Born: 8 August 1824, Germany
Died: 3 June 1880
Country most active: Russia
Also known as: Marie of Hesse, Мария Александровна
The following is excerpted from A Cyclopædia of Female Biography, published 1857 by Groomsbridge and Sons and edited by Henry Gardiner Adams.
MARIA, ALEXANDROWNA, Is the name by which the present empress is known to the Russian people, and by which she will be distinguished in the historic records of her country; originally it was Maximilienne Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria, or more commonly the Princess Mary of Oldenburg, whose extreme affability of demeanour, and kindliness of disposition, during her days of maidenhood, completely won the affections of the good people of Darmstadt. At the age of sixteen, this beautiful, and, as it appears, unsophisticated girl was seen by the Cesarewitch Alexander, when on his travels to various European courts, like Cœlebs, in search of a wife. This was in the year 1840, or thereabout; the prince at once became enamoured of the Hessian beauty, and within a year they were married; the princess, as we have intimated, changing her name to one more in accordance with Russian state etiquette, and her altered circumstances.
It is a matter of history that this illustrious lady, who has rendered herself no less beloved by the Russian people, than she was by those of her German fatherland, ascended the throne with her husband, Alexander the Second, on the death of the Emperor Nicholas, in 1855. She is said to be sincerely desirous of maintaining the peace now so happily established, and of assisting by all means in her power the efforts of those who would enlighten and civilize the many dark places of that mighty empire, over which her husband is called to rule.
The present Empress of Russia was born on the 8th. of August, 1824; she is the daughter of Louis the Second, the late Grandduke of Hesse, and was married to the Emperor Alexander, on the 16th. of April, 1841: she is the mother of five children, three sons and two daughters. Her elder brother is the present reigning Duke of Hesse, and is said to have recently seconded his sister’s efforts to bring about a restoration of peace.