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06.06.

1872: The Last Empress of the Russian Empire

1872: The Last Empress of the Russian Empire
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/ Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich and Emperor Nicholas II at Tsarskoye Selo, around 1916

Story Highlights

  • Historical event:
  • 6 June 1872
  • Interestingly, Empress Alexandra was born a Protestant, and only on the eve of the wedding did she convert to Orthodoxy. She was the granddaughter of British Queen Victoria and was born in the German city of Darmstadt.

On this day in 1872, the last Russian Empress (Tsaritsa), Alexandra, was born.



She was born in Darmstadt in Germany, and was of a German-British origin. Specifically, Alexandra was the granddaughter of British Queen Victoria. Victoria’s daughter, Princess Alice of Great Britain, married a German prince who was given the title of Grand Duke of Hesse. Thus, the future Empress consort of Russia’s birth name was Alix of Hesse.

Alexandra became Empress of Russia by marriage to Nicholas II – the last Emperor of the Russian Empire (both were, along with their children, killed by the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution). Interestingly, Empress Alexandra was born a Protestant, and only on the eve of the wedding did she convert to Orthodoxy.

Alexandra was at one time the favorite of her grandmother Queen Victoria. In Great Britain, she used to spend time in her grandmother’s company. Alexandra was engaged to future Russian Emperor Nicholas II in 1894, but his father died before they were married.

So it happened that Nicholas II was already the reigning Russian Emperor when the two of them got married. He was 26 at the time and she was 22. She was crowned Russian Empress along with her husband. She gave birth to five children – four grand duchesses (Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia i.e. OTMA) and Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.




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