View source for Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine

{{Short description|Grand Duchess of Russia}}
{{Redirect|Princess Elisabeth of Hesse|other people|Elisabeth of Hesse (disambiguation)|and|Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
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{{Infobox royalty    
          
| name         = Princess Elisabeth
| title        = Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia
| image        = Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fedorovna in 1885.jpg
| image_size   =
| caption      = Photograph by Charles Bergamasco, 1885
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia]]|15 June 1884|17 February 1905|end=d.}}
| full name    = {{ubl|{{langx|en|Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice}}|{{langx|de|Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alix}}|{{langx|ru|Елизавета Фёдоровна Романова}}}}
| house        = [[Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| father       = [[Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine]]
| mother       = [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom]]
| birth_name   =
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|df=yes|1864|11|1}}
| birth_place  = [[Bessungen]], [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]], [[German Confederation]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1918|7|18|1864|11|1}}
| death_place  = [[Alapayevsk]], [[Russian SFSR]]
| burial_place = [[Church of Mary Magdalene]], [[Gethsemane]], Jerusalem
| religion     = [[Russian Orthodox]]<br>''prev.'' [[Lutheranism]]
| signature    = Signature of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna of Russia, née Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice of Hesse and by Rhine.jpg
}}
{{House of Hesse and by Rhine|louis4}}


'''Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia''' (born '''Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine'''; 1 November 1864{{nbsp}}– 18 July 1918) was a [[German Empire|German]] [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hessian]] and [[Rhenish Hesse|Rhenish]] [[princess]] of the [[House of Hesse-Darmstadt]], and the wife of [[Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia]], the fifth son of Emperor [[Alexander II of Russia]] and [[Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine]].

A granddaughter of [[Queen Victoria]] and an older sister of [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra]], the last Russian empress, Elisabeth became famous in Russian society for her dignified beauty and charitable works for the poor. Elisabeth married Grand Duke Sergei on 15 (3) June 1884. The couple never had children of their own, but their Ilyinskoye estate was usually filled with parties that Elisabeth organized especially for children. They eventually became the foster parents of [[Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich]] and [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890-1958)|Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna]], Sergei's niece and nephew.

After the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]]'s [[SR Combat Organization|Combat Organization]] assassinated her husband with a bomb in 1905, Elisabeth publicly forgave Sergei's murderer, [[Ivan Kalyayev]], and unsuccessfully campaigned for him to be pardoned. She then departed the Imperial Court and became a nun, founding the [[Marfo-Mariinsky Convent]] dedicated to helping the downtrodden of [[Moscow]].

During the February Revolution of 1917, which ended the Tsar's rule in Russia, Elisabeth's brother-in-law, [[Czar Nicholas II]], was forced to abdicate the throne. The political upheavals initially had no impact on life in the monastery. However, Elisabeth was worried about her relatives, who were under house arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. She kept in touch with her sister Alexandra, even when she was in exile in Tobolsk, although under considerably more difficult conditions. In 1918, she was arrested and ultimately murdered by [[Bolsheviks]]. In 1981, she was canonized by the [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]], and in 1992 by the [[Moscow Patriarchate]].

==Early life==
[[File: Princess Elisabeth of Hesse as a young girl 1871.jpg|thumb|left|Elisabeth in 1871]] [[File:The Hessian family in 1876.jpg|thumb|left|The Hessian grand ducal family in May 1875]]
Elisabeth was born on 1 November 1864, as the second child of [[Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine]], and [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom|Princess Alice]], daughter of [[Queen Victoria]].<ref>Queen Victoria's Journals – Friday ''1 November 1864''</ref>{{Sfn|Millar|2009|p=21}} Having named their firstborn Victoria, after her maternal grandmother, the new baby girl was to be named in honor of two women named Elisabeth;  She was given the names ''Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alix'': "Elisabeth" after both [[St. Elizabeth of Hungary]] (the ancestress of the House of Hesse) and her paternal grandmother, [[Princess Elisabeth of Prussia]].{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=21}}

At her christening on 28 November, the infant{{Snd}}whose godparents, or sponsors as they were known, included her grandmother [[Princess Elisabeth of Prussia|Princess Charles]], her great-uncle [[Alexander II of Russia]], her aunts Alix ([[Alexandra of Denmark|Princess of Wales]]), (Her mother's sister, [[Princess Helena of the United Kingdom|Helena]]) and Anna of Mecklenburg Schwerin, together with her uncles ([[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]]) and Fritz ([[Frederick III, German Emperor|Crown Prince of Prussia]]), she received the names Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=21}} To her family, she would be known simply as Ella.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=21}}

Princess Alice brought up her daughters simply. An English nanny presided over the nursery, and the children ate plain meals of rice puddings and baked apples and wore plain dresses. Her daughters were taught how to do housework, such as baking cakes, making their own beds, laying fires and sweeping and dusting their rooms. Princess Alice also emphasized the need to give to the poor and often took her daughters on visits to hospitals and charities.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=28-29}}

