Emperor of All Russia Alexander II (1818 - 1881), The Tsar of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland (since 1855) from the Romanov dynasty, was married twice. His first wife was Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. True, the mother of the Tsarevich was against marriage, suspecting that the princess was actually born from the chamberlain of the duke, but Nicholas I simply adored his daughter-in-law. In the august marriage of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna eight children were born. However, soon the relationship in the family went wrong and the emperor began to make himself a favorite.
So in 1866 he hooked up with an 18 year old Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. She became the closest person to the king Alexander II and moved to the Winter Palace. From Alexander II she gave birth four illegitimate children. After the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, EmperorAlexander II and Ekaterina Dolgorukova got married than legitimized common children. Who were the descendants of Emperor Alexander II - you will learn from our material.

Alexandra Alexandrovna
Alexandra was the first and long-awaited child of the grand ducal couple. She was born on August 30, 1842. The birth of a granddaughter was especially expected by Emperor Nicholas I. The next day, happy parents received congratulations. On the ninth day, the Grand Duchess was transferred to the chambers prepared for her and the child. Maria Alexandrovna expressed a desire to feed her daughter on her own, but the emperor forbade this.

On August 30, the girl was baptized in the Tsarskoye Selo Church, but unfortunately, the little Grand Duchess did not live long. She fell ill with meningitis and died suddenly on June 28, 1849, before she was 7 years old. Since then, girls in the imperial family were no longer called Alexandra. All the princesses with the name of Alexander mysteriously died before reaching the age of 20.

Nikolai Alexandrovich

Tsarevich Nicholas was born September 20, 1843 and was named after his grandfather Nicholas I. Emperor Nicholas I was so excited about the birth of the heir to the throne that he ordered his sons - the Grand Dukes Constantine and Michael , - kneel before the cradle and take an oath of allegiance to the future Russian emperor. But the Tsarevich was not destined to become a ruler.
Nicholas grew up as a universal favorite: his grandfather and grandmother doted on him, but his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, was most attached to him. Nicholas was well brought up, polite, courteous. Friends with his second cousin Evgenia Maksimilianovna Romanovskaya, Princess of Oldenburg who was the third daughter in the family of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1845 - 1925) from her first marriage to Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg from Bavaria. There were even negotiations about the wedding of the Tsarevich Nicholas and Evgenia , but in the end, the mother of the princess, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, refused.
In 1864, the Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich went abroad. There he is on his 21st birthday got engaged to the princess Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar (1847-1928) , who later became the wife of Alexander III - Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last emperor of Russia, Nicholas II. Everything was perfect until while traveling in Italy Nikolai Alexandrovich suddenly did not fall ill, he was treated in Nice, but in the spring of 1865, Nikolai's condition began to deteriorate.

On April 10, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Nice, and on the night of the 12th, the Grand Duke Nicholas died after a four-hour agony from tuberculous meningitis. The body of the heir was delivered to Russia on the Alexander Nevsky frigate. Mother Maria Alexandrovna was inconsolable and, it seems, never fully recovered from the tragedy. After years Emperor Alexander III named his eldest son in honor of his brother Nicholas whom he "loved more than anything in the world."

Alexander Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was two years younger than his older brother Nikolai, and by the will of fate it was he who was destined to ascend the Russian throne and become Emperor Alexander III . Since Nicholas was being prepared for the reign, Alexander did not receive an appropriate education, and after the sudden death of his brother, he had to take an additional course of science necessary for the ruler of Russia.

In 1866, Alexander became engaged to Princess Dagmar. The ascension of Emperor Alexander III to the throne was also overshadowed by the sudden his father's death in 1881 As a result of a terrorist act, Emperor Alexander II died. After such a brutal murder of Emperor Alexander, his son did not support his father's liberal ideas, his goal was to suppress protests. Emperor Alexander III followed a conservative policy. So, instead of the draft “Loris-Melikov constitution” supported by his father, the new emperor adopted the “Manifesto on the inviolability of autocracy”, compiled by Pobedonostsev, who had a great influence on the emperor.

During the reign of Alexander III, administrative pressure was intensified in Russia, the beginnings of peasant and city self-government were eliminated, censorship was strengthened, the military power of Russia was strengthened, namely, Emperor Alexander III said that "Russia has only two allies - the army and the navy." Indeed, during the reign of Alexander III there was a sharp decrease in protests, so characteristic of the second half of his father's reign. Terrorist activity in the country also began to decline, and from 1887 until the beginning of the 20th century there were no terrorist attacks in Russia.

Despite the buildup of military power, during the reign of Alexander III Russia has not waged a single war, for maintaining peace, the emperor received the name Peacekeeper. Alexander III bequeathed his ideals to his heir and the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Vladimir Alexandrovich

Grand Duke Vladimir was born in 1847 and devoted his life to a military career. He participated in the Russian-Turkish war, since 1884 he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. In 1881, his brother Emperor Alexander III appointed him regent in case of his death before the age of Tsarevich Nicholas, or in the event of the latter's death.
Grand Duke Vladimir ordered Prince Vasilchikov to use force against the procession of workers and residents of the city, which was heading towards the Winter Palace on Sunday, January 9, 1905, known as "Bloody Sunday".

After a high-profile scandal with the marriage of his son Cyril, Grand Duke Vladimir was forced to leave his post as Commander of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District. His senior son Cyril married the former wife of the brother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess Victoria-Melita of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was second daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. Even despite the blessing of Cyril's mother Maria Pavlovna, the Highest permission was not given for this marriage, since, having married a divorced woman, Cyril and all his subsequent descendants (“Kirillovichi”) lost their right to the throne. Vladimir was a well-known philanthropist and was even the president of the Academy of Arts. In protest against his role in the execution of workers and townspeople, the artists Serov and Polenov left the Academy.

Aleksey Aleksandrovich

Fifth child Emperor Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna Since childhood, he was enrolled in military service - in the Guards crew and the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky and Jaegersky regiments. His fate was sealed, he was being prepared for military service.
In 1866, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was promoted to lieutenant of the fleet and lieutenant of the guard. Participated in the voyage of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky", which on the night of September 12-13, 1868 was wrecked in the Jutland Strait. The commander of the frigate "Alexander Nevsky" noted the courage and nobility of the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, who refused to leave the ship, and four days later he was promoted to staff captain and adjutant wing.
In 1871 became a senior officer of the frigate "Svetlana", on which he reached North America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and, having visited China and Japan, arrived in Vladivostok, from where he reached St. Petersburg by land through all of Siberia.

In 1881 Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was appointed a member of the State Council, and in the summer of the same year - Chief of the Navy and the Naval Department with the rights of Admiral General and Chairman of the Admiralty Council. During the management of the Russian fleet, he carried out a number of reforms, introduced a naval qualification, increased the number of crew, arranged the ports of Sevastopol, Port Arthur and others, expanded the docks in Kronstadt and Vladivostok.
At the end of the Russo-Japanese War, after the Tsushima defeat, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich resigned and was dismissed from all naval posts. He was considered one of the responsible for the defeat of Russia in the war with Japan. Died Prince Alexei in Paris in 1908.

Maria Alexandrovna

Grand Duchess Maria was born in 1853, and grew up as a "weak" girl, but despite the prescriptions of doctors, the father did not look for his soul in his daughter. In 1874 Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna married Prince Alfred (1844-1900), Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Ulster and Kentsecond son of the British Queen Victoria and Albert (1819-1861). Emperor Alexander II gave his daughter as a dowry the unimaginable sum of 100,000 pounds and an annual allowance of 20,000 pounds.

Emperor Alexander II insisted that in London his daughter should be addressed only as " Her Imperial Highness" and that she took precedence over the Princess of Wales. This did not please Queen Victoria, however after marriage, the requirements of the Russian emperor were met.

On August 22, 1893, the husband of Grand Duchess Maria was an admiral of the Royal Navy Prince Alfred became Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as his older brother Edward abdicated. " Her Imperial Highness" Maria became a duchess Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , retaining the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. However, tragedy befell their family.

Children Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna and Prince Alfred (1844-1900):

Their eldest son, Crown Prince Alfred (1874-1899), was engaged to Duchess Elsa of Württemberg. However, Alfred was convicted of extramarital affairs and in 1898 he began to show severe symptoms of syphilis. It is believed that the disease shook his mind. In 1899, he shot himself with a revolver during a solemn family gathering on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his parents' marriage. On February 6, he died at the age of 24. A year later, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died of cancer. The Dowager Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Their eldest daughter Princess Mary (1875-1936) married, January 10, 1893, to King Ferdinand I of Romania(1865-1927); left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Victoria Melita (1876-1936) married, April 19, 1894, to Ernest Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse; left offspring; divorced 21 December 1901
Second marriage Victoria Melita- October 8, 1905, with the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich; left offspring.

Their daughter - Princess Alexandra(1878-1942) married, April 20, 1896, for Ernest of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; left offspring.

Them daughter Princess Beatrice(1884-1966) married, July 15, 1909, to Don Alfonso, Infante of Spain, 3rd Duke of Gallieria; left offspring

Sergey Aleksandrovich

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) became Governor-General of Moscow (1891-1904) in 1884 married Elizaveta Feodorovna (at birth - Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt), the second daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, granddaughter of the British Queen Victoria.

