Nicholas Alexandrovich (; – ) was

tsesarevich Tsesarevich (, ) was the title of the heir apparent or heir presumptive, presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the Eastern Slavic naming customs, given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with the much ...

—the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

—of

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

from 2 March 1855 until his death in 1865.

Early life

Grand Duke Nicholas was born on 1843, in the

Alexander Palace The Alexander Palace (, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'', ) is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1792. Due t ...

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

south of central

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, during the reign of his grandfather, Emperor Nicholas I. Nicknamed "Nixa", he was the eldest son of the Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, eldest son of Emperor Nicholas I, and the Tsesarevna

Maria Alexandrovna of Russia Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (; – 22 October 1920) was the sixth child and only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she was Duchess of Edinburgh and later Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Got ...

. In 1855, his paternal grandfather died, and his father succeeded to the throne as Emperor Alexander II. Nicholas was extremely well-educated and intelligent. His paternal uncle Grand Duke

Konstantin The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name '' Constantinus'' ( Constantine) in some European languages, such as Bulgarian, Russian, Estonian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman empe ...

called him "the crown of perfection." His history teacher said, “If I succeeded in forming a student equal to Nikolai Alexandrovich once in ten years, I’d think I’d have fulfilled my duties." Nicholas had a close relationship with his younger brother, Grand Duke Alexander. He called Alexander "Pug." On his deathbed, he told his father, "Papa, take care of Sasha, he is such an honest, good man."

Engagement

In the summer of 1864, Nicholas became engaged to Princess Dagmar of Denmark. She was the second daughter of

King Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswi ...

and Queen Louise of Denmark and was a younger sister of the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

, later Queen Alexandra and wife of the heir-apparent to the British throne, Albert Edward, who reigned as

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

. Nicholas was besotted with Dagmar after he saw a photograph of her. On 3 August 1863, he wrote to his mother: "I haven’t fallen in love with anyone for a long time. . . You may laugh but the main reason for this is Dagmar whom I fell in love with long ago without even seeing her. I think only about her.” He was tremendously happy after he proposed to Dagmar in her native Denmark: “How can I not be happy when my heart tells me I love her, love her dearly?. . . How can I describe her? Pretty, direct, intelligent, lively yet shy.” As he continued on his European tour, he wrote love letters to Dagmar every day.

Death

Until 1865, Nicholas was thought to have a strong constitution. During a tour in southern Europe, he contracted an ailment that was initially incorrectly diagnosed as

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

. Nicholas's symptoms at that time included back pain and a stiff neck, as well as sensitivity to noise and light. He thought little of his ailments, however, and continued his tour in Italy. His health rapidly worsened, and he was sent to Southern France. This move brought him no improvement. It was eventually determined that he was suffering from cerebro-spinal

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

, and it was speculated that this illness of his was caused by a previous accident in a wrestling match, in which Nicholas participated and was thrown down. In the spring of 1865, Nicholas continued to decline, and he died on 24 April 1865, at the Villa Bermond in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On his deathbed, Nicholas expressed the wish that his fiancée become the bride of his younger brother and future Tsarevich,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. He "raised his right hand and took Sasha's lexander'shand ... and seemed to be reaching for Princess Dagmar's with his left." In 1866, Alexander and Dagmar married. Nicholas's death at the early age of 21 thoroughly devastated his mother, who was said to have pored obsessively over all aspects of Nicholas's life. Empress Maria never recovered from his death. In 1867, construction was begun on a chapel named in his honor ( :fr:Chapelle du tsarévitch Nicolas Alexandrovitch) in Nice, on the exact place where Nicholas was said to have died, and in 1868, the chapel was inaugurated, with his brother Alexander and his wife, the re-christened Maria Feodorovna, in attendance.

Honours

Ancestry

Notes

References

* Zeepvat, Charlotte, Romanov Autumn, Sutton Publishing, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia 1843 births 1865 deaths House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov Grand dukes of Russia Russian heirs apparent who never acceded Neurological disease deaths in France Infectious disease deaths in France Deaths from meningitis 19th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Tsesarevichs of Russia category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Children of Alexander II of Russia Sons of Russian emperors Burials at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg Sons of dukes