On This Day in Russian Imperial History

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 14, 1850 ~ Birth of Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovich, son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, January 14, 1850 ~ Birth of Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovich, son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia

Did he actually marry Alexandra Zhukovskaya?

I know they did have a son Count Alexei Alexeevich Belevsky-Zhukovsky who was killed by the Soviets.

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Did he actually marry Alexandra Zhukovskaya?

I know they did have a son Count Alexei Alexeevich Belevsky-Zhukovsky who was killed by the Soviets.

There is no evidence they were.

And since Alexandra was married in 1875, its even less likely they were. There would have been some evidence of a divorce from the Grand Duke even if a morgantic marriage.

Alexandra and her son gained their titles through San Marino as Alexander II refused to recognize his son's natural child in any way. Alexei would late gain his Russian title when his Uncle became Emperor.

Beyond his title Alexei does seem to have been accepted by his father's family. He worked in the service of his Uncle Grand Duke Serge, and even married his first wife at Serge's estate.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 17, 1882 ~ Birth of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, Princess Nicholas of Greece, daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 22, 1440 ~ Birth of Tsar Ivan III of Russia in Moscow, Russia

[lucien]

Prince Andrej Andreevitch Romanov,grandson to Xenia Alexandrovna,celebrated his 97th birthday on thursday the 21st 2021!

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 24, 1874 ~ Wedding of Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia and Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

[Countessmeout]

January 27, 1708 birth of Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia.

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artwo...17081728-87052

Anna was the daughter of Peter the Great. Her father was married twice, and she was his daughter by his second marriage. Her mother Empress Catherine I was born Martha Skavronskaya. Her mother was a Polish-Lithuanian peasant who had been her father's mistress from 1702-1704. Anna was born before her parents were married. Though rumors of a secret marriage in 1707 exist, they were officially married in 1712 when she was four. Her father's first wife was Tsarina Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina. Her father had divorced his first wife and placed her in a convent. Her mother took the name Catherine when she joined the Orthodox church and was later crowned empress by her husband.

Her father had 14 children between his two wives. Only 3 of them reached adulthood (3 children from his first wife and 11 from Catherine). Her brother Alexei (son of Eudoxia) was the father of Peter II, he himself dying in prison during his father's life time. Her sister Elisabeth would serve as Empress of Russia from 1741-1762.

Though her father had her legitimized when he married, her former status caused some issues for her marriage in the future.


She grew up in the households of her Aunt Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia (Peter's sister) and of Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov.



Wishing to marry his daughters into European monarchies their father saw to them being well educated. Anna was very intellectual and well read. She studied literature and writing, and learned four languages: German, French, Swedish and Italian. She was said to be a true beauty, and both in her dark hair and in her behavior she was very much her father's daughter. She was shy but said to be beautiful inside and out.


The chosen husband for Anna was Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. He came to Russia to meet her in 1721. Anna was 14 and her future husband was 21 years old. He was seeking to have her father's support in gaining Schleswig back from Denmark.

Three years later on November 22 1724 the marriage contract was signed. Anna and her husband had to renounce any claim to the Russian throne when they signed it though. Her father died in January 1725 before the two were formally married. And her mother became reigning empress. Catherine saw to a grand wedding for her daughter and Karl Friedrich. They had a grand wedding at Trinity Cathedral. The couple would spend the next two years living in Russia where her husband was given a position on the privy counsel, and took a place in the Russian army.


January 25, 1727 the couple finally left Russia and headed for Kiel. Her husband who had been charming and kind in Russia, changed once home. He was a drunken boor of a man who spent his time with friends and mistresses once away from Anna's mother's court.


Sadly Anna would not survive the move long. Shortly after giving birth to her only child she caught childbed fever and died March 4, 1728 at 26. Her husband would found the order of St Anna in her name.


Anna had made it known she wished to be buried next to her father. Two ships were sent to retrieve her body and bring it home. She was buried next to both her parents in the still unfinished St Peter and St Paul Cathedral November 12, 1728. Her mother had passed away in May 1727).

Her husband would die in 1739 but he would never remarry. He is buried in Bordesholm. Like his wife he never saw their son take the throne.