With him the Moscow Art and Public Theater was opened, in order to take care of the students, he ordered the construction of a hostel at Moscow University. The dark episode of his reign in Moscow was tragedy on the Khodynka field on May 30, 1896. In t On the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II, there was a stampede, where, according to official figures, 1,389 people died and another 1,300 people were seriously injured. The public found Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich guilty and nicknamed him "Prince Khodynsky", Emperor Nicholas II - "Bloody".

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich supported monarchist organizations and was a fighter against the revolutionary movement. He died on the spot in a terrorist attack in 1905. At the entrance to the Nikolaevskaya Tower, a bomb was thrown into his carriage, which tore apart the carriage of Grand Duke Sergei. The attack was carried out by Ivan Kalyaev from the "Combat Organization of the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries." He planned to carry out a terrorist attack two days earlier, but was unable to throw a bomb into the carriage, which was the wife and nephews of the Governor-General - Maria and Dmitry. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow. It is known that the widow of Prince Elizabeth visited her husband's killer in prison and forgave him on behalf of her husband.

At Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Feodorovna did not have their own children, but they raised the children of their brother Sergei Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry , whose mother, Alexandra Grigoryevna, died in childbirth.

Pavel Alexandrovich

made a military career, possessed not only Russian, but also foreign orders and badges of honor. He was married twice. He made his first marriage in 1889 with his cousin, Greek princess Alexandra Georgievna, who gave birth to him two children - Maria and Dmitry, but died during childbirth at the age of 20. The children were raised by their brother Pavel Aleksandrovich by the Moscow Governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna.

10 years after the death of his wife Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich married a second time, to a divorced Olga Valerievna Pistolkors. Since the marriage was unequal, they could not return to Russia. In 1915, Olga Valerievna received for herself and the children of Prince Pavel Alexandrovich a Russian title of princes Paley . They had three children: Vladimir, Irina and Natalia.

Soon after the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne, the Provisional Government took measures against the Romanovs. Vladimir Paley was exiled to the Urals in 1918 and then executed. Pavel Alexandrovich himself was arrested in August 1918 and sent to prison.

In January of the following year, Pavel Alexandrovich, along with his cousins, Grand Dukes Dmitry Konstantinovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Georgy Mikhailovich, were shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress in response to the murder of Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht in Germany.

Georgy Alexandrovich

Georgy Alexandrovich (1872 - 1913) was born out of wedlock, but after marriage Alexander II with Princess Dolgoruky, on June 6, 1880, the emperor wanted to equalize the rights of his morganatic children from Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruky with his legitimate heirs to the throne from an alliance with Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and his decree was sent to the Senate: marriage with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruky, we order her to be given the name of Princess Yuryevskaya with the title of Lordship. We order that the same name with the same title be given to our children: to our son George, daughters Olga and Ekaterina, as well as those who may subsequently be born, we grant them all the rights belonging to legitimate children in accordance with Article 14 of the Fundamental Laws of the Empire and Article 147 of the Establishment of the Imperial Family. Alexander".

Prince George received the title Most Serene Prince Yuryevsky.

After the assassination of the father-emperor Alexander II, His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich together with sisters - Ekaterina and Olga, and mother, Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky , left for France.

In 1891 Prince George Alexandrovich graduated from the Sorbonne with a bachelor's degree, then returned to Russia, where he continued his studies. He served in the Baltic Fleet, studied at the dragoon department of the Officer Cavalry School.

February 4 1900 His Serene Highness Prince George married with Countess Alexandra Konstantinovna Zarnekau (1883-1957), daughter of Prince Konstantin Petrovich of Oldenburg from a morganatic marriage with Countess Alexandra Zarnekau, nee Dzhaparidze. The marriage is dissolved. On October 17, 1908, Alexandra Zarnekau married Lev Vasilyevich Naryshkin.

Most Serene Prince George b He was seconded to the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, in 1908 he retired. After 4 years, he died of jade in Magburg, German Empire. He was buried in Wiesbaden at the Russian cemetery.

Children His Serene Highness Prince George and Countess Alexandra Zarnekau:

Son Alexander (December 7 (20), 1900, Nice, France - February 29, 1988).
Grandson George (Hans-Georg) (born December 8, 1961, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Olga Alexandrovna

Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya Olga Alexandrovna was born in 1882, a year after her elder brother George. It is interesting that Emperor Alexander II chose the title for children not by chance. It was believed that the princely family of his second wife Ekaterina Dolgoruky originates from Prince Yuri Dolgoruky of the Rurik family. It is known that the ancestor of the Dolgoruky was Prince Ivan Obolensky, who received this nickname for his vindictiveness. Prince Ivan Obolensky was a second cousin of Yuri Dolgoruky - Vsevolod Olgovich.

Most Serene Princess Olga Yurievskaya published in 1895 married the grandson of Alexander Pushkin -count Georg-Nicholas von Merenberg and became known Countess von Merenberg . In marriage, she gave birth to a spouse 12 children.

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

The youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander II, the Most Serene Princess Ekaterina Yurievskaya (1878 - 1959) twice unsuccessfully married and became a singer. After the accession of Emperor Nicholas II, the Most Serene Princess Catherine, together with her mother, Princess Catherine Dolgoruky, her brother Georgy and sister Olga, returned to Russia.

In 1901, the Most Serene Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya married the staff captain Alexander Vladimirovich Baryatinsky (1870-1910), one of the heirs of an ancient family Rurikovich who gave the world several saints, including the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and the holy noble Prince Michael of Chernigov. Alexander Vladimirovich on his father's side is the grandson of Lieutenant General Prince Anatoly Baryatinsky (1821-1881) and the cousin of Field Marshal Prince.

prince Aleksandr VladimirovichBaryatinsky was one of the richest people in Russia, which allowed him to lead a luxurious and sometimes thoughtless life. Since 1897, he was in an open relationship with the famous beauty Lina Cavalieri and spent a lot of money on her. His passion for Cavalieri was so serious that he asked Emperor Nicholas II to give him permission to marry her. Baryatinsky's parents did everything to prevent this from happening, and in October 1901, Prince Alexander Boryatinsky married the princess Ekaterina Yurievskaya.

The Most Serene Princess Catherine, loving her husband, tried to win his attention from Lina Cavalieri, but it was all in vain. The three of them went everywhere - performances, operas, dinners, some even lived together in a hotel. Their love triangle fell apart with the death of Prince Boryatinsky, the inheritance passed to the children of Catherine - the princes Andrei (1902-1944) and Alexander (1905-1992). Since the children were minors in 1910, their mother, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya, became their guardian.

After World War I, they moved from Bavaria to the Baryatinsky estate in Ivanovsky. Soon Ekaterina Yurievskaya met a young guards officer Prince Sergei Obolensky and married him. After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia princes Boryatinsky lost everything and left on false documents to Kyiv, and then to Vienna and further to England. For the sake of earning money, the Serene Princess Ekaterina Yuryevskaya began to sing in living rooms and at concerts. The death of Ekaterina Dolgoruky's mother did not improve the financial situation of the princess.

AT In 1922, Prince Sergei Obolensky left his wife Ekaterina Yuryevskaya for another rich lady, miss Alice Astor, daughter of millionaire John Astor. Abandoned by her husband, Ekaterina Yuryevskaya became a professional singer. For many years she lived in allowance from Queen Mary, widow of George V, but after her death in 1953 she was left without a livelihood. She sold her property and died in 1959 in a nursing home on Hayling Island.

According to the article

Empress Maria Alexandrovna, first wife of Alexander II

"Russia will never know what she owed her

Empress, due to that huge, beneficial,

The cordial and moral influence that she always had on the Sovereign!

E.N. Lvov. From memories.

Franz Xavier Winterhalter

Birth of a princess

The Fourth Empress of All Russia from the House of Romanov with such a great Christian name Maria - was born on July 27 (August 9), 1824 in the German Sovereign House of Hesse in the August family of the Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse (1777 - 1848) from her marriage to Princess Wilhelmina Louise of Baden (1788 - 1836), the August sister of the Empress Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna - the sovereign wife of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander I the Blessed.

Ludwig II of Hesse. Lithography. Early 19th century

Ludwig II of Hesse.

Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna. 1807. Monier. Russian Museum.

Emperor Alexander I and Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna. After 1807. P. Crossey (sort of).

The princess was born almost 200 years after the Sacred Sacrament of marriage of the founder of the Romanov House, Tsar Mikhail I Feodorovich, with his first August wife, Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, took place on September 19 (October 2), 1624. It is also providential that, like Tsarina Maria Vladimirovna, the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna died before her husband, which remained the only example in the history of the Imperial House, for none of the Empresses of All Russia since the death of Tsaritsa Agafya Semyonovna on October 14 (27), 1681 , the first August wife of Tsar Theodore III Alekseevich, did not leave the crowned spouses, having died before his time. A little more than 200 years will pass before on the first Thursday of June 1880 (May 22, O.S.), the heartbeat of the Russian Empress, so beloved by the entire Royal Family, will be interrupted ...

