Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)

Maria Alexandrovna Maria Alexandrovna Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhelter Hermitage Museum, 1857 Empress consort of All the Russias Tenure 2 March 1855 – 8 June 1880 Coronation 7 September 1855 Spouse Alexander II Issue Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Alexander III Maria, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich Full name Maximilienne Wilhelmine Marie House House of Romanov House of Hesse-Darmstadt Father Louis II of Hesse Mother Wilhelmine of Baden Born 8 August 1824(1824-08-08) Darmstadt Died 8 June 1880(1880-06-08) (aged 55) Saint Petersburg Burial Peter and Paul Cathedral Religion Lutheran upon marriage Eastern Orthodox

Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine Louis II Children    Louis III    Prince Charles    Princess Elisabeth    Prince Alexander    Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of Russia Grandchildren    Louis IV    Prince Heinrich    Anna, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin    Prince Wilhelm

Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (8 August 1824 – 8 June 1880) was a princess of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and, as Maria Alexandrovna (in Russian Мария Александровна), Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. She was born at Darmstadt, the capital of the Grand Duchy, and died at Saint Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre and the city Mariehamn in Åland are named after her.

Early life

Marie was the youngest of seven children born to the Grand Duchess Wihelmine of Hesse (1788–1836), the youngest sister of the Russian Empress Elizaveta Alexeievna. The younger four were likely the biological children of Baron August von Senarclens de Grancy, but to avoid a scandal, Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse acknowledged Alexander and Marie as his own children; the other two had died young.

Maria Alexandrovna. by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky.(1855) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

Marriage

When in 1838, the Tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich toured Europe to find a wife, he fell in love with the 14-year-old Marie. He married her on 16 April 1841, even though he was well aware of the "irregularity" of her birth. His mother Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna objected, but Alexander insisted.

As she was very shy, she was regarded as stiff, austere, and with no taste in dress, no conversation, no charm. The damp climate of Saint Petersburg did not agree with the delicate chest Marie had inherited from her mother, so that she had a racking cough and recurring fever. Nevertheless, she became the mother of eight children. These pregnancies together with ill health kept her away from many Court festivities, which brought temptations to her husband.

Although he always treated her well, Marie knew Alexander was unfaithful and had many lovers. He already had three children with his favorite mistress, Princess Catherine Dolgoruki, when he moved her and their children into the Imperial Palace. They entered into a morganatic marriage on 6 July 1880, less than a month after Marie's death.

Russian Empress

In 1855 Alexander became Emperor, which forced her to attend more State functions whether she was ill or not. Although Alexander II always treated her well, she knew from 1858 onwards that his feelings were for someone else. In 1865, the death of her eldest and favourite son, the Tsarevich Nicholas, was a great blow.

Every now and again she was able to go to her brother Alexander who lived with his morganatic wife in Heiligenberg. There she met Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, wife of her nephew Prince Louis. She resented Alice's suggestion of the marriage between her brother Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Marie's daughter, Maria Alexandrovna, but the marriage ultimately went through. When Alice died in 1878, Marie often invited the motherless children for visits to Heiligenberg. It was during these visits that Marie's son, Grand Duke Serge, first got to know his future wife, Alice's daughter Elisabeth as well as Marie's first encounter with Princess Alix of Hesse, (who was the younger sister of Elisabeth) and would one day marry Marie's eldest grandson Nicholas II.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna with her husband Tsar Alexander II, and son, the future Tsar Alexander III

Children

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna	30 August 1842	10 July 1849	nicknamed Lina, died of infant meningitis in St. Petersburg at the age of six
Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich	20 September 1843	24 April 1865	engaged to Dagmar of Denmark
Tsar Alexander III	10 March 1845	1 November 1894	married 1866, Dagmar of Denmark (Maria Feodorovna); had issue
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich	22 April 1847	17 February 1909	married 1874, Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Maria Pavlovna); had issue
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich	14 January 1850	14 November 1908	married 1867/1870, Alexandra Vasilievna Zhukovskaya; had issue
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna	17 October 1853	20 October 1920	married 1874, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; had issue
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich	29 April 1857	4 February 1905	married 1884, Elisabeth of Hesse (Elizabeth Feodorovna);
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich	3 October 1860	24 January 1919	married 1889, Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (Alexandra Georgievna); had issue - second marriage 1902, Olga Karnovich; had issue

Titles and styles

• 8 August 1824 – 8 June 1880 Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
• 16 April 1841 – 2 March 1855 Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the Tsesarevna of Russia
• 2 March 1855 – 8 June 1880 Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of all the Russias

Ancestry

External links

• www.Mariagessen.narod.ru

Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse) House of Hesse-Darmstadt Cadet branch of the House of Hesse Born: 8 August 1824 Died: 8 June 1880
Russian royalty
Preceded by Charlotte of Prussia	Empress Consort of Russia 1855–1880	Vacant Title next held by Dagmar of Denmark

Persondata
Name	Alexandrovna, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 August 1824
Place of birth	Darmstadt
Date of death	8 June 1880
Place of death	Saint Petersburg