Exactly 170 years ago, on November 26, 1847, the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna was born, who became the wife of Emperor Alexander III and was the mother of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Danish by birth, she spent 52 years of her more than 80-year life in Russia, becoming the penultimate Russian empress. The revolutionary turmoil of 1917 spared her, she was able to return back to Denmark, where she died in a calm atmosphere in 1928.
Maria Fedorovna was destined for a bright and full of dramatic events life. A Danish princess, she was first betrothed to one, but married another, in order to then become the empress of a country that was originally a stranger to herself. Both the happiness of love and a large number of losses fit into her life. She outlived not only her husband, but also her sons, grandchildren and even her country. At the end of her life, she returned back to Denmark, which remained one of the few places of peace and prosperity in interwar Europe.
Maria Fedorovna, née Maria Sofia Frederica Dagmar, was born on November 14 (November 26 new style) 1847 in Copenhagen. Descended from the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty, ruling in Denmark from the middle of the 15th century, belonging to the German Oldenburg family. To him - to the younger branches of the family - belonged the rulers of neighboring Sweden, several German princes and, to some extent, Russian emperors. Peter III, the male ancestor of all subsequent Romanovs, came from the Holstein-Gottorp line of the Oldenburg clan.
Empress Maria Feodorovna in a Russian dress with a diadem and a necklace of 51 diamonds, 1883
Her father was the Danish king Christian IX, mother Louise of Hesse-Kassel. The family had six children: the heir to the throne Frederick, Alexandra, Wilhelm, Dagmar, Tyra and Valdemar. It was a friendly Danish family, in which it was the second daughter Dagmar, or officially Maria-Sophia-Frederica-Dagmar, who enjoyed special love. Her kindness, sincerity and delicacy have earned her universal love among numerous relatives throughout Europe. Dagmar knew how to please everyone, without exception - not because she put some special effort into this, but because of her innate charm. Not being a rare beauty, Princess Dagmar, nevertheless, stood out with a special charm that could not leave almost anyone indifferent.
Dagmar's own sister, Alexandra of Denmark, became in the future the wife of the British King Edward VII, their son, George V, had a portrait resemblance to Nicholas II, the son of Dagmar and Emperor Alexander III. It is worth noting that Danish princesses were highly prized at the European "fair of brides" for noble aristocratic families. Therefore, it is not surprising that young Dagmar, who was famous for her wonderful character and charm, was noticed in Russia. The Russian Emperor Alexander II and his wife Maria Alexandrovna (nee Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt) were just looking for a wife for their eldest son, heir to the throne Nikolai Alexandrovich.
In 1864, his father sent Nicholas to travel around Europe, in particular to visit Copenhagen, where he was advised to pay special attention to the young Dagmar, about whom many good things had been heard in the royal family. A marriage with a princess from Denmark was beneficial to Russia. So the empire wanted to strengthen its position on the Baltic Sea at the peak of Prussia and Germany. Also, this marriage would establish new family ties, including with Great Britain, relations with which were very strained for a long time. In addition, the invariable German brides in Russia are already tired, and the Danish woman (although from a German by her origin family) would not annoy anyone much, either at court or among the people. Such a marriage was also beneficial for Denmark - a small Baltic state that would receive a strong ally.
Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich with his bride, Princess Dagmar
Nikolai Alexandrovich came to Copenhagen just to get acquainted, but immediately fell in love with the young princess. Big-eyed, short, miniature, she did not shine with special beauty, but conquered with her liveliness, charm and charm. Already on September 16, 1864, Nicholas proposed to Princess Dagmar, and she accepted him. She fell in love with the Russian heir, agreeing for him to change her faith to Orthodoxy - this was a necessary condition for marriage. However, during a trip to Italy, the Tsarevich unexpectedly fell ill for everyone. Beginning on October 20, 1864, he was treated in Nice. In the spring of 1865, his health deteriorated significantly. On April 10, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Nice, his brother Alexander and Princess Dagmar were there. On the night of April 12, 1865, after many hours of agony, the 22-year-old heir to the Russian throne died, the cause of his death was tuberculous meningitis. Dagmar's grief struck everyone then, at the age of 18 she became a widow, and without having time to get married, she even lost weight from grief and shed tears. The unexpected death of the heir also shook the entire Russian Empire and the Romanov family.