The family was devastated in 1873 when Ella's hemophiliac younger brother [[Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine|Friedrich]], nicknamed "Frittie", fell through an open window, struck his head on the balustrade, and died hours later of a brain hemorrhage.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=45}} In the months following the toddler's death, Alice frequently took her children to his grave to pray and was melancholy on anniversaries associated with him.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=45,46}}

On the afternoon of 7 November, [[Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine|Victoria]] although complaining of a sore throat, sat down to read  to her brothers and sister.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=60}} Later that evening she began to run a fever and was put to bed.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=60}} The following morning, when her daughter was no better, the [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom|Grand Duchess]] called for the family physician, Dr Eigenbrodt, who, to Alice's great concern, discovered a white membrane on both sides of Victoria's throat, the first sign of diphtheria. This was the most traumatic and tragic sequence of events in the lives of the grand ducal family.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=60}} Of all six children, only Ella remained unaffected.{{Sfn|Croft|2005|p=6}}

Ella was moved out of Victoria's room, On 10 November Alix fell ill.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=60}} On 13 November, in an attempt to keep Ella free of the disease, [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom|Alice]] sent her with her governess, Miss Jackson, to stay with [[Princess Elisabeth of Prussia|Princess Charles]].{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=60}}
[[File:Princess Elisabeth of Hesse 1878 (closeup).jpg|thumb|Elisabeth in 1878]]
Elisabeth's sister [[Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (1874–1878)|Marie]] died on 16 November 1878, and her mother Alice died on 14 December.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=63,65}} Elisabeth, who had been sent to her [[Princess Elizabeth of Prussia|paternal grandmother]]'s home at the outbreak's beginning. When she was finally allowed to return home, she described the meeting as "terribly sad" and said that everything was "like a horrible dream".{{Sfn|Barkowez|2001|p=147-149}} At last Elisabeth could see the family. "It was a terrible sad meeting", she wrote "no-one daring to speak of what was uppermost in their thoughts. Poor papa looked dreadfully."{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=56}}

==Admirers and suitors==
[[File:Princess Elisabeth of Hesse 1883.jpg|thumb|left|Elisabeth of Hesse, 1883]]
Charming and with a very accommodating personality, Elisabeth was considered by many historians and contemporaries to be one of the most beautiful women in Europe at that time. Her cousin [[Princess Marie of Edinburgh]] wrote that "one could never take one's eyes off [Ella]"<ref>[[iarchive:storyofmylifebym00mari|Marie, Queen of Romania, The story of my life]], (1934), vol. 1, p 8</ref> and that Ella's features were "exquisite beyond words, it almost brought tears to your eyes".<ref>[[iarchive:storyofmylifebym00mari/mode/2up|Marie, Queen of Romania, The story of my life]] (1934), vol. 1, p 95</ref> Her older cousin [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]] called her "exceedingly beautiful, in fact she is the most beautiful girl I ever saw".{{Sfn|Röhl|1998|p=326}} Baroness [[Sophie Buxhoeveden]], her [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|sister]]'s lady-in-waiting, reflected that she was "a very pretty girl, tall and fair, with regular features".<ref>Sophie Buxhoeveden, The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, Chapter 1: Childhood, https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/XVI.html</ref>

When Elisabeth was a young woman, her cousin [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]] fell in love with her. In April 1875, 16-year-old Wilhelm visited Darmstadt to celebrate [[Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine]]'s 12th birthday and first expressed interest in 11-year-old Elisabeth.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=54}} He wrote in a letter to his mother that "if God grants that I may live till then I shall make her my bride once if you allow it".{{Sfn|Röhl|1998|p=326}} When he was a student at [[Bonn University]], he often visited his Aunt Alice and his Hessian relatives on the weekends.{{Sfn|Millar|2009|p=27}} During these frequent visits, he fell in love with Elisabeth, But she declined.{{Sfn|Packard|1998|p=176}}{{Sfn|Millar|2009|p=27}}

[[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Henry Wilson]], later a distinguished soldier, also vied unsuccessfully for Elisabeth's hand.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=64}}

The future [[Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden]], Wilhelm's first cousin, proposed to Elisabeth. Queen Victoria described him as "so good and steady" with "such a safe and happy position".<ref>RA VIC/ADDU/173/69, QV to V of Hesse, 7 March 1880. Deborah, Cadbury, (2017), Queen Victoria's Matchmaking {{ISBN|1610398475}}</ref>

