Elizabeth Alexeievna was the wife of Emperor Alexander I of Russia.
Pretty girl was born in Karlsruhe, on 13 January 1779 as Princess Louise Maria Auguste of Baden. She was the third of the seven children of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden and his wife Amelia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her grandfathers were Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden and Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Empress Catherine the Great of Russia was looking for a bride for her eldest grandson, the future Alexander I. So, little Princess Louise became his bride. In the autumn of 1792, Louise and her younger sister Frederica came to St. Petersburg.
To tell the truth, Louise was a model of beauty, charm, and honesty. Alexander and his bride were engaged in May 1793.
Cute girl learned Russian, converted to the Orthodox Church and traded the name Louise Maria Auguste for Elizabeth Alexeievna. On September 28, 1793 the wedding took place. You know, the bride was only fourteen years old, and her husband was a year older.
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Marfa Sobakina (1552–1571) was the third wife of Ivan the Terrible. Unfortunately, she was his wife for only 15 days. The girl was selected by Ivan among 12 marriage finalists.
Their marriage took place on October 28, 1571 in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda and on November 13 (15 days later) Marfa died. There was rumor that she was poisoned. This tragedy took place against the backdrop of witch hysteria, which overwhelmed Europe. Thousands of women suspected of witchcraft were burned in the city squares. Mass psychosis came to Russia and finally upset the imagination of the tsar. Ivan Vasilyevich could be understood, all his three wives – Anastasia, Maria and Marfa – died young with obvious signs of poisoning.
Ivan was very angry and put to death many of his servants (about 20 people), including Mikail Temjruk (brother to the Tzar’s previous wife) who was impaled. Marfa was buried next to the Tsar’s previous wife – Maria Temrjukovna.
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The most touching love story of the 18th century
Praskovia Zhemchugova and Nikolai Sheremetyev

On July 20, 1768 in Yaroslavl pretty girl Praskovia was born. Her name means Holiday Eve in Greek. She could become the heroine of a cover version of Cinderella – where have you seen that the richest man in the Russian Empire fell in love with the serf actress and made her his lawful wife. But this story had a sad ending.
Pasha was the daughter of a serf skilled blacksmith Ivan Kovalev. So the daughter lived in the father’s house for only 6 years. Then she was sent to be raised in Kuskovo. The future star of Sheremetyev’s musical theater grew up in care of Marfa Dolgorukaya. Such a rapid change in Praskovia’s fate was due to her gorgeous, touching, seductive voice.
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Anna Timiryova (nee Safonova, in the second marriage Kniper) was a Russian poetess and painter, the daughter of a prominent musician Safonov.
Beautiful Anna Safonova was born in 1893 in Kislovodsk, into the family of the Terek Cossacks. She was the sixth child in a large family of Vasily Safonov, a music teacher, pianist and conductor, who for some time was the director of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1906 her family moved to St. Petersburg. The girl studied drawing and painting, was fluent in French and German.
In 1911 Anna married naval officer S.N. Timiryov. Three years later, in 1914, she gave birth to their son Vladimir, who became a painter. They divorced in 1918.
In 1915, Anna met Rear-Admiral Alexander Kolchak. Although Kolchak was her husband’s closest friend and commanding officer, and had a family of his own, they began a love affair. In 1917, Anna openly left her husband for the Admiral. She was 25 years old, and he was 43. Until January 1920 Anna was the wife of Admiral Kolchak. When he was arrested in January 1920 she followed him. After Kolchak’s execution, she was arrested several times. Anna paid a great price for 17 months of love – 37 years in prison and exile.
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Princess Olga, also known as Olga the Beauty, ruled Rus from 945 to 962 after the death of her husband Igor, Grand Duke of Kiev. She was the first of Russian rulers who adopted Christianity before the Baptism of Russia.
Olga was born in 890. According to the Primary Chronicle she was born in Pleskov (Pskov), into a family of Varyag origin. By some accounts, Olga was the daughter of Prophetic Oleg, Oleg of Novgorod. He became the ruler of Kievan Rus as a guardian of a minor Igor, the son of Rurik. It was Oleg, who married Igor and Olga. But this version of the origin of the princess is not confirmed.
Beautiful Olga was the wife of Igor of Kiev, who was killed by the Drevlians. Upon her husband’s death, their son Svyatoslav was three years old, making Olga the official ruler of Kievan Rus until he reached adulthood. The Drevlians wanted Olga to marry their Prince Mal, making him the ruler of Kievan Rus. But Olga wanted to remain in power and preserve it for her son.
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Russian ballerina Mathilda Kschessinskaya died on December 6, 1971 in Paris, just a few months before her centennial anniversary. Her life was like an irresistible dance, which to this day is surrounded by legends and intriguing details. Always surrounded by scandal, the ballerina adored roulette, diamonds, caviar and men, particularly when named Romanov.
Awesome Mathilda was born on August 19, 1872 in Ligovo, 9 miles west of St Petersburg. Her father, Felix Kschesinsky was a consummate performer of Mazurkas – Nicholas I’s favorite dance. The Emperor invited him to St. Petersburg from Warsaw together with the other dancers. In St. Petersburg, Felix married ballerina Yulia Dominskaya, ballet dancer Leda’s widow. From the first marriage she had five children and gave birth to four more. Mathilda-Maria was the youngest.
By the way, Mathilda’s father was a talented dancer. And the baby inherited a priceless gift – not just dance, but live to dance, fill it with unbridled passion, pain, enchanting dreams and hope.
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Actress Maria Savina was the last love of famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. The last four years of his life were full of high feeling and touching dreams about Savina, and a sober understanding of the hopelessness of their common future. Turgenev told about his feelings in his letters to the actress. The book Turgenev and Savina was published in 1918.
Pretty Maria was born on March 30, 1854. At the age of 7 she began to take part in the performances. 15-year-old Maria had played in all stages of provincial theaters in Bobruisk, Gomel and Nezhin. She played a variety of roles – from the small roles to the heroines of Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Goethe, Dumas, Gogol, Ostrovsky and many others.
The scene was the life for her. Savina entered the history of Russian theater as one of the brightest stars.
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