Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819-1876)

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819-1876)

Infobox Person
name = Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia


image_size = 220px
caption = Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter,1857, Hermitage Museum
birth_date = birth date|1819|8|18|mf=y
birth_place = Tsarskoye Selo
death_date = death date and age|1876|2|21|1819|8|18|mf=y
death_place = St Petersburg
parents = Nicholas I of Russia (father)
Charlotte of Prussia (mother)

Maria Nikolaievna ( _ru. Мария Николаевна) (August 18 1819 - February 21 1876) was a daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and sister of Alexander II. She was Duchess of Leuchtenberg and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg.

Duchess of Leuchtenberg

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna was born on August 18 1819 in Pavlovsk. She was the second of seven surviving children and the eldest daughter. Her parents, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, born Princess Charlotte of Prussia, were devoted to each other and to their children, providing an excellent education for them.

Unusually for her position and time, she married for love. She met her future husband, Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg, the eldest surviving son of Eugène de Beauharnais and grandson of Empress Josephine, when he came to Saint Petersburg during cavalry maneuvers in 1837. A year later he made a second visit to the city, as noted by the Grand Duchess Olga in her diary: “In four days it has become quite clear that Max and Maria were made for each other." [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia ”: Neverov, Oleg , p 109]

It was not a desirable match for a daughter of a Russian Emperor. Maximilian was below the rank of royalty, only entitled to the style of Serene Highness as member of a secondary branch of the House of Bavaria. He was also Roman Catholic, not Orthodox, and his own family, his mother Princess Augusta of Bavaria in particular, was against this marriage.

Furthermore the Bonaparte family had been bitter enemies of Russia. Nevertheless the Tsar granted his permission for the marriage on condition that his daughter did not leave Russia to live abroad. Since the Duke of Leuchtenberg was not a member of a reigning family, it was easy for him to take up residence in Saint Petersburg.

The wedding took place on July 2 1839 in the chapel of the Winter Palace. The Tsar created Maximilian an Imperial Highness. The couple remained in Russia, where their seven children grew up in the circle of the imperial family.

President of the Academy of Arts

On her engagement Tsar Nicholas I decided to present Maria with her own palace. He chose a site in the centre of St. Petersburg strategically positioned opposite St. Isaac's cathedral, on the banks of the Moika river. ["The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg” : Belyakova, Zoia , p 118] No expense was spared in fitting it out for the young couple, specially commissioned from the architect Andrei Stackensneider and, close enough to the Winter Palace for the Tsar to pay daily visits to his daughter. [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia : Neverov, Oleg , p 110] . The palace was finished by the end of 1844 and was named as the Mariinsky Palace, after Maria Nikolaievna. Up until this point, Maria, her husband and three children had lived in the Vorontzov Palace, waiting for the completion of their own residence. ["The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg” : Belyakova, Zoia , p 136] .

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna and her husband had artistic inclinations and were active in charitable and artistic causes. Maria's husband became well-known as a scientist throughout Russia. ["The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg” : Belyakova, Zoia , p 130] . In 1843 he was appointed President of the Academy of Arts. The Grand Duchess was an avid art collector, and after the death of her husband in 1852, she replaced him as President of the Academy of Arts. From then on, Maria Nikolaievana devoted herself to her collection even with greater ardor [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia : Neverov, Oleg , p 110] .

Second marriage

Maria Nikolaievna made a second marriage in 1854, to Count Grigori Stroganov (16 June 182413 March 1879). It was a morganatic union and was kept secret while her father lived. Officially the marriage did not take place until November 16 1856, after Nicholas I's death. Her sister Olga described her as more talented than all her brothers and sisters put together, but lacking a sense of duty.

In 1862, Maria Nikolaievna installed herself in Florence in the Villa Quarto, which had belonged to Jerome Bonaparte, and appointed the painter and collector Karl Liphard as her advisor. They went almost daily to visit museums, private collection and antique dealers. [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia : Neverov, Oleg , p 110] . In Italy, the Grand Duchess was zealous in her purchases of painting, sculptures and furniture for the complete refurbishing of her residence. [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia : Neverov, Oleg , p 114]

Duchess Maria probably suffered either from varicose veins or from some sort of bone disease, and by the end of her life she had become an invalid. ["The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg” : Belyakova, Zoia , p 135] She died on February 21 1876 in Saint Petersburg at age 56.

Art collections

On her death in 1876, Maria Nikolaievna's art collections were divided among her surviving children: Prince Nicholas of Leuchtenberg, his brothers Eugene and George, their sisters Princess Maria of Baden and Princess Eugenia of Oldenburg and their half-sister countess Elena Strogonova. In 1884, her son, Nicholas Duke of Leuchtenberg, mounted an exhibition at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts with the Grand Duchess former collection. In 1913 another exhibitions was organized at the Hermitage Museum entitled the Heritage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna. After the revolution the collection was dispersed and now can be enjoyed in museums in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Vienna and the United States [ “Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia : Neverov, Oleg , p 114] . Three of Maria's sons by the Duke of Leuchtenberg lived in her former residence the Mariinsky Palace until 1884, when it was sold to the treasury to pay for the family's mounting debts ["The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg” : Belyakova, Zoia , p 138] . Today the Palace house the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly.

Children

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had seven children from her marriage to the Duke of Leuchtenberg:

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had two children in her second marriage:

Ancestry


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1= 1. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia
2= 2. Nicholas I of Russia
3= 3. Charlotte of Prussia
4= 4. Paul I of Russia
5= 5. Sophie Dorothea of Württemburg
6= 6. Frederick William III of Prussia
7= 7. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
8= 8. Peter III of Russia
9= 9. Catherine II of Russia
10= 10. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
11= 11. Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
12= 12. Frederick William II of Prussia
13= 13. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt
14= 14. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
15= 15. Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
16= 16. Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
17= 17. Anna Petrovna of Russia
18= 18. Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
19= 19. Johanna Elisabeth, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp
20= 20. Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg
21= 21. Maria Augusta Anna of Thurn and Taxis
22= 22. Friedrich Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
23= 23. Sophie Dorothea Marie, Princess of Prussia
24= 24. Prince Augustus William of Prussia
25= 25. Louise Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
26= 26. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
27= 27. Karoline of Zweibrücken
28= 28. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow
29= 29. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
30= 30. Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt
31= 31. Maria of Leiningen-Dagsburg

Notes

Bibliography

* Belyakova, Zoia, "The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg", Studio, ISBN 0-670-86339-4
* Neverov, Oleg, "Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia", Vendome Press, ISBN 0-86565-225-2


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