Alexander was the favorite grandson of his grandmother Catherine the Great. From the first days of his life, she single-handedly raised the boy, removing her parents from caring for her son. Thus, she went the beaten path indicated to her by her aunt Elizabeth, who did exactly the same with herself, separating her from worries about her son Paul.

And what has grown out of the boy Pavlik has grown. A person who is not only hostile to the mother, but also denies all her deeds.

Ekaterina was unable to establish contact with her son in her entire life and placed great hopes on her first-born grandson Alexander. He was good to everyone. Both in appearance and mind. In her letters, she did not skimp on enthusiastic epithets addressed to him. " I'm crazy about this little boy" "Divine baby" "My baby comes to me in the afternoon for as long as he wants and spends three or four hours a day in this way in my room" "He will be an inheritance that I will bequeath to Russia" "This is a miracle child "

The second grandson, Konstantin, could not be compared with the first and beloved. "I won't bet a dime on him"

Alexander I

The succession manifesto, written shortly after the boy's birth, was not made public, but its existence was known. Of course, depriving the direct heir of the right to the throne could have the most unexpected consequences.

Catherine, who clearly saw all the pitfalls of such a situation, was cautious and, at the very end of her reign, persuaded Paul to voluntarily sign the abdication, undertaking all sorts of detours. And with the help of his wife Maria Feodorovna and with the help of other levers, This did not strengthen trust either between mother and son, or between father and son Alexander. As you know, by the end of his life, Paul did not trust absolutely anyone. And to whom he trusted, he took advantage of this trust. That is, the scenario of the fate of this emperor was written long before the tragedy.

Alexander, on the other hand, certainly grew up two-faced and capable of a subtle diplomatic game. Maneuvering between grandmother and father brought the proper result. No wonder Napoleon was regularly enraged by his behavior. Without a shadow of embarrassment, he violated the agreements reached while maintaining a good-natured mine.

Alexander wrote about himself at the age of 13: “Egoist, if only I didn’t lack anything, I don’t care much about others. Vain, I would like to speak out and shine at the expense of my neighbor, because I don’t feel the necessary strength in myself to acquire true dignity.

At thirteen, I'm getting closer and closer to zero. what will become of me? Nothing, by the looks of it."

So, the grandmother planned a royal crown for her grandson, bypassing his father, and in a letter to Melchor Grimm said: “First we marry him, and then we crown him”

The choice of the bride was entrusted to the envoy at the small German courts, Count Rumyantsev.

He recommended for consideration the candidacies of the sisters of the princesses of Baden.
The family of Crown Prince Karl Ludwig was distinguished by its fertility. He had six daughters and one son. The older girls are twins, then daughter Louise, who at the time of the viewing has reached the age of 13, then Frederica -11 years old. these two were offered to the fourteen-year-old Prince Alexander as potential brides.

Rumyantsev gave the most brilliant characteristics to the family of applicants, their upbringing, the way of life of the Baden court, as well as the appearance and manners of the girls themselves.
Catherine was very interested in the candidates and ordered to send their portraits, but for some reason she suddenly began to rush things and sent Countess Shuvalova to Baden to negotiate the arrival of both girls in Russia in order to meet and subsequently marry one of them her boy.

At the same time, the parents were ordered to leave in their own house.
"Find a way to stop the crown prince from coming here with his wife, you'll do a good deed."

Count Rumyantsev was supposed to contribute to the fulfillment of the empress's plans.

"The princesses will remain incognito to the very Russian borders. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, they will live in my palace, from which, I hope, one will never leave. Both will be kept at my expense"

And now two girls aged 13 and 11 say goodbye to their parental home, to their parents, get into a carriage and go to a little unfamiliar country. Louise sobbed. She even tried to jump out of the carriage, but Countess Shuvalova knew the matter strictly.

In the spring of 1793, Louise converted to Orthodoxy and was named after Elizabeth Alekseevna, and on September 28 the marriage took place. The young wife was 14, the young spouse 16.

Frederica left for her homeland, having spent time in Russia not without benefit to herself. King Gustav of Sweden, who wooed eldest daughter Pavel Alexandre, seeing Frederica, abruptly changed his mind and refused to sign marriage contract, citing the girl's unwillingness to change her religion as the reason.

In fact, Frederica took a place in his heart and later became his wife and Queen of Sweden. Although their marriage was not happy and fate did not smile for long.

But this is a different story, which had an echo of the hostility that Louise's mother-in-law Maria Fedorovna felt for her daughter-in-law's family long years. The grandmother of the crowned grandson had little time left to live, and the warmth with which she warmed the young left with her. And the cold hostility of the new emperor towards his son, who from birth was appointed as a competitor to his father, came to replace him.

