MARIE FEODOROVNA (MARIE SoPHIA FREDERIKA DAGMAR) (1847-1928), empress of Russia, second daughter and fourth child of King Christian IX. of Denmark, was born Nov. 26, 1847. Originally betrothed to Nicholas, eldest son of Alexander II., tsar of Russia, on his death she married, on Nov. 9, 1866, the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovitch, his younger brother, heir-apparent to the Russian throne, and was known thenceforward as Marie Feodorovna. The grand duke succeeded to the Russian throne as Alexander III., in 1881, on the assassina tion of his father by revolutionaries. The empress's home life was a happy one, and she took no part in politics. Her husband was for many years in danger of his life and every precaution was taken for his safety. There was on his accession a natural tendency to reaction, and on the advice of Pobiedonoszeff, Alex ander III. refused to accept the Constitution prepared by his father.
As his accession to the throne had never been expected, he had been trained as a soldier, and had little political knowledge or ability. The empress interested herself particularly in philanthropy and education, and as head of the "department of the institution of the empress Marie" greatly extended the work of the institu tion, establishing new schools, hospitals and relief centres of various kinds. She endeared herself to the people of Russia by her personal interest as well as by her wide philanthropic activi ties. She was trained as a nurse during the Russo-Turkish war, and greatly developed the Russian Red Cross organization, of which she was the head. From the death of Alexander III., in
1894, she lived in retirement in the Anitchkov palace in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), visiting Denmark and England where she was staying on the outbreak of the World War. She returned to Russia, in spite of an attempt in Berlin to send her back to England, and worked actively for the Russian Red Cross. Her attempts to warn her son, Nicholas II., against the influence of Rasputin were unsuccessful. Three months after Rasputin's murder the revolution broke out and the emperor abdicated. The empress Marie, who was at Kiev, met him for the last time at Mohilev. She was permitted, with other members of the royal family, to live in the Crimea, under close guard. When the Crimea came under German occupation she was given the oppor tunity of returning to Denmark through Germany, but refused, and only left for England after the armistice in April 1919. During her later years she lived at Hvidore, in Denmark; she died at Copenhagen on Oct. 13, 1928.
The empress had five children, Nicholas, who became emperor as Nicholas George, who died at the age of 23 ; Xenia, who married the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch; Michael, who was tsarevich from 1881 until the birth of a direct heir to the throne in 1904; and Olga, whose marriage with Prince Peter Oldenburgsky was dissolved during the war.