Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia
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Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna | |
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Princess Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel | |
Grand Ducal Mausoleum | |
Spouse | |
Issue | Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel |
House | Romanov |
Father | Nicholas I of Russia |
Mother | Charlotte of Prussia |
Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of
Biography
She was the
Alexandra was famous in Saint Petersburg society for both her wit and her lively personality. She was also the musician in the family. A serious student of vocal music, she was talented enough to qualify for lessons from the famous soprano Henriette Sontag.
Marriage
On 28 January 1844, Alexandra married Prince
Alexandra became acutely ill with tuberculosis shortly before her wedding, and this complicated the pregnancy which soon followed. She was never well enough to travel to Hesse and take up her new position with her husband. They stayed in St. Petersburg, where her health rapidly declined.
She went into labor prematurely, three months before the child was due, and gave birth to a son, Wilhelm. The infant died shortly after he was born, and Alexandra died later the same day. She was the first of her parents' children to die. Her parents were devastated and their grief would last until the end of their lives. She was buried at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Her son was buried in Rumpenheim (Germany).
Nine years later, Fritz married Adini's first cousin,
Legacy
In the gardens of the Petergof palace near Saint Petersburg there is a memorial bench with a small sculpture bust of the Grand Duchess. Her rooms there have been preserved just as they were at the time of her death.
Six sheaves of wheat made of diamonds, which came to Hesse on one of the dresses in Alexandra's trousseau, were transformed into a tiara by Anna around 1900. This tiara is now the traditional wedding tiara of the Hessian princely family, and was last worn by Countess Floria Franziska of
Ancestry
Ancestors of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sources
- Hesse: A Princely German Collection. Catalog of exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, 2005. John E. Buchanan Jr., Director, The Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Collection.
- Olga, Queen of Wuerttemberg. Traum der Jugend goldener Stern. Günther Neske Verlag, 1955.
External links
Media related to Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia at Wikimedia Commons