At the same time, the Russian Emperor Alexander III did not forget about Dagmar, appreciating her loyalty and strong character. Now the Russian imperial house wanted her to marry the new heir, Alexander Alexandrovich, it is worth noting that the affection between them arose even when they together looked after the dying Tsarevich Nicholas in Nice. Already on June 17, 1866, their engagement took place in Copenhagen, and three months later, on September 1, 1866, the Danish princess arrived in Kronstadt, where she was greeted by the entire imperial family. In October 1866, Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Maria Fedorova - she was given a patronymic in honor of the icon of the Fedorov Mother of God, who was the patroness of the Romanov house. On October 28, 1866, the wedding of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna took place, the Anichkov Palace became the residence of the newlyweds.
Cheerful and cheerful in character, Maria was warmly received by the metropolitan and court society. Her marriage to Alexander, despite the fact that their relationship began under rather mournful circumstances (in addition, Alexander himself had previously managed to defeat a strong heartfelt affection for the maid of honor Maria Meshcherskaya), was extremely successful. For almost 30 years of life together, the couple maintained a sincere affection for each other. The relationship between Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna was amazing for the Romanov family. Undoubted love and mutual tenderness throughout life is an incredible rarity in the royal family, where it was often considered the norm to marry for convenience, to have mistresses. Alexander II was no exception in this regard, but more on that later.
Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna
Everyone liked the charm of the young wife of the heir to the throne, exerting a truly magical effect on people. Despite her small stature, Maria Feodorovna was distinguished by such majestic manners that her appearance could outshine everyone. Extremely sociable, agile, with a cheerful and lively character, she managed to return to the Russian imperial house the splendor that was lost after the illness of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. At the same time, Maria Fedorovna loved painting and was fond of it, she even took lessons from the famous Russian artist A. P. Bogolyubov, she also loved horse riding. And although the behavior of Maria Fedorovna gave many a reason to reproach the young crown princess for some frivolity and superficiality of her interests, she nevertheless enjoyed universal respect. This is not surprising, she had a solid and very strong character and at the same time an amazing sense of tact, which did not allow her to openly demonstrate her own influence on her husband.
The young crown princess developed excellent relations with her mother-in-law and father-in-law. Alexander II treated her with undisguised sympathy, which somewhat smoothed out the cooling that grew from year to year in relations with his eldest son. The thing is that by the beginning of the 1870s, Tsarevich Alexander and his close circle had become practically an opposition political circle. There was no question of any criticism of the Tsar-Liberator and his activities, however, the undisguised attention to everything Russian, the opposition of aspirations and national feelings to the cosmopolitanism of the imperial court and the Russian aristocracy looked demonstrative. At the same time, the future emperor had a persistent dislike for Germany (especially for Prussia), in which he found the full support of his wife. For Prussia, which after the war of 1864 seized from her native Denmark part of the lands - Schleswig and Holstein (in fairness, inhabited mainly by Germans), Maria Feodorovna had a steady dislike. On the contrary, Emperor Alexander II adored his relative, the Prussian king and German emperor Wilhelm.
There was another problem that seriously complicated the relationship between father and son. For the last decade and a half before his death, Emperor Alexander II led a double life. His strong passion for the young princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova became the reason that the emperor of the Russian Empire lived in two families, and after the death of his lawful wife in 1880, after waiting for the minimum period of mourning, not paying attention to the opinion of his relatives, he married his longtime lover. This marriage was morganatic, which meant that the new wife and her descendants would not be able to claim the imperial throne. However, the already strained relations with the Tsarevich became even more aggravated. In addition, there were rumors in the capital that the emperor was going to crown Katya. All this time, Maria Fedorovna remained on the side of her husband, sharing all his feelings, but also played the role of a "buffer", trying, as far as she could, to soften and smooth out conflicts in the Romanov family.
Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna with children. From left to right: Georgy, Xenia, Nikolay, 1879
For 14 years of marriage, Alexander Alexandrovich and Maria Fedorovna had six children. In 1868, the firstborn was born - Nikolai - the future last Russian emperor Nicholas II, whom everyone called Niki in the family, a year later - Alexander appeared (he died before he was a year old, in April 1870), in 1871 - George (died in 1899), in 1875 - daughter Ksenia (died in 1960 in London), and three years later - Mikhail (killed in 1918). Their last child, daughter Olga, was born in 1882 (she died in 1960 in Toronto), when Alexander was already the emperor of Russia.
In March 1881, Emperor Alexander II died as a result of a terrorist attack. By coincidence, a successful attempt on the Tsar's life was made on the day when he was about to sign a draft political reform, called the "Constitution of Loris-Melikov."Even though this project outlined only the first timid steps on the path to constitutional limitation of the autocracy, it could become the beginning of the transformation of the entire country. But that did not happen. The new emperor, the eldest son of Alexander II, who became Alexander III, ascended the throne, in the same year Maria Feodorovna became the acting empress, and after the death of her husband in 1894 - the dowager empress.