The august mother of the princess left the world when she was 13 years old and she, together with her sovereign brother Prince Alexander (1823 - 1880), was brought up by a governess for several years, living in the country castle of Jugenheim near Darmstadt.

Darmstadt

Mary's mother, Wilhelmina of Baden.

Mary's brother Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt

Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria

The august mother of the princess at the time of her birth had not lived with her sovereign husband for a long time. Everyone had their own love, and according to conversations, the princess was born from the Baron de Grancy, a Swiss of French origin, who was the Grand Duke's equestrian. It seemed that nothing foretold the princess a glorious future. However, by the will of the All-Good Arbiter of Destinies, in March 1839, the only daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II met in Darmstadt Tsarevich Alexander II Nikolayevich, the future Autocrat of All Russia Alexander II the Liberator, traveling through Western Europe.

Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich

Tsesarevich Alexander Pavlovich

Chosen of the Tsarevich

From a letter from the heir of the Tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich, to his August father, Sovereign Emperor Nicholas I the Feat-loving, on March 25 (April 7) on the Day of the Annunciation, 1839: “Here, in Darmstadt, I met the daughter of the Reigning Grand Duke, Princess Mary. I liked her terribly, from the very first moment when I saw her ... And, if you allow, dear dad, after my visit to England, I will return to Darmstadt again. " However, consent to marriage Feodorovna was given not immediately.

Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

From the secret correspondence of Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich and Count A. N. Orlov, the heir’s trustee: “Doubts about the legality of her origin are more valid than you think. It is known that because of this she is hardly tolerated at the Court and in the family (Wilhelmina had three elder August brothers - approx. A. R.), but she is officially recognized as the daughter of her crowned father and bears his surname, therefore no one can say anything against her in this sense. " (Letters and documents are quoted from E. P. Tolmachev's book "Alexander the Second and His Time", vol. 1. p. 94.) them on the very day of his arrival in Darmstadt, but he reacted exactly like you ... He thinks that, of course, it would have been better otherwise, but she bears the name of her father, therefore, from the point of view of the law, no one can reproach her. " Meanwhile, the heir to the All-Russian throne experienced the strongest feelings for the princess. From a letter from the heir of Tsarevich Alexander, the August Mother of the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, May 1839. Darmstadt: "Dear Mother, what do I care about the secrets of Princess Mary! I love her, and I would rather give up the throne than her. I will marry only her, that's my decision!"

Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria

Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria

Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria

Arrival in Russia

In September 1840, the princess entered the Russian land, and in December of the same year she accepted Orthodoxy with the name Maria Alexandrovna, becoming the fourth chosen one of the Russian Sovereigns from the House of Romanov with the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. At the end of Bright Week on April 19 (29), 1841, the heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna got married.

The lady-in-waiting of the Court A.F. Tyutcheva, who knew the Empress closely, left us many detailed memories of Princess Mary: was transferred to the Court, the most magnificent, most brilliant and most secular of all European Courts. She told me that many times, after long efforts to overcome shyness and embarrassment, she indulged in tears and long suppressed sobs in the solitude of her bedroom at night ...

Tyutcheva Anna Fedorovna

When I first saw the Grand Duchess, she was 28 years old. However, she looked very young. She retained this youthful appearance all her life, so that at 40 she could be mistaken for a woman in her thirties. Despite her tall stature and slenderness, she was so thin and fragile that at first glance she did not give the impression of a beauty; but she was extraordinarily elegant with that very special grace that can be found in old German paintings, in the Madonnas of Albrecht Dürer ...

In no one have I ever observed to a greater extent than in Tsesarevna, this spiritualized grace of ideal abstraction. Her features were not correct. Beautiful were her wonderful hair, her delicate complexion, her large blue, slightly bulging eyes, which looked meekly and penetratingly. Her profile was not beautiful, as her nose was not distinguished by regularity, and her chin receded somewhat back. The mouth was thin, with compressed lips, which testified to restraint, without the slightest sign of the ability for inspiration or impulses, and a barely noticeable ironic smile was a strange contrast to the expression of her eyes ... I rarely saw a person whose face and appearance better expressed the shades and contrasts of his inner extremely complex "I". The mind of the Tsesarevna was like her soul: subtle, elegant, insightful, very ironic, but devoid of ardor, breadth and initiative ... She was cautious to the extreme, and this caution made her weak in life ... She possessed to an exceptional degree the prestige of the Empress and the charm of a woman and knew how to wield these means with great intelligence and skill.”

Unknown artist

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna

Christina Robertson

According to her contemporaries, and the same maid of honor Tyutcheva: “Many tried and condemned her a lot, often not without reason, for the lack of initiative, interest and activity in all areas where she could bring life and movement.” Everyone expected from the Empress the activity characteristic of her August namesake, Empress Maria I Feodorovna, who, following the tragic death of her August spouse, Sovereign Emperor Paul I Petrovich, founded many charitable societies, actively interfered in the politics of the sovereign son of Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich, had a brilliant Court, and so on. At first, not many people knew that the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna, born by the will of God on the day of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, was terminally ill with heart and lungs, carrying her heavy Cross all her life. But even so, she did a lot of charitable deeds, continuing the glorious traditions of the Empresses of All Russia.

Coronation portraits of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna

Coronation portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

coronation celebrations

Timm Vasily Fedorovich

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

coronation celebrations

Timm Vasily Fedorovich

coronation celebrations

Timm Vasily Fedorovich

coronation celebrations

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

coronation celebrations

Timm Vasily Fedorovich

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

coronation celebrations

Folk holiday on the Khodynka field in Moscow on the occasion of the sacred coronation of Emperor Alexander II

Mikhail Alexandrovich Zichy

Also, let's not forget that not one of the Empresses was subjected to such terrifying terror in Russia. Surviving six attempts on the August spouse, living in anxiety for the Sovereign and crowned children for 14 long years, from the moment D.V. Karakozov fired his first shot on April 4 (17) until the explosion in the dining room of the Winter Palace in February 1880, which claimed 11 lives - such is to survive only a few are destined. According to the lady-in-waiting Countess A.A. Tolstoy, “the poor health of the Empress was finally shaken after the assassination attempt on April 2, 1879, (arranged by A.K. Solovyov, a Narodnaya Volya member - A.R.). She didn't get better after that. I, as now, see her that day - with feverishly shining eyes, broken, desperate. “There is nothing more to live for,” she told me, “I feel like this is killing me.”

M.A. Zichy. "The highest reception at the Winter Palace on April 5, 1866 after the first attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II.", Made in 1866

Zichy Mikhail Alexandrovich. "Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Dowager Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna"

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Acts of the Empress

The Empress Empress Maria Alexandrovna accomplished the most important feat of her life - she strengthened the throne of the dynasty with numerous heirs. She gave birth to Tsar Alexander II Nikolaevich, whom she adored, eight crowned children: two crowned daughters and six sons. Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich 01 The Lord granted her to survive two of them - the August daughter Alexandra and the heir Tsarevich Nikolai in 1849 and 1865. Upon the death in 1860 of the August mother-in-law of the Empress Alexandra I Feodorovna, she headed the huge charitable Department of the Mariinsky Gymnasiums and Educational Institutions. She was destined to open the first branch of the Red Cross in Russia and a number of major military hospitals during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. With the support of the progressive public and the active personal assistance of K. D. Ushinsky, she prepared for Emperor Alexander II Nikolaevich several notes on the reform of primary and women's education in Russia.

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna with her son Nikolai

Types of halls of the Winter Palace. Cabinet of Emperor Alexander II

Sverchkov Nikolay Egorovich - Riding In A Carriage (Alexander II With Children)

Emperor Alexander II with children. Photo from 1860

M.A. Zichy. "The highest reception at the Winter Palace on April 5, 1866 after the first attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II.

Patronizing enlightenment

The empress founded an innumerable number of shelters, almshouses and boarding houses. She marked the beginning of a new period of women's education in Russia, the establishment of open all-class women's educational institutions (gymnasiums), which, according to the regulation of 1860, it was decided to open in all cities where it would be possible to ensure their existence. Under her rule, women's gymnasiums in Russia were maintained almost exclusively on public and private funds. From now on, not only the Highest patronage, but social forces largely determined the fate of women's education in Russia. Teaching subjects were divided into compulsory and optional. Compulsory in three-year gymnasiums were: the Law of God, the Russian language, Russian history and geography, arithmetic, calligraphy, needlework. In the course of women's gymnasiums, in addition to the above subjects, the foundations of geometry, geography, history, as well as "the most important concepts in natural history and physics with the addition of information related to household and hygiene", calligraphy, needlework, gymnastics were obligatory.

Ivan Makarov Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II.

"Like an unsolved mystery..."

Like an unsolved mystery

Living charm breathes in it -

We watch with anxious trepidation

Into the quiet light of her eyes.

Is there an earthly charm in it

Or heavenly grace?

The soul would like to pray to her,

And the heart is torn to adore ...

F. I. Tyutchev. Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Timothy Neff Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Andrei Drozdov Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II.

