Non-Russian wives of Russian tsars. © Library of antiques and numismatics, review of antique market prices, old maps. Advertising

True, sometimes the families of the royal brides were ready to fight over power, without thinking at all about the future of Russia. Peter I changed the situation: under him, the most inveterate skeptics ceased to doubt the ability of the Romanovs to be true rulers, who no longer need to prove the legitimacy of being on the Russian throne. It was time to cut a window to Europe and establish international relations. In 1721, a law was passed allowing mixed marriages Orthodox and believers of other Christian denominations, and soon the first such weddings were played - both among the common people and noble persons.

Convenient marriages
Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was one of the first in the Romanov dynasty to marry a German princess. In the royal family, the children of Peter Tsarevich Alexei, who married the Princess of Brunswick, and Anna, who became the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, paved the way in this matter.

These marriages were very convenient for the Romanovs: the prestige of Russia was ensured, and the international cooperation- not only political, but also economic and cultural, and spouses are not so eager to gain political influence in the country. Indeed, these foreigners did not leave a noticeable trace in the history of the empire. Main result their stay as Russian spouses is the creation of an entirely new tradition.
Gradually, weddings between representatives of the Russian royal family and the offspring of German rulers became commonplace. Why is it mostly Germans? Not last role their religious affiliation also played in this: Lutheranism provided much more freedom to its believers than Catholicism.

So, it allowed to convert to Orthodoxy, which was an indispensable condition for marriage with representatives of the Romanov family. Catholics did not approve of such deviations from the faith. In addition, the German princesses quickly adapted to Russian conditions, diligently studying the Russian language, culture and customs: Catherine the Great was considered almost more Russian than all real Russians. With what only German houses the Romanovs were not related!
They brought brides for themselves from Baden, and from Württemberg, and from Prussia. Most often, the Russian rulers were looking for a betrothed among the representatives of the Hessian house, which became a real "forge" of the first ladies. Russian Empire.

Bride of the Russian Tsarevich
The first princess from Hesse to visit Russia as the bride of a Russian prince was Wilhelmina - future Natalya Alekseevna, the wife of Paul I. A very young girl came to the country in 1775 with her two sisters and everyone immediately liked her: those around her noted her charm and ability to behave in society. Pavel fell in love with the girl and chose her as his wife from the sisters of Hesse.

Unfortunately, Wilhelmina, so plainly and not having time to adapt to her new environment, died in childbirth at the age of 20, having lived in the country for only three years. Maybe Natalya Alekseevna didn’t do great things for her new homeland, but she established a connection between Hesse and Russia, paving the way for other representatives of her house.

Russian Empress from Darmstadt
The great-niece of Natalia Alekseevna, Maximilian, will also go to Russia in 1840 in order to become Empress Maria Alexandrovna in the future. Alexander II, her husband, seeing her in Darmstadt, immediately realized that this girl could become his true associate and assistant.

It was rumored that Maximilian, although officially recognized by the Hessian Grand Duke, Ludwig II, was in fact the daughter of her mother's favorite, the Baron de Grany. But even the secret of the origin of the German princess did not bother Alexander. In Russia, Maximilian, having turned into Maria Alexandrovna, quickly learned the Russian language and began to carefully comprehend the foundations of Orthodoxy.

The people fell in love with their ruler for her majestic modesty: she managed to do many good deeds, without boasting of the nobility of her nature.
Empress Maria became the patroness of the Red Cross organization, and during Russian-Turkish war 1877-78 personally went to open military hospitals. She was also interested in issues of women's education: once her reformer husband received from his wife a project to create women's gymnasiums and women's diocesan schools.
Maria Alexandrovna also supported Russian culture: on her initiative, the famous Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg was built, she also maintained a professional ballet school- the future Agrippina Vaganova Academy. Such deeds could not go unnoticed, and the names of the Siberian town of Mariinsk, the Chuvash Mariinsky Posad and the city of Mariehamn on the Aland Islands, which once belonged to Russia, speak of love for the Empress.

Elizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova

At the end of the century, the third representative of Hesse arrived in Russia - Elizabeth, or as she was affectionately called at home, Ella. She was to become the wife of Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, son of Maria Alexandrovna and Alexander II.

Ella took her marriage seriously: although she was not the wife of the direct heir to the throne, the princess decided to convert to Orthodoxy and became Elizabeth Feodorovna. It was at the wedding of Elizabeth and Sergei Alexandrovich that the future Nicholas II and Alix, the sister of Elizabeth, later Alexandra Feodorovna, first met. last princess Hesse-Darmstadt in the history of the Romanov dynasty.
But back to the elder sister of the last Russian Empress. How did she spend her days in her new homeland? Ella has been involved in charity since childhood with her mother, Alice of Hesse Sr. She did not leave this occupation in Russia either: a hospital in Ilyinsky, the estate of Sergei Alexandrovich, was built at her expense, charity fairs for peasants were also held there.
After the appointment of Sergei Alexandrovich to the post of Moscow Governor-General, his wife organized the Elizabethan Charitable Society, which took care of children from poor families. Gradually, the society began to operate not only in Moscow itself, but throughout the Moscow province.
Ladies Committee of the Red Cross Moscow office, Special Committee for Assistance to Soldiers during Russo-Japanese War- hard to enumerate full list charitable organizations with which Elizaveta Fedorovna worked. She has always been at the forefront of charity, she herself prepared parcels and medicines for the military, sewed clothes for them.
And in 1909, four years after the death of her husband at the hands of a terrorist, having sold her jewelry and bought a house with this money, Elizaveta Fyodorovna founded the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, an organization of sisters of mercy close to the monastery according to its charter. In the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Elizabeth opened a free dining room, a hospital, and an orphanage. There, not only assistance was provided with gray-haired people, clothing and medicines, but also spiritual assistance to the suffering.
The princess organized educational lectures and spiritual readings. The monastery also held meetings of the Geographical and Palestinian Society, of which she became chairman after the death of her husband. Within its charitable activities Elizaveta Feodorovna was not afraid to visit the most criminal districts of Moscow to help young children, and it never occurred to any of the most inveterate criminals to interfere with the Grand Duchess.
Along with her sisters from the monastery, Elizabeth cared for the sick and dying. But all the good deeds did not save the princess from tragic end. After the Bolsheviks came to power, Elizabeth remained in the country and was arrested. Together with other members of the Romanov family, she died in a mine near Alapaevsk, in the Urals. Even being seriously wounded, Elizabeth tried to help her relatives - she bandaged their wounds with improvised means. Named in honor of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, famous for her good deeds, Ella herself was canonized in 1992 as an Orthodox saint.

Alexandra Fedorovna - Alice of Hesse
Elizaveta Feodorovna was an excellent role model for her younger sister. The beloved granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Alice of Hesse, after the death of her mother, grew up in Britain and for the time being did not even think about far northern Russia.

Arriving at her sister's wedding, Alice won the heart of Tsarevich Nicholas from the first meeting. Although the parents of the future emperor were not happy with the bride, the engagement nevertheless took place. Nicholas and Alice, who became Alexandra in Orthodoxy, were so intoxicated with each other that in order to perform the marriage ceremony, they did not wait for the end of mourning for the deceased Alexander III, but got married on November 14, 1894, on the birthday of Empress Maria Feodorovna, when some deviation from mourning.
Soon after the wedding, Alexandra Feodorovna began to fulfill her imperial duties. In particular, the Empress took patronage over the Russian regiments - the Life Guards of the Ulansky Name of Her Majesty, the 5th Hussars of Alexandria, the 21st East Siberian Rifles of the Crimean Cavalry. In the future, the empress will have to interact very often with the military - she had two difficult wars for Russia - the Russo-Japanese and the First World War.
The experience of communicating with regimental servicemen was useful former princess Hessian: she knew how she could help the military. So, in 1904, at the suggestion of Alexandra Fedorovna, members of the Romanov family allocated funds to equip eight military hospital trains. When the eldest daughters of the empress, Olga and Tatyana, grew up, to the works of mercy, according to family tradition rulers of Hesse, they were also involved.

