Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)

Alexandra Feodorovna (Russian: Александра Фёдоровна, romanized: Aleksandra Fyodorovna; born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine; 6 June 1872 – 17 July 1918) was the last empress of Russia as the consort of Nicholas II from their marriage on 26 November [O.S. 14 November] 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917.

Alexandra first met Nicholas in 1884, when she attended the wedding of her sister Elisabeth to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in Saint Petersburg. They continued their courtship over the following decade. In April 1894, Nicholas travelled to Coburg to attend the wedding of Alexandra’s brother, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During the visit, he proposed to Alix. She initially declined because marriage to the Russian heir required her to convert from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, but she later accepted. They married on 26 November [O.S. 14 November] 1894.

Alexandra and Nicholas had five children: Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei. Alexei had hemophilia, and his illness influenced Alexandra’s relationships with religious advisers and healers.

Alexandra’s association with Grigori Rasputin developed through the wider imperial and aristocratic circle. According to Lili Dehn, a close friend of Alexandra who later recounted her experiences in The Real Tsaritsa, Rasputin was first brought to the attention of the Grand Duchesses Militza and Anastasia of Montenegro, who were connected to the imperial family and friendly with Alexandra. Dehn wrote that the two Grand Duchesses discussed Rasputin, arousing Alexandra’s curiosity and leading her and Nicholas to express a wish to meet him. Alexandra came to believe that Rasputin could help Alexei during episodes of hemophilia, strengthening her trust in him. His relationship with the imperial family later became the subject of political criticism and public speculation.