Elizaveta Alekseevna gave birth to her first daughter on May 18, 1799. She was twenty years old. Alexander was happy. But in July 1800, the girl died from a severe attack of respiratory failure.

Alexander was helpful and attentive to the suffering of his wife.


Meanwhile, relations between emperor and heir became increasingly strained.

During this period, Alexander seriously considered renouncing his rights to the throne in favor of his brother Constantine. Together with Elizabeth, they began to dream of life in Europe as ordinary bourgeois.

But Pavel had already rebuilt his last Mikhailovsky castle, where he ordered the family of the heir to move.

In March 1801, Paul was killed by conspirators. Alexander fell into hysterics, and Elizabeth consoled everyone: both her husband and mother-in-law. Alexander was depressed, but mourning and coronation events were ahead. Elizabeth showed fortitude and supported her husband.

Alexander began to rule, and his wife began to travel. Entering into marriage at a very young age, Alexander very quickly lost interest in his wife. Although I did not miss a single skirt. “To love a woman, you have to despise her a little,” he said. And I have too much respect for my wife.

All his love affairs are recorded in police reports during the stay of the victorious king on Congress of Vienna in 1814.
List of ladies. whom he honored with his attention, consists of dozens of names.
"The Emperor of Russia loves women" - Talleyrand wrote to his patron Louis XVIII

Starting from 1804, Emperor Alexander gave preference to one lady. Maria Naryshkina became his official favorite. She had a very indulgent husband, so the beautiful Polish woman led a free lifestyle.

Maria Naryshkina

According to rumors, the emperor played Naryshkina in a lottery with Platon Zubov.

In one of the meetings at the reception in winter palace Elizabeth asked Naryshkina a polite question about her health.
"Not very well," she replied, I think I'm pregnant.
And Elizabeth could only dream of a child...

The dream came true in the spring of 1806.
In early November, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born, who died at the age of one and a half years.
This was a terrible blow for the empress. For four days she held the body in her room in her arms...

In the same year, Princess Golitsina, the closest friend of Elizabeth, died of transient consumption. Elizabeth took care of her young daughter.

The royal couple had no other children in marriage.

In 1810 youngest daughter Emperor from Maria Naryshkina Zinaida dies. Elizabeth is a wife, she comforts both parents: both her own husband and his beloved.
"I am a sinister bird. If I am close, then it is bad for him. For me to be close, he must be in illness, in misfortune, in danger," she writes in a letter.

Maria Fedorovna spoke about family relationships his royal son and his wife:
"If they were married at twenty years old, they would be happy. But Elizabeth's excessive pride and lack of self-confidence prevented her from being happy in marriage"

Years passed. The emperor triumphantly entered Paris, became known as the victorious tsar, was loved by many women, sung by many poets.

March 1824 arrived. The daughter of the emperor and Maria Naryshkina, Sofia, was to marry Count Andrei Shuvalov. The emperor himself chose this groom for his only and dearly beloved eighteen-year-old daughter. The wedding was scheduled for Easter. A magnificent wedding dress was delivered from Paris. Sophia believed that she had two mothers. One is native, the other is Empress Elizabeth. Sophia wore a portrait of the Empress in a gold medallion on her chest without removing it.

Due to the illness of the girl, the wedding had to be postponed. Transient consumption did not give her the opportunity to become a wife. Upon learning of the death of his last child, the emperor said, "This is the punishment for all my delusions."

Will end in 1826 life path this man. Emperor Alexander will spend the last two years in seclusion with his seriously ill wife, leading a reclusive lifestyle.

According to many biographers, Alexander imitated his death, and he took the tonsure and went to the Siberian hermitage under the name of Fyodor Kuzmich. Elizaveta Alekseevna died five months later on the way from Taganrog, where, according to the official version, the emperor died.

sources
Valentina Grigoryan "The Romanov Princesses-Empresses"
Vallotton "Alexander the First"

Elizaveta Alekseevna is the Russian Empress, the wife of Emperor Alexander I. She is German by nationality, born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. About the main stages of her biography, interesting facts we will describe their lives as the wife of the domestic emperor in this article.

Childhood and youth

Elizaveta Alekseevna was born in 1779. She was born in the city of Karlsruhe, located on the territory of modern Germany. Her father was crown prince Karl Ludwig of Baden. As a child, she was a weak and sickly child, the doctors even seriously feared for her life.

The future Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna grew up in a warm family environment. She was especially close to her mother, with whom she corresponded until her death. She received a brilliant home education, spoke excellent French. She also studied history and geography, world and German literature, the foundations of philosophy. At the same time, her grandfather Karl Friedrich was very poor, so the family lived extremely modestly.