The couple had one son:

-Charles Peter: he would succeed to the Russian throne as Peter III after the death of his childless aunt Empress Elisabeth. He became emperor in 1762, almost 34 years after his mother died. Peter was married to Catherine the Great and had one Paul. He was over thrown and died. Anna's grandson Paul would eventually become Emperor Paul I.

[victor1319]

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

January 27, 1708 birth of Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia.

Thank you for this interesting piece, Countessmeout!

The history of the Romanovs is somewhat in parts strange, anyway. But this is a rather tragic part. Poor Anna Petrovna and poor son, husband of Catherine the Great, and poor grandson! Three tragic life stories in a row! What are the odds?

[Countessmeout]

January 28, 1845 death of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_...vna_by_Hau.jpg

Nicknamed Lilli, she was born May 26, 1826 in Moscow. The daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia she was the granddaughter of Paul I. Her father was the younger brother of both Alexander I and Nicholas I of Russia. Anna Pavlovna, Queen of the Netherlands was among her father's sisters. Her mother was Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (she took the name Elena when she converted). Her maternal aunt Pauline was the mother of Sophie of Nassau, queen consort of Oscar II of Sweden.

She was one of five daughters. Only the oldest three made it out of childhood, and two married. The other was Catherine who married Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Lilil was named for Empress Elizabeth, the wife of her Uncle Alexander I. Elizabeth who had been close to Lili's mother, had died only weeks before.

In 1843 Adolph, Duke of Nassau had come to Russia for a visit. He was the son of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau. Wilhelm was Elizabeth's Uncle by marriage, married to her maternal Aunt Pauline (his second wife). Adolph though was his son by his first marriage. He was introduced to Elizabeth who was said to be the prettiest of the sisters, and very elegant in manners and graceful. Adolph was 26 and Lilli was 17.

The couple fell in love and they were married January 31, 1844 in St Petersburg. They remained in Russia for a while before Adolph took his young wife home to Germany where they took up residence at Biebrich castle. Elizabeth soon became popular with the people in her new country.

Sadly their happy marriage was not to last. Elizabeth would die in childbirth three days before their one year anniversary. The baby girl she died as well.

Adolph was grief stricken with the loss of his beloved wife. He had a Russian church in Neroberg Park, Wiesbaden built in her memory. It was built where he could have a view of the church from his home. Her sarcophagus is still on view at the church to this day.

https://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/...-of-elizabeth/

Adolph would become Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890. He eventually remarried in 1851 to Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau. He had five children with his second wife, oldest of who was Wilhelm IV. Her husband died in 1905, 60 years after Elizabeth died.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 30, 1730 ~ Demise of Peter II, Emperor of Russia in Moscow, Russia

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, February 4, 1694 ~ Demise of Tsarista Natalia Kirillovna, second wife of Tsar Alexis of Russia

[Countessmeout]

February 15, 1922 death of Princess Catherine Dolgorukova, morgantic wife of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cather...Dolgorukov.jpg

Catherine was born November 14, 1847 in Volhynian Governorate which at the time was part of the Russian empire (the area is now split between Poland and the Ukraine). She was the daughter of Prince Michael Dolgorukov and Vera Vishnevskaya.

Catherine first met Alexander in 1859 when he visited her father's estate. She was only 11 at the time but he remembered meeting her. Alexander was 41 at the time and married to Marie of Hesse. The couple had been married for 18 years and had 6 living children at the time (their eldest daughter had died at age six, and their youngest son was born in 1860). Catherine was in fact born the same year as the couple's fourth child Vladimir (Vladimir was seven months older then Catherine). She was 4 years younger then Alexander's eventual heir, his third child and second son Alexander (Nicholas would die in 1865).

When her father died penniless she was sent with her sister to St Petersberg to a school for well-born girls. Her mother arranged for the education of her daughters and her four sons to be paid for by the emperor.

Alexander met her again at age 16 at the school and started visiting her. He would take her on walks and carriage rides. He later arranged to have her placed as a lady in waiting to Marie who was suffering from tb.

Though her mother encouraged her to, she did not at first wish to be a mistress to the tsar. But after the death of his son Nicholas she started a relatioship. She was 18 at the time and he was 47.