Girls who were awarded gold or silver medals at the end of the gymnasium course of general teaching, and, moreover, who had listened to a special special course of an additional class, acquired the title of home tutors. Those who did not receive medals, received a "certificate of approval" on the completion of a full general course at the gymnasium and attended a special course in an additional class, enjoyed the rights of home teachers. The transformative activity of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna also touched her education in the institutes. On the personal initiative of the Empress, measures were taken not only to protect the health and physical strength of children, by eliminating from the circle of their occupations all that had the character of only mechanical, unproductive labor (compiling and writing off notes that replaced printed manuals, etc.), but also to closer rapprochement of the pupils with the family and with the environment surrounding the parental home, for which they began to be allowed to leave at the homes of their parents and close relatives for holidays and holidays. At the thought and initiative of the Empress, for the first time in Russia, diocesan women's schools began to appear. In the field of charity, the most important merit of the Empress is the organization of the Red Cross, to expand the activities of which during the Russian-Turkish war she put a lot of work and expenses, refusing even to sew new dresses for herself, giving all her savings to the benefit of widows, orphans, wounded and sick. The patronage of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna owes its development and prosperity to the "restoration of Christianity in the Caucasus", "distribution of spiritual and moral books", "Russian missionary", "brotherly in Moscow" and many other charitable institutions.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Peter Ernst Rockstuhl

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Ivan Makarov

And, finally, the Empress, with the full support of her August spouse, founded the largest theater and ballet school in St. Petersburg and all of Russia, which was later headed by Agrippina Vaganova. At the same time, both the school and the famous theater were completely supported by the funds of the Imperial Family, personally by the Empress, and, at the insistence of her August husband, Emperor Alexander II, bore her name. The theater bears the sovereign name even now. A bust of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was recently installed in the foyer of the theatre. From the first hour of the sovereign service of Princess Mary of Hesse on Russian soil, her burden was so voluminous and all-encompassing that the Empress spent countless amounts of energy in order to be in time everywhere and everywhere, not to be late, to bestow, smile, console, cheer up, pray, instruct, answer, caress and: sing a lullaby. She burned like a candle in the wind! To her maid of honor and tutor, confidant, Anna Tyutcheva, Tsesarevna, and later - the Empress of All Russia, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, with a weary smile, admitted more than once that she lived most of her life as a "volunteer" - that is, a voluntary soldier!

Karl Schulz Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Not a minute of rest and peace, moral and physical. Only an ardent feeling of reverent, selfless love for her husband, the Emperor, and a no less strong sense of true faith, which at times delighted even people of the primordially Orthodox, including: the confessor of the Imperial Family V. Ya Bazhanov and the famous Hierarch of the Moscow Metropolitan Filaret Drozdov, supported the rapidly depleted fragile forces of the Empress. The Saint of Moscow left several testimonies of his gratitude to the Empress, often addressing her with speeches and conversations given here.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna in mourning

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna,

I.K. Makarov

It is known that the Empress was extremely God-loving and generous, humble and meek. In her sovereign position, for almost 20 years she was the only Empress in the Russian state. She was kept on earth only by unchanging good spirits and that "unsolved secret of living charm" that the observant diplomat and poet Tyutchev so subtly noted in her. The powerful charm of her personality extended to everyone who loved and knew her, but there were fewer and fewer of them over the years!

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

And the tests, on the contrary, did not decrease in the life of the High Royal person, surrounded by the close attention of hundreds of captious eyes. One of such difficult trials for Her Majesty Empress Maria was the presence in the personal retinue of the Empress of a young, charming lady-in-waiting, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruky, in whom such an adored husband, the ruler of the Empire, desperately, dizzily - quickly fell in love. The Empress Maria Alexandrovna knew everything, for she was too smart and impressionable for self-deception, but she could not do anything ... Or did she not want to? She suffered for all fourteen years of this infamous relationship - silently, patiently, without raising an eyebrow, without giving a look. It had its own pride and its own aching pain. Not everyone understands and accepts this. Especially grown-up August children, and sons who literally idolized their mother!

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Firs Sergeevich Zhuravlev (1836-1901) Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

Blissful demise

I dare to urge Your Imperial Majesty not to return for the winter to St. Petersburg and, in general, to central Russia. As a last resort - Crimea. For your exhausted lungs and heart, weakened by stress, the climate of St. Petersburg is fatal, I can assure you! Your villa in Florence has long been ready and waiting for you. And the new Palace in the vicinity of Livadia is all at the service of your Imperial ...:

- Say, Sergei Petrovich,- the Empress suddenly interrupted the life doctor Botkin, - to keep me here, away from Russia, did the Sovereign ask you? He doesn't want me to come back?- Thin, emaciated fingers nervously drummed on the windowsill of the high Italian window of the villa, overlooking the sea coast. The sea behind the glass floated in the morning haze and was still sleepy - serene. It seemed that it was swaying right at the very feet:

August Behrendsen Kuste bei Nizza

Drop all these curtsies, Sergei Petrovich! From my priceless health there were tiny drops, and from the August Will - one humility before God's permission!- the emaciated profile of the Empress was still incorrectly beautiful with some unusual, painful subtlety, it had not been there before, but even on him, the profile seemed to have already laid the imperious shadow of death.

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

- I dare to argue with Your Majesty about the last statement!

So - sir, rapid pulse, wet palms ... You should lie down, Your Imperial Majesty, I'll call the nurse now. We must follow the rules!

I'll lie down in the next world, Sergey Petrovich, it won't be long to wait. Tell me to get ready, tomorrow morning I have to be in Cannes, from there to - St. Petersburg, that's enough, I stayed too long by the sea. I want to die at home, in my bed.

Sergei Petrovich Botkin

The entire course of procedures has not yet been completed, and I don’t want to resort to oxygen pillows, as on my last visit to the capital! Your Majesty, I beg you! I received a letter from Their Highnesses, Tsarevich Alexander and Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna, they also find that it is highly undesirable for you to be in the capital and sour in the stuffy Winter. Autumn this year in St. Petersburg, as always, is not sugary! - the life doctor smiled a little, the Empress immediately picked up this weak smile:

Alexander II with his family

I know, dear doctor, I know, but that's not the reason! You are simply afraid of how my presence in the Palace will affect my health, over my poor head, a well-known person, Sacred to the Sovereign Emperor! The Empress smiled slightly. Don't be afraid, I will no longer drop combs and break cups at the sound of children's footsteps.. (A hint of Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruky and her children from Emperor Alexander. There were three of them. They all lived in the Winter Palace and occupied apartments directly above the head of the Empress! This was dictated, as historians write, by security considerations for the Princess and children. At that time, attempts became more frequent attempt on the Sovereign. But is it only this? .. - note by the author).

Köhler I. P. Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

I, as always, will find a natural explanation for such a natural noise, so as not to embarrass the young maids! - The Empress tried to smile, but her face was distorted by a painful grimace. She lowered her head, trying to suppress a fit of coughing, pressing her handkerchief to her lips. He was instantly soaked in blood.

- Your Imperial Majesty, I beg you, do not! - excited Botkin sharply squeezed Maria Alexandrovna's hand in his palms. I understand I shouldn't! I understand everything, I just want you to know: I never blamed him for anything and never blame him! He has given me so much happiness in all these years and so often proved to me his immense respect that this would be more than enough for ten ordinary women!

Ivan Kramskoy Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

It's not his fault that he is Caesar, and I am Caesar's wife! You will object now that he insulted the Empress in me, and you will be right, dear doctor, you are certainly right, but let God judge him! I have no right to it. Heaven has long known and known my resentment and bitterness. Alexander too. And my real misfortune is that life acquires full meaning for me and multi-colored colors only next to him, no matter whether his heart belongs to me or another, younger and more beautiful ... He is not to blame, which means more to me than anything else , I'm just so strange arranged.

Princess Dolgorukaya Ekaterina Mikhailovna. - Late 1860s - early 1870s. - A photo

And I'm happy that I can leave before him. Fear for his life greatly tormented me! Those six assassination attempts! Mad Russia! She always needs something amazing foundations and foundations, disastrous shocks ... And, perhaps, the heartfelt personal weaknesses of the Autocrat only play into her hands, who knows? "He is just like us, a weak mortal, and even an adulterer! Poison him, atu, atu!" they shout, forgetting. Perhaps, with my prayer, There, at the Throne of the Heavenly Father, I will beg for him a quiet death, in exchange for the martyr's crown of the sufferer, driven into a corner by the raging mob with foam at the mouth, eternally dissatisfied. Maria Alexandrovna sighed wearily and bowed her head on her hands folded in prayer. Her strength had completely left her.

-Your Imperial Majesty, you are tired, take a rest, why tear your soul with gloomy thoughts! the life doctor muttered helplessly, trying to hide the confusion and excitement that gripped him.

Sergei Petrovich, order to get ready! the Empress whispered wearily. - As long as I have the strength, I want to return and die beside him and the children, on my native land, under my native clouds. You know, nowhere is there such a high sky as in Russia, and such warm and soft clouds! - the shadow of a dreamy smile touched the Empress's bloodless lips.

Didn't you notice? Tell His Majesty that I will be buried in a simple white dress, without a crown on my head and other Royal regalia. There, under warm and soft clouds, we are all equal before the King of Heaven, in Eternity there are no differences in rank. You say, dear doctor?

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna

In March 1855, a new emperor ascended the Russian throne. Alexander II. The era of his reign, which began with the defeat in the Crimean War and ended with the death of the emperor himself, was one of the brightest periods in Russian history.