Her birth name was Louise Maria Augusta of Baden. At the same time, she repeated the fate of her mother, who, together with her two sisters, claimed to become the bride of Pavel Petrovich.

Alexander's Choice

In 1790, Empress Catherine II paid close attention to the Baden princesses, who was looking for a worthy couple for her grandson Alexander. She sent Rumyantsev to Karlsruhe to study not only appearance princesses, but also took an interest in their manners and upbringing.

Rumyantsev watched the princesses for two years. From Louise-Augusta, he almost immediately became delighted. As a result, Catherine II ordered to invite the sisters to Russia. After the sisters arrived in St. Petersburg, Alexander had to choose one of them. He chose Louise, and the youngest, having stayed in Russia until 1793, returned to Karlsruhe. Princess Louise Maria Augusta of Baden simply charmed Alexander.

In May 1793, Louise converted to Orthodoxy from Lutheranism. She received the name of Elizabeth Alekseevna. On May 10, she was already engaged to Alexander Pavlovich. In September, the young played a wedding. The festivities continued for two weeks, culminating in large-scale fireworks at the Tsyritsyn Meadow.

Happy life

The newlyweds almost immediately plunged into a happy life together, which was filled with pleasures and endless holidays. It turned out that the shy Elizaveta Alekseevna was not ready for similar status. She was struck by the splendor of the Russian court, while she was frightened by court intrigues. Began to look after her, but she categorically refused him.

She was constantly homesick, especially when her sister Frederica left. The only consolation was the relationship with Alexander, whom she really fell in love with.

Discord in the family

However, their family happiness did not last long. Over time, the romantic Elizabeth stopped finding a kindred spirit in Alexander. Her husband began to openly avoid her.

The heroine of our article has become as closed and dreamy as possible, surrounding herself only with a narrow circle of the closest people. She began to read a lot of serious studies on geography, history and philosophy. She studied so diligently that even Princess Dashkova, who at that time was in charge of two academies at once and had a caustic character, spoke very warmly of her.

The situation became more complicated when Catherine II died, and Paul I ascended the throne. Her relationship with Alexander's parents deteriorated. In St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Alekseevna felt very uncomfortable, and besides, there was no support from Alexander. At first, she sought support in friendship with Countess Golovina, and then in romantic relationship with Prince Adam Czartoryski.

Birth of a daughter

After five years of marriage, Elizabeth in May 1799 gave birth to a daughter, Mary. In honor of this event, a cannon was fired 201 times in St. Petersburg. During the baptism at the court, there was gossip that a dark baby was born to a husband and wife of blonds. Elizabeth was seriously suspected of treason with Prince Czartoryski. As a result, he was appointed minister of the king in Sardinia, he urgently left for Italy.

Elizabeth was offended by distrust, practically stopped leaving her apartment and nursery. At court, she began to feel useless and lonely. All her attention was now turned only to her daughter, whom she affectionately called "mouse." But maternal happiness turned out to be short-lived and fragile. Having lived only 13 months, Princess Maria died.

Maria Naryshkina

The death of her daughter briefly brought her closer to Alexander, who was very worried about his wife. But as soon as the first sadness passed, he became interested in the Polish maid of honor Maria Naryshkina. The girl was young, graceful and charming, as her contemporaries speak of her.

For 15 years, this novel made Elizabeth the so-called straw widow. Naryshkina became not just Alexander's favorite, but in fact his second wife. In order to maintain all propriety, she was given in marriage to Dmitry Lvovich Naryshkin, who at court was almost openly called the head of the "order of cuckolds." Everyone, without exception, knew about the relationship between the sovereign and his wife. Naryshkina bore him three children, who actually was their father, remained unknown.

Two girls died in infancy, and the third - Sophia - Alexander loved very much. But she passed away on the eve of her 18th birthday.

Relations between the spouses were cold, but Alexander difficult moments he always came to his wife, remembering her moral purity and strong and independent character. On the night of the assassination of Emperor Paul, she was one of the few who managed to keep a cool head and a sober mind at court. Throughout that night, she remained close to her husband, supporting him morally, only occasionally going at his request to check on the condition of Maria Feodorovna.

Crowning the kingdom

The wedding of Alexander to the kingdom took place on September 15, 1801. This happened in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin in Moscow. On the occasion of the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna and Alexander, balls were given all over Moscow, more than 15,000 people gathered for the masquerade.

The first years of Alexander's reign became joyful both for Russia and for the family of Elizabeth herself. In addition, her relatives from Karlsruhe came to visit her.