He kept her close, especially after the birth of their children. She was brought to the Winter Palace several times a week and they wrote every day.They did their best to keep their relationship as private as posible. His family did not approve of her believing she was trying to become empress and had too much influence over the emperor.


When the emperor feared she would be assasinated, he had Catherine and their children moved to the palace. The empress actually wished to meet with her husband's children, and the oldest two were brought to meet his wife.

The empress died in 1880 in May. He swore to marry Catherine when mourning was over and swore he would crown her empress a year later. She was made Most Serene Princess Yurievskaya, and her children were legalized. They were married July 18 but the marriage was extremely unpopular with the court and with his family. His family refused to recognize her at court as his wife. Their marriage was a happy one though very short, as they were deeply in love. The emperor wrote to family members of the joy being married to her finally.

Sadly Alexander was assassinated March of the following year. Bombers had attacked his carriage, and he died at home at the Winter Palace.

Catherine was not allowed a place in her the imperial procession of her own husband's funeral. Nor were her or her children allowed to attend the funeral with the royal family.

After her husband's death she gave up her residence at the Winter palace and any other royal residence and received a pension. She moved to Paris where she was known as a fashionable hostess. Her and her children continued to be scorned by her husband's family for the remainder of her life. She died 41 years after her husband died, just as her fortune ran out.


She is buried in the Russian Orthodox Cemetery, Nice.


Her and Alexander had four children, all born before they were married:

-George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky: He was refused to allow to join the army by his half brother Alexander III and joined the navy at first. His nephew Nicholas II was kinder to him, and permitted him to move to Russia and join the army. He married Countess Alexandra von Zarnekau who was a morgantic daughter of Duke Constantine Petrovich of Oldenburg. The only Russian royal at their wedding was Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia who was banished himself at the time due to his morgantic marriage. They had one son before they were divorced.George later died in Hesse. They have one grandson.

-Olga: She was married to Count George-Nicholas von Merenberg. George was the son of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and his morgantic wife Natalia Pushkin (youngest daughter of Alexander Pushkin). Nada Mountbatten (married to Prince Philip's Uncle George, Marquis of Milford Haven) was George's niece, the daughter of his sister Sophie. She and her husband had 3 children, though one died in infancy.

-Borris: died less then 2 months old.

-Catherine: Married twice. Her first husband was Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky. They had two sons together, her husband dying in 1910. In 1916 she married Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky . He left her in 1922 for Alice Astor after which she became a professional singer. She would eventually live in England where she lived off an income from Queen Mary for some years.

[Countessmeout]

February 16, 1786 birth of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_..._Gatchina).jpg

She was born in St Petersberg Russia. Her father was the future Paul I of Russia. Paul was the son of Catherine the Great and Peter III of Russia. Her mother was Paul's second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna). Her father's first wife Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt had died in 1776 and had only produced one stillborn child. Paul and Sophie were the parents of ten children, 7 of whom reached adulthood (4 sons, 6 daughters). She was the third daughter and 5th born. Her siblings included Alexander I, Nicholas I and a sister Anna who was Queen of the Netherlands.

Unfortunately she was disfigured slightly from a small pox vaccine she received.

Her grandmother seemed to appreciate her talent for music but was commented it would have been better she was born a son.

Her grandmother died in 1796 when she was ten years old. Catherine had been in the process of replacing Paul with his son Alexander as her heir. She hadn't though when she died so Marie's father became Emperor Paul I.

August 3, 1804 she was married at the age of 18 to Charles Frederick, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Charles would succeed his father as Grand duke in 1828.

The couple remained in Russia for nine months before he took his bride home. The new Princess was welcomed to her home with grand festivities of balls, fireworks and feasting. The people were genuinely welcoming to their future grand duchess.


Maria and her husband were both passionate about music and the arts. Their court was the center for art and many musicians came to them. Wagner sought refuge in Weimar after he had been forced to flee Saxony due to his involvement in revolutionary activity. She was a student who even took courses at the University of Jena, and over saw the education of her children. She hosted literary evenings with scholars from the university and from outside the duchy as well. Her patronage continued after the death of her husband.