[[File:Princess Elisabeth of Hesse 1887 (a).jpg|thumb|Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, 1887]]
Other admirers included:
* [[Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia]] (the poet KR), who wrote a poem about her first arrival in Russia and the general impression she made to all the people present at the time.{{Sfn|Millar|2009|p=42}}{{Sfn|Croft|2008|p=11-12}}
* As a young girl, [[Queen Marie of Romania]] was very fascinated with her cousin Ella. In her memoirs, she wrote that "her beauty and sweetness was a thing of dreams".<ref>[[iarchive:storyofmylifebym00mari|Marie, Queen of Romania, The story of my life]]  (1934), vol. 1, p. 93.</ref>
* The French Ambassador to the Russian court, [[Maurice Paleologue]], wrote in his memoirs how Elisabeth was capable of arousing what he described as "profane passions".<ref name=":1">Barkowez, Fedorow, Krylow: "Peterhof is a dream, 2001, pages 164–65 – from the notes of [[Maurice Paléologue]]</ref>

==Engagement and marriage==

[[File: Princess Elisabeth of Hesse 1880.jpg|thumb|left|Elisabeth in 1880]] Ella and Sergei celebrated their engagement with her family at Darmstadt in February 1884.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=105}}

Sergei, for his part, was soon writing home to his brother Paul, "Ella is, if possible, even more beautiful. We both sit together a lot. In the mornings she is in my room, and I teach her some Russian, which is very funny. I even make her write. I also teach her the words to 'god save the tsar'. Now we often go out all over Darmstadt alone."{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=105}}

They were first cousins once removed (Elisabeth's great-grandfather, her father's paternal grandfather, [[Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse]], was Sergei's maternal grandfather) and had known each other all their lives.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=85}} There were hesitations on both sides, and Elisabeth first rejected his proposal of marriage.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=79}} Queen Victoria, who had anti-Russian sentiments, opposed the marriage of her motherless granddaughter.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=80}} Elisabeth and her surviving sisters were not pressured into following political marriages; they were allowed to follow their own inclination.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=79}} After the couple spent some time together at Schloss Wolfsgarten in Darmstadt in September 1883, Elisabeth agreed to marry him.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=83}} Their engagement was announced publicly on 26 February 1884 when Sergei returned to visit her in Darmstadt. {{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=100}}

When he arrived at the Neues Palais that February, he had with him a wealth of jewels that he showered on his bride-to-be. After they were married. {{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=102-103}} Among the engagement presents Sergei brought with him to [[Darmstadt]] were ropes of jewelry and brooches of ores.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=103}} Ella herself recalled how [[Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia|Sergei]], having insisted that she put them all on at once, pinned each and every brooch onto her dress until she could hardly stand under the weight. 'I looked like a Christmas tree!' she wrote, 'And we had a terrible time getting them all off because we couldn't find the clasps'.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=103}}

[[File:Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife.jpg|thumb|Elisabeth and her husband Sergei]] [[File:Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (1864-1918).png|thumb|Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna in 1897]]Sergei and Elisabeth married on 15 June 1884, at the [[Grand Church of the Winter Palace|Chapel]] of the [[Winter Palace]] in  Saint Petersburg.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=114}} upon her conversion to [[Russian Orthodoxy]], she took the name ''Elizaveta Feodorovna''.<ref>See [[Feodorovna as a Romanov patronymic]]</ref>{{Sfn|Barkowez|2001|p=153}} It was at the wedding that Sergei's 16-year-old nephew, [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsarevich Nicholas]], first met his future wife, Elisabeth's youngest surviving sister, [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alix]].{{Sfn|King|1994|p=55-56}}

=== Grand Duchess of Russia ===
Elisabeth was not legally required to convert to [[Russian Orthodoxy]] from her native [[Lutheran]] religion, but she voluntarily chose to do so in 1891. [[Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]], Elisabeth's Lutheran sister-in-law who had not converted to [[Russian Orthodoxy]], insisted that it was "a disgrace for a German Protestant princess to go over to the Orthodox faith".{{Sfn|Gelardi|2011|p=126}} Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]], who had once been in love with her, declared that she converted because of "an inordinate pursuit of popularity, a desire to improve her position at court, a great lack of intelligence, and also a want of true religiousness".{{Sfn|Gelardi|2011|p=126}}

The new Grand Duchess made a good first impression on her husband's family and the Russian people. "Everyone fell in love with her from the moment she came to Russia from her beloved Darmstadt", wrote one of Sergei's cousins, [[Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia]] (the poet KR).{{Sfn|Croft|2008|p=11-12}} The couple settled in the [[Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace]] in St. Petersburg; after Sergei was appointed Governor-General of Moscow by his elder brother, [[Tsar Alexander III]], in 1892, they resided in one of the [[Kremlin]] palaces. During the summer, they stayed at Ilyinskoye, an estate outside Moscow that Sergei had inherited from his mother.{{Sfn|Millar|2009|p=34-35}}

[[File:Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fedorovna 1885.jpg|left|thumb|Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fedorovna in court dress]]

