Empress Of Russia Alexandra Feodorovna

Notable

Family

Prussian princess by birth and Empress consort of Russia as the wife of Emperor Nikolai I, and mother of Emperor Alexander II. Charlotte was the eldest surviving daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, and Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her childhood was marked by the Napoleonic wars and the death of her mother when she was twelve years old. In 1814, her marriage was arranged for political reason with Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich of Russia, the future Tsar Nikolai I. They married on 1 July 1817. Upon her marriage, Charlotte converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and took the Russian name Alexandra Feodorovna. Ideally matched with her husband, she had a happy marriage that produced a large family; seven children survived childhood. At the death of her brother in law, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in December 1825, Alexandra’s husband became the new Russian emperor. After 1841 her health deteriorated. She spent long sojourns abroad in search for a respite to her frail constitution. As she became largely an invalid, Nikolai I took mistresses, but Alexandra retained her husband's love. She survived him by five years and died on 1 November 1860, aged 62. Link to Wikipedia biography