Tsaritsa Elizaveta Alekseevna began to engage in charity work, taking several St. Petersburg schools and an orphanage under her patronage. She paid special attention to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

One of the Masonic lodges that existed in Russia was founded with the permission of the emperor himself, and was named after the wife of Alexander 1, Elizabeth Alekseevna. In 1804, the city of Ganja was conquered, located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan. It was renamed Elizavetpol.

A. Okhotnikov

By that time, the war with Napoleon had begun in Europe. Alexander left St. Petersburg, going to the active army, as he was drawn into the war. Elizabeth was left alone, out of boredom she became interested in the young staff captain Alexei Okhotnikov.

At first, the relationship between them did not cross the line of romantic correspondence, but then they were captured by a stormy romance. They met almost every evening. It is believed that he was the father of the second daughter of Elizabeth Alekseevna, whose biography is described in this article.

In October 1806, he was killed while leaving the theater after the premiere of Gluck's opera Iphigenia in Tauris. According to rumors, the assassin was sent by Pavlovich, brother of Alexander I. At least, they were convinced of this at court. However, there is another version, according to which Okhotnikov died of tuberculosis, calling it the reason for his resignation, which took place shortly before.

Elizabeth at that moment was in her ninth month of pregnancy, most likely from him. The Empress, ignoring the conventions, rushed to her lover.

After his death, she cut her hair and put it in the coffin. Okhotnikov was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery. Elizabeth installed the grave on his monument at her own expense. The monument was a woman weeping over an urn, and next to it was a tree broken by lightning. It is authentically known that she often came to the grave of her lover.

The born daughter was named after her. Alexander recognized the child, although it is believed that Elizabeth confessed to her husband who the true father of her child was. She affectionately called her daughter "kitten", she was the subject of her passionate and constant love. The child lived for a year and a half. The girl's teeth were hard to cut. Dr. Johann Frank failed to cure her, gave only tonic, which only increased irritation. The princess' convulsions disappeared, but no means helped her, the girl died.

Start of the Patriotic War

just begun Patriotic War made her come to her senses after a 5-year torpor. Elizabeth supported Alexander, who fell into despair, being at first unprepared for an attack on his country.

However, the war ended successfully. Elizabeth went with her husband on a foreign campaign, literally basking in the glory of her husband. She was greeted with enthusiasm by both Russian soldiers and her German compatriots. After the victory over the French Emperor Napoleon, all of Europe applauded her. In Berlin, coins-tokens were even issued in her honor, poems were written to her, and triumphal arches.

Triumph in Europe

In Vienna, the Russian empress sat side by side with the Austrian. In honor of her arrival, a guard of honor was lined up along the entire route of the open carriage and a military band played. thousands local residents poured out into the street to greet the wife of the Russian Tsar.

Returning to St. Petersburg, she could not come to terms with what was happening to her husband. He constantly feared the fate that befell his father, this became a phobia from which he suffered for the rest of his life.

In addition, after 1814, the king began to rapidly lose popularity within the country. The emperor broke with all his mistresses, including Maria Naryshkina, plunging into mystical quest. In a difficult period of his life, he united with his wife. It is worth noting that Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, who warmly treated Elizabeth, played a certain role in this. He categorically stated that Alexander should end his reign with a good deed - reconciliation with his wife.

Daughters of Elizabeth

Elizaveta Alekseevna did not have children who would have lived to adulthood. In her marriage to the emperor, she gave birth to two daughters. But both Mary and Elizabeth died in infancy.

Both were buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

At the end of life

After the death of the second daughter, the health of the empress, who had always been sick, finally undermined. She was constantly tormented by problems with nerves and breathing.

Doctors strongly advised her to go to Italy to change the climate, but Elizabeth categorically refused to leave Russia, to leave her husband. As a result, it was decided to go to Taganrog. Alexander was the first to go there to make sure that everything was ready on the spot. The emperor was worried about how his wife would endure the road, constantly sending her touching letters and notes. He followed every little thing - the arrangement of furniture in the rooms, he himself hammered nails to hang her favorite paintings.

Elizabeth happily left St. Petersburg, hoping to spend as much time as possible with her husband away from the bustle of the capital. She arrived in Taganrog in September 1825. When her condition improved, the imperial couple went to the Crimea. In Sevastopol, Alexander caught a cold. Every day he was getting worse, he was overcome by bouts of fever. At first he refused medicines, only Elizabeth was able to convince him to start treatment, but precious time was lost.

A remedy common at that time was used for fever: 35 leeches were placed behind the patient's ears. But this did not help, the strongest fever persisted all night. Soon he was in agony. On November 19, he died at the age of 47.

