36 shelters, 2 institutes, 38 gymnasiums, 156 lower schools and 5 private charitable societies. She marked the beginning of a new period of women's education in Russia by establishing open all-class women's educational institutions (gymnasiums). The Empress played an important role in the liberation of the peasants. She spent huge sums on charity. During the war, she refused to even sew new dresses for herself and gave all these savings to the benefit of widows, orphans, the wounded and sick.

Maria Alexandrovna sympathized with the Balkan Slavs, who were under Turkish rule, and more than once spoke out for tightening the position of Russian diplomacy on this issue (and in this she disagreed with the emperor, who “spoke ardently against those who were carried away by sympathy for the Slavic brothers.”). The Empress also sent doctors and hospital supplies from the Red Cross Society to the Balkans.

The Empress paid great attention to the upbringing and education of her children, and she herself invited experienced teachers. The children were raised in strictness, but the teacher of the Empress’s younger sons, Admiral D.S. Arsenyev, writes in his memoirs: “the Empress always tried to ensure that her children, raised in a truly Christian direction, at the same time did not shy away from pleasures and entertainment.”

Maria Alexandrovna patronized the teacher Konstantin Ushinsky, and enjoyed the respect of a variety of people, prominent figures of the mid-19th century. Among them were: the poet Vyazemsky (who wrote poems about the Empress), lady-in-waiting of the Highest Court Anna Tyutcheva, poet Tyutchev (who), Leo Tolstoy’s cousin aunt Alexandra Tolstaya, V.A. Zhukovsky, D. A. Milyutin and Pyotr Kropotkin.

For many years she collected all the documents written by Elizaveta Alekseevna or somehow related to her life. When Elizabeth died, her niece was only two years old, so she could not remember her aunt. But from the stories of her mother, the sister of Empress Elizabeth, an image emerged so attractive that Maria was under his spell all her life.

A terrible blow for the couple was the death of their beloved son and heir to the throne, Tsarevich Nicholas in 1865. The Empress was not even able to attend her son's funeral. “She was only there two or three times during non-funeral hours. They say that when she saw the body of her late son for the first time, she cried so loudly that the officers on duty and guards could not help but cry.”

According to Olga Nikolaevna, after the death of the Tsarevich, Maria Alexandrovna “died internally and only the outer shell lived a mechanical life.”

“She never recovered from this grief,” writes S. D. Sheremetev.

After ascending the throne, the emperor began to often have favorites. The longest relationship was with Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova, who bore Alexander four children. Even during the life of Maria Alexandrovna, the emperor settled his mistress in the Winter Palace. Maria Alexandrovna did not take any public actions. “Called to forgive day after day for many years, she never uttered a complaint or an accusation. She took the secret of her suffering and humiliation with her to the grave.”

"Maria Alexandrovna blesses the sisters of mercy going to war", unknown artist, 1882.

Frequent childbirth, her husband's infidelities, and the death of her son completely undermined Maria Alexandrovna's already weak health. Since the 1870s, the Empress, on the recommendation of her general practitioner S.P. Botkin, spent autumn and winter in the south - in Crimea, in Italy.

In 1879, Maria Alexandrovna's health deteriorated, including due to attempts on the life of the emperor, which forced the empress to constantly live in fear for her husband's life. The assassination attempt in 1879 was a real blow for her: “I see her on that day just like now - with feverishly shining eyes, broken, desperate. “There’s no point in living anymore,” she told me, “I feel like this is killing me.”

By 1880 she had retired from court life. “The health of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was rapidly weakening, the fatal conditions of her life broke her physically and morally, the painful cross of her last years belongs to history,” writes S. D. Sheremetev. In January 1880, the Empress returned to Russia from Cannes, where she was undergoing treatment. During the assassination attempt on the emperor on February 5 (17), 1880 (an explosion in the dining room of the Winter Palace), she was in very serious condition and did not even hear the explosion.

The Russian people say goodbye to their Queen, truly Russian, deeply humble before God, and at the height of her calling, wholly devoted herself to works of Christian mercy. (“Moskovskie Gazette”, May 24, 1880, No. 142).

Calmly, without agony, the life of the compassionate Sorrow of the Russian people faded away, who set the task of her earthly existence to alleviate the lot of the unfortunate... (“Voice”, May 23, 1880, No. 142).

...The most important, most unforgettable legacy left by the deceased to the Russian state and people is the “Red Cross”, a society for the care of wounded and sick soldiers. (“Week”, 1880, No. 21).

In orphaned Russia, abandoned by Her, the meek, ideal image of a Royal Christian woman, surrounded by a bright halo of people's love and gratitude, will forever live. (“Kievlyanin”, May 24, 1880, No. 117).

In July of the same year, without waiting for the end of the required mourning of one year, Alexander II entered into a morganatic marriage with Princess Dolgorukova, which was a blow for his children from Maria Alexandrovna, who adored their mother. The emperor's daughter Maria wrote to her father: “I pray to God that I and my younger brothers, who were closest to Mom, would one day be able to forgive you.”

Less than a year later (March 1, 1881), Alexander II was killed by the People's Will. The emperor was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral next to his first wife. The burial places of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna differ from others in that the tombstones, installed by the decision of their son Alexander III, are made of jasper and orlets.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Maria Alexandrovna had exceptional kindness, sincerity and attention to people. She was very pious and strictly observed church dogmas. The empress had a very developed sense of duty. “First of all, this was an extremely sincere and deeply religious soul, but this soul, like its bodily shell, seemed to go beyond the framework of the medieval picture... The soul of the Grand Duchess was one of those that belong to the monastery.<…>This is a suitable environment for this soul, pure, focused, invariably striving for everything divine and sacred, but unable to express itself with that ardent and living responsiveness, which itself gives and receives joy from contact with people.”

Tsarevich Alexander (the future Emperor Alexander II) introduced his bride to her future teacher of the law G. T. Meglitsky: “His Highness deigned to draw attention to Her Highness and say that I will find in her the most innocent soul, ready to accept all good.”

A. I. Stackenschneider. The main staircase of the apartments became the former Grand Staircase of the chambers of Empress Maria Feodorovna (now Oktyabrskaya), and the entrance overlooking Palace Square - Own entrance.

In the decoration of the premises, the furniture and fabric upholstery of the walls were partially lost, but the basic character of the design, which is of great artistic value, was preserved