#micheal alexandrovich

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Misha in Gatchina, May 1897.

[otmaplusalexei]

A Tale of Two Empresses 

During the Romanov Dynasty there were two great women who took the name Maria Feodorovna, both having many differences and many similarities.

The elder Maria Feodorovna (1759-1828) was born Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, daughter of  Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Though she was a girl she received an excellent upbringing and that played a role when she was chosen as the second wife of the then Tsesarevich Pavel Petrovich, son of Empress Catherine the Great.The marriage produced 10 children, 9 of whom lived to adulthood and 2 of whom, Alexander and Nicholas, became Emperor of Russia. Despite having many children, the marriage between Maria and Pavel was not a happy one. Maria’s early life in Russia was not very happy, she was trapped in a dysfunctional marriage, lonely, her eldest children were taken away from her practically at birth by their grandmother, and she was often overlooked. She spent years underneath the rule of Catherine, before her husband finally succeeded the throne in 1796. While Pavel was a despised ruler by the Russian people, and she tried her best to positively influence his rule. Pavel’s rule did not last long, exactly 4 years, 4 months, and 4 days before he was executed by those who wished to put Alexander on the throne. With the death of  Alexander, Maria became Dowager Empress and became more involved with the lives of her children and their futures than that of state. Maria lived out her life in relative quiet and died at the age of 69, in 1828. At the time of her death she had survived her mother-in-law, her husband, five of her children, and 7 of her grandchildren.

The younger Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928) was born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, second daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Cassel. She was raised humbly, sharing a room with her elder sister, Alexandra (later Queen of Great Britain), helping with the cooking, and having to make and mend her own clothing. Her family was suddenly forced into the limelight when her father became King of Denmark, and she and Alexandra suddenly becoming quite eligible princesses with many new potential suitors. Minnie, as she was known, soon caught the eye of the Tsesarevich Nicholas “Nixa” Alexandrovich of Russia, eldest son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The two met and almost instantly fell in love, the two were soon engaged and were quite happy. Tragedy struck soon after the engagement when the young Nixa died of Meningitis at only 21 years old. Minnie was inconsolable but found comfort in Nixa’s younger brother, Alexander, who became the new Tsesarevich. There is a story that on his deathbed, Nixa took the hands of Alexander and Minnie and joined him, his way of giving his consent for the new match. At first Alexander and Minnie didn’t care for each other and everyone thought that the two would make an odd match, Alexander was over 6 feet tall, was nicknamed “The Russian Bear” and was a very quiet simple, and introverted man. Minnie on the other hand was quite tiny, which she made up for with a bubbly personality and a love of extravagance. The two grew to love each other and had one of the happiest royal marriages of the time, in fact Alexander was the first Romanov ruler since Tsar Ivan V to not have a mistress. Their happy marriage was made happier by the births of 6 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. The couple’s happiness was short lived, when Alexander died at only 49 years old in 1894. This left Minnie’s son, the 26 year old Nicholas, Emperor of Russia. Minnie had never been too political, preferring to use her influence elsewhere, but she was an early adviser of her son and had influenced some of Alexander’s policies as well. Soon Minnie realized that her son was not keen on her advice and for the most part kept out of politics. With revolution looming, however, Minnie and many other members of the Romanov family pleaded with Nicholas, and his wife Alexandra, to make drastic changes in order to preserve the monarchy. These pleas were in vain when Nicholas, after much unrest in the capital of Petrograd, abdicated the throne on behalf of himself as well as his son Alexei, on March 17, 1917. Minnie’s youngest son Michael was next in line, he decided that the best course of action was to only accept the throne if there was a vote held in which the people decided they still wanted a monarchy, no vote ever happened and with that decision the Romanov Dynasty which lasted for over 300 years suddenly ended. Maria escaped the revolution and spent the rest of her days in her native Denmark viewed as a symbol of a time long gone and as the unofficial head of the exiled House of Romanov. She died in Denmark on October 13,1928, ten years after her sons Nicholas and Micheal, and Nicholas’ family were killed. To her dying say she refused to believe that they were murdered. At the time of her death she had survived her in-laws, her beloved husband, all of her four sons, her daughter-in-law, and 5 of her grandchildren.

[ykzzr]

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich with A Christmas Tree 1910s.