Maria Pavlovna (russian: Мария Павловна; 16 February 1786 S 5 February– 23 June 1859) was born a grand duchess of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

as the daughter of

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch *Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Paul ...

Emperor of all the Russias The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in connection with Russia' ...

and later became the

Grand Duchess Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was rais ...

by her marriage to Charles Frederick of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783–1853).

Early life

Maria Pavlovna Romanova of

was born on 16 February 1786 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as the fifth child and third daughter of

Tsesarevich Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...

Paul Petrovich Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her l ...

of Russia and his second wife,

Tsesarevna Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...

Maria Feodorovna (1754–1801), born

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

Sophie Dorothea of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

(1759–1828). She was named after her mother. Maria Pavlovna spent her childhood in the

Pavlovsk Palace Pavlovsk Palace (russian: Павловский дворец) is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by the order of Catherine the Great for her son Grand Duke Paul, in Pavlovsk, within Saint Petersburg. After his death, ...

and the Great Gatchina Palace. As a child, she was not considered pretty as her face had been disfigured as a result of being variolated. She was a talented pianist, for which her paternal grandmother,

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

(1729–1796) admired her, even though she thought that Maria Pavlovna would have been better off had she been born a boy. Her music instructor was

Giuseppe Sarti Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer. Biography He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...

, an Italian composer and the

kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

of the Russian court. From 1798, she was taught music by

Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson (Lewis-William Ferguson-Tepper, Tepper von Ferguson, Louis-Guillaume Tepper de Ferguson; 18 December 1768, Warsaw – 12 September 1838, Paris) was a Polish–Russian musician and composer, a music teacher mainly ...

Life in Weimar

On 3 August 1804, Maria Pavlovna married Charles Frederick, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783–1853). The couple stayed in Saint Petersburg for nine months before departing for

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. There, Maria Pavlovna was greeted with festivities as described by

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...

: "The most festive part of all the magnificence of balls, fireworks, promenades, comedies, illuminations was the widespread and genuine joy at the arrival of our new princess". As grand duchess, she took care of the poor of the country. She last visited Russia at the occasion of the coronation of her nephew,

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

in 1855.

Patronage of arts and sciences

Maria Pavlovna was interested in both

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. She maintained a lifelong correspondence with

Vasily Zhukovsky Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (russian: Василий Андреевич Жуковский, Vasiliy Andreyevich Zhukovskiy; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19 ...

, and

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

dedicated one of his last poems to her. Schiller praised her "talents in music and painting and genuine love of reading", while

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

hailed her as one of the worthiest women of his time. Most famously, she held "literary evenings" ''("Literarische Abende")'' where scholars both from and outside of the neighbouring

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

were invited to give lectures on various topics. The grand duchess herself attended ten courses at the university, some delivered by

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

(1769–1859). Several collections of the institution benefitted of her patronage, among them the Grandducal Oriental Coin Cabinet founded in 1840 by the orientalist

Johann Gustav Stickel Johann Gustav Stickel (7 July 1805 – 21 January 1896) was a German theologian, orientalist and numismatist at Jena University. Biography Stickel was born in Eisenach in 1805. He went to school in Buttelstedt and in Weimar. In his youth he ...

(1805–1896). She also played an instrumental role in establishing the Falk Institute in Weimar. In her later years, Maria Pavlovna invited

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

to her court and appointed him ''"

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

extraordinaire"'' in 1842. In 1850,

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's opera ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in Germany, German Arthurian literature. The son of Percival, Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which fi ...

'' premiered in Weimar, but her growing

deafness Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

prevented the grand duchess from enjoying it.

Issue

Maria Pavlovna had four children by her husband, Charles Frederick of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783–1853), three of whom survived to adulthood: *Paul Alexander Karl Constantin Frederick August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (25 September 1805 – 10 April 1806) * ''Maria'' Louisa Alexandrina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (3 February 1808 – 18 January 1877), who married

Prince Charles of Prussia Prince Frederick Charles Alexander of Prussia (german: Friedrich Karl Alexander; 29 June 1801 – 21 January 1883) was a younger son of Frederick William III of Prussia. He served as a Prussian general for much of his adult life and became the fir ...

(1801 –1883) and had issue. * ''Augusta'' Louisa Catherine of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (30 September 1811 – 7 January 1890), who became

German Empress The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

after marrying

William I, German Emperor William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

(1797–1888) and had issue. * ''Charles Alexander'' Augustus John, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (24 June 1818 – 5 January 1901), who inherited his father's throne, married

Princess Sophie of the Netherlands Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

(1824–1897) and had issue.

Letters

Maria Pavlovna's letters to her maternal grandfather,

Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732 – 23 December 1797) was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (11 August 1706 – 1 February 1756). He was born in Stuttg ...

written between 1795 and 1797 are preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart. Her letters from between 1800 and 1859 are preserved in the ''"Maria Paulowna letters"'' collection of the

Hoover Institution Library and Archives The Hoover Institution Library and Archives is a research center and archival repository located at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. Built around a collection amassed by Stanford graduate Herbert Hoover prio ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Ancestry

References

* Jena, Detlef, Maria Pawlowna. Großherzogin an Weimars Musenhof, Regensburg 1999. * ''Ihre Kaiserliche Hoheit''. Maria Pawlowna. Zarentochter am Weimarer Hof, ed. Stiftung Weimarer Klassik und Kunstsammlungen, Weimar, Weimar 2004. * Jeanne Huc-Mazelet, ''Je suis moi, ils sont eux. Lettres et journal d'une gouvernante à la cour de Russie, 1790-1804'', :fr:Ethno-Doc, 2018, 256 p. (). (Jeanne Huc-Mazelet was at Maria Pavlovna's service).

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Pavlovna Of Russia, Grand Duchess 1786 births 1859 deaths Russian grand duchesses Grand Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Hereditary Grand Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov Princesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 18th-century people from the Russian Empire 19th-century people from the Russian Empire 18th-century women from the Russian Empire 19th-century women from the Russian Empire Daughters of Russian emperors Children of Paul I of Russia