Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)

Empress consort of Russia from 1881 to 1894

Maria Feodorovna (Russian: Мария Фёдоровна, romanized: Mariya Fyodorovna; 26 November 1847 – 13 October 1928)[1] was the Empress of Russia from 1881 to 1894 as the wife of Emperor Alexander III. She was the fourth child and second daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She was also the mother of Nicholas II, the last Russian Emperor.[2]

Maria Feodorovna
Maria in 1881
Empress consort of Russia
Tenure13 March 1881 – 1 November 1894
Coronation27 May 1883
PredecessorMaria Alexandrovna
SuccessorAlexandra Feodorovna
BornPrincess Marie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
(1847-11-26)26 November 1847
Yellow Mansion, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died13 October 1928(1928-10-13) (aged 80)
Hvidøre House, Klampenborg, Denmark
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1866; died 1894)
Issue
Full name
Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar
HouseGlücksburg
FatherChristian IX of Denmark
MotherLouise of Hesse-Kassel
ReligionRussian Orthodoxy
prev. Lutheranism
SignatureMaria Feodorovna's signature

Maria was born as Princess Dagmar on November 26, 1847 in Copenhagen, Denmark to Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She was the older sister of Queen Alexandra of Denmark. In 1866, she married Alexander III of Russia. They had six children together named Nicholas, Alexander, George, Xenia, Michael, and Olga.

In 1881, she became the empress consort after the assassination of her father in-law, Emperor Alexander II. She was the empress for thirteen years until her husband's death in 1894. After his death, she became empress dowager as her eldest son Nicholas II, became emperor

Maria was the empress dowager from 1894 until the fall of the Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution in 1917. Nicholas and his family were murdered by Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918. Maria and her daughters and other members of the Romanov family managed to escape from the revolution.

She later went back to her home country Denmark and she never returned to Russia. Maria died ten years later in 1928, she was 80 years old.[3]

References

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  1. "Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna | [Personal Travel Album Made by the Dowager Empress Maria Feoderovna Showing Events in the Daily Life of the Russian Imperial Family]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  2. "HIM Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia". Henry Poole Savile Row. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  3. "Dowager Empress Marie - Blog & Alexander Palace Time Machine". www.alexanderpalace.org. Retrieved 2024-07-30.