Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine

Life events

1. Born — 1864

   Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alix was born on 1 November 1864 in Darmstadt as the second child of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria. She was named in honour of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and her paternal grandmother, Princess Elisabeth of Prussia.

2. Other — 1884

   Elisabeth married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia on 15 June 1884 at the Chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. The marriage made her Grand Duchess of Russia; she and Sergei later became foster parents to Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.

3. Baptized — 1891

   Though not legally required to do so, Elisabeth voluntarily converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy in 1891, taking the name Elizaveta Feodorovna. Her conversion drew criticism from her Lutheran sister-in-law and from Kaiser Wilhelm II.

4. Other — 1905

   On 17 February 1905 (O.S.), Ivan Kalyayev of the Socialist Revolutionary Party's combat detachment threw a nitroglycerin bomb into Grand Duke Sergei's carriage near the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, killing him instantly. Elisabeth rushed to the scene and knelt in the snow to gather her husband's remains.

5. Other — 1905

   Shortly before his execution, Elisabeth visited Kalyayev in prison, offered her personal forgiveness, and petitioned the tsar unsuccessfully for a pardon. She inscribed on her husband's tombstone: 'Father, release them, they know not what they do.'

6. Tonsured — 1909

   In 1909 Elisabeth sold her jewels and personal possessions, including her wedding ring, and used the proceeds to found the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary (Marfo-Mariinsky Convent) in Moscow, becoming its abbess. The convent included a hospital, chapel, pharmacy and orphanage serving the city's poor.

7. Martyred — 1918

   On the night of 17–18 July 1918, Cheka operatives transported Elisabeth and a group of Romanov relatives from Alapaevsk to an abandoned iron mine near the village of Siniachikha, beat them, and threw them into the 20-metre shaft. Elisabeth was the first thrown in; grenades and brushwood were used against survivors. Her reported last words were: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

8. Translated — 1921

   After White Army soldiers recovered the remains from the mine shaft in October 1918, they were moved east to Beijing. In 1921, Elisabeth's remains and those of Sister Varvara Yakovleva were taken to Jerusalem and interred in the Church of Mary Magdalene at Gethsemane. Elisabeth was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1981 and by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1992.

Relationships

Documented claims

• After her husband's assassination, Elisabeth visited his killer Ivan Kalyayev in prison before his execution, offered personal forgiveness, and unsuccessfully petitioned Tsar Nicholas II for a pardon — an act of mercy widely cited in her canonization accounts. (likely)
• Elisabeth is one of ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London. (likely)
• In 2004–2005, relics of Elisabeth were brought to Russia, the CIS and Baltic countries; Patriarch Alexei II reported more than 7 million people came to venerate them before they were returned to Jerusalem. (likely)
• Elisabeth holds a rare dual canonization within Russian Orthodoxy: the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia recognized her as a saint in 1981, followed by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1992, under the title Holy New Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna. (certain)
• In 1915, Elisabeth organized the All-Russian Zemstvo Union under her auspices to provide medical support for sick and injured soldiers during the First World War. (likely)