Maria Feodorovna von Württemberg (1759-1828)

Russian Czarina. She was born Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, Germany (present day Poland), but became Maria Feodorovana when at her marriage she converted to the Russian Orthodox faith. Her parents were Duke Friedrich II Eugene von Württemberg and Duchess Friederike von Brandenburg-Schwedt. She was the second wife of the Russian Czar Paul I. Although her marriage was a political arrangement by Catherine II the Great, she was a devoted wife who had ben prepared to be the wife of a Russian czar. At fourteen, she was in the final group chosen to be his first wife but Catherine II the Great decided she was too young. When Paul's first wife died in childbirth three years later, it was certain that she would be the bride of a future czar of Russian. She was tall compared to her husband, but pretty with a fair complexion and a curvy full silhouette, yet she had an above average education speaking several languages and capable of doing fine watercolors. She was patience and kind even with the dealings between her husband with his mental illness and her overbearing, strong-minded mother-in-law Catherine II the Great. Unlike her husband, she came from loving, close-knit, large family. She truly loved her husband, faithful to him even if he was not, and was sincerely upset over his murder that she did not speak to her son Alexander for months fearing his part in the incident. To this royal union, she borne 10 children, and because of her longevity, she buried six of them along with a husband. Her children married into many European royal families and gave her over 30 grandchildren.

Bio by: Linda Davis