The secret of the death of the Empress

Elizabeth survived her husband by only six months. Leaving no will, she died on May 4, 1826. She was also 47 years old. She only ordered the diaries to be handed over to Karamzin. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The sudden departure from the life of the spouses gave rise to many versions, the mystery of the death of the emperor and empress excited the minds. Alexander himself was identified with the elder Fyodor Kuzmich, it was believed that he survived, having gone to wander around the country.

According to the official version, Elizabeth died of chronic diseases. According to another version, she went after Alexander under the guise of Vera Silent. According to another assumption, she was killed.

The great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799-1837) was in love many times, his novels and beloved women are known, he revealed their names in his poems and did not hide them from close friends. However, there was one secret hobby in his life, which still leaves many questions that neither historians nor biographers of the poet can definitely answer. It is believed that the secret muse of the poet was the wife of Alexander I, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, who was rightfully considered the most beautiful woman Russian court.

For the first time the poet saw her on October 19, 1811 at the opening of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. After that autumn, Elizabeth visited the Lyceum several more times. Lyceum students recalled that meetings with the Empress were more informal. Since then for a long time the Lyceum celebrated the birthday of Elizaveta Alekseevna and her name day. On these days, classes were canceled, and lyceum students wrote poems in honor of the Empress, staged performances, and organized celebrations. It is noteworthy that the modest woman was never present at the celebrations.

Let's not forget that the Lyceum was located in an outbuilding of the Grand Tsarskoye Selo Palace, where the imperial family often lived in the summer. Some scholars of Pushkin's life say that in good weather Lyceum students often ran out of their rooms at night and walked around the huge Tsarskoye Selo gardens. It is also known that on warm nights, Elizaveta Alekseevna loved to swim naked in the Tsarskoye Selo ponds in the company of two or three ladies-in-waiting. Hence the version appeared that one night the young fourteen-year-old Pushkin spied on the bathing of the Empress and was struck by the spectacle that opened up to him in the very heart and for life. The Empress became his only and eternal muse.

Louise Maria Augusta of Baden-Baden arrived in Russia from Germany in 1792 and was then introduced to the sixteen-year-old Tsarevich Alexander. The girl was barely fourteen years old when Catherine the Great chose her as a bride for her beloved grandson. Initially, the Russian prince became attached to Louise and wrote about her in his diary: “You can see reason, modesty and decency in all her behavior in her. The kindness of her soul is written in the eyes, as well as honesty. Elizabeth was very beautiful. her statuesque, a slim body, graceful gait, regular features, huge blue eyes and blond hair fascinated contemporaries.

Petersburg and the Russian bridegroom liked the princess, and a few months later, at the beginning of 1793, the young people were betrothed. In May of the same year, Louise converted to the Orthodox faith and was named Elizaveta Alekseevna. Six months later, she became the wife of the future emperor.

In 1799, a girl was born to the couple, but she did not live long and died of a cold. The Grand Duchess was shocked. Always laconic, now she completely stopped communicating with her husband's relatives and courtiers. talked about important role Elizaveta Alekseevna during the coup d'état in March 1801, when Paul I was assassinated. Despite the fact that the conspirators originally intended to enthrone Alexander Pavlovich and he indirectly participated in the coup, Empress Maria Feodorovna, nicknamed "Iron Empress", demanded the scepter for herself. A major public scandal was brewing. Alexander sobbed, repented of parricide and refused the crown. At the next family council, Elizaveta Alekseevna exclaimed, referring to the widow: “Russia is so tired of the old fat German woman! Let her enjoy the young Russian emperor!” And Maria Feodorovna, a German who had never been able to learn Russian, suddenly took a back seat and ceded the throne to her son. However, she never forgave Elizabeth Alekseevna for this. The empress was forced to secretly move away from power, the dowager empress became the second person in the state, who every now and then was looking for an excuse to hurt the young mistress. Fortunately, Elizaveta Alekseevna did not insist on her rights, she herself moved away from the court and preferred to spend time in her chambers reading books.

Under the influence of the family, Alexander also moved away from his wife and found solace in the arms of the temperamental beauty Maria Naryshkina, who, having given birth to the emperor's child, did not even think to hide from people who was the baby's father.

Elizaveta Alekseevna took up charity work, took under her protection an orphanage and several schools in St. Petersburg. She paid special attention to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

In the summer of 1816, Alexander I invited students from the lyceum to the royal palace, and all summer they were near the empress - entertained her, carried out small assignments. Young Alexander Pushkin was among the lyceum students that summer. Many believe that there were no ardent feelings between Elizaveta Alekseevna and Alexander Sergeevich, however, there are several confirmations that their secret relationship could actually be.

