There were 6 Grand Duchesses and an Empress of Russia as victims：Alexandra Pavlovna, Archduchess of Austria (1783-1801), Grand Duchess Alexandra Mikhailovna (1831-1832), Alexandra Nikolaevna, Princess Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1825-1844), Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna (1842-1849), Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (1838-1900), Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna (1870-1891) and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918). Most of them died young or with unfortunate consequences.
Alexandra Pavlovna, Archduchess of Austria (1783-1801)
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna was as well a sister of Tsar Alexander I. In 1796, Alexandra's paternal grandmother, Empress Catherine II of Russia, known as Catherine The Great, appointed Alexandra to politically married King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, and when he arrived Russia in Aug, he fell in love deeply with Alexandra. However, when he received the treaty for the marriage, it suggested that Alexandra would remain as a Russian Orthodox, instead of a Lutheran, which was required for a Swedish Queen consort. Therefore, Gustaf IV Adolf resented it, and rejected her for instance.
Grand Duchess Alexandra Mikhailovna (1831-1832)
She was the fourth child and daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia,the youngest son and child of Tsar Paul I, and died at infancy, aged 1.
Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (1838-1900), born Duchess of Oldenburg
After the death of Alexandra Alexandrovna, there was another tragic Alexandra, with the middle name Petrovna.
Compelled by Tsar Alexander II, Alexandra went aboard to improve her health, and in the following year, with aid of her nephew, Tsar Alexander III, she returned to Kiev. After recovering her mobility, in 1889, she found the Pokrov of Our Lady Monastery, providing free treatments for the poor, with a convent of nursing nuns with its own hospital. She became an Orthodox nun with the name Anastasia, and dedicated the rest of her life at the hospital until she died at age of 61.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (1872-1918), born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna was as well a sister of Tsar Alexander I. In 1796, Alexandra's paternal grandmother, Empress Catherine II of Russia, known as Catherine The Great, appointed Alexandra to politically married King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, and when he arrived Russia in Aug, he fell in love deeply with Alexandra. However, when he received the treaty for the marriage, it suggested that Alexandra would remain as a Russian Orthodox, instead of a Lutheran, which was required for a Swedish Queen consort. Therefore, Gustaf IV Adolf resented it, and rejected her for instance.
(Portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1798
Source : Wikipedia)
In 1799, three years after the death of Catherine The Great, Alexandra's father, now Tsar Paul I, appointed her to marry Archduke Joseph of Austria, seventh child and fifth son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain, however, the marriage was not a happy one. Good looking and with plenty of jewelry collections, Alexandra was envied by her mother-in-law, more importantly, she was never accepted by the Austrians, who were Roman Catholics, because of her own religion.
After a year and a half, her daughter Archduchess Alexandirne was born, but died within hours. On the eighth day after the birth, she died of puerperal fever, and was refused to be buried in any Catholic gravesite, therefore, she was eventually buried in Hungary.
She was the fourth child and daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia,the youngest son and child of Tsar Paul I, and died at infancy, aged 1.
Alexandra Nikolaevna, Princess Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1825-1844)
Favourite child of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, Alexandra Nikolaevna was pretty and energetic, and a musician with great talents, and for whom the nobles in St. Petersburg were fond of. She married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel in 1844, and was pregnant within few weeks after the wedding. However, with her health issues slightly before the marriage, as had previously suffered form tuberculosis, the pregnancy had further worsen her health condition, and she died after giving birth to the stillborn child within the same day, aged 19.
Favourite child of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, Alexandra Nikolaevna was pretty and energetic, and a musician with great talents, and for whom the nobles in St. Petersburg were fond of. She married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel in 1844, and was pregnant within few weeks after the wedding. However, with her health issues slightly before the marriage, as had previously suffered form tuberculosis, the pregnancy had further worsen her health condition, and she died after giving birth to the stillborn child within the same day, aged 19.
(Posthumous portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna by Jebens, 1860
Source : Tumblr)
Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (1842-1849)
She who died at young age was the Romanov who further strengthen the curse. Eldest child and daughter of Tsar Alexander II, Alexandra Alexandrovna was the Tsar's favourite child. He even took her by his side during working. However, when she was six years old and a half, she died of infant meningitis, which struck her parents a lot, standing beside her corpse for a long time, refusing to leave. In every year at her date of death, her father would blacken the page of his journal for that day, inserting a violet. Every time when the Tsarina mentioned of Alexandra, she would burst into tears.
(Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia by Woldemar Hau
Source : Wikipedia)
Ever since those tragedies, which the Romanovs named Alexandra would not survive till 20 years old, the name was never adopted by the Romanovs again, as it was considered as a curse.
After the death of Alexandra Alexandrovna, there was another tragic Alexandra, with the middle name Petrovna.
Initially Duchess of Oldenburg, she married Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia in 1856, making her a Russian Grand Duchess. However, the marriage was troublesome. Nicholas began an affair with a ballerina in 1865, with whom he formed a second family. She was expelled from the household in 1879 by her husband, and the couple lived separately. After a carriage accident, Alexandra was almost completely paralyzed.
(Portrait of Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg, unknown painter
Source : Pinterest)
Compelled by Tsar Alexander II, Alexandra went aboard to improve her health, and in the following year, with aid of her nephew, Tsar Alexander III, she returned to Kiev. After recovering her mobility, in 1889, she found the Pokrov of Our Lady Monastery, providing free treatments for the poor, with a convent of nursing nuns with its own hospital. She became an Orthodox nun with the name Anastasia, and dedicated the rest of her life at the hospital until she died at age of 61.
(Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, sister Anastasia at her sick bed, 1880s
Source : Wikipedia)
Not only the Romanovs by birth named Alexandra was victimized, but also those by marriage.
Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia (1870-1891), born Princess of Greece and Denmark
She was the daughter of King George I of Greece, brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I.
She was the daughter of King George I of Greece, brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I.
"She looked young and beautiful, and ever since she was a child, life looked as it had nothing but joy and happiness in store for her." Recalled her brother, Prince Nicholas of Greece.
At age of 19, in 1889, she married the youngest child and son of Tsar Alexander II, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia. At the seventh month of her second pregnancy, she intended to jump onto a boat, but accidentally fell on it. The next day, she gave birth to a premature son, and immediately faint. She died in six days later, leaving her husband, now a windower, alone with her two children who were still infants.
(Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia by P Tila, 1889
Source : Royal Collection Trust)
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (1872-1918), born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine
Perhaps Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse) was the most famous Romanov named Alexandra that you've heard.
At age of 6, her mother, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, second daughter of Queen Victoria, and her youngest sister, Marie, died of diphtheria. Therefore, she and her siblings usually spent their days with their maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria, as well as their British relatives. However, with such tragedy, Alix, who was initially cheerful and was known as Sunny, became shy, redrawn and stubborn, and sometimes could hardly listen to any advice, even her grandmother.
From the very beginning that she married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and became an Empress, she was said to be came behind the coffin, who would definitely bring back luck, as the wedding was held within the same month when Tsar Alexander III, Nicholas II's father's death. In 1905, after four daughters, she finally gave birth to a son, a long-waited, but also an unhealthy heir, with haemophilia,as Alix was a haemophilia carrier. She was not popular in court as well due to her shy nature, and was hated by her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, whom she usually argue with.
(Empress Alexandra Feodorovna by Boasson and Eggler, 1908
Source : Wikipedia)
She was eventually murdered by the bolsheviks in 1918, as well as all of her children, her husband, and the servants and doctors who accompanied the Imperial family, a year after Nicholas II's abdication.
