Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna 1779- 1826 Born in Germany as Princess Louise of Baden, Elizabeth Alexe

Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna 1779- 1826 Born in Germany as Princess Louise of Baden, Elizabeth Alexeievna married the grandson of Catherine the Great, Alexander I. Catherine paired the couple but they had chemistry and fell in love shortly after meeting. When Elizabeth wed, she learned Russian and changed her name. She had to start adjusting to Russian court life.  Elizabeth experienced understandable amounts of culture shock. Her life in the court became very unhappy. Catherine was disappointed in her for not producing a son before her death. When Catherine died and Paul I came to power, Elizabeth was even more distressed. She avoided the court whenever possible and her marriage began to decay. It was not until five years into Elizabeth’s marriage that she had a child- and it was from an affair. The baby girl died soon after her birth and Elizabeth’s lover left the country.  In 1801, Elizabeth’s husband conspired to kill his father, Paul I. She was present during the assassination and supported Alexander’s efforts. After the murder, Alexander took the throne but he lived with a guilty conscience. He became indifferent toward Elizabeth, though she encouraged him to leave behind the trauma of the murder and take care of Russia. Elizabeth’s husband made an effort to have meals with her and was civil toward her in public but the love had left the relationship. Both had affairs at this point in the marriage. Elizabeth had another daughter, probably from an affair, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexandrovna. She put all her affections toward this child but she soon died as well. After this death, Elizabeth and Alexander lost hope for having children. Elizabeth died suddenly of heart failure at the age of 47 when traveling to meet her mother-in-law.  Portrait by Vladimir Borovikovsky -- source link

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