Their youth came during the First World War, and together with their mother, the girls began to take care of the sick and wounded who came from the fronts: Olga, Tatyana and Alexandra Fedorovna were trained in nursing, and then assisted in operations already as certified surgical nurses in the Tsarskoye Selo infirmary .
At the same time, it seemed to the wounded that the dressings made by the hands of the Romanovs held much better. In addition to direct work in the operating room, Alexandra Fedorovna visited other hospitals under her patronage. The Empress did not forget about the needs of the distant front. As in the last war, she helped to equip trains - military sanitary and mobile warehouse trains under the flag of the Red Cross.
At the same time, Empress Alexandra took care of those who had already given their debt to their homeland: she supported the Committee for finding places for military ranks who suffered in the war with Japan and the Charity House for crippled soldiers. In addition, she was in charge of the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society, the Alexandria Women's Shelter, the All-Russian Guardianship for the Protection of Motherhood and Infancy, a shelter for children with developmental disabilities and many organizations to help the poor.
Undoubtedly, in order to follow such a number of charitable works in such a difficult time, great spiritual endurance and the ability to sympathize are needed. The Empress learned these qualities from Orthodoxy.
Alexandra Feodorovna was deeply imbued with the spirit new religion and was actively interested in its traditions, directly taking part in Orthodox events. For example, the Empress venerated St. Seraphim of Sarov and in 1903 participated in the celebrations of the glorification and discovery of his relics in the Sarov Hermitage.
Alexandra Feodorovna believed that Orthodoxy should always be with her: in Darmstadt, the Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene was built for the Romanov couple. As her elder sister, in the same way devoted to Orthodoxy, Alexandra Fedorovna became a holy great martyr: as she herself said in conclusion, "I prefer to die in Russia than to be saved by the Germans." So the canonization of saints is a kind of tribute to the last Hessian princess in Russia, who, like her predecessors, was able to love her new homeland and give her a part of herself, having done many good deeds for the country.

Irina Holm-Martynyuk

For almost 400 years of the existence of this title, it was worn by completely different people - from adventurers and liberals to tyrants and conservatives.

Rurikovichi

Over the years, Russia (from Rurik to Putin) has changed its political system many times. At first, the rulers had a princely title. When, after a period of political fragmentation, a new Russian state, the owners of the Kremlin thought about taking the royal title.

This was done under Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584). This one decided to marry the kingdom. And this decision was not accidental. So the Moscow monarch emphasized that he was the successor. It was they who bestowed Orthodoxy on Russia. In the 16th century, Byzantium no longer existed (it fell under the onslaught of the Ottomans), so Ivan the Terrible rightly believed that his act would have serious symbolic significance.

Historical figures such as this king big influence for the development of the whole country. In addition to the fact that Ivan the Terrible changed his title, he also captured the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, starting Russian expansion to the East.

Ivan's son Fedor (1584-1598) was distinguished weak character and health. Nevertheless, under him the state continued to develop. The patriarchate was established. Rulers have always paid much attention to the issue of succession to the throne. This time he stood up especially sharply. Fedor had no children. When he died, the Rurik dynasty on the Moscow throne came to an end.

Time of Troubles

After Fyodor's death, Boris Godunov (1598-1605), his brother-in-law, came to power. He did not belong to the royal family, and many considered him a usurper. Under him, due to natural disasters, a colossal famine began. The tsars and presidents of Russia have always tried to keep calm in the provinces. Due to the tense situation, Godunov failed to do this. Several peasant uprisings took place in the country.

In addition, the adventurer Grishka Otrepiev called himself one of the sons of Ivan the Terrible and began a military campaign against Moscow. He really managed to capture the capital and become king. Boris Godunov did not live up to this moment - he died from health complications. His son Fyodor II was captured by the associates of False Dmitry and killed.

