Grand Duchess Elizabeth
The Older Sister of Tsaritsa Alexandra Was a Popular Royal Figure
Grand Duchess Elizabeth, married to Grand Duke Sergei, fell out with her younger sister Alexandra even while she attempted to help the sick and the poor.
History books about Nicholas and Alexandra often leave out information about Alexandra's older sister, Elizabeth, who not only married into the Russian royal family prior to her sister becoming Empress, but also attempted to influence events that were swiftly spinning out of control during the advent of the Russian Revolution.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth – Marriage to Grand Duke Sergei
Elizabeth of Hesse became Grand Duchess Elizabeth upon her marriage to Grand Duke Sergei, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III. While Elizabeth originally married for love, she soon discovered that Sergei was not the man she thought he was. Whether impotence or homosexuality prevented him from siring children, researchers are uncertain, but Elizabeth resigned herself to loyal childlessness even when Grand Duke Sergei was accused of governing the people of Moscow cruelly and unfairly.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth – Nursing and Religion
After Grand Duke Sergei's murder at the gate of the Kremlin, Grand Duchess Elizabeth turned to doing pious good works. She eventually abandoned society completely to tend the ill and homeless, and kept the company of Sisters with whom she worked in a convent. Most of the Russian peasantry as well as the nobility recognized Elizabeth's honest wish to improve the lives of the less fortunate. Only when the political climate in Moscow reached fever pitch did commoners view Elizabeth as little better than Tsar Nicholas and Tsaritsa Alexandra.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth – Influence on Alexandra's Reliance Upon Rasputin
Rasputin's presence at court increased national distrust in the ruling family. Grand Duchess Elizabeth, acting as big sister to Tsaritsa Alexandra, attempted to convince Alexandra of Rasputin's corrosive influence and questionable motives. However, Elizabeth's disapproval drove a wedge between the sisters. Alexandra refused to listen to any of Grand Duchess Elizabeth's reasoning against keeping Rasputin at the royal court. After Rasputin's murder, Alexandra had decided that Elizabeth was a conspirator in the plot to kill the mystic.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth – Struggles During the Russian Revolution
Elizabeth refused to leave her convent and her care of the ill, even when it was determined that members of the royal family were not safe in Russia. The Grand Duchess was given several warnings and offers of help, but she ignored them and continued her work. When protesters were hurt after insinuating that she was no better than her royal relatives, Grand Duchess Elizabeth took them into her care.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth – Prisoner of Bolsheviks and Murder
Elizabeth went calmly with her Bolshevik captors when they came for her. Two Sisters from the convent accompanied Elizabeth to her prison in Siberia. Just before for her death, she said a prayer for her captors. Then she was bludgeoned and sent tumbling down a mind shaft with a 60 foot drop, along with others who had been held prisoner. The Romanov family had been executed only a couple of days before.
A priest who was close to Grand Duchess Elizabeth reported religious hymns coming from the site of the murder shortly after it had been carried out. When the bodies were eventually recovered, it was apparent that up to the last minutes of her life, Grand Duchess Elizabeth sought to help others – strips of her nun's habit had been torn off to make bandages for a fellow victim.
References
Magar, Hugo. Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia. New York: Carroll and Graff Publishers, Inc., 1998.
