Maria Fyodorovna
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Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar (November 26, 1847 – October 13, 1928) was born as the second daughter of Louise of Hesse and Christian IX of Denmark. She was named after her kinswoman Marie Sophie Friederike of Hessen-Kassel (1767-1852), Queen Dowager of Denmark. Her father soon became a hereditary heir to the Throne of Denmark, mostly on the basis of her mother's succession rights.
Most of her life, she was known as Maria Fyodorovna (in Russian Мария Фёдоровна), the name which she took when converting to the Orthodoxy immediately before her marriage to the future Tsar Alexander III. She was known within her family as Minnie. She was the mother of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II of the Romanov Dynasty. She was baptized Lutheran and born as a daughter of relatively impoverished princely cadet line: Her father became King of Denmark six days after her marriage. Due to the brilliant marriages of his children, however, Christian IX was known as the "Father-in-law of Europe."
Maria Fyodorovna's being the younger sister of Alexandra, Queen Consort of King Edward VII and mother of George V of the United Kingdom, helps to explain the striking resemblance between Nicholas II and George V. Her brother was King George I of Greece.
Styles
- Her Serene Highness Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (26 November 1847–31 July 1853)
- Her Highness Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark (31 July 1853–21 December 1858)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark (21 December 1858–24 October 1866)
- Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess & Tsesarevna Maria Fedorovna (24 October 1866–13 March 1881)
- Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of Russia (13 March 1881–1 November 1894)
- Her Imperial Majesty Empress Maria Fyodorovna of Russia (1 November 1894–13 October 1928)
Adult life
Married to Alexander III, Maria Fyodorovna was pretty and popular and rarely interfered with politics, preferring to devote her time and energies to her family, charities and to the more social side of her position. Her one exception was her militant dislike of Germany, due to the annexation of Danish territories by the newly created German Empire.
Despite the overthrow of the monarchy (1917), the Empress Maria at first refused to leave Russia. Only in 1919, at the urging of her sister Alexandra, she grudgingly departed. After a brief visit to London, she returned to her native Denmark, choosing as her home Hvidøre, her former holiday villa near Copenhagen.
It is believed that Maria left England because she disliked being a non-reigning Empress, whilst her sister was married to a reigning King. Although Queen Alexandra never treated her sister badly and they spent holidays together in a shared cottage in England, Maria felt that she was now "number two". Maria's later years were clouded by the deaths of many immediate family members even though she would later refuse to acknowledge the massacre of her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren had ever taken place. Her letters to them were almost all lost but in one that survives she writes to her son, saying, "You know that my thoughts and prayers never leave you I think of you day and night and sometimes feel so sick at heart that I believe I cannot bear it any longer. But God is merciful. He will give us strength for this terrible ordeal".
Maria died in 1928. According to the film, "The Mystery of Anna", Anna Anderson was on her way to see the Empress but this is widely believed to be false, as Anderson was in America at the time of Maria's death. Maria Fyodorovna never met the Anna Anderson claimant. Maria has been portrayed in many films most recently in cartoon form, voiced by Angela Lansbury in the Fox Animation Studios feature film Anastasia. Helen Hayes played her in the 1950s version of the story of Anna Anderson and in the 1970s biopic, 'Nicholas and Alexandra', Maria was played by Irene Worth.
Following services in Copenhagen's Orthodox church, she was interred at Roskilde Cathedral. In 2005, the governments of Denmark and Russia agreed the Empress's remains should be returned to St. Petersburg, at the Peter and Paul Fortress, where she will finally be interred next to her beloved husband, 77 years after her death. The ceremony will take place from 23 to 28 September 2006[link].
The children of Tsar Alexander III and Maria Fyodorovna:
- Tsar Nicholas II (May 6, 1868 - July 17, 1918).
- Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia (June 7, 1869 - May 2, 1870).
- Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia (May 6, 1871 - August 9, 1899).
- Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (April 6, 1875 - April 20, 1960).
- Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (November 28, 1878 - c. June 12, 1918).
- Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (June 13, 1882 - November 24, 1960).
External links
- [Mother of Last Russian Tsar to Be Reburied] "Moscow News"
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