The impostor ruled for only a year, after which he was overthrown during the Moscow uprising, inspired by disgruntled Russian boyars who did not like that False Dmitry surrounded himself with Catholic Poles. decided to transfer the crown to Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610). IN Troubled times Russia's rulers changed frequently.

The princes, tsars and presidents of Russia had to carefully guard their power. Shuisky did not hold her back and was overthrown by the Polish interventionists.

First Romanovs

When in 1613 Moscow was liberated from foreign invaders, the question arose of who should be made sovereign. This text presents all the tsars of Russia in order (with portraits). Now it's time to tell about the ascension to the throne of the Romanov dynasty.

The first sovereign of this kind - Michael (1613-1645) - was just a young man when he was put to rule a vast country. His main goal was the struggle with Poland for the lands occupied by it during the Time of Troubles.

These were the biographies of the rulers and the dates of the reign until the middle of the 17th century. After Michael, his son Alexei (1645-1676) ruled. He annexed left-bank Ukraine and Kyiv to Russia. So, after several centuries of fragmentation and Lithuanian rule, the fraternal peoples finally began to live in one country.

Alexei had many sons. The eldest of them, Fedor III (1676-1682), died at a young age. After him came the simultaneous reign of two children - Ivan and Peter.

Peter the Great

Ivan Alekseevich was unable to govern the country. Therefore, in 1689, the sole reign of Peter the Great began. He completely rebuilt the country in a European manner. Russia - from Rurik to Putin (in chronological order consider all the rulers) - knows few examples of such an epoch so full of changes.

Appeared new army and fleet. To do this, Peter started a war against Sweden. The Northern War lasted 21 years. During it, the Swedish army was defeated, and the kingdom agreed to cede its southern Baltic lands. In this region, in 1703, St. Petersburg was founded - the new capital of Russia. Peter's success made him think about changing his title. In 1721 he became emperor. However, this change did not abolish the royal title - in everyday speech, monarchs continued to be called kings.

The era of palace coups

Peter's death was followed by a long period of unstable power. The monarchs succeeded each other with enviable regularity, which was facilitated. As a rule, the guards or certain courtiers were at the head of these changes. During this era, Catherine I (1725-1727), Peter II (1727-1730), Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740), Ivan VI (1740-1741), Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761) and Peter III (1761-1762) ruled ).

The last of them was of German origin. Under the predecessor of Peter III, Elizabeth, Russia waged a victorious war against Prussia. The new monarch renounced all conquests, returned Berlin to the king and concluded a peace treaty. With this act, he signed his own death warrant. The guards organized another palace coup, after which Peter's wife Catherine II was on the throne.

Catherine II and Paul I

Catherine II (1762-1796) had a deep state mind. On the throne, she began to pursue a policy of enlightened absolutism. The Empress organized the work of the famous statutory commission, the purpose of which was to prepare a comprehensive project of reforms in Russia. She also wrote the Order. This document contained many considerations about the transformations needed for the country. The reforms were curtailed when a peasant uprising led by Pugachev broke out in the Volga region in the 1770s.

All the tsars and presidents of Russia (in chronological order, we listed all the royal persons) took care that the country looked worthy on the foreign arena. She was no exception. She led several successful military campaigns against Turkey. As a result, Crimea and other important Black Sea regions were annexed to Russia. At the end of Catherine's reign, three partitions of Poland took place. So the Russian Empire received important acquisitions in the west.

After death great empress her son Pavel I (1796-1801) came to power. This quarrelsome man was not liked by many in the St. Petersburg elite.

First half of the 19th century

In 1801 there was another and the last palace coup. A group of conspirators dealt with Pavel. His son Alexander I (1801-1825) was on the throne. His reign was Patriotic war and Napoleon's invasion. Rulers Russian state For two centuries they have not encountered such a serious enemy intervention. Despite the capture of Moscow, Bonaparte was defeated. Alexander became the most popular and famous monarch of the Old World. He was also called "the liberator of Europe".

Inside his country, Alexander in his youth tried to implement liberal reforms. Historical figures often change their policies as they age. So Alexander soon abandoned his ideas. He died in Taganrog in 1825 under mysterious circumstances.