She was widowed when her husband died in 1853 and she retired from public live after his death. In 1855 though she did make one last trip home to Russia to attend the coronation of her nephew Alexander II.

She died June 23, 1859 at the age of 73. She had out lived all but one of her siblings, her sister Anna dying in 1865.



Maria and her husband had four children. The three younger reached adulthood.

-Paul: died at six and a half months old.

-Marie: married Prince Charles of Prussia. They had three children.

-Augusta: married William I, German Emperor (he was the older brother of Marie's husband Charles). They had two children together. Through her daughter Louise she was the grandmother of Queen Victoria of Sweden.

-Charles Alexander: succeeded his father. He married Sophie of the Netherlands who was his first cousin (daughter of his mother's sister Anna Pavlovna and William II of the Netherlands). They had four children.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, February 17, 1909 ~ Demise of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, February 21, 1728 ~ Birth of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp

[Countessmeout]

February 21st also marks the start of the Romanov dynasty of Russia as rulers. On that day in 1613 Mikhail Romanov was chosen as Emperor of Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michae...I_-cropped.JPG


In 1598 the death of Tsar Feodor I of Russia issued in a period known as the Time of Troubles. This came to an end in 1613 when the Russian parliament chose Mikhail to be the new emperor.

Mikhail Romanov was not yet 17, his birthday July 22, 1596.

His father Feodor Nikitich Romanov had been a popular candidate for the throne when Feodor died. His father had served as a soldier and diplomat during the reign of Feodor who was his first cousin. His mother Xenia Shestova was the daughter of wealthy landowners. When Feodor I died, his father recognized the election of Borris Godunov as Tsar. Unfortunately the Romanov clan went into disgrace after three years. Both of Mikhail's parents were forced to take monastic vows, and his father was a virtual prisoner under Boris. He was set free by False Dmitry I and later appointed the Patriarch of Moscow by False Dmitry II. Mikhail's mother did not approve of her son being appointed the new Tsar, after the demise of the previous tsars, fearing for her young son.

Mikhail's father was the nephew of Tsarita Anastasia Romanovna. The wife of Ivan IV of Russia, she was the mother of Feodor I. Anastasia's brother Nikita Romanov was the father of Feodor, and grandfather of Mikhail. Nikita was an advisor to his brother in law, and regent to his nephew before his death.

He was crowned Tsar July 22, 1613.

Russia saw its greatest territorial expansion during his reign which would last from 1613-1645. His 32 year reign was the start of a 304 year reign of the Romanov dynasty which came to an end with the execution of Nicholas II and his children.

Mikhail was married twice. His first marriage was to Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova. She died four months after their marriage though. His second marriage was to Eudoxia Streshneva. Eudoxia was mother of his 10 children, and outlived her husband by less then a month (he would die July 23, 1645 and she would die August 18).

Of their kids, only four reached adulthood, the rest died before age 6.

-Irina: She was intended to marry Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, a son of Christian IV and his morgantic wife Kristen Munk. But when Valdemar arrived he refused to convert to Orthodox and was imprisoned. He was released in 1645 and left when released. Irina remained single for life, mainly focussed on over seeing her estates.

-Alexis: succeeded his father as tsar. Married twice. His first wife was Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya who bore him 13 children. By the time she died in 1669 all but 4 of her sons were dead, and another 2 died not long after. Their son Ivan would serve as co-ruler with his younger half-brother Peter, as Ivan V. Ivan was the father of Empress Anna. Alexis would marry second Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina with whom he had three children. Their eldest would become known as Peter the Great.

-Anna: little is known of her life, as was common in those times for a daughter of the tsar, she lived in seclusion and never married. She doesn't seem to have played a role like Irina. She became a nun shortly before her death.

-Tatiana: She had a good relationship with Alexis, and during the regency of her niece Sophie she was seen as a senior lady at court. She lost any influence when Peter took power and placed new reforms.

[An Ard Ri]

It wasn't an easiest of times to be a Tsar during the Time of Troubles which saw several Tsars being murdered and the new Tsar Mikhail was just 17.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, February 28, 1690 ~ Birth of Alexis Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, son of Emperor Peter I of Russia and Eudoxia Feodorovna