Elizaveta Alekseevna - Russian Empress, wife of Emperor Alexander I. By nationality, she is German, nee Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. We will tell about the main stages of her biography, interesting facts of their life, the spouses of the domestic emperor in this article.
Childhood and youth
Elizaveta Alekseevna was born in 1779. She was born in the city of Karlsruhe, located on the territory of modern Germany. Her father was Crown Prince of Baden Karl Ludwig. As a child, she was a weak and sickly child; doctors seriously even feared for her life.
The future Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna grew up in a warm family environment. She was especially close to her mother, with whom she corresponded until her death. She received a brilliant home education, spoke excellent French. She also studied history and geography, world and German literature, the foundations of philosophy. At the same time, her grandfather Karl Friedrich was very poor, so the family lived extremely modestly.
Her birth name was Louise Maria Augusta of Baden. At the same time, she repeated the fate of her mother, who, together with her two sisters, claimed to become the bride of Pavel Petrovich.
Alexander's choice
In 1790, Empress Catherine II, who was looking for a worthy couple for her grandson Alexander, paid close attention to Baden princesses. She sent Rumyantsev to Karlsruhe to study not only the appearance of the princesses, but also take an interest in their mores and upbringing.
Rumyantsev watched the princesses for two years. From Louise-Augusta, he almost immediately became entranced. As a result, Catherine II ordered to invite the sisters to Russia. After the sisters arrived in Petersburg, Alexander had to choose one of them. He chose Louise, and the youngest, having stayed in Russia until 1793, returned to Karlsruhe. Princess of Baden Louise Maria Augusta simply fascinated Alexander.
In May 1793, Louise converted to Orthodoxy from Lutheranism. She received the name of Elizabeth Alekseevna. On May 10, she was already engaged to Alexander Pavlovich. In September, the young people got married. The festivities lasted two weeks, culminating in large-scale fireworks in the Tsyritsy meadow.
Happy life
Newlyweds almost immediately plunged into a happy life together, which was filled with pleasures and endless holidays. It turned out that the shy Elizabeth Alekseevna is not ready for such a status. She was struck by the magnificence of the Russian court, while she was frightened by court intrigues. Platon Zubov began to look after her , but she categorically refused him.
She was constantly homesick, especially when her sister Frederick left. The only consolation was the relationship with Alexander, whom she really fell in love with.
Family disorder
However, their family happiness did not last long. Over time, the romantic Elizabeth ceased to find a soul mate in Alexander. The husband began to frankly avoid her.
The heroine of our article became as withdrawn and dreamy as possible, surrounding herself only with a narrow circle of the closest people. She began to read a lot of serious studies in geography, history and philosophy. She studied so hard that even Princess Dashkova, who at that time was in charge of two academies at once and had a caustic character, spoke very warmly about her.
The situation was complicated when Catherine II died, and Paul I ascended the throne. Her relationship with Alexander's parents deteriorated. In St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Alekseevna felt very uncomfortable, besides, there was no support from Alexander. At first, she sought support in friendship with Countess Golovina, and then in a romantic relationship with Prince Adam Chartorysky.
The birth of a daughter
After five years of marriage, Elizabeth in May 1799 gave birth to a daughter, Maria. In honor of this event in St. Petersburg 201 times fired from a cannon. During baptism in the court, it was speculated that a dark baby was born to a blond husband and wife. Elizabeth was seriously suspected of treason with Prince Chartorysky. As a result, he was appointed minister of the king in Sardinia, he urgently left for Italy.
Elizabeth was offended by disbelief, almost stopped leaving her apartment and the nursery. At court, she began to feel herself useless and lonely. All her attention was now turned only to her daughter, whom she called affectionately "mouse." But maternal happiness was short-lived and fragile. Having lived only 13 months, Princess Maria passed away.
Maria Naryshkina
The death of her daughter briefly brought her close to Alexander, who was very worried about his wife. But as soon as the first sadness passed, he became interested in the Polish maid of honor Maria Naryshkina. The girl was young, graceful and charming, as contemporaries speak of her.
For a full 15 years, this novel made Elizabeth the so-called straw widow. Naryshkina became not just the favorite of Alexander, but actually his second wife. To comply with all proprieties, she was married to Dmitry Lvovich Naryshkin, who at the court was almost openly called the head of the "Order of Cuckolds." Everyone was aware of the relationship between the sovereign and his wife. Naryshkina gave birth to three children, who in reality was their father, remains unknown.
Two girls died in infancy, and the third - Sophia - Alexander was very fond of. But she died on the eve of her 18th birthday.
Relations between the spouses were cold, but Alexander in difficult times always came to his wife, remembering her moral purity and strong and independent character. On the night of the assassination of Emperor Paul I, Elizabeth was one of the few who managed to keep a cold head and sober mind at court. Throughout this night, she remained with her husband, supporting him morally, only occasionally setting off at his request to check on the condition of Maria Fedorovna.
The wedding to the kingdom
The wedding of Alexander to the kingdom took place on September 15, 1801. This happened in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin in Moscow. On the occasion of the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna and Alexander, they gave balls throughout Moscow, more than 15,000 people gathered for the masquerade.
The first years of Alexander's reign became joyful both for Russia and for the family of Elizabeth herself. In addition, her relatives from Karlsruhe came to her.