Alexander II decided on something that his predecessors were not ready for - he embarked on large-scale reforms that Russia badly needed.

These reforms affected almost all spheres of life, although in the first place the abolition of serfdom is credited to the emperor.

But behind the busy life of Emperor Alexander II, there was also the life of Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov, an ordinary person, not without the feelings and weaknesses inherent in all people. And there was a love story in his life for which he had to fight ...

The unloved one is waiting for me in the palace...

In 1841, the 23-year-old heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich, married a 17-year-old Maximilian Wilhelmina August Sophia Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of the Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Portrait of Franz Winterhalter, 1857 (Hermitage)

The parents of the Grand Duke had serious doubts about this union, but the future emperor, who was distinguished by amorousness from a young age, insisted on his own. In Orthodoxy, the young wife of the prince took the name Maria Alexandrovna.

Maria Alexandrovna was a worthy wife of the Grand Duke, and then the Emperor. She bore him eight children despite poor health; she devoted a lot of time to charity, did not interfere in the political affairs of her husband - in a word, an exemplary wife of the monarch.

The problem was only one thing - Alexander quickly lost interest in his wife. Men from the Romanov family were not at all distinguished by marital fidelity, but Alexander II stood out even among them, changing favorites like gloves.

Maria Alexandrovna knew about this, and her worries on this score did not add to her health. To the credit of Alexander II, he did everything that depended on him for the recovery of his wife. The imperial couple spent a lot of time in foreign resorts, and the empress got better for a while.

Maria Alexandrovna's health was greatly shaken after the death of her eldest son, the Tsarevich. Nikolai Alexandrovich. The 21-year-old heir to the throne died in 1865 in Nice from meningitis.

The emperor, who was also experiencing the loss of his son, surrounded his wife with care, but not love. His real, sincere love belonged to another ...

"I want to see the Emperor"

Ekaterina Dolgorukova. Photo: Public Domain

In 1859, Alexander II went on a trip near Poltava, where exercises were to be held dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. The emperor stayed at the Teplovka estate, owned by the captain of the guards, prince Mikhail Dolgorukov belonging to an ancient but impoverished branch of the Dolgorukov family.

One day, while walking in the garden, the emperor came across a girl about ten years old. Alexander II asked who she was. “I am Ekaterina Mikhailovna,” the girl answered importantly. "What are you doing here?" the king asked. “I want to see the emperor,” the girl admitted.

This girl was the daughter of Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov Catherine. The emperor found Katenka funny and intelligent and spent several hours talking and walking in the garden with her, which led her to complete delight.

Two years after this meeting, the emperor was informed that Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, with whom he stayed, was completely ruined, and his family was left without a livelihood.

Remembering the hospitality of Dolgorukov and his sweet and funny daughter, Alexander II ordered the four sons and two daughters of the prince to be taken under the "imperial guardianship".

The boys were assigned to the capital's military schools, and the girls to the Smolny Institute.

Meeting in the Summer Garden

Empress Maria Alexandrovna patronized the Smolny Institute, but because of her illness, the emperor himself often visited the educational institution. Once he was introduced to the 17-year-old pupil Ekaterina Dolgorukova. Alexander II remembered his little interlocutor from Teplovka, but now instead of her, a young girl of amazing beauty stood in front of him.

This meeting turned the life of Alexander II. He suddenly discovered that his thoughts were constantly returning to Katya Dolgorukova.

Egor Botman. Portrait of Alexander II. 1856. (Fragment). Photo: Public Domain

After graduating from the institute, Ekaterina Dolgorukova settled in St. Petersburg in the house of her older brother Mikhail and often walked along the alleys of the Summer Garden. Alexander II also liked to walk there alone. Once this habit almost made him a victim of an assassination attempt ... But let's not talk about politics.

During one of his walks in the Summer Garden, the emperor literally ran into Katenka Dolgorukova, the girl he now thought about all the time. Alexander II walked with Katya for a long time that day, uttered a bunch of compliments to her, which embarrassed her a lot.

From that moment on, their joint walks took place more and more often. From simple compliments, the emperor moved on to words of love - he lost his head, like a boy.

"I consider you my wife before God"

From the notes of Ekaterina Dolgorukova: “... after much thought, I decided that my heart belongs to him and I am not able to connect my existence with anyone. The next day I announced to my parents that I would rather die than get married. There were endless scenes and questions, but I felt an unprecedented determination to fight all those who tried to marry me, and I realized that this force that supported me was love. From that moment on, I made the decision to give up everything, the social pleasures so desired by young persons of my age, and devote my whole life to the happiness of the One I loved.

Their relationship for several months was purely platonic in nature, which is completely uncharacteristic of Alexander II, who was used to receiving everything from women at once. But this time everything was different - for the first time in his life he was possessed by a high feeling that did not allow him to treat his young lover rudely.

They spent their first night together in July 1866 at the Belvedere, near Peterhof. Katya Dolgorukova was not yet 19 years old, Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov was 48 ...

The emperor said to Catherine: “I am not free now. But at the first opportunity I will marry you, because from now on and forever I consider you my wife before God ... "

Ekaterina Dolgorukova. Own sketch of Emperor Alexander II. Photo: Public Domain

"I won't rest until I see your charms"

The court quickly learned about the relationship between the emperor and Ekaterina Dolgorukova. At first, this was taken for another intrigue, but it soon became clear that this time Alexander II fell in love for real.

And the legal wife, Maria Alexandrovna, continued to fade away, getting sick more and more often.

The emperor faced strong opposition to his new romance from his family, including his son Alexander Alexandrovich, heir to the throne.

The conflict was so serious that he decided to temporarily send Catherine abroad. However, Alexander II was not going to leave her - he came to visit his beloved even in Paris, where French police agents secretly followed their romance.

Those who expected that "the emperor's passion will pass" were mistaken - the "fascination" stretched for years. Alexander and Ekaterina corresponded full of passion, and the content of many letters is capable of infuriating even Russians of the 21st century who are not prone to puritanism. Emperor - Ekaterina Dolgorukova: “We possessed each other the way you wanted. But I must confess to you: I will not rest until I see your charms again..

Ekaterina Dolgorukova - Alexander: “Everything trembles in me from the passion with which I want to see you. I love and kiss you all, my dear, my life, my everything.

Catherine gave birth to four children from the emperor - two girls and two boys (one of whom died in infancy).

“Son, do you want to be a Grand Duke?”

By the end of the 1870s, an amazing picture emerged: the All-Russian Emperor lived in two families, not really hiding this fact. This, of course, was not reported to the subjects, but members of the royal family, high-ranking dignitaries, courtiers were well aware of this.

The relationship of Alexander II with his son and heir Alexander Alexandrovich on this basis was teetering on the brink of the Cold War.

And Alexander II also threw firewood into this family conflict, settling Catherine with her children in the Winter Palace, in separate chambers, but next to her legal wife and children.

George, Olga and Ekaterina Yuryevsky. Photo: Public Domain

May 22, 1880 Maria Alexandrovna died. Alexander II was determined to fulfill the promise made to Catherine 14 years ago.

On July 6, 1880, Alexander II married Ekaterina Dolgorukova. This happened before the end of the mourning for the deceased empress. Alexander understood everything, but to those who asked him to wait, he answered: “I would never marry before the end of mourning, but we live in a dangerous time when sudden assassination attempts to which I expose myself every day can end my life. Therefore, it is my duty to secure the position of a woman who has been living for me for fourteen years now, and also to secure the future of our three children.

The marriage was morganatic, that is, it did not make Ekaterina Dolgorukova an empress, but it seems that Alexander II was ready to go further.

In any case, members of the imperial family were instructed to treat Ekaterina Dolgorukova as if they were an empress.

Alexander II himself, playing with his little son George, whom the family called Goga, once in the presence of the heir to the throne asked the baby:

- Goga, do you want to be a Grand Duke?

Catherine, who was sitting next to her husband, breaking etiquette, exclaimed:

- Sasha, stop it!

The fact that the future Emperor Alexander III thought about all this could be guessed from his changed face.

Love that conquered death

By decree of December 5, 1880, Ekaterina Dolgorukova complained of the title Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya, which correlated with one of the family names of the Romanov boyars; the children of Catherine and the emperor also received the princely title and the surname Yuryevsky.

If the men from the imperial family, with the exception of the heir, reacted to everything that happened with restraint and understanding, then the ladies behaved like bazaar women or inhabitants of the communal kitchen. Streams of dirty gossip and outright hatred accompanied the short period during which Catherine was destined to be the lawful wife of Alexander II.

On March 1, 1881, the emperor was mortally wounded by a Narodnaya Volya bomb Ignatius Grinevitsky.

Ekaterina Dolgorukova was only 33 years old, but along with the death of the person to whom she once decided to devote her life, the world around her faded. She never married again, remaining faithful to Alexander.

Alexander II gave his second wife not only a title, but also money capital in a bank in the amount of more than 3 million rubles. The emperor foresaw that with his death, the Romanov relatives would try to recoup Catherine and the children.

And so it happened. The new emperor Alexander III did not show nobility, and Ekaterina Dolgorukova and her children were strongly advised to leave Russia.

The Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya emigrated to Nice, where she spent the rest of her life in her own villa, leaving memories of the happiest years, of her love for the great emperor and an ordinary person.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova died in Nice in 1922, outliving Alexander by 41 years...

Ekaterina Dolgorukova (Yurievskaya) in Nice.

The future Empress Maria Alexandrovna was born in 1824 in Darmstadt, the capital of Hesse. The baby was named Maximilian Wilhemina Augusta Sophia Maria.

Origin

Her father was the German Ludwig II (1777-1848) - the Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine. He came to power after the July Revolution.

The girl's mother was Wilhelmina of Baden (1788-1836). She was from the Baden house of Zähringen. There were rumors at court that her younger children, including Maximilian, were born from a relationship with one of the local barons. Ludwig II - the official husband - recognized her as his daughter in order to avoid a shameful scandal. Nevertheless, the girl with her brother Alexander began to live separately from her father and his residence in Darmstadt. This place of "exile" was Heiligenberg, which was the property of Wilhelmina's mother.

Meeting with Alexander II

Dynastic marriages with German princesses were popular among the Romanovs. For example, Maria's predecessor, Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas I), was the daughter of the Prussian king. And the wife of the last Russian emperor was also from the Hessian house. So against this background, the decision of Alexander II to marry a German from a small principality does not seem strange.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna met her future husband in March 1839, when she was 14 years old and he was 18. At this time, Alexander, as heir to the throne, made a traditional European tour to get acquainted with the local ruling houses. He met the daughter of the Duke of Hesse at the play Vestal.

How was the marriage arranged?

After they met, Alexander began to persuade his parents in letters to give permission to marry a German woman. However, the mother was against such a connection of the crown prince. She was embarrassed by rumors about the illegal origin of the girl. Emperor Nicholas, on the contrary, decided not to chop off his shoulder, but to consider the issue more carefully.

The fact is that his son Alexander already had a bad experience in his personal life. He fell in love with the maid of honor of the court. Parents were sharply against such a relationship for two fundamental reasons. First, this girl was of simple origin. Secondly, she was also a Catholic. So Alexander was forcibly separated from her and sent to Europe, just so that he could find a suitable match for himself.

So Nikolai decided not to take risks and not break his son's heart again. Instead, he began to ask in detail about the girl of the trustee Alexander Kavelin and the poet Vasily Zhukovsky, who accompanied the heir on his journey. When the emperor received positive reviews, an order immediately followed throughout the court that it was no longer allowed to spread any rumors about the Hessian princess.

Even Empress Alexandra Feodorovna had to obey this command. Then she decided to go to Darmstadt herself in order to get to know her daughter-in-law in advance. It was an unheard of event - nothing like it had ever happened in Russian history.

Appearance and interests

The future Empress Maria Alexandrovna made an excellent impression on her predecessor. After a face-to-face meeting, consent to marriage was obtained.

What so attracted others in this German girl? The most detailed description of her appearance was left in her memoirs by her maid of honor Anna Tyutcheva (daughter of the famous poet). According to her, Empress Maria Alexandrovna had a delicate complexion, wonderful hair and a meek gaze of large blue eyes. Against this background, her thin lips looked a little strange, which often depicted an ironic smile.

The girl had a deep knowledge of music and European literature. Her education and breadth of interests impressed everyone around her, and many people later left their rave reviews in the form of memoirs. For example, the writer Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy said that the Empress, with her knowledge, not only stands out from the background of other women, but even noticeably beats many men.

Appearance at court and wedding

The wedding took place shortly after all the formalities were settled. The bride arrived in St. Petersburg in 1840 and was most of all shocked by the splendor and beauty of the Russian capital. In December, she converted to Orthodoxy and was baptized with the name Maria Alexandrovna. The very next day there was an engagement between her and the heir to the throne. The wedding took place a year later, in 1841. It was held in the Cathedral Church, located in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Now it is one of the premises of the Hermitage, where regular exhibitions are held.

It was hard for the girl to wedge herself into a new life because of her lack of knowledge of the language and the fear of not being liked by her father-in-law and mother-in-law. As she herself later admitted, every day Maria spent on pins and needles, she felt like a “volunteer”, ready to rush anywhere on a sudden command, for example, to an unexpected reception. in general was a burden for the princess, and then the empress. First of all, she was attached to her husband and children, she tried only to help them, and not waste time on formalities.

The coronation of the spouses took place in 1856 after the death of Nicholas I. Thirty-year-old Maria Alexandrovna received a new status that frightened her all the time that she was the daughter-in-law of the emperor.

Character

Contemporaries noted the numerous virtues possessed by the Empress Maria Alexandrovna. This is kindness, attention to people, sincerity in words and deeds. But the most important and noticeable was the sense of duty with which she stayed at court and carried the title throughout her life. Each of her actions corresponded to the imperial status.

She always observed religious dogmas and was extremely pious. This feature stood out so strongly in the character of the empress that it was much easier to imagine her as a nun than a reigning person. For example, Louis II (King of Bavaria) noted that Maria Alexandrovna was surrounded by the halo of a saint. Such behavior in many ways did not agree with her status, since her presence was required in many state (even formal) affairs, despite her behavior removed from worldly fuss.

Charity

Most of all, Empress Maria Alexandrovna - the wife of Alexander 2 - was known for her wide charity. Throughout the country, at her expense, hospitals, shelters and gymnasiums were opened, which received the epithet "Mariinsky". In total, she opened and monitored 5 hospitals, 36 shelters, 12 almshouses, 5 charitable societies. The empress did not deprive the empress of her attention to the sphere of education: 2 institutes, four dozen gymnasiums, hundreds of small schools for artisans and workers, etc. were built. Maria Alexandrovna spent both state and own funds on this (she was given 50 thousand silver rubles a year for personal expenses).

Health care has become a special area of ​​activity, which Empress Maria Alexandrovna was engaged in. The Red Cross appeared in Russia precisely on her initiative. Its volunteers helped wounded soldiers during the war in Bulgaria against Turkey in 1877-1878.

Death of daughter and son

A great tragedy for the royal family was the death of the heir to the throne. Empress Maria Alexandrovna - the wife of Alexander 2 - gave her husband eight children. The eldest son Nikolai was born in 1843, two years after the wedding, when his namesake grandfather was still the king.

The child was distinguished by a sharp mind and a pleasant character, for which he was loved by all family members. He was already engaged and educated when he injured his back in an accident. There are several versions of what happened. Either Nikolai fell off his horse, or hit a marble table during a comic struggle with his comrade. At first, the injury was invisible, but over time, the heir became increasingly pale and felt worse. In addition, doctors treated him incorrectly - they prescribed medicines for rheumatism, which did not bring any benefit, because the true cause of the disease was not identified. Soon Nikolai was chained to a wheelchair. This became a terrible stress that Empress Maria Alexandrovna endured. The son's illness followed the death of Alexandra's first daughter, who died of meningitis. His mother was constantly with Nicholas, even when it was decided to send him to Nice for treatment for spinal tuberculosis, where he died at the age of 22.

Cooling relationship with her husband

Both Alexander and Maria, in their own way, struggled with this loss. The emperor blamed himself for forcing his son to do a lot of physical training, partly because of which the accident occurred. One way or another, but the tragedy alienated the spouses from each other.

The trouble was that all their further life together consisted of the same rituals. In the mornings it was a kiss on duty and ordinary conversations about dynastic affairs. In the afternoon, the couple met another parade. The empress spent the evening with the children, and her husband constantly disappeared on public affairs. He loved his family, but his time was simply not enough for relatives, which Maria Alexandrovna could not help but notice. The empress tried to help Alexander in business, especially in the early years.

Then (at the beginning of his reign) the king gladly consulted with his wife about many decisions. She was always up to date with the latest ministerial reports. Most often, her advice concerned the education system. This was largely due to the charitable activities that Empress Maria Alexandrovna was engaged in. And the development of education in these years received a natural impetus forward. Schools were opened, access to them appeared among the peasants, who, among other things, were also freed from serfdom under Alexander.

The empress herself had the most liberal opinion on this matter, which she shared, for example, with Kavelin, telling him that she ardently supported her husband in his desire to give freedom to the largest estate in Russia.

However, with the advent of the Manifesto (1861), the Empress was less and less concerned with state affairs due to some cooling of relations with her husband. This was also due to the wayward character of Romanov. The king was increasingly overtaken by whispers in the palace that he too often looks back at the opinion of his wife, that is, he is under her heel. This annoyed the freedom-loving Alexander. In addition, the very title of autocrat obliged him to make decisions only by his own will, without advice from anyone. This concerned the very nature of power in Russia, which, it was believed, was given by God to a single anointed one. But the real gap between the spouses was yet to come.

Ekaterina Dolgorukova

In 1859, Alexander II carried out maneuvers in the southern part of the empire (the territory of present-day Ukraine) - the 150th anniversary of the battle of Poltava was celebrated. The sovereign stopped for a visit to the estate of the famous Dolgorukovs' house. This family was a branch from the Rurik princes. That is, its representatives were distant relatives of the Romanovs. But in the middle of the 19th century, there was a well-born family, and its head, Prince Mikhail, had only one estate left - Teplovka.

