Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (; 28 July 1860 – 11 March 1922) was by birth member of the House of Romanov and a Grand Duchess of Russia and by marriage Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Early life

Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia was born at the Peterhof Palace on 28 July 1860. As a child, she was nicknamed "Stassie" by those around her. She was the only daughter among the seven children of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, born Princess Cecilie of Baden, and thus the cherished child of the family, particularly favored by her father and doted on by her six brothers.

In 1862, her father was appointed Viceroy of the Caucasus. He settled with his family in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, where Anastasia grew up in her father's large palace, as well as at the Borjomi estate, Likani Villa, the family's summer residence. Additionally, her father owned the Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg and a residence on the shores of the Black Sea.

As with most dynastic marriages, Anastasia had little choice. Their engagement was announced in October 1878, and she traveled with her parents to St. Petersburg for the marriage preparations. The wedding took place on January 24, 1879, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, following both the Russian Orthodox and Lutheran rites. The event was attended by Europe's leading royal families. The official account claimed that he died in his garden, collapsing over a low wall when a sudden shortness of breath overcame him. Anastasia inherited his private fortune, Villa Wenden in Cannes, and Gelbensande hunting pavilion. Her brother-in-law John Albert served as regent until Frederick Francis IV came of age in 1901. Anastasia continued to divide her time between the Riviera and occasional visits to St. Petersburg, Paris, and England. At the outbreak of the First World War, Anastasia publicly rejected her German son-in-law and affirmed her loyalty to Russia. Her daughter, Crown Princess Cecilie, also wrote about her in her memoirs:She was like an ivory statue, delicate and transparent, and at the same time tall and slender and stately in her bearing; she was possessed of great charm and was kind and friendly with everyone. [...] My grandmother, after whom I was named, had brought up her only daughter with exceptional strictness and had accustomed her to submit unconditionally to the will of her mother and of her governess. Her brother, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, recalled his sister in his memoirs:There remained our sister Anastasia. We worshiped that tall dark-haired girl who was the exclusive favorite of our father; but when talking to her, we liked to pose as the faithful knights ready and willing to execute the orders of their 'dame sans merci.' We put at her feet all the love stored during months and years of dull military drills. We were extremely jealous of her and felt a terrific heartache when the young Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin came to Tiflis to make the acquaintance of his fiancée.

Ancestry