In those days, Pushkin created several poems in which his feelings for an adult lady can be traced, who in features resembled Elizaveta Alekseevna. In his diary entries, the poet mentioned a certain "ER" - Elizabeth Regina, who visited Tsarskoye Selo several times.

In 1820 Pushkin was sent into exile. There is a very curious version of its cause. The fact is that soon after the victory over Napoleon, a state conspiracy arose in high Petersburg society. Its participants intended to depose Alexander I and enthrone his wife, Elizaveta Alekseevna, who was extremely popular among enlightened aristocrats. The participants in the conspiracy, mostly young nobles, united in the "Society of Friends of Elizabeth Alekseevna". It was up to the empress. But she, having learned about everything, categorically refused to participate in the conspiracy. The "Society" disintegrated, and many of its members later became the organizers of the Decembrist movement. Elizaveta Alekseevna knew that Pushkin was close to the conspirators, and feared for him, because she recognized early and highly appreciated the great talent. Hence the version arose that the poet was sent into exile at the request of the empress. And she chose the place of exile: Moldova, where the old friend of Elizabeth Alekseevna, General Inzov, managed all the affairs.

Did Pushkin himself know about this? Perhaps he guessed. Again, some biographers believe that Alexander Sergeevich made Elizaveta Alekseevna the prototype of Tatiana from Eugene Onegin, begun in Chisinau. And many years later, among the drawings of A.S. Pushkin was found small portrait empress with a sadly lowered head.

The royal family, as mentioned above, did not like Elizaveta Alekseevna. The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna considered her daughter-in-law cold and secretive, although she recognized her deep mind and comprehensive education.

Relations in royal family especially aggravated in 1806, when Elizaveta Alekseevna, who was actually abandoned by her husband, fell in love with the cavalry guard Alexei Okhotnikov. The young man had long been in love with the Empress. A stormy romance began. In October of the same year, the cavalry guard was mortally wounded by an assassin on the steps. Imperial Theater. These days, Elizaveta Alekseevna was nine months pregnant from Okhotnikov. Despising secular conventions, the empress rushed to the bed of her beloved and spent the last hours with him. When the cavalry guard died, Elizaveta Alekseevna cut off her curls and put them in the unfortunate coffin.

There was no doubt in society that the killer was hired by order of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, who acted under the supervision of the Dowager Empress.

A few days after the funeral, Elizaveta Alekseevna gave birth to a girl, who was named Elizabeth. And then the incredible happened! Alexander I, who had not slept with his legal wife for several years, recognized Elizabeth as his child. In other words, despite the Decree of Paul I, the girl or her possible spouse became heirs to the throne. "My son is unbelievably generous!" sighed Maria Fyodorovna. And the girl died. She was buried near the grave of Okhotnikov in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Few doubt that the child was poisoned.

At the beginning of 1825, Elizaveta Alekseevna was unwell. She suffered from severe pains in her heart, shortness of breath, she could not walk for a long time, and she had to forget about horseback riding. Her condition worsened, and the doctors, seriously concerned about the health of the Empress, advised her to go south. After much persuasion by her husband, Elizabeth finally agreed to leave. The royal couple went to Taganrog: first Alexander Pavlovich to prepare a palace for his wife, then, a month later, Elizaveta Alekseevna. It is believed that the last meeting of the Empress with A.S. Pushkin took place on the way to the south. It is curious that just the time when the Empress made her last move to the south coincides with the only dark period for biographers in Pushkin's life. The poet suddenly disappears from Mikhailovsky, and then appears from nowhere.

The southern climate brought welcome relief. In addition, the relationship of the spouses for the first time in many years improved again. The imperial couple walked together through the forest, they talked for a long time, and Alexander was gentle and caring with Elizabeth. It seemed that their family happiness was no longer in danger. However, it was not destined to last long. Suddenly, the emperor fell ill and died on November 19, 1825.

The Empress was shocked - after all, everyone was waiting for her death! In those tragic days, she wrote to her mother: “I was destined to see how this angel expired, retaining the ability to love,

when he had already lost the ability to understand ... What should I do with my will, which was subordinated to him, what should I do with the life that I was ready to devote to him ... Mom, what should I do, what should I do? Everything is dark ahead ... ”The body of the emperor was transported to St. Petersburg, but his wife was not allowed to accompany him. Until spring, she remained in the south, and in April she decided to return home.

Elizaveta Alekseevna refused to go to Petersburg. She also evaded the offer of a pension, which amounted to almost a million rubles a year and was appointed by the ascendant Emperor Nicholas I. The widow of Alexander Pavlovich decided to settle near Moscow, in a small royal estate.