Alexander III, unlike his father, pursued a policy of counter-reforms, all possible constitutional changes were canceled. At the same time, during the reign of Alexander III, Russia did not wage a single war, for which the monarch received the official nickname Tsar-Peacemaker. His thirteen-year reign was calm and unhurried, like the autocrat himself. At the same time, the personal life of the emperor, as before, was permeated with happiness. It was not light-hearted, but it really was. Outwardly, in the lives of Alexander and Maria, almost nothing has changed. The emperor, as before, remained emphasized, some noted that before asceticism, modest in everyday life, and in such his behavior there was no posture. Maria and Alexander often yearned for each other, so they tried to leave as little as possible, and when this happened, they wrote letters to each other every day. These letters published later retained a mass of touching evidence of their love, which was not lost during all the years of their life together.
Maria Feodorovna with her son, Russian Emperor Nicholas II
Contemporaries noted that a surprisingly friendly atmosphere always reigned in the royal family, there were no conflicts. They raised children in love, but did not spoil them. Parents, who appreciated organization and order, tried to instill in their children a love for everything Russian, ideals, traditions, faith in God. At the same time, the English education system was adopted at the imperial court, which provided for obligatory oatmeal for breakfast for children, a lot of fresh air and cold baths for hardening. The spouses themselves not only kept the children in strictness, but they themselves lived quite modestly, not approving of luxury. For example, it was noted that the emperor and empress had only boiled eggs and rye bread for breakfast.
Their happy marriage lasted until the death of Emperor Alexander III in 1894, he died at a fairly young age, not even reaching the age of 50. The son of Alexander and Maria, Nicholas II, ascended the Russian throne. During his reign, the Empress Dowager patronized Sergei Witte and his policies. Maria Feodorovna paid much attention to social activities. She patronized the Water Rescue Society, the Women's Patriotic Society, headed the Departments of the Empress Maria's institutions (various orphanages, educational institutions, shelters for disadvantaged and defenseless children, almshouses), paid great attention to the Russian Red Cross Society (RRCS). Thanks to the initiatives of Maria Fedorovna, the budget of this organization went to fees for issuing foreign passports, as well as railway charges from first-class passengers. During the First World War, she made sure that the “cheap collection” - 10 kopecks from each telegram was also sent to the needs of society, which significantly increased the budget of the RRCS and the amount of assistance provided to them.
In June 1915, the Dowager Empress went to Kiev for a month, and in August of the same year she begged her son Nicholas II not to take over the supreme command, but to no avail. In 1916 she finally moved from St. Petersburg to Kiev, settling in the Mariinsky Palace. During the war years, she was involved in organizing the work of hospitals, as well as numerous medical trains, in which hundreds of thousands of wounded Russian soldiers and officers recovered their health. Here in Kiev on October 19, 1916, she celebrated the half-century anniversary of her direct participation in the affairs of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria.
Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna and her Cossack chamber-maker Timofey Yashchik. Copenhagen, 1924
In Kiev, Maria Fedorovna learned about the abdication of her son, after which she went to Mogilev to meet with him. After that, with her youngest daughter Olga and the husband of the eldest daughter Xenia, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, she moved to the Crimea, from where she was evacuated in 1919 on board the British battleship Marlborough. Already from Great Britain, she returned to her native Denmark, where she settled in the Villa Wiedere, where she had previously lived with her sister Alexandra. In Denmark, she was accompanied by a Cossack cameraman Yashchik Timofei Ksenofontovich, who all this time served as her bodyguard. While in Denmark, Maria Fedorovna rejected all attempts by the Russian emigration to involve her in political activities.
Maria Fedorovna died on October 13, 1928 at the age of 81. After a funeral service on October 19 at the local Orthodox Church, her ashes were placed in a sarcophagus in the Royal Tomb of the Cathedral, located in the Danish city of Roskilde next to the ashes of her parents. Members of the Danish royal family are also buried here.
In 2004-2005, an agreement was reached between the Danish and Russian governments to transfer the remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna from Roskilde to St. Petersburg, where she bequeathed to be buried next to her husband. On September 26, aboard the Danish ship Esbern Snare, the ashes of Maria Feodorovna set off on their last voyage to Russia. In Russian territorial waters, the Danes were met by the Baltic Fleet flagship "Fearless", who escorted the Danish ship to the port. Upon the arrival of the ships at the port, the Russian warship "Smolny" met them with 31 cannon salvos, just as many cannon volleys were fired upon the arrival of the Danish princess in Kronstadt in 1866. On September 28, 2006, the coffin with the remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna was buried in St. Petersburg in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress next to the grave of her husband Alexander III.
