Alexander I
Portrait of Emperor Alexander I
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias
Reign23 March 1801 – 1 December 1825
Coronation15 September 1801
PredecessorPaul I
SuccessorNicholas I
Born(1777-12-23)23 December 1777
Saint Petersburg
Died1 December 1825(1825-12-01) (aged 47)
Taganrog
Burial
Peter and Paul Cathedral
ConsortPrincess Louise of Baden
IssueGrand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexandrovna
Full name
Alexander Pavlovich Romanov
HouseHolstein-Gottorp-Romanov
FatherPaul I
MotherSophie Dorothea of Württemberg
ReligionRussian Orthodox
SignatureAlexander I's signature

Alexander I of Russia (Russian: Александр I Павлович, Aleksandr I Pavlovich) (23 December [O.S. 12 December] 1777 – 1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1825),[1] also known as Alexander the Blessed (Russian: Александр Благословенный, Aleksandr Blagoslovennyi) was Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.

He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Emperor Paul I, and Maria Feodorovna, daughter of the Duke of Württemberg. He succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered, and ruled Russia during the Napoleonic Wars.

His sudden death in Taganrog, under allegedly suspicious circumstances, caused the spread of the rumours that Alexander did not die in 1825, but disappeared to live the rest of his life in anonymity.

Early life and throne ascension

Alexander was born in 23th December (O.S. 12 December) 1777 in Saint Petersburg. He was the eldest son of Tsar Paul I and one of Catherine the Great's grandchildren. In 1801, he began to reign Russia after his father Paul I was murdered.

Private life

On 9 October 1793, Alexander married Louise of Baden, known as Elisabeth Alexeyevna after her conversion to the Orthodox Church. He later told his friend Frederick William III that the marriage, a political match devised by his grandmother, Catherine the Great, regrettably proved to be a misfortune for him and his wife. Their two children of the marriage died young.

Alexander had nine illegitimate children.

With Sophia Vsevolojsky (1775–1848)

With Maria Naryshkina (1779–1854)

With Marguerite-Josephine Weimer (1787–1867)

With Veronica Dzierzanowska

With Princess Barbara Tourkestanova (1775 – 20 March 1819)

With Maria Ivanovna Katatcharova (1796–1824)

Mysterious death

Death of Alexander I in Taganrog (19th century lithograph)
Alexander I Palace in Taganrog, where the Russian Emperor died in 1825.

Alexander became increasingly suspicious of those around him, especially after an attempt was made to kidnap him when he was on his way to the conference in Aachen, Germany.

In the autumn of 1825 the Emperor sailed to the south of Russia due to the increasing illness of his wife. During his trip he caught a cold which developed into typhus from which he died in the southern city of Taganrog on 19 November (O.S.)/ 1 December 1825. His wife died a few months later as the emperor's body was transported to Saint Petersburg for the funeral. He was interred at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg on 13 March 1826.

The unexpected death of the Emperor far from the capital caused rumours that his death and funeral were staged so he could spend the rest of his life in solitude. Some say the former emperor became a monk in Pochaev Lavra or Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra or elsewhere. A mysterious hermit, Feodor Kuzmich, (or Kozmich) emerged in Siberia in 1836, died near Tomsk in 1864 and was eventually glorified as a saint of the Orthodox Church. Many people, including some historians, have theorized that he was Alexander I under an assumed identity. While there are testimonies that "Feodor Kozmich" in his earlier life might have belonged to a higher level of society, claims that he was Alexander I were never proved.

Other

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Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I was the godfather of future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom who was christened Alexandrina Victoria in honour of the tsar.

Alexander I was the namesake for the Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany, and of the Alexandertorte.

References

  1. ↑ During Alexander's life time Russia used the Julian calendar (Old Style), but unless otherwise stated, any date in this article uses the Gregorian Calendar (New Style) — see the article "Old Style and New Style dates" for a more detailed explanation.
This article includes text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please add to the article as needed.
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