Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia

Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia. Portrait by Christina Robertson, Hermitage Museum

Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia (24 June 1825 - 10 August 1844) was the youngest daughter of Nicholas I of Russia and his wife, Charlotte of Prussia. She was named after her paternal aunt, Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, but in the family she was known as "Adini". Alexandra was reportedly her father's favorite child; according to her sister Olga's memoirs, he maintained that she alone among his children had inherited her mother's "Prussian look". It was also said that she resembled her grandmother, Queen Louise of Prussia. Nicholas affectionately spoke of Adini as "... a little moppet, but very sweet".

Alexandra was famous in Saint Petersburg society for both her beauty 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.

On 28 January 1844, Alexandra married Frederick William of Hesse (Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Adolf, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel) (1820-1864) in St. Petersburg. Her husband was the only son of Prince William of Hesse and Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark. "Fritz", as he was called, had come to St. Petersburg as a prospective bridegroom for Olga, but fell in love with Adini instead on the first evening he spent with the family. Although Olga was the elder daughter and also found Fritz to be an engaging young man, she graciously stepped aside in favor of her sister, and even chaperoned the couple when they wanted to spend time together away from the prying eyes of the court. The emperor and empress then gave their permission for Alexandra and Fritz to be married.

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. Her parents were devastated and their grief would last until the end of their lives. She was buried with her baby son in her arms, at the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia. Portrait by A.I Gebens, 1860, now in Gatchina

Ten years later, Fritz married Princess Anna of Prussia (1836-1918) as his second wife. Eventually he became head of the House of Hesse-Kassel. Although they had six children together, Fritz and Anna were never emotionally close, and it is speculated that one reason was because Fritz was unable to overcome his grief for his first wife.

In the gardens of the Peterhof 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 gowns 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 Floria of Faber-Castell when she married Donatus, Hereditary Prince of Hesse in 2003.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia 16. Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp 8. Peter III of Russia 17. Anna Petrovna of Russia 4. Paul I of Russia 18. Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst 9. Catherine II of Russia 19. Johanna Elisabeth, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp 2. Nicholas I of Russia 20. Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg 10. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg 21. Maria Augusta Anna of Thurn and Taxis 5. Sophie Dorothea of Württemburg 22. Friedrich Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt 11. Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt 23. Sophie Dorothea Marie, Princess of Prussia 1. Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia 24. Prince Augustus William of Prussia 12. Frederick William II of Prussia 25. Louise Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg 6. Frederick William III of Prussia 26. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt 13. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt 27. Karoline of Zweibrücken 3. Charlotte of Prussia 28. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow 14. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 29. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen 7. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 30. Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt 15. Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt 31. Maria of Leiningen-Dagsburg

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.