The emperor stepped in and helped Dolgorukov, in particular, he got his sons into the guards, and sent his daughters to the Smolny Institute, promising to pay the expenses from the royal purse. Then he met a thirteen-year-old girl who surprised him with her curiosity and love of life.

In 1865, according to tradition, the autocrat paid a visit to the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens. Then, after a long break, he again saw Catherine, who was already 18 years old. The girl was amazingly beautiful.

The emperor, who had an amorous disposition, began to send her gifts through his assistants. He even began to visit the institute incognito, but it was decided that this was too much, and the girl was expelled under the pretext of poor health. Now she lived in Petersburg and saw the tsar in the Summer Garden. She was even made a maid of honor to the hostess of the Winter Palace, who was Empress Maria Alexandrovna. The wife of Alexander II was very upset by the rumors swarming around the young girl. Finally, Catherine left for Italy so as not to cause a scandal.

But Alexander was serious. He even promised the favorite that he would marry her as soon as the opportunity presented itself. In the summer of 1867 he arrived in Paris at the invitation of Napoleon III. Dolgorukova went there from Italy.

In the end, the emperor tried to explain himself to his family, wishing that Maria Alexandrovna would hear him first. The Empress, the wife of Alexander II and the mistress of the Winter Palace, tried to keep up appearances and did not allow the conflict to go beyond the residence. However, her eldest son and heir to the throne rebelled. This was not surprising. The future was distinguished by a sharp disposition, even at a very young age. He scolded his father, and he, in turn, became furious.

As a result, Catherine nevertheless moved to the Winter Palace and gave birth to four children from the king, who later received princely titles and were legalized. This happened after the death of Alexander's legal wife. The funeral of Empress Maria Alexandrovna made it possible for the Tsar to marry Catherine. She received the title of the Most Serene Princess and the surname Yuryevskaya (like her children). However, the emperor was not happy in this marriage for long.

Illness and death

Maria Alexandrovna's health was undermined for many reasons. These are frequent childbirth, the betrayal of her husband, the death of her son, as well as the damp climate of St. Petersburg, for which the native German woman was not ready in the first years of the move. Because of this, she developed consumption, as well as nervous exhaustion. According to the recommendation of a personal doctor, every summer the woman went south to the Crimea, whose climate was supposed to help her overcome illnesses. Over time, the woman almost retired. One of the last episodes of her participation in public life was visiting military councils during the confrontation with Turkey in 1878.

During these years, assassination attempts were constantly made on Alexander II by revolutionaries and bombers. Once an explosion occurred in the dining room of the Winter Palace, but the empress was so sick that she did not even notice it, lying in her chambers. And her husband survived only because he lingered in his office, contrary to his habit of having lunch at a set time. Constant fear for the life of her beloved husband ate the remnants of health, which Maria Alexandrovna still owned. The Empress, whose photos at that time show a clear change in her appearance, became extremely thin and looked more like her shadow than a person in the body.

In the spring of 1880, she finally fell ill, while her husband moved to Tsarskoye Selo with Dolgorukova. He paid his wife short visits, but could not do anything to somehow improve her well-being. Tuberculosis was the reason why Empress Maria Alexandrovna died. The biography of this woman says that her life was cut short in the same year, on June 3, according to the new style.

According to dynastic tradition, the wife of Alexander II found her last refuge in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The funeral of Empress Maria Alexandrovna became a mourning event for the whole country, which sincerely loved her.

Alexander briefly survived his first wife. In 1881, he died after being wounded by a bomb thrown at his feet by a terrorist. The emperor was buried next to Maria Alexandrovna.

N. Lavrov "Russian Emperor Alexander II"

“He did not want to seem better than he was, and often was better than he seemed” (V.O. Klyuchevsky).

The Emperor of All Russia, the Tsar of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland, Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov, the first son of Nicholas I from his marriage to Alexandra Feodorovna, daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III, was born in the Kremlin, baptized in the Miracle Monastery and was awarded the highest Russian Order of St. Andrew the First-Called at baptism.

Upbringing

His birth is a long-awaited event in the royal family, because. Nikolai's elder brothers had no sons. In this regard, he was brought up as the future heir to the throne.

By tradition, he was immediately appointed chief of the Life Guards Hussars. At the age of 7 he was promoted to cornet, and at the age of 11 he already commanded a company. Alexander liked both military service and military games, but he, as heir to the throne, was constantly inspired by the thought of his special mission - "to live for others."

His systematic home education began at the age of 6. His father chose his mentors himself. The poet V.A. was appointed teacher. Zhukovsky, who compiled the "Plan of Exercise" for 12 years. At the heart of this plan was a comprehensive education, combined with morality. Zhukovsky was also a teacher of the Russian language. Archpriest G. Pavsky became a teacher of the Law of God and Sacred History, and Captain K. Merder, a simple officer awarded for bravery at Austerlitz, became a military instructor. He was an intelligent and noble man who worked in a cadet school and had experience working with children. Legislation was taught by M.M. Speransky, statistics and history - K.I. Arseniev, economics - E.F. Kankrin, foreign policy - F.I. Brunnov, arithmetic - academician Collins, natural history - K.B. Trinius, famous German and Russian botanist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

F. Kruger "Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich"

As a result, the prince received a good education, was fluent in French, German and English, from childhood he was distinguished by responsiveness and impressionability, quickness of mind, good manners and sociability.

But at the same time, the educators noted that he was quick-tempered and unrestrained; succumbs to difficulties, not possessing a strong will, unlike his father. K. Merder noted that sometimes he acted not out of inner need, but out of vanity or the desire to please his father, to receive praise.

Nicholas I personally supervised the education of his son, arranged exams twice a year and attended them himself. From the age of 16, he began to involve Alexander in state affairs: the prince was supposed to participate in meetings of the Senate, then he was introduced to the Synod, and in 1836 he was promoted to major general and was included in the retinue of the king.

The process of formation of the crown prince ended with travels around Russia (May-December 1837) and abroad May 1838 - June 1839). Before a trip to Russia, Nicholas I prepared a special “instruction” for his son, which said: “Your first duty will be to see everything with that indispensable goal in order to familiarize yourself in detail with the state over which sooner or later you are determined to reign. Therefore, your attention should be equally directed to everything ... in order to get an idea of ​​the real state of things.

Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich

During this trip, Alexander visited 28 provinces, seeing with his own eyes all the ugliness of Russian reality. He was the first of the Romanov family to visit Siberia, where he met with the Decembrists, as a result of which he addressed his father in several letters “for the forgiveness of some unfortunate people” and achieved a mitigation of their fate. On the journey, the Tsarevich was accompanied by Adjutant General Kavelin, the poet Zhukovsky, the teacher of history and geography of Russia Arsenyev, the medical officer Enokhin and young officers.

Later, he even visited the Caucasus, where he distinguished himself in battle during the attack of the mountaineers, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

Before leaving abroad, Nicholas I admonished his son: “Many things will seduce you, but upon closer examination you will see that not everything deserves to be imitated; ... we must always preserve our nationality, our imprint, and woe to us if we leave it behind; it is our strength, our salvation, our uniqueness.”

During his foreign trip, Alexander visited the countries of Central Europe, Scandinavia, Italy and England. In Germany, he met his future wife, Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of the Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, with whom they married two years later.

I. Makarov "Empress Maria Alexandrovna"

Maria Alexandrovna loved music and was well versed in it, well aware of the latest European literature. The breadth of her interests and spiritual qualities amazed many with whom she had a chance to meet. “With her mind, she surpasses not only other women, but also most men. This is an unprecedented combination of intelligence with purely feminine charm and ... a charming character, ”wrote the poet A.K. Tolstoy. In Russia, Maria Alexandrovna soon became known for her wide charity - the Mariinsky hospitals, gymnasiums and shelters were in her field of vision and spread, earning high praise from her contemporaries.

In 1841, Nicholas I appointed the heir a member of the State Council, which in fact was already the beginning of his state activity.

And from 1842, Alexander was already acting as emperor during his absence in the capital. At this stage of his activity, he shared the conservative views of his father: in 1848 he supported preventive measures to tighten censorship in connection with the revolutionary events in Europe, concerning the protection of educational institutions from the "revolutionary infection".

The beginning of the reign

Monogram of Alexander II

The sudden death of Nicholas I, accelerated by the tragic events of the Crimean War, naturally led Alexander to the throne. Russia faced a number of acute tasks that Nicholas I could not solve: the peasant problem, the Eastern, Polish and other problems, state financial problems upset by the Crimean War, the international isolation of Russia, etc. Nicholas in the last hours of his life said to his son: “I hand over my command to you, but, unfortunately, not in the order you wanted, leaving you with a lot of work and worries.

The first decisive step of Alexander was the conclusion of the Peace of Paris in 1856 with conditions that were not the worst for Russia. He then visited Finland and Poland, where he issued an appeal to the local nobility to "leave dreams", which solidified his position as a determined emperor. In Germany, he secured a "dual alliance" with the Prussian king (his mother's brother) Frederick William IV, thereby weakening the foreign policy blockade of Russia.

But, having begun his reign with the effective support of the conservative views of his father, under the pressure of circumstances, he was forced to switch to a policy of reforms.