At the beginning of the reign of his brother Nicholas I (1825-1855) there was an uprising of the Decembrists. Because of this, conservative orders triumphed in the country for thirty years.

Second half of the 19th century

Here are all the tsars of Russia in order, with portraits. Further, we will talk about the main reformer of the national statehood - Alexander II (1855-1881). He became the initiator of the manifesto on the liberation of the peasants. The destruction of serfdom made it possible to develop Russian market and capitalism. The country began to grow economically. The reforms also affected the judiciary, local self-government, administrative and conscription systems. The monarch tried to raise the country to its feet and learn the lessons that the lost started under Nicholas I presented him.

But Alexander's reforms were not enough for the radicals. Terrorists attempted several times on his life. In 1881 they were successful. Alexander II died from a bomb explosion. The news came as a shock to the whole world.

Because of what happened, the son of the deceased monarch, Alexander III (1881-1894), forever became a tough reactionary and conservative. But he is best known as a peacemaker. During his reign, Russia did not conduct a single war.

The last king

Alexander III died in 1894. Power passed into the hands of Nicholas II (1894-1917) - his son and the last Russian monarch. By that time, the old world order with the absolute power of kings and kings had already outlived itself. Russia - from Rurik to Putin - knew a lot of upheavals, but it was under Nicholas that there were more than ever many of them.

In 1904-1905. the country experienced a humiliating war with Japan. It was followed by the first revolution. Although the unrest was suppressed, the king had to make concessions to public opinion. He agreed to establish constitutional monarchy and parliament.

The tsars and presidents of Russia at all times faced a certain opposition within the state. Now people could elect deputies who expressed these sentiments.

In 1914 the First World War. No one then suspected that it would end with the fall of several empires at once, including the Russian one. In 1917 broke out February Revolution, and the last king had to abdicate. Nicholas II, together with his family, was shot by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

(Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova; April 5, 1684 - May 6, 1727) - Russian empress from 1721 as the wife of the reigning emperor, from 1725 as the ruling empress; second wife of Peter I the Great, mother of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

In her honor, Peter I established the Order of St. Catherine (in 1713) and named the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals (in 1723). The name of Catherine I is also Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (built with her daughter Elizabeth). She gave birth to two daughters, Elizabeth and Anna, the son of Peter, who died in infancy.
Coronation: 7 (18) May 1724 (as empress consort)

Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna in mourning opposite the bust of her husband. Basin. 1831

After mysterious death Alexandra I, died suddenly in Belevo, accompanying her husband's coffin. She did not leave a will. When asked about its compilation, Elizaveta Alekseevna replied: “I didn’t bring anything with me to Russia, and therefore I can’t dispose of anything.” Before going to St. Petersburg, she only asked, in the event of her death, to transfer her personal diaries to Nikolai Karamzin, who was a very close friend to her.
Coronation: 15 (27) September 1801

Portraits of Russian empresses

I present a publication about the women of the Romanov dynasty - those who were destined to become Russian empresses.

Catherine the First

Amazing fate! Laundress Marta Skavronskaya became the first Russian crowned empress! At first Field Marshal Sheremetyev liked it, then Menshikov and, finally, Peter the Great. She accompanied Peter on campaigns, was distinguished by good nature, excellent health, and cheerfulness. She knew how to "extinguish" the outbursts of anger of the quick-tempered Peter. True, in the last years of the life of Peter the Great, their relationship went wrong ... After the death of her husband, she was elevated to the Russian throne, but she reigned for only 2 years.

Anna Ioannovna

Niece of Peter the Great, daughter of his half-brother Tsar John Alekseevich. She was married to the Duke of Courland to strengthen dynastic ties. She was widowed almost immediately after her marriage. She was invited to the Russian throne for lack of a direct heir. She was distinguished by her rude disposition and cruelty. Russia was essentially ruled by her favorite Biron.