At the end of April 1826, she left Taganrog and headed for Moscow. She was destined to get only to Belev, Elizaveta Alekseevna asked to stay there for a few days. Her health was deteriorating day by day. On the evening of May 3, the empress went to bed, but at night she called the maid several times and asked her to straighten her pillows. Towards morning she called her again and asked the girl to fetch a doctor. He came a few minutes later, but Elizabeth was already dead.

In recent years, disputes about the death of the Empress have escalated. Recently, a copy of a letter to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich was found in the archives of one of the currently reigning royal houses of Europe with a request to explain in more detail about which man in black, who left the chambers of Elizabeth Alekseevna on the night of her death, he wrote Grand Duke addressee. It is also known that on the morning of the death of the Empress, Maria Fedorovna arrived in Belev, already dressed in a mourning dress. First of all, she ordered to leave her alone with the deceased, removed all the family jewels from the corpse, took the letters and notes and urgently left for St. Petersburg.

In early May 1829, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin set off from Moscow to the Caucasus. The first thing he did on the way south was to stop at Belev, which was completely out of his way. The poet told everyone that he was going there supposedly to meet with General Yermolov. However, he knew that it was in Belev that the heart of his mysterious lover was buried. Pushkin survived the disgraced empress by eleven years. He never found out if one of the most beautiful women in the world remembered him before her death. Russian history. A woman who was destined to become the mysterious muse of the great Russian poet.

The marriage of a fourteen-year-old princess and a sixteen-year-old heir to the throne, even at that time, was considered early, however, both for political reasons and for Alexander's personal sympathies, the wedding took place. And could the future emperor miss such a beauty, about whom they said: “I have never seen anything more charming and airy than her waist, dexterity and pleasantness in handling”?

The wedding took place on September 28, 1793. The festivities lasted 14 days and ended with a chic fireworks display at the Tsaritsyn Meadow.

"The happiness of my life is in his hands"

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Elizaveta Alekseevna was not only the most beautiful empress, but also one of the most developed personalities Russian society. During the first year of her stay in Russia (Princess Louise Maria Augusta was born in Karlsruhe), she learned the language and learned to speak it without an accent, she was so keenly interested in Russian customs that she embarrassed even Russians, who sometimes did not really know the traditions of their country .

Elizaveta Alekseevna. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The French ambassador Savary recalled that she read a lot, was prone to learning languages, and it was thanks to the art of eloquence that she possessed that the education of the emperor could be considered complete: after his marriage, he sat for hours next to her and listened to stories gleaned from books that she and told him with inspiration.

Young newlyweds were compared with a pair of angels, and Gavriil Derzhavin found similarities with the heroes Cupid and Psyche. Elisabeth was also called Psyche by the French artist Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, who was invited to paint her portrait in 1795:

“She seemed no more than 17 years old. Her facial features were fine and regular, and her makeup itself was delightful. Ash-blonde hair fell over her neck and forehead. She wore a white tunic, loosely tied at the waist with a sash, thin and supple like a nymph's. The whole figure of this young person, the image that I had just sketched, stood out in such a charming way from the depths of the room with columns, upholstered in pink gas and silver, that I exclaimed: “Yes, this is Psyche!” That was grand duchess Elizabeth, wife of Grand Duke Alexander,” Vigée-Lebrun later recalled.

The feelings of Elizabeth and Alexander in the first years of marriage were touching. The newly-made wife wrote to her mother that without her husband she “would have to die a thousand deaths”: “The happiness of my life is in his hands, if he stops loving me, then I will be unhappy forever. I will endure everything, everything, but not this.

It is worth noting that Elizabeth never sought honors for herself and did not feel a craving for luxury. According to the law, she, as the empress, relied on a million rubles a year for maintenance. However, she agreed to accept only 200,000 - of this money for toilets and other expenses, she spent 15,000, and gave the remaining money to charity. She lived modestly, although with the love of the whole court for her, she could become the most brilliant empress, arrange the most magnificent celebrations and not be afraid of reproaches for excessive extravagance. However, she preferred a book to balls, intelligent conversation and ... evenings with her husband, whose love began to cool very quickly. After the death of two daughters, the empress spent her energy on charity and on the women's patriotic society created during the war with France.

Portrait of Emperor Alexander I and Elizabeth Alekseevna. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

How Pushkin spied on the bathing of the Empress

Alexander Pushkin and Elizaveta Alekseevna were separated from each other by twenty years of difference. In a union between a man and a woman, such a difference may not be significant, but when it comes to a boy and a mature woman, this is a completely different scenario. However, if you only remember with what aphorisms, epithets, enthusiastic memories all those who knew Elizabeth responded, you can believe that Pushkin - then only a teenager - could fall recklessly in love with her.

