Elena Pavlovna of Russia
Encyclopedia
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (24 December 1784 – 24 September 1803) was a daughter of Grand Duke, later Tsar Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...

 and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. After marrying the son and heir of the Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...

 of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1348, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...

 she became spouse to the heir and thus dropped her Russian title.

Life

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was born in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, capital city of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. The arrival of a second daughter was happy news to her father, Tsarevich Paul Petrovich, who had lost his first wife Wilhelmina Louisa
Natalia Alexeievna of Russia
The Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia was the first wife of the future Tsar Paul I of Russia, the only son of the Empress Catherine II...

 of Hesse-Darmstadt
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Philip I, the last Landgrave of Hesse....

 in childbirth, eight years before. She was also said to be very beautiful so her grandmother, the Empress Catherine, named her after Helen of Troy.

As a girl, Elena was educated privately at home, her first years' education being supervised by her paternal grandmother, the formidable Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

. As any other royal of her time, the Grand Duchess' education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 was focused mainly on art, literature and music. Her real purpose in life, eventually, would be to marry well and provide her husband-to-be with children. Out of all her siblings, Elena Pavlovna was closest to her older sister Alexandra, whose life was shaped practically the same as was Elena's.

Marriage

If royal males have gone down in history for their political and military decisions, women have played decisive roles in uniting through blood and marriage all European royal families. Elena's mother, Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg (by now known as Maria Fyodorovna following her baptism in the Orthodox faith), turned out to be an excellent matchmaker. Although one of her daughters died as an infant, the rest married members of Europe's most important and prestigious royal houses.

In the late 1790s Elena was betrothed to Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819). He was the eldest son of Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin] ruled over the German state of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, first as Duke and then as Grand Duke .-Biography:...

 and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1756–1808)
Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a member of the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and a Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and a Duchess in Saxony by birth...

. At the same time her sister Alexandra, who was very like her in many ways, was engaged to Palatine Joseph of Hungary (1776–1847).

It was customary for European princesses to travel to their husband's homelands to wed; Russian Grand Duchesses were always the exception, as they were all married at home following tradition. On 23 October 1799 Elena Pavlovna and Friedrich Ludwig were married at the palace of Gatchina
Gatchina
Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...

. (Her sister Alexandra followed her example and married her fiancé in the same place one week later).

Children

Elena and Friedrich Ludwig had two children
  • Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (15 September 1800 – 7 March 1842)
  • Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was daughter of Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and consort of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.-Early life:...

     (31 March 1803 – 26 October 1862); married Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Life in Schwerin and death

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (now Princess Elena) moved to Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...

 with her husband. There she was introduced to a whole new court, quite different from the oppulence of the splendours of Saint Petersburg. She was quite content with her married life and soon after the wedding she was with child. In September 1800 she gave birth to a son, Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Paul Friedrich ruled as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1837 to 1842.-Biography:He was born in Ludwigslust the son of Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia. Paul Friedrich was educated at Geneva, Jena and Rostock...

 from 1837 till 1842, who was named so after his grandfathers, the Tsar of Russia and the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
The year 1801 had been especially hard for Elena, for she lost two close members of her family in just a few days. On 16 March her sister Alexandra died in Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...

 after giving birth to a daughter Alexandrine, who died too a few days before. Just eight days later her father, the tsar, was assassinated following a coup probably led by his own son and heir, Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

. The following year Elena became pregnant again and in March 1803 produced a daughter whom they named Maria after her maternal grandmother the Dowager Tsarina.

In September 1803, Elena Pavlovna fell gravely ill and died suddenly on 24 September. She was buried with great sorrow in the Helena Paulovna Mausoleum in Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. It was the capital of the former district of Ludwigslust, and is part of the district Ludwigslust-Parchim since September 2011.-History:...

 which was named in her memory. Several members of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin dynasty, including her husband's second wife, are buried there.

Descendants

Her great-granddaughter, Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg, married Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and a poet and playwright of some renown...

 in 1884; another great-granddaughter, Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Maria Pavlovna of Russia)
Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born Marie Alexandrine Elisabeth Eleonore of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Grand Duke Frederick Francis II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz...

 (known as Miechen) married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia ) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...

; her brother Franz Friedrich married Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna
Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia was a daughter of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia; she married Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin...

, daughter of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia was the fourth son and seventh child of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia...

. His daughter, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was Crown Princess of Germany through marriage, and her older sister Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Alexandrine Auguste of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the queen consort of King Christian X of Denmark.-Family:She was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in the city of Schwerin...

 became Queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 of Christian X of Denmark
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....

.

Elena's widower, Friedrich Ludwig, remarried in 1810 to Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar. They had a daughter, Princess Helene Luise Elisabeth (1814–1858), who married Ferdinand Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres (1810–1842), but Friedrich again became a widower in 1816. In 1818 he married Auguste of Hesse-Homburg but he died the following year. He never became Grand Duke because his father outlived him, and he was succeeded by Elena Pavlovna's son, Paul Friedrich, in 1837.

Titles and styles

  • 24 December 1784 – 23 October 1799 Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia
  • 23 October 1799 – 24 September 1803 Her Imperial Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Ancestry

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