Elizaveta Petrovna

Daughter of Peter the Great. Could become a French queen! But somehow the negotiations between Russia and France regarding marriage with the heir to the French throne did not work out. Cheerful, kind, simple. When she was a princess, she baptized soldiers' children and adored festivities. The first fashionista of her time - after the death of Elizabeth, 15 thousand remained! dresses. She loved Russia, but she really did not like to engage in state affairs and sign decrees ...

Catherine II

Great woman!!! The princess from the seedy principality of Anhalt-Zerbt came to Russia as a fifteen-year-old girl and was married to the future Peter III. All conquered and enchanted! Enthroned by the guards, overthrown her own husband. The years of her reign were the golden age of the Russian nobility. She managed to do everything - to deal with state affairs, change favorites, replenish the Hermitage collection, correspond with Voltaire, walk her favorite dogs, compose plays and fairy tales. I repeat - a great woman!

Maria Fedorovna

Wife of Emperor Paul I, mother of two emperors - Alexander the First and Nicholas the First. Born Princess of Württemberg. Catherine the Second called her daughter-in-law "cast-iron" - apparently due to a lack of emotionality and sensitivity. The main merit of Maria Feodorovna is that she strengthened the gene pool of the dynasty - she gave birth to 10 children. She tried to play a political role during the reign of Alexander the First. She did a lot of charity work.

Elizaveta Alekseevna

Wife of Emperor Alexander I. The most beautiful Russian Empress. Born Princess of Baden. As her contemporaries called her, "a woman of the highest order." Smart, educated, interested in music, history, literature. She was the only Russian empress to have mastered the Russian language. Pushkin admired her. According to modern literary critics, it was Elizaveta Alekseevna who was his MUSE. “The Genius of Pure Beauty” is about her, and not about Anna Kern at all. Faithful friend The empress was the great historian Karamzin.

Alexandra Fedorovna

Wife of Emperor Nicholas I. Daughter of the Prussian king. She was not interested in politics, preferring to be a "friend on the throne." A wonderful wife and mother. She looked condescendingly at her husband's love "pranks", which contributed to their happy family life. She was always kind and friendly with her subjects. But I never learned Russian!

Maria Alexandrovna

Wife of Emperor Alexander II. Born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. As her lady-in-waiting wrote in her memoirs, for almost all her life the empress had to “endure and forgive betrayal” of her amorous husband. Mother of seven children. She was distinguished by intelligence, modesty, sincerity. She helped those in need a lot, often doing it anonymously. Last years life was seriously ill, lived a lot abroad.

Maria Fedorovna

Wife of Alexander III. Born Danish Princess Dagmar. Perhaps the most beloved among the people of the Empress. She was distinguished by amazing charm, the ability to win over a wide variety of people, cheerfulness. She was a faithful support to her husband, Alexander III, and son, Nicholas II. She miraculously escaped from the Bolsheviks - the English king (the Empress's own nephew) sent a warship for her to the Crimea. Died in Denmark, never believing in execution royal family.

Alexandra Fedorovna

The last Russian empress. Born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. Beloved granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. With her husband, Emperor Nicholas II, they were an exemplary family, maintaining strength and freshness of feelings throughout the marriage. The most slandered empress - she was accused of both spying for Germany and having close relations with Rasputin. She was a nurse at the Tsarskoye Selo hospital during the First World War. She was shot with her family in Yekaterinburg in 1918. Russian church canonized Yu.

EKATERINA I. 1684-1727 First Empress of the Russian Empire. Marta Skavronskaya from the family of a Livonian peasant. When baptized into Orthodoxy, she was named Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. Since 1721 Empress, second wife of Emperor Peter I, since 1725 - as the ruling empress. She gave birth to two daughters, Elizabeth and Anna, the son of Peter, who died in infancy.

ANNA IOANNOVNA, 1693-1740 Second Empress of the Russian Empire since 1730. The second daughter of Tsar Ivan Y, brother and co-ruler of Peter I, widow of the Duke of Courland. During her reign, power in the country belonged to Chancellor Osterman and her favorite Ernst Biron. She bequeathed the throne to her nephew Ivan Antonovich, the grandson of her sister Catherine. Portrait by Louis Caravacca

Anna Leopoldovna, 1718-1746. Regent-ruler with her young son Ivan YI (1740-1764) Anna Leopoldovna - daughter of the deceased Ekaterina Ivanovna, eldest daughter Tsar Ivan Y, who was given, at one time, to marry Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On the night of November 25, 1741. was overthrown, as a result palace coup and with her son imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, where she died. Portrait by Louis Caravacca.