The viceregal role of governor-general of Moscow was one that was answerable only to the emperor.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Grand Duke Sergei was a political hardliner who shared his brother's inalienable belief in strong, nationalist government.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Sergei's tenure began with the expulsion of Moscow's 20,000 [[Jews]].{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} It started four weeks before he arrived in person, after the publication of an imperial [[ukase]] by the Minister of the Interior [[Ivan Durnovo]], by which all Jews of lower social stance (artisans, minor traders and so on) had to be expelled from Moscow. On 29 March, the first day of Passover, the city's Jewish population learned of the new decree that called for their expulsion.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} In three carefully planned phases over the next twelve months, Moscow's Jews were expelled. The first to go were the unmarried, the childless, and those who had lived in the city for less than three years.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Next, it was the turn of apprentices, of families with up to four children, and those with less than six years residency.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Last of all, it was the turn of the old Jewish settlers with large families and/or numerous employees, some of whom had lived in Moscow for forty years.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Young Jewish women were made to register as prostitutes if they wanted to stay in the city.{{Sfn|Miller|2011|p=141}}

During the expulsion in January 1892, homes were surrounded by mounted [[Cossacks]] in the middle of the night, with temperatures of {{Convert|-30|C|F|abbr=}}, while policemen ransacked every house. The Brest station was packed with Jews of all ages and sexes, all in rags and surrounded by meager remnants of households goods, all leaving voluntarily rather than face deportation.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Sergei as governor-general was petitioned by the police commissioners to stop the expulsions until the weather conditions improved.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} While he agreed, the order was not published until the expulsions were over.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=164}} Some of the expelled Jews moved to southern and western regions of the empire, although there were many who decided to emigrate abroad.<ref>Полян П.М. [[Не по своей воле]]/Polyan P. Not by the free will, p. 26</ref> As a result of the expulsion, Moscow lost 100 million rubles in trade and production, 25,000 Russians employed by Jewish firms lost their livelihoods, while the manufacture of silk, one of the city's most lucrative industries, was all but wiped out.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=165}}

In 1891, Ella and Sergei's arrival in Moscow was marred by tragedy that September, not long after [[Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia|Paul]] and [[Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark|Alexandra]] arrived at Ilyinskoye to spend the late summer with them. One afternoon, the 21-year-old grand duchess Alexandra, who was seven months pregnant with her second child, followed the path down from the back of the house to the waiting small boat and she suddenly collapsed. Her frantic husband, brother-and sister-in-law felt were helpless to help, and doctors were too far away.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=173}} The midwife was called [[Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark|Alexandra]] and gave birth to a tiny premature baby boy, Alexandra died 6 days later. Alexandra's sudden death was crushing and an unbelievable a blow to Paul, Sergei and Ella.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=174}}
[[File:Hessen Family in mouring.jpg|thumb|Hessian family in mourning]] [[File: Elizaveta Feodorovna.jpg|thumb|left | painting by Friedrich August von Kaulbach]]
Worse news was soon to follow when, during the first week of March 1892, Grand Duke Louis suffered a paralytic stroke that brought his family hurrying to his bedside.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=176}}  Ernie, Alix, Victoria, and Irene, He raised his whole face off the pillow, put out his hand, and stroked Ella's face. On the evening of 13 March, he lapsed into a coma and died.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=176}}

The couple never had children of their own,{{Sfn|Radzinsky|1993|p=31}} but their Ilyinskoye estate was usually filled with parties that Elisabeth organized especially for children. It was rumoured that their childlessness was due to Grand Duke Sergei's homosexual tendencies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andriyanov |first=Nikita |title=Celebrating the Gay Russian Celebrities History Books Tried to Erase |url=https://www.new-east-archive.org/features/show/11872/lgbt-russian-cultural-figures-russia-z |access-date=12 June 2020 |website=The Calvert Journal}}</ref> {{Sfn|Croft|2005|p=20}}They eventually became the foster parents of [[Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich]] and [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890-1958)|Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna]], Sergei's niece and nephew. Maria wrote in her memoirs about her aunt Ella: "she and my uncle seemed never very intimate. They met for the most part only at meals and by day avoided being alone together. They slept, however, up to the last year of their life together, in the same great bed."{{Sfn|Marie|1930|p=17}} Maria and Dimitri resented their aunt and uncle, blaming them for the forced separation from their real father, who had abandoned them.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=204}}

Elisabeth was instrumental in the marriage of her nephew-by-marriage, Tsar Nicholas II, to her youngest sister Alix. Much to the dismay of Queen Victoria, Elisabeth had been encouraging Nicholas, then tsarevich, in his pursuit of Alix.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=147-148}} When Nicholas did propose to Alix in 1894, and Alix rejected him on the basis of her refusal to convert to Orthodoxy, it was Elisabeth who spoke with Alix and encouraged her to convert.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=147-148}} When Nicholas proposed to her again, a few days later, Alix then accepted.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=148}}

=== Assassination of Grand Duke Sergei ===
[[File:Ivan Kalyayev.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of Ivan Kalyayev taken just after the assassination. ''I threw the bomb from less than four steps. I was taken by the explosions, I saw the carriage flew to pieces... My overcoat was strewn with splinters of wood all around, it was torn and burnt, there was blood on my face...'']]

