Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Duchess of Leuchtenberg

For daughter of Nicholas II of Russia, see Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia.

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter,1857, Hermitage Museum

Maria Nikolaievna (Russian: Мария Николаевна) (August 18 1819 - February 21 1876) was a daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and sister of Alexander II. She was Duchess of Leuchtenberg and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg.

Duchess of Leuchtenberg

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna was born on August 18 1819 in Pavlovsk. She was the second of seven children and the eldest daughter. Her parents, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, born Princess Charlotte of Prussia, were devoted to each other and to their children, providing an excellent education for them.

Unusually for her position and time, she married for love. She met her future husband, Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg, the eldest surviving son of Eugène de Beauharnais and grandson of Empress Josephine, when he came to Saint Petersburg during cavalry maneuvers in 1837. A year later he made a second visit to the city, as noted by the Grand Duchess Olga in her diary: “In four days it has become quite clear that Max and Maria were made for each other."

It was not a desirable match for a daughter of a Russian Emperor. Maximilian was below the rank of royalty, only entitled to the style of Serene Highness as member of a secondary branch of the House of Bavaria. He was also Roman Catholic, not Orthodox, and his own family, his mother Princess Augusta of Bavaria in particular, was against this marriage.

Furthermore the Bonaparte family had been bitter enemies of Russia. Nevertheless the Tsar granted his permission for the marriage on condition that his daughter did not leave Russia to live abroad. Since the Duke of Leuchtenberg was not a member of a reigning family, it was easy for him to take up residence in Saint Petersburg.

The wedding took place on July 2 1839 in the chapel of the Winter Palace. The Tsar created Maximilian an Imperial Highness. The couple remained in Russia, where their seven children grew up in the circle of the imperial family.

President of the Academy of Arts

On her engagement Tsar Nicholas I decided to present Maria with her own palace. He chose a site in the centre of St. Petersburg strategically positioned opposite St. Isaac's cathedral, on the banks of the Moika river. No expense was spared in fitting it out for the young couple, specially comissioned from the architec Andrei Stackensneider and, close enough to the Winter Palace for the Tsar to pay daily visits to his daughter.. The palace was finished by the end of 1844 and was named as the Mariinsky Palace, after Maria Nikolaievna. Up utill this point, Maria, her husband and three children had lived lived in the Vorontzov Palace, waiting for the completion of their own residence..

Grand Duchess maria Nikolaievna and her husband had artistic inclinations and were active in charitable and artistic causes. Maria's husband became well-known as a scientist throught Russia.. In 1843 he was appointed President of the Academy of Arts. The Grand Duchess was an avid art collector, and after the death of her husband in 1852, she replaced him as President of the Academy of Arts. From then on, Maria Nikolaievana devoted herself to her collection even with greater ardor .

Second marriage

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia

Maria Nikolaievna made a second marriage in 1854, to Count Grigori Stroganov (1823 – 1878). It was a morganatic union and was kept secret while her father lived. Officially the marriage did not take place until November 16 1856, after Nicholas I's death. Her sister Olga described her as more talented than all her brothers and sisters put together, but lacking a sense of duty.

In 1862, Maria Nikolaievna installed herself in Florence in the Villa Quarto, which had belonged to Jerome Bonaparte, and appointed the painter and collector Karl Liphard as her advisor. They went almost daily to visit museums, private collection and antique dealers.. In Italy, the Grand Duchess was zealous in her purchases of painting, sculptures and furniture for the complete refurbishing of her residence.

Duchess Maria probably suffered either from varicose veins or from some sort of bone disease, and by the end of her life she had become an invalid. She died on February 21 1876 in Saint Petersburg at age 56.

Art collections

On her death in 1876, Maria Nikolaievna's art collections were divided among her surviving children: Prince Nicholas of Leuchtenberg, his brothers Eugene and George, their sisters Princess Maria of Baden and Princess Eugenia of Oldenburg and their half-sister countess Elena Strogonova. In 1884, her son, Nicholas Duke of Leuchtenberg, mounted an exhibition at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts with the Grand Duchess former collection. In 1913 another exhibitions was organized at the Hermitage Museum entitled the Heritage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna. After the revolution the collection was dispersed and now can be enjoyed in museums in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Vienna and the United States

Children

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had seven children form her marriage to the Duke of Leuchtenbergt:

• Alexandra Princess Romanovskaja (1840-1843) died in childhood
• Maria Maximilianovna, of Leuchtenberg (1841-1914) m. William of Baden (1829-1897), younger son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
• Nicholas Maximilianovich, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1843-1891)
• Eugenia Maximilianovna, Princess Romanovskaja (1845-1925) m. Alexander of Oldenburg (1844-1932)
• Eugen Maximilianovich, 5th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1847-1901) m. Daria Opotchinina (1845-1870) m. Zinaida Skobeleva(1878-1899)
• Sergei Maximilianovich, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1849-1877) Killed in the Russo-Turkish war
• Georgi Maximilianovich, 6th Duke von Leuchtenberg (1852-1912) m.(1) Theresa of Oldenburg (1852-1883) m.(2) Anastasia of Montenegro (1868-1935)

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had two Children in her second marriage:

• Grigori Grigorievich, Count Stroganov (b. May 9, 1857) died in childhood
• Elena Grigorievna, Countess Stroganova (1861-1908) m. Grigori Nikitich Milashevich (1861-1908)

Bibliography

• Belyakova, Zoia, The Romanov Legacy, The Palaces of St Petersburg, Studio, ISBN 0-670-86339-4
• Neverov, Oleg, Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia, Vendome Press, ISBN 0-86565-225-2