ELIZAVETA PETROVNA. 1709-1761 Third Empress Russian Empire, reigned from 1742 to 1761. She came to power as a result of a palace coup, raising the Guards Company and the Preobrazhensky Regiment with the call "Guys, you know whose daughter I am !! Serve me, as they served my father, Emperor Peter!" She was smart, kind, but frivolous and wayward, a real Russian lady. She abolished the death penalty. She was in a church, but secret marriage with Razumovsky Alexei Grigorievich. Called from Holstein nephew Karl Peter Ulrich, grandson of Peter 1, son of Anna Petrovna, sister of Elizabeth. Portrait by Georg Groot.

Vigilius Eriksen. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

The Empress declared her nephew the heir to the throne, baptized her, making him the Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, forcing him to study the Russian language and the Orthodox catechism. Unfortunately, Grand Duke He was an absolute ignoramus and amazed everyone with his ignorance. Elizaveta Petrovna married him to Princess Sophia Frederica Angelt-Tserbtskaya, who converted to Orthodoxy and received the name - Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich and Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna. Artist Georg Groot.

CATHERINE II THE GREAT, 1729-1796 4th Empress of the Russian Empire wife of Peter III, came to power as a result of a military coup, overthrowing her husband, who was soon killed. In July 1762 in the Kazan Cathedral was proclaimed autocratic empress. The period of her reign was considered golden, she continued the undertakings of Peter the Great, Russia received access to the Black Sea and increased the lands of the empire. She gave birth to a son, the future Emperor Paul. Under her, favoritism flourished in Russia, she was loving, the number of official favorites reached 23. Portrait by I.P. Argunov.

Portrait of Empress Catherine II. Artist F.S. Rokotov, 1763

Maria Feodorovna, 1759-1828 Fifth Empress, wife of Emperor of the Russian Empire Paul 1, crowned in 1797, before marriage - Princess Dorothea of ​​Württemberg. She gave birth to 10 children, two of whom, Alexander 1 and Nicholas 1, were emperors of Russia. Artist Vigée Lebrun.

Empress Maria Feodorovna, from 1801 Dowager Empress, mother of Emperor Alexander 1.

Artist A.Roslin

Elizaveta Alekseevna, 1779-1825 6th empress, wife of Emperor Alexander 1, before marriage, Princess Louise Maria Augusta of Baden, married the heir to the throne at the age of 14, Alexander was 16 years old. She had two daughters who died in infancy. Family life the royal family did not work out, Alexander took a mistress - Maria Naryshkina, the empress was considered a "straw widow", it is known about her two novels with Adam Czartoryski

and Alexei Okhotnikov. After the mysterious death of Alexander 1, she suddenly died in Belevo, accompanying her husband's coffin. But she is identified with the recluse Vera the Silencer, who died in 1861 in the Novgorod Monastery. There is an opinion that Alexander 1 did not die, but accepted the schema - the elder Fyodor Kuzmich died in 1863. In Tomsk. Portrait of the Empress by Jean Laurent Monnier, 1807

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Alexandra Fedorovna, 1798-1860 Seventh Empress, the wife of Emperor Nicholas 1, was crowned together with her husband in 1825, reigned until 1855, then the Dowager Empress. Before marriage, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm S. Fragile, irresponsible and graceful creature. Nicholas 1 had a passionate and despotic adoration for her. She immediately came to court, Emperor Alexander 1

loved to open balls with her, she loved to dance until you drop. Young Pushkin was captivated by her and she paid him great affection. "The genius of pure beauty" - V.A. Zhukovsky said about her, and A.S. Pushkin repeated this phrase in a different context. One of the beautiful and noble women of the first half of the 19th century was a creative person, painted portraits, poems, had many admirers, encrypted their names under the name of flowers, thus collecting a whole herbarium. Each of her moving or leaving for vacation was equal in terms of costs for Russia to crop failure, river flooding ... She gave birth to 9 children, her son is Emperor Alexander II. 1) Portrait In a Red Dress by Christina Robertson. 2) Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Artist Carl Reichel

