Louise of Baden
Encyclopedia : L : LO : LOU : Louise of Baden
Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna of Russia (in Russian, Elisaveta Alexeievna), born Louise Marie Auguste, Princess of Baden of the House of Zähringen (24 January, 1779 - 4 May (O.S.) = 16 May (N.S.), 1826) was a daughter of Prince Karl Ludwig of Baden and Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Early life, marriage, affair
She was also the older sister of Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden. As reflected in art, Louise was thought of as a very beautiful woman, and loved magnificent jewelry and clothes.
Louise converted from the Evangelical faith to Russian Orthodoxy in Saint Petersburg on 9 May, 1793 (O.S.) = 20 May, 1793 (N.S.), receiving the name Elizabeth Alexeyevna (this name has several different spellings).
Louise married Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the future Emperor Alexander I of Russia (then the heir apparent of the then tsarevich) on 28 September, 1793 (O.S.) = 9 October, 1793 (N.S.) in Saint Petersburg at the Winter Palace, when she was fourteen years old and Alexander was seventeen.
Alexander and Elizabeth had two children:
After the last child's death, Alexander pronounced that there should not be more children, giving the reason that it was the will of God. However, when Alexander later took a mistress (Princess Maria Naryshkina) and had children with her, Louise also took a lover, Prince Adam George Czartoryski (who was Alexander's friend).
Both she and Alexander spent most of their time with their extra-marital lovers for several years. Later on in life, however, Louise and Alexander became closer and reconciled. She died in 1826 almost a year after Alexander's death.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.