Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia (26 May 1826 – 28 January 1845) was the second child and daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Württemberg who took the name Elena Pavlovna upon her conversion to the Orthodox faith. Through her father, Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia, and a niece of both Russian emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I.

Biography Elizabeth, nicknamed 'Lili' or 'Lili the fidget', was born in the Kremlin in Moscow and she was named after her aunt who had died ten days earlier, the Empress Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Alexander I and a close friend of her mother. She grew up with her other siblings in the Mikhailovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg. Elizabeth was said to be the prettiest among her sisters and, like her mother, Elena Pavlovna, she was graceful in manners and well-educated. Her mother paid great attention to the education of her daughters, and her father introduced military topics into their program, citing the fact that they were chiefs of military regiments. They learnt the signals on the bugle and drum, which made their father proud. Elizabeth also was highly favoured by her uncle, Emperor Nicholas I, who considered her as his favourite niece.

Her cousin, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna described her as straightforward, hot-tempered, and boyish and described by the Empress as 'an honest person'.

A foreign contemporary described her as;"The healthiest of the three sisters, the most beautiful, tall and slender. Hair shimmering with deep red tones, long light eyelashes and a charming face." By the end of 1843, Adolf, Duke of Nassau was visiting St. Petersburg and met Elizabeth for the first time. Adolf's stepmother was Princess Pauline of Württemberg, Elizabeth's maternal aunt. Adolf and Elizabeth fell in love and they eventually got married on 31 January 1844 in St. Petersburg. Elizabeth was 17 years old and Adolf was 26. She was initially proposed to by his brother Maurice, but declined.

After the wedding, the couple stayed in Russia for some time until they moved to Germany and took up residence in Castle Biebrich in Wiesbaden. Elizabeth, now Duchess of Nassau, was popular among the people.

She followed her mother's footsteps and used the income from Nassau on charity works and refused payments from the treasury. and come Christmas, she was so ill that she did not leave her room. On 28 January, Father John Bazarov was called to the dying Grand Duchess' bedside, she was drifting in and out of consciousness. In a moment, of consciousness, she asked about her child and was reassured she was healthy. Her cause of death was advanced tuberculosis. A year and a half later, having lost another daughter, Elizabeth's sister, Maria, their mother opened orphanages in Moscow and Pavlosk, naming them after the sisters. Her mother was made its chief trustee, and after her death, Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna took over the role. founded by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in honor of her daughters Elizabeth and Maria. Russian Orthodox Church of St. Elizabeth in Wiesbaden was built by her husband using her dowry to house the remains of the Grand Duchess and her daughter.

Ancestry