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Artist F.Winterhalter

Maria Alexandrovna, 1824-1880 Eighth Empress, wife of Emperor Alexander II, reigned from 1855 to 1880. Traveling through Europe in 1838. the heir to the throne fell in love with 14-year-old Mary of Hesse and married her in 1841, although he knew about the secret of her origin. The princess was illegitimate daughter Wilhelmina of Baden and her chamberlain Baron de Grancy, but Mary was recognized as the "father" - Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and entered into the dynastic list. It was an extremely sincere soul, deeply religious and devoted her life to charity, cared for women's education opened women's gymnasiums. She took part in the fate of the teacher Ushinsky At court, she was disliked because of her strictness. She gave birth to 8 children, her son, the future emperor Alexander Sh., was ill with tuberculosis and died in 1880. At the end of her life, she suffered because of the pranks of her husband, who started a second family with Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky. E. Dolgorukaya, together with children from Alexander II, lived in the same Winter Palace.

Maria Alexandrovna, Empress. Artist Christina Robertson, 1850

In honor of the Empress were named: the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and the Mariinsky Palace in Kiev

Artist V. Makovsky

Maria Feodorovna, 1848-1928 ninth empress, wife of Emperor Alexander III, reign 1883-1894. after the death of her husband in 1894 - the Dowager Empress. Daughter Danish king Christiana 9, was the bride of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, after his death in 1865. married his brother Alexander, bore him six children. She was affable and cheerful, the marriage was successful, throughout life together the spouses retained sincere affection. She was against the marriage of her son Nicholas with the princess of Hesse. She didn't like EVERYTHING about her new daughter-in-law, including the furniture she chose for her. Winter Palace. Maria Feodorovna saw how strong the influence of her daughter-in-law on the weak-willed Nikolai was and how destructively it affected the authorities.

Artist K. Makovsky

Since 1915, Maria Feodorovna moved to Kyiv, her residence is the royal Mariinsky Palace. She learned about her son's abdication from the throne in Kyiv, left for the Crimea, from there in 1919 she was taken to Great Britain on an English military ship. Then she moved to Denmark, where she lived until her death in 1928. Until the end of her life, she did not want to believe in the death of her sons, grandchildren and those loved ones who died at the hands of the Red Terror. September 26, 2006 the ashes of Maria Feodorovna were transported to Russia and buried with honors in the tomb of Russian tsars.

"It is all God's grace that the future is hidden from us and we do not know in advance about the terrible trials and misfortunes that fate has in store for us," she wrote in her diary.

Artist I.T.Galkin

Alexandra Feodorovna, 1872-1918 Tenth Empress, wife of the last emperor of the Russian Empire Nicholas II, reign 1894-1917. Daughter of the Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and Duchess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. They met and became interested in each other at the wedding of her sister with Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The parents of the heir were against marriage, but then gave in. The wedding took place less than a week after the funeral of Alexander III, the honeymoon was held in the atmosphere of requiems and mourning visits. The most deliberate dramatization could not have invented a more suitable prologue for the historical tragedy of the last Russian Tsar. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, Count WitteS.Yu. wrote "he married a pretty woman, a woman who was not quite normal, who took him into her arms, which was not difficult with his lack of will .... the empress, by her behavior, aggravated Nike's shortcomings and her abnormalities began to be reflected in the abnormality of some of the actions of her august spouse." Nicholas II abdicated in 1917, on the night of July 17, 1818. the royal family was shot in Yekaterinburg.

In 1981 All members of the royal family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. In August 2000--Russian Orthodox Church. The remains of the family of the last Russian tsar are buried in the family tomb of the tsars, in St. Petersburg.