For the first time, the poet and the empress met in Tsarskoye Selo, where the crowned couple came to visit. Simplicity, thoughtfulness in the eyes and undeniable charm captivated Pushkin to the point that, according to some researchers, he dedicated his poem “I remember a wonderful moment” to her, and not to the noblewoman Anna Kern.

However, as the legend says, Pushkin saw the Empress not only in the corridors and at solemn events in Tsarskoye Selo. According to legend, Elizabeth seemed to love to swim naked in warm summer evenings in Tsarskoye Selo ponds together with their ladies-in-waiting, and the pupils of the lyceum more than once ran away from the palace to take a walk in the garden, and during such another escape, Pushkin saw the beautiful empress, who won his heart ...

I, inspired by Apollo,
Elizabeth secretly sang.
Heavenly earthly witness,
Inflamed soul
I sang on the throne of virtue
With her welcoming beauty.
Love and secret freedom
They inspired a simple hymn to the heart ...

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alekseevna. Hood. Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun (1797) Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

"My friend, my wife, my God, my Eliza!"

However, if a love conflict with Pushkin can still be treated with a great deal of doubt, then in the relationship between the Empress and the staff captain of the Cavalier Guard Regiment Alexei Okhotnikov, such conclusions will be incorrect.

In 1909, from the pen of Nicholas II's cousin, Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, a biography of Elizabeth Alekseevna was published in three volumes. However, even a high position in society and closeness to the tsar did not give him a chance to bypass the censors and leave information about the passion of the empress and Okhotnikov on the pages of books. According to the memoirs of contemporaries (of those few who saw the pages describing the seditious history), the Grand Duke got a whole chapter in which he spoke in detail about the forbidden topic, but Nikolai, who was exemplary family man and, in addition, he was strongly attached to his Alix all his life, considered the story “unclean” and asked the prince to destroy any mention of her.

Headquarters Captain of the Cavalier Guard Regiment Alexey Okhotnikov. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

If the diary entries of the wife of Nicholas I had not been preserved, then this story would have turned into one of those hundreds of tales that surrounded every Russian empress, but thanks to Alexandra Feodorovna, we can assume that love affair took place.

“If I had not read it myself, perhaps I would have had some doubts. But last night I read these letters written by Okhotnikov, a cavalry guard officer, to his beloved Empress Elizabeth, in which he calls her ma petite femme ("my little wife"), mon amie, ma femme, mon Dieu, ma Elise, je t 'adore ("my friend, my wife, my God, my Eliza, I adore you"), etc." - wrote Alexandra Fedorovna.

The history of the forbidden connection began in 1805. When Alexander I leaves for Austerlitz in September, almost the entire Russian guard leaves the capital with him, leaving behind the officers involved in solving logistic economic and financial problems. One of these quartermasters was the handsome Aleksey Okhotnikov, the son of wealthy landowners, who quickly earned the sympathy of the most influential people in St. Petersburg, one of the regular participants in the loudest and most beautiful balls, receptions and celebrations at court.

By that time, the last wedge had been driven into the relationship between Elizabeth and Alexander, which split the warm union of the spouses: the emperor openly, in front of the whole society, was courting the maid of honor Maria Naryshkina with might and main, a dark-haired and ruddy beauty who attracted attention with good manners and bright appearance.

The love affair between the empress and the officer at first did not cross the border of letters, but then they did not resist feelings. It was rumored that the father of the eldest daughter of Elizabeth, who died in childhood, was not the emperor at all, but Okhotnikov, and that Alexander knew about this from the words of the empress herself, but in view of the friendly relations between the spouses, and in the name of the desire to keep up appearances, he agreed to recognize the child.

Elizabeth's love proved to everyone who knew her personally that behind the angelic face lies will and firmness: when Okhotnikov, leaving the theater, was wounded in the chest with a dagger, and he lay on his deathbed, the empress, without thinking about how society would react to this , rushed to his house to say goodbye to her beloved. After his death, in parting, she placed a lock of her blond hair in his coffin.

Ceremonial portrait of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. Hood. L. J. Monnier (1805) Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Muse of the great

Elizaveta Alekseevna died in 1826 in the Tula province, a year and a half after the death of her husband. Leaving no will behind her, believing that since she did not bring anything to Russia with her, she did not have the right to dispose of anything, she left behind many questions. Is it true that Beethoven dedicated the work "To Elise" to her, is it true that she was Pushkin's muse? Did she really die a natural death or was she killed? These questions may never find exact answers, but the telling fact that the people bowed at her feet when she drove by, while the king bowed only to the waist, speaks for itself. This woman could and should have dedicated their best works greatest geniuses era.