On 15 February 1905, the family attended a concert at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] in aid of Elizabeth Feodorovna's Red Cross War charities.{{Sfn|Maylunas|Mironenko|1997|p=258}} A terrorist organization that knew the route, the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]]'s combat detachment, had planned to assassinate Sergei that day. However, one of their members, [[Ivan Kalyayev]], noticed the children in the carriage and decided to call off their attack. To kill the Grand Duchess and the children would surely have sparked a wave of apprehension throughout the empire and would have set back the revolutionary cause by years.{{Sfn|Van der Kiste|1999|p=172}} After lunching with his wife at Nicholas Palace on 17 February, Sergei left unaccompanied for the Governor General's mansion.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=217}} Because of the looming threat, Sergei had refused to take his adjutant, Alexei, since he was married and a father. The arrival of the Grand Duke's recognizable carriage, drawn by a pair of horses and driven by his coachman Andrei Rudinkin, alerted the terrorist who had been waiting in the Kremlin with a bomb wrapped in newspapers.{{Sfn|Maylunas|Mironenko|1997|p=259}}

Just before 14:45, the carriage of the Grand Duke passed through the gate of [[Nikolskaya Tower]] of the [[Kremlin]] and turned the corner of the [[Chudov Monastery]] into Senatskaya Square. From a distance no more than four feet (1.2 m) away and still some 60 feet (18 m) inside the Nikolsky Gate, Ivan Kalyayev stepped forward and threw a [[nitroglycerin]] bomb directly into Sergei's lap.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1981|p=651}} The explosion disintegrated the carriage, and the Grand Duke died immediately.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1981|p=651}} Scattered all over the bloodstained snow lay pieces of scorched cloth, fur, and leather. The body of the Grand Duke was mutilated, with the head, the upper part of the chest, and the left shoulder and arm blown off and completely destroyed.{{Sfn|Maylunas|Mironenko|p=260|1997}} Some of the Grand Duke's fingers, still adorned with the rings he habitually wore, were found on the roof of a nearby building.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1981|p=651}}{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=218}}

On impact, the carriage horses had bolted towards the Nikolsky Gate, dragging with them the front wheels and coachbox as well as the semi-conscious and badly burned driver, Rudinkin, whose back had been riddled with bits of bomb and stones. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, where he died three days later. Kalyayev, who by his own testimony had expected to die in the explosion, survived.{{Sfn|Maylunas|Mironenko|1997|p=259}}{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=219}} Sucked into the vortex of the explosion, he ended up by the remains of the rear wheels. His face was peppered by splinters, pouring with blood.{{Sfn|Maylunas|Mironenko|1997|p=259}} Kalyayev was immediately arrested, sentenced to death, and hanged two months later. The Grand Duchess rushed to the scene of the explosion.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=219}} Stunned but perfectly controlled, she gave instructions, and, kneeling in the snow, helped to gather up Sergei's remains.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=219}} The remains were placed on a stretcher and covered with an army greatcoat.{{Sfn|Warwick|2007|p=219}}

[[File: Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna 1906.jpg|thumb|left|Grand Duchess Elizabeth in Mourning, 1906]] According to [[Edvard Radzinsky]],

<blockquote>Elizabeth spent all the days before the burial in ceaseless prayer. On her husband's tombstone she wrote: 'Father, release them, they know not what they do.' She understood the words of the [[Gospel]]s heart and soul, and on the eve of the funeral she demanded to be taken to the prison where Kalyayev was being held. Brought into his cell, she asked, 'Why did you kill my husband?' 'I killed Sergei Alexandrovich because he was a weapon of tyranny. I was taking revenge for the people.' She replied, 'Do not listen to your pride. Repent... and I will beg the Sovereign to give you your life. I will ask him for you. I myself have already forgiven you.' On the eve of revolution, she had already found a way out; forgiveness! Forgive through the impossible pain and blood -- and thereby stop it then, at the beginning, this bloody wheel. By her example, poor Ella appealed to society, calling upon the people to live in Christian faith. 'No!' replied Kalyayev. 'I do not repent. I must die for my deed and I will... My death will be more useful to my cause than Sergei Alexandrovich's death.' Kalyayev was sentenced to death. 'I am pleased with your sentence,' he told the judges. 'I hope that you will carry it out just as openly and publicly as I carried out the sentence of the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]]. Learn to look the advancing revolution right in the face.'{{Sfn|Radzinsky|1993|p=82}}  </blockquote>

==Religious life==
[[File:Elisabeth Fyodorovna.jpg|thumb|left|Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna as a nun after her husband's death]]

Deeply affected by the Grand Duke's death, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna retired from the royal family and founded the [[Russian Orthodox]] convent of [[Martha and Mary Convent|Martha and Mary]], where she dedicated herself to the care of Moscow's poor and suffering.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1981|p=651}} Part of the obligations of the sisters of the Martha and Mary convent was to make an annual pilgrimage to the sepulchral church in memory of the Grand Duke on the day of his repose, 4 February.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Romanov |first=Elisabeth |title=The Martha and Mary Convent and Rule of Saint Elizabeth. Holy Trinity Monastery |date=1908 |publisher=The Printshop of St Job of Pochaev |year= |isbn=9780884650454 |page=47}}</ref>

