Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia

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For daughter of Nicholas I of Russia, see Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna.

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1899-1918)

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (Maria Nikolaevna Romanova) (In Russian Великая Княжна Мария Николаевна), also known as Marie or Mashka (June 14 (O.S.)/June 26 (N.S.), 1899 - July 17, 1918) was the third daughter of Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra of Hesse. She was the middle child, younger than Grand Duchess Olga of Russia and Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia, but older than Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia and Tsarevich Alexei of Russia.

She was a pretty girl with light brown hair and large blue eyes that were known in the family as "Marie's saucers". She was very loving and warm to her family.

Her other sisters referred to her as their "stepsister" because she was so good and never got into trouble; however, on occasion, she could be mischievous. Once, as a little girl, she stole some biscuits from her mother's tea table. As a punishment for her surprising behavior, Alexandra suggested she be sent to bed; however Nicholas objected, stating, "I was always afraid of the wings growing. I am glad to see she is only a human child." Maria and her younger sister, Anastasia, were known in the household as the "Little Pair", being the younger sisters. As well as their older sisters, they shared a bedroom and Maria tended to be dominated by Anastasia because of the energy and enthusiasm of the younger sibling. The pair were also dressed similarly for special occasions, wearing variations of the same dress.

She was a happy go lucky girl, very interested in children and the families of normal people; Even when she was imprisoned in Tobolsk and Ekaterinburg she questioned her guards about their wives, children, families, homes and other things. She loved children and said to her sisters, "I want to marry a Russian soldier and have twenty children!"

Image:Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna -1905.JPG

However, it is possible that Maria, like her mother, was a carrier of the haemophilia gene. Maria reportedly hemorrhaged in December 1914 during an operation to remove her tonsils, according to her paternal aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, who was interviewed later in her life. The doctor performing the operation was so unnerved that he had to be ordered to continue by Maria's mother, Tsarina Alexandra. Olga Alexandrovna said she believed all four of her nieces bled more than was normal and believed they were carriers of the haemophilia gene. (Ian Vorres, The Last Grand Duchess, 1965 p. 115.) Although carriers of the haemophilia gene are not themselves haemophiliacs, they sometimes have lower than normal blood clotting factor because they carry one normal version of the gene instead of the usual two and can have symptoms similar to haemophiliacs. [1]

Maria was nineteen when she was murdered on July 17, 1918 in the cellar room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The murder was carried out by forces of the Bolshevik secret police under the command of Yakov Yurovsky.

In 2000, she and her family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

When the bodies of the Tsar and his family were found in a mass grave in 1991, it was discovered that two bodies were missing. One is Alexei and the other, thought to be Anastasia by American scientists, is thought by Russian scientists to be Maria. Some historians think that these two missing bodies were burned and then buried away from the main grave.