N. Lavrov "Portrait of Emperor Alexander II"

Reforms of AlexanderII

In December 1855, the Supreme Censorship Committee was closed and the free issue of foreign passports was allowed. By the day of the coronation (in August 1856), an amnesty was declared for political prisoners, and police supervision was weakened.

But Alexander understood that serfdom hindered the development of the state, and this was the basis for returning to the peasant question, which was the main one at that moment. Speaking to the nobles in March 1856, he said: “Rumors are circulating that I want to announce the release of serfdom. It's not fair... But I won't tell you that I'm totally against it. We live in such an age that in time this must happen ... It is much better for this to happen from above than from below.

In 1857, to consider this issue, a Secret Committee was formed from the emperor's trustees, which began to develop provisions in individual regions in order to then unite them for the whole of Russia in the "Regulation" on the abolition of serfdom. Commission members N. Milyutin, Ya. Rostovtsev and others tried to prepare compromise solutions, but the constant pressure of the nobility on the government led to the fact that the project protected primarily the interests of the landlords. On February 19, 1861, the Manifesto on the Emancipation of the Peasants was signed, and thus the conditions for capitalist production were created (23 million landlord peasants received personal freedom, civil rights), but many clauses of the "Regulations" limited the peasants to economic and legal dependence on the rural community controlled by the authorities. In relation to the landowner, the peasants remained "temporarily liable" until the payment of the debt (for 49 years) for the provided land plots and had to carry out the former duties - corvée, dues. The landowners received the best plots and huge redemption sums.

But, despite the limitations of the peasant reform, Alexander II went down in history as the tsar-liberator.

January 1, 1864 was held Zemstvo reform. Issues of the local economy, collection of taxes, approval of the budget, primary education, medical and veterinary services were entrusted to elected institutions - district and provincial zemstvo councils. The election of representatives was two-stage, but with a predominance of the nobility. They were elected for a term of 4 years.

V. Timm "Coronation"

Zemstvos dealt with issues of local government. At the same time, in everything that concerned the interests of the peasants, the zemstvos were guided by the interests of the landlords, who controlled their activities. That is, self-government was simply a fiction, and elective posts were filled at the direction of the landowner. Local zemstvo institutions were subordinate to the tsarist administration (primarily to the governors). The zemstvo consisted of: zemstvo provincial assemblies (legislative power), zemstvo councils (executive power).

City government reform. It ensured the participation of various segments of the population in local government, but at the same time, the autocracy remained both the highest legislative and executive body, which brought these reforms to naught, since the lack of sufficient material resources increased the dependence of local self-government on the government.

Judicial reform of 1864 was a major step in the history of Russia towards the development of civilized norms of legality, they were based on the principles of modern law:

• the independence of the court from the administration;
• irremovability of judges;
• publicity;
• competitiveness (in criminal courts, the institution of jurors elected from the population was introduced; for legal assistance to the population - the institution of sworn attorneys).

But as soon as the new courts demonstrated their work in a new capacity, the authorities immediately began to subordinate them to the regime. For example, the legal proceedings of political cases were carried out not by jury, but by military courts, special courts were kept for peasants, clergy, etc.

military reform. Taking into account the lessons of the Crimean War, serious transformations were carried out in the army in 1861-1874. The conditions of soldier's service were facilitated, combat training improved, the military command and control system was streamlined: Russia was divided into 15 military districts. In 1874, the Charter on universal military service was approved, which replaced the recruitment.

In addition to these reforms, the transformations affected the sphere of finance, education, the media, and the church. They were called "great" and contributed to the strengthening of the country's economy and the formation of a rule of law state.

Historians note, however, that all the reforms of Alexander II were carried out by him not because of his convictions, but because of the necessity he realized, so his contemporaries felt their instability and incompleteness. In this regard, a conflict began to grow between him and the thinking part of society, who feared that everything done “risks to perish if Alexander II remains on the throne, that Russia is threatened with a return to all the horrors of the Nikolaev region,” wrote P. Kropotkin.

Since the mid-60s, contemporaries have noted fatigue and a certain apathy in the behavior of the emperor, which led to a weakening of the reform activity. This is connected both with misfortunes and troubles in the family, and with multiple (7 in total) attempts on the life of the emperor by "grateful" subjects. In 1865, his eldest son Nicholas, heir to the throne, died of a serious illness in Nice. His death undermined the health of the Empress, already weak. Doctors' recommendations to refrain from "marital relations" intensified the long-begun estrangement in the family: in a short time, Alexander changed several mistresses until he met 18-year-old E. Dolgoruky. This connection also led to disapproval from the society.

Assassination attempts on AlexanderII

On April 4, 1886, the first attempt on the emperor's life took place. D. Karakozov, who was a member of the secret society "Hell", adjoining the "Earth and Freedom", fired when Alexander II was heading to his carriage, leaving the gates of the Summer Garden. The bullet flew past the emperor - the peasant O. Komissarov pushed the shooter.

On May 25, 1879, during a visit to the World Exhibition in Paris, a Pole A. Berezovsky shot at him. The bullet hit the horse.

On April 2, 1879, A. Solovyov, a member of the Narodnaya Volya, fired 5 shots at the gates of the Winter Palace, but the emperor remained unharmed - the shooter missed.

On November 18 and 19, 1879, members of the People's Will A. Zhelyabov, A. Yakimova, S. Perovskaya and L. Hartman unsuccessfully tried to blow up the tsar's train en route from the Crimea to St. Petersburg.

On February 5, 1880, Narodnaya Volya member S. Khalturin prepared an explosion in the Winter Palace, the guards on the first floor died, but no one from the royal family, who was on the third floor, was injured.

The assassination attempt occurred when the emperor was returning after a military divorce in the Mikhailovsky Manege. During the explosion of the first bomb, he was not injured and could have left the embankment of the Catherine Canal, where the assassination attempt took place, but he got out of the carriage to the wounded - and at that time Grinevitsky threw the second bomb, from which he himself died and the emperor was mortally wounded.

Alexander II with his wife. Photos of Levitsky

The result of the reign

Alexander II went down in history as a reformer and liberator. In his reign

• serfdom was abolished;
• introduced universal military service;
• zemstvos were established;
• judicial reform carried out;
• limited censorship;
• a number of other reforms have been carried out;
• the empire expanded significantly due to the conquest and inclusion of the Central Asian possessions, the North Caucasus, the Far East and other territories.

But M. Paleolog writes: “Sometimes he was seized by severe melancholy, reaching deep despair. Power no longer interested him; everything he tried to do ended in failure. None of the other monarchs wanted more happiness for his people: he abolished slavery, abolished corporal punishment, carried out wise and liberal reforms in all areas of government. Unlike other kings, he never aspired to bloody laurels of glory. How much effort did he spend to avoid the Turkish war... And after it ended, he prevented a new military clash... What did he get as a reward for all this? From all over Russia, reports from governors came to him that the people, deceived in their aspirations, blamed the tsar for everything. And the police reports were reporting a menacing rise in revolutionary ferment."

The only consolation and meaning of life Alexander II found in love for E. Dolgoruky - "a person who thinks about his happiness and surrounds him with signs of passionate adoration." On July 6, 1880, a month and a half after the death of the wife of the emperor, Maria Alexandrovna, they entered into a morganatic marriage. E. Dolgorukaya received the title of the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. This marriage also increased strife within the royal family and at court. There is even such a version that Alexander II intended to carry out the planned transformations and abdicate in favor of his son Alexander and leave with a new family to live in Nice.

So “the first of March tragically stopped both state transformations and the emperor’s romantic dreams of personal happiness ... He had the courage and wisdom to abolish serfdom and start building a rule of law state, but at the same time he remained in fact a prisoner of that system, the foundation of which he began to abolish with his reforms,” - writes L. Zakharova.

Emperor Alexander II with children. Photo from 1860

Children of Alexander II from his first marriage:

• Alexandra (1842-1849);
• Nicholas (1843-1865);
• Alexander III (1845-1894);
• Vladimir (1847-1909);
• Alexey (1850-1908);
• Maria (1853-1920);
• Sergei (1857-1905);
• Pavel (1860-1919).

From marriage with Princess Dolgoruky (legalized after the wedding):

• His Serene Highness Prince Georgy Alexandrovich Yuryevsky (1872-1913);
• Most Serene Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskaya (1873-1925);
• Boris (1876-1876), posthumously legalized with the assignment of the surname "Yurievsky";
• Most Serene Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Yurievskaya (1878-1959).
  • In addition to children from Ekaterina Dolgoruky, he had several other illegitimate children.

At the insistence of Alexander III, Dolgorukaya-Yurievskaya soon left St. Petersburg with her children, born before marriage. She died in Nice in 1922.

In memory of the martyrdom of Emperor Alexander II, a temple was built at the site of his murder.

The temple was erected by decree of Emperor Alexander III in 1883-1907 according to a joint project of the architect Alfred Parland and Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev). The temple is made in the "Russian style" and somewhat resembles the Moscow Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed. Built for 24 years. On August 6, 1907, on the day of the Transfiguration, the cathedral was consecrated as the Church of the Savior on Blood.

Church of the Savior on Blood