Elisabeth wore mourning clothes and became a vegetarian. In 1909, she sold off her magnificent collection of jewels and other luxurious possessions; even her wedding ring was not spared.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=240}} With the proceeds, she opened the [[Marfo-Mariinsky Convent|Convent of Saints Martha and Mary]] and became its [[abbess]].{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=242}} She soon opened a hospital, chapel, pharmacy and orphanage on its grounds.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=242}}

Elisabeth and her fellow nuns worked tirelessly among the poor and the sick of Moscow. She often visited Moscow's worst slums and did all she could to help alleviate the suffering of the poor.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=245}} For many years, her institution helped the poor and the orphans in Moscow by fostering the prayer and charity of devout women.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=245}}

On October 17, 1910, Grand Duchess Elizabeth took leave of her sisters and boarded her train en route for Germany.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=249}} She arrived at Wolfsgarten for a cheerful reunion with the rest of surviving family. Her ill health was aggravated by the high anxiety her sister, Alexandra, felt for her son. From the first signs of [[hemophilia]] six weeks after his birth.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=250}} From Moscow, Elizabeth had observed this mounting dependence with dismay.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=251}} She knew all about Rasputin's true nature, and she had none of her sister's naive credulity.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=251}} Soon after his acceptance by the imperial couple, rumours began to spread in St. Petersburg society that Rasputin had been a member of the [[Khlysts|Khlisti]].{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=251-252}} Elizabeth warned Alexandra several times that the "holy man" was a fraud and a lecherous drunkard, but Alexandra would flatly refuse to believe her.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=252}} In 1915, the [[All-Russian Zemstvo Union]] was organised under Elisabeth's auspices to provide support for sick and injured soldiers during the [[First World War]].<ref name="GME">{{cite web |title=ВСЕРОССИЙСКИЙ ЗЕМСКИЙ И ГОРОДСКОЙ СОЮЗЫ |url=http://xn--90aw5c.xn--c1avg/index.php/%D0%92%D0%A1%D0%95%D0%A0%D0%9E%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%98%D0%99%D0%A1%D0%9A%D0%98%D0%99_%D0%97%D0%95%D0%9C%D0%A1%D0%9A%D0%98%D0%99_%D0%98_%D0%93%D0%9E%D0%A0%D0%9E%D0%94%D0%A1%D0%9A%D0%9E%D0%99_%D0%A1%D0%9E%D0%AE%D0%97%D0%AB |access-date=1 July 2018 |website=Большая Медицинская Энциклопедия |publisher=The Great Medical Encyclopedia (BME), edited by Petrovsky BV, 3rd edition}}</ref>
[[File:Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Russia 1914.jpg|thumb|Elizabeth, 1914]]

In April 1916, Ella visited the dowager empress at the Anichkov palace where the talk was of nothing but the need to dispose of the peasant Rasputin.{{Sfn|Croft|2005|p=136}} Frustration was reaching boiling point, and in the face of Alix's obstinacy, Ella knew that it could not be long before someone would be driven to act.{{Sfn|Croft|2005|p=136}}

However, Elisabeth was worried about her relatives, who were under house arrest in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. She kept in touch with her sister Alexandra, even when she was in exile in Tobolsk, although under considerably more difficult conditions.<ref>Massie, Robert K.: [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Romanovs_The_Final_Chapter.html?id=4f4AN2DayYcC The Romanovs – The Final Chapter], 1998, page 346 (1996)</ref>

In 2010, a historian claimed that Elisabeth may have been aware that the murder of Rasputin was going to take place and secondly, she knew who was going to commit it when she wrote a letter and sent it to the Tsar and the two telegrams to Grand Duke [[Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov|Dmitri Pavlovich]] and her friend [[Zinaida Yusupova]]. The telegrams, which were written the night of the murder, reveal that Elisabeth was aware of who the murderers were, before that information had been released to the public, and she stated that she felt that the killing was a "patriotic act".{{Sfn|Nelipa|2010|p=269-271}}

==Death==
{{further|Martyrs of Alapayevsk}}
In 1918, [[Vladimir Lenin]] ordered the [[Cheka]] to arrest Elisabeth. They then exiled her first to [[Perm, Russia|Perm]], then to [[Yekaterinburg]], where she spent a few days and was joined by others: the [[Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich]]; Princes [[Prince John Konstantinovich of Russia|John Konstantinovich]], [[Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia|Konstantin Konstantinovich]], [[Igor Konstantinovich of Russia|Igor Konstantinovich]] and [[Vladimir Pavlovich Paley]]; Grand Duke Sergei's secretary, Fyodor Remez; and [[Varvara Yakovleva]], a sister from the Grand Duchess's convent.{{Sfn|Perry|1999|p=195}} They were all taken to [[Alapayevsk]] on 20 May 1918.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=325-326}}
[[File:Алапаевская шахта.jpg|thumb|Mine shaft in Siniachikha where Elisabeth and her family were killed]]