Tsarina Elizaveta Alekseevna began to engage in charity work, taking under her protection several St. Petersburg schools and an orphanage. She paid especially close attention to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.
One of the Masonic lodges that existed in Russia was founded with the permission of the emperor himself, and was named after the wife of Alexander 1 Elizabeth Alekseevna. In 1804, the city of Ganja was conquered, located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan. It was renamed Elizabethpol.
A. Okhotnikov
By that time, a war with Napoleon had begun in Europe. Alexander left St. Petersburg, going to the army, as he was drawn into the war. Elizabeth was left alone, from boredom she was carried away by the young headquarters captain Alexei Okhotnikov.
At first, the relationship between them did not cross the line of romantic correspondence, but then they were captured by a stormy romance. They met almost every evening. It is believed that he was the father of the second daughter Elizabeth Alekseevna, whose biography is described in this article.
In October 1806, he was killed when he left the theater after the premiere of Gluck's opera Iphigenia in Tauris. According to rumors, the killer was sent by the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, brother of Alexander I. At least, they were convinced of this at court. However, there is another version according to which Okhotnikov died of tuberculosis, calling it the reason for his resignation, which took place shortly before.
Elizabeth at that moment was in her ninth month of pregnancy, most likely from him. The empress, not paying attention to conventions, rushed to her lover.
After his death, she cut her hair and put it in a coffin. Okhotnikov was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery. Elizabeth installed the grave on his monument at her own expense. The monument was a woman sobbing over an urn, and nearby was a tree broken by lightning. It is authentically known that she often came to the grave of her lover.
The born daughter was named in her honor. Alexander recognized the child, although it is believed that Elizabeth confessed to her husband who is the true father of her child. She affectionately called her "kitten", she was the subject of her passionate and constant love. The child lived a year and a half. The girl's teeth were heavily cut. Dr. Johann Frank was unable to cure her, he gave only firming agents that only increased irritation. The spasms of the princess passed, but no means helped her anymore, the girl died.
The beginning of World War II
The outbreak of World War II forced her to recover after a 5-year stupor. Elizabeth supported Alexander, who fell into despair, being initially unprepared for an attack on his country.
However, the war ended successfully. Elizabeth went with her husband on a foreign trip, literally swimming in the glory of her husband. She was enthusiastically greeted by both Russian soldiers and her compatriots Germans. After defeating the French emperor Napoleon, all of Europe applauded her. In Berlin, coin tokens were even issued in her honor, poems were written to her, and triumphal arches were erected in her honor.
Triumph in Europe
In Vienna, the Russian Empress sat side by side with the Austrian. In honor of her arrival, the guard of honor was lined up along the entire route of the open carriage and a military band played. Thousands of locals poured into the street to greet the wife of the Russian Tsar.
Returning to St. Petersburg, she could not come to terms with what was happening to her husband. He constantly feared the fate that befell his father, it became a phobia, from which he suffered throughout his remaining life.
In addition, after 1814, the king began to rapidly lose popularity within the country. The emperor broke with all his mistresses, including Maria Naryshkina, plunging into mystical quests. In the difficult period of his life, he connected with his wife. It is worth noting that a certain role in this was played by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, who warmly belonged to Elizabeth. He categorically stated that Alexander should complete his reign with a good deed - reconciliation with his wife.
Daughters of elizabeth
Elizabeth Alekseevna had children who would live to adulthood, she never had. In a marriage with the emperor, she gave birth to two daughters. But both Mary and Elizabeth died in infancy.
Both were buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
At the end of life
After the death of the second daughter, the Empress’s health, which was always painful anyway, was finally undermined. She began to constantly suffer from problems with nerves and breathing.
Doctors urged her to go to Italy to change the climate, but Elizabeth categorically refused to leave Russia, to leave her husband. As a result, it was decided to go to Taganrog. Alexander was the first to go there to make sure everything was ready on the spot. The emperor was worried how his wife would cross the road, constantly sending her touching letters and notes. He watched every little thing - the arrangement of furniture in the rooms, he hammered nails to hang her favorite paintings.
Elizabeth happily left St. Petersburg, hoping to spend together with her husband as much time as possible away from the bustle of the capital. She arrived in Taganrog in September 1825. When her condition improved, the imperial couple went to the Crimea. In Sevastopol, Alexander caught a cold. Every day he was getting worse, he was overcome by bouts of fever. At first he refused drugs, only Elizabeth was able to convince him to start treatment, but precious time was lost.
A remedy common at that time was used for fever: they put 35 leeches over the patient's ears. But this did not help, the strongest heat persisted all night. Soon his agony began. On November 19, he died at the age of 47.
The mystery of the death of the Empress
Elizabeth survived her husband for only six months. Without leaving a will, she died on May 4, 1826. She, too, was 47 years old. I just ordered to transfer the diaries to Karamzin. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The sudden death of the spouses gave rise to many versions, the secret of the death of the emperor and empress excited the minds. Alexander himself was identified with the old man Fedor Kuzmich, it was believed that he remained alive, going to wander around the country.
According to the official version, Elizabeth died of chronic diseases. According to another version, she went after Alexander under the guise of Vera Silent. According to another assumption, she was killed.