Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia (Russian: Алекса́ндра Петро́вна Ольденбу́ргская, romanized: Aleksándra Petróvna Ol'denbúrgskaya; born Duchess Alexandra Frederica Wilhelmina of Oldenburg, German: Alexandra Friederike Wilhelmine Herzogin von Oldenburg; 2 June 1838 – 25 April 1900) was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia and the wife of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, the elder.
She was the eldest daughter of Duke Peter of Oldenburg and his wife Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg. She grew up in Russia in close proximity to the Romanovs as her father was a nephew of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Alexandra's parents were artistically gifted and passionate philanthropists. They provided a good education for her and inspired in Alexandra a life of service to those in need.
Alexandra married in 1856, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, the third son of Tsar Nicholas I and her first cousin once removed. Alexandra, who had been raised in the Lutheran church, converted to the Orthodox faith, and took the name Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia. The couple had two children: Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929), the younger, and Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (1864–1931). The marriage, arranged by the Russian Imperial family in an attempt to control the Grand Duke's excesses, was unhappy. She was plain, serious and liked simplicity. Deeply religious and very involved in charity work, Alexandra founded a training institute for nurses in St Petersburg in 1865. The same year, her husband began an affair with a ballerina, forming a second family with his mistress.
After the collapse of her marriage, Alexandra lived separated from her husband who expelled her from their household in 1879. A carriage accident left her almost completely paralyzed and, in November 1880, Alexandra went abroad to improve her health, compelled by her brother-in-law Tsar Alexander II. The following year, she asked her nephew, Tsar Alexander III, to allow her to return to Russia and she settled in Kiev. She recovered her mobility and, in 1889, she founded the Pokrovsky Nunnery, Kiev, a convent of nursing nuns with its own hospital, to provide free treatment for the poor. She dedicated the rest of her life to the work at the hospital. In 1889, she became an Orthodox nun under the name Anastasia, but kept this secret until her death. She died at the convent in 1900.
Alexandra Frederica Wilhelmina was born at her parents' palace at Embarkment, 2 in St. Petersburg on 2 June [O.S. 21 May] 1838, as a Duchess of Oldenburg. She was the eldest of the eight children of Duke Peter of Oldenburg and his wife Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg, half-sister of Sofia of Nassau, queen consort of Oscar II of Sweden. Alexandra belonged to the House of Holstein-Gottorp but grew up in Russia, where her family was closely related to the Romanov dynasty.
Duke Peter, Alexandra's father, was the only surviving son of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia. Peter of Oldenburg followed a military career in the Imperial Russian Army and was also a scholar, a music composer and philanthropist. Alexandra's mother, Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg, was interested in painting and like her husband was deeply involved in charity work, so much so that she was considered an eccentric. The couple had a happy marriage, preferring a quiet family life rather than court life. They were devoted parents to their eight children, providing a careful education for them.
The family spent the winter months in Peterhof and moved for the summer to their other residence Kamenoi-Ostroff. There, Alexandra and her siblings had a children's farm where they grew vegetables and tended farm animals under the supervision of their Russian governess.
Alexandra and her siblings grew up surrounded by art and music. She learned Russian, German, English and French. Besides the usual school subjects, the children had to practice music, painting, dancing, riding and palace etiquette. Alexandra excelled at the arts and she was also interested in literature, Russian history and genealogy. Alexandra's education awoke in her an interest in medicine and in solving social problems of the poor.
In 1848, Alexandra's parents took her and her younger brother, Nicholas, to visit their relatives in Germany. They stayed with Alexandra's maternal family in Wiesbaden and Alexandra's paternal relatives in Oldenburg.
After Alexandra made her debut at court with a series of dinners and receptions, her parents arranged a high-status marriage for her. During a family dinner at the Anichkov Palace, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, the third son of Tsar Nicholas I and her first cousin once removed, proposed and she accepted to marry him. The engagement was announced publicly that same day, 25 October 1855.
Seven years Alexandra's senior, Grand Duke Nicholas was a military officer who had numerous love affairs. The Russian Imperial family, in an attempt to control the Grand Duke's excesses, had propelled Nicholas to marry Alexandra, hoping that she would have a good influence on him. Alexandra, who had been raised in the Lutheran church, converted to the Orthodox faith on 7 January 1856, and was styled as: HIH Alexandra Petrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia. The wedding took place on 6 February [O.S. 25 January] 1856 at Peterhof Palace and it was followed by a dinner ball at the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace.
Alexandra was described by Anna Tyutcheva (1829-1889), a lady in waiting to Empress Maria Alexandrovna, as: "... a sweet and docile creature ... Although not beautiful, she is captivating with the freshness of her seventeen years of age, and also with the sincerity and kindness that shines on her face". Tyutcheva later commented about Alexandra: "her complexion is, in fact, the only thing that's good about her. Her facial features are rather plain and quite irregular".
As the young couple's own residence, the Nicholas Palace, was still under construction, Alexandra and Nicholas spent the first five years of their marriage in the Winter Palace. There, in their apartments on the ground floor, nine months after their wedding, Alexandra gave birth to their first child on 18 November 1856, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia the Younger.
Alexandra loved her husband and her son deeply but she felt it was also her duty to help those in need. She embraced wholeheartedly charitable work, spending her allowance on donations to schools, hospitals and other institutions. Plain and unsophisticated, Alexandra liked simplicity and preferred to dress modestly, avoiding public life. She dedicated her time to religion and to her consuming interest in medicine. Alexandra's pleasant manners made her win many sympathies. She was well-liked by her two sisters-in-law Maria Alexandrovna and Alexandra Iosifovna. However, at the Russian court, Alexandra Petrovna's involvement in philanthropy was considered excessive and she was regarded as a holy fool.
In December 1861, the couple moved to their newly built Nicholas Palace on Annunciation Square. There, Alexandra used her White Lounge to stage charity bazaars and art exhibitions to raise money for orphans. In 1863, a church was added to her palace under the care of Alexandra's confessor, Archpriest Vasili Lebedev, who had great influence over the deeply devoted grand duchess.
Lacking in beauty and social graces, Alexandra avoided court functions, instead of dividing her time between her charitable activities and farm work on the family's summer residence, Znamenka Palace, near Peterhof, which had been given to them as a wedding present. During the summer months at Znamenka, Nicholas and Alexandra entertained guests there. Grand Duchess Alexandra was also a gifted artist. She adorned the walls of Znamenka with her paintings. Even in the country, Alexandra continued her charity work. She started a first aid station from where she received patients, offered treatment and visited them at home.