At noon on 17 July, Cheka officer Pyotr Startsev and a few Bolshevik workers came to the school. They took from the prisoners whatever money they had left and announced that they would be transferred that night to the Upper Siniachikhensky factory compound.{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=325-326}} The Red Army guards were told to leave and Cheka men replaced them.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=330}} That night the prisoners were awakened and driven in carts on a road leading to the village of Siniachikha, some {{convert|18|km|abbr=off}} from Alapayevsk, where there was an abandoned iron mine with a pit {{convert|20|m|abbr=off}} deep.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=331}}{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=325}} Here they halted. The Cheka beat all the prisoners before throwing their victims into this pit, Elisabeth being the first.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=331}} Ryabov tossed in a grenade after them and grenades were then hurled down the shaft.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=331}}{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=326}}

Following the explosion, he claimed to have heard Elisabeth and the others singing an Orthodox hymn from the bottom of the shaft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.serfes.org/lives/grandduchess/murder.htm |last=Serfes |first=Nektarios |title=Murder of the Grand Duchess Elisabeth |work=The Lives of Saints |publisher=Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes |access-date=23 August 2007 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721130244/http://www.serfes.org/lives/grandduchess/murder.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unnerved, Ryabov threw down a second grenade, but the singing continued. Finally a large quantity of brushwood was shoved into the opening and set alight, upon which Ryabov posted a guard over the site and departed.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=332}}

Early on 18 July 1918, the leader of the Alapayevsk Cheka, Abramov, and the head of the Yekaterinburg Regional Soviet, Beloborodov, who had been involved in the [[Murder of the Romanov family|execution of the Imperial Family]], exchanged a number of telegrams in a pre-arranged plan saying that the school had been attacked by an "unidentified gang".{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=323}} A month later, Alapayevsk fell to the [[White Army]] of [[Admiral]] [[Alexander Kolchak]]. Lenin welcomed Elisabeth's death, remarking that "virtue with the crown on it is a greater enemy to the [[world revolution]] than a hundred tyrant tsars".{{Sfn|Shlapentokh|1997|p=266}}{{Sfn|Shelley|1925|p=220}} Elisabeth's last words were: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=331}}

New research published in the book ''Крестный путь преподобномученицы Великой княгини Елисаветы Феодоровны на Алапаевскую Голгофу'', by Russian Orthodox Church historian Ludmila Kulikova in 2019, challenges the traditional, life of a saint and the belief about Elisabeth during her time in the mine shaft. According to the original documents of the preliminary investigation in 1918 by investigator [[:ru:Соколов, Николай Алексеевич (следователь)|Nikolai Alekseevich Sokolov]], Elizabeth's body was found "vertical, her arms folded over her body...both hands...tightly clenched, fingers bent, her nails sunk into the skin...head, eyes and nose were tied with a handkerchief folded in four layers". Thus, she could not have sung Orthodox hymns nor could she have bandaged the head of Prince John Konstantinovich as traditionally believed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Paul |title="There are still many conjectures surrounding the death of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna" |url=https://tsarnicholas.org/2020/08/16/there-are-still-many-conjectures-surrounding-the-death-of-grand-duchess-elizabeth-feodorovna/ |website=Nicholas II: Emperor, Tsar, Saint |publisher=Paul Gilbert |access-date=13 October 2023 |date=16 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Презентация книги о Великой княгине Елисавете Феодоровне |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrhMtVSCvUg |website=Youtube | date=6 February 2020 |publisher=Феодоровский собор Санкт-Петербург |access-date=17 July 2024 |language=Russian}}</ref>

== Legacy and canonisation ==
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
|name=Elizabeth Romanova
|image=
|imagesize=
|feast_day=  5 July (O.S 18 July)
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|caption=
|titles= [[New Martyr|Holy Martyr]]
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date={{ubl | 1981 by [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]] | 1992 by [[Moscow Patriarchate]]}}
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes= Religious habit
|patronage= [[Russia]]
|major_shrine= [[Martha and Mary Convent]], Moscow, Russia.
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

=== Fate of the remains and commemoration ===

On 8 October 1918, [[White Army]] soldiers discovered the remains of Elisabeth and her companions, still within the shaft where they had been killed.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=334}} Despite having lain there for almost three months, the bodies were in relatively good condition. With the [[Red Army]] approaching, their remains were removed farther east and buried in the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking (now [[Beijing]]), China.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=336}} In 1921, the bodies of Elisabeth and of [[Barbara (Yakovleva)|Sister Barbara (Varvara Yakovleva)]], one of her nuns, were taken to [[Jerusalem]], where they were laid to rest in the [[Church of Mary Magdalene]] at Gethsemane.{{Sfn|Mager|1998|p=336}}{{Sfn|Warwick|2014|p=326}}{{Sfn|Croft|2005|p=170}} Elisabeth was [[canonised]] by the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] in 1981, and in 1992 by the [[Moscow Patriarchate]] as '''[[New Martyr|Holy Martyr]] Elizabeth Feodorovna'''.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=1}} Her principal [[shrine]]s are the [[Marfo-Mariinsky Convent]] she founded in Moscow, and the [[Church of Mary Magdalene|Saint Mary Magdalene Convent on the Mount of Olives]], which she and her husband helped build, and where her [[relic]]s (along with those of [[Nun Barbara]] (Varvara Yakovleva, her former maid) are enshrined.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=2}}[[File:Church of Mary Magdalene IMG 3547.JPG|thumb|Tomb and mosaic icon of Princess Elizabeth]]Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr is commemorated on three days in the [[liturgical year]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]: on the feast day of the [[New Martyrs and Confessors of Russian Church]] (Sunday nearest 25 January ([[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]])/ 7 February ([[Old Style and New Style dates|N.S.]]), on the anniversary of her martyrdom (5/ 18 July) and on the anniversary of the uncovering of her relics from the mine (28 September/ October 11). A fourth feast day, the anniversary of the transfer of her relics to Jerusalem (17/ 30 January), is commemorated on the [[ROCOR]] liturgical calendar.<ref>{{cite web |title=CENTENARY OF TRANSFER OF RELICS OF STS. ELIZABETH AND BARBARA TO JERUSALEM CELEBRATED IN GETHSEMANE |url=https://orthochristian.com/137071.html |website=Orthodox Christianity |access-date=13 October 2023 |date=1 February 2021}}</ref> She is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of [[Westminster Abbey|'''''Westminster Abbey''''']]''', London, England''',<ref>[[Burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey#20th-century martyrs]]</ref> and she is also represented in the restored nave screen installed at [[St Albans Cathedral]] in April 2015.<ref name="BBCNewStatues">{{cite news |date=25 April 2015 |title=New statues mark St Albans Cathedral's 900th anniversary |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-32453423 |access-date=26 April 2015 |publisher=BBC Regional News, Beds, Herts & Bucks}}</ref>

A statue of Elisabeth was erected in the garden of her convent in Moscow after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=2}} Its inscription reads: "To the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna: With Repentance".{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=2}}

=== Relics and rehabilitation ===
In 2004–2005, the relics of Saint Elizabeth were brought to [[Russia]], the CIS and Baltic countryies, where more than 7 million people came to venerate them.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=3}} According to patriarch [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Alexei ll]] (1929–2008), "the long queues of believers to the relics of the holy ''new martyrs'' are another symbol of ''Russia's repentance'' for the sons of hard times, the country's return to its original historical path".{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=3}} The relics were subsequently returned to Jerusalem.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2023|p=3}}

On 8 June 2009, the [[Prosecutor General of Russia]] officially posthumously [[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitated]] Elizabeth Feodorovna, along with other Romanovs: Mikhail Alexandrovich, Sergei Mikhailovich, John Konstantinovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, and Igor Konstantinovich. "All of these people were subjected to repression in the form of arrest, deportation and being held by the [[Cheka]] without charge", said a representative of the office.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ng.ru/politics/2009-06-09/2_Genprokuratura.html |title=Генпрокуратура решила реабилитировать казнённых членов царской семьи|trans-title=Prosecutor General's Office Decides to Rehabilitate the Executed Members of the Royal Family |work=[[Nezavisimaya Gazeta]]|date=8 June 2009|access-date=12 February 2015|language=ru }}</ref>

==Honours==
* {{flag|Grand Duchy of Hesse}}: Dame of the [[House Order of the Golden Lion (Hesse)|Order of the Golden Lion]], ''1 January 1883''<ref name="ordensliste">{{citation|title=Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste|chapter=Goldener Löwen-orden|page=1|language=German|location=Darmstadt|year=1914|publisher=Staatsverlag|via=hathitrust.org}}</ref>
* {{flag|Russian Empire}}: Dame Grand Cross of the [[Order of St. Catherine]], ''1884''<ref name="handbuch">{{citation|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogs Hessen|chapter=Genealogie|year=1904|page=2}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}:<ref name="handbuch"/>
** [[Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal]], ''1887''<ref>''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen'' (1894), Genealogy [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112032663665&view=1up&seq=30 p.2]</ref>
** [[Royal Order of Victoria and Albert]], 2nd Class<ref name="Whitaker1894">{{cite book|author=Joseph Whitaker|title=An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6cUMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA112|year=1894|publisher=J. Whitaker|page=112}}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia'''
|2= 2. [[Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine]]<ref name=Weir>{{cite book|last=Weir|first=Alison|author-link=Alison Weir|year=January 1, 1996|title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy|edition=Revised|publisher=Pimlico|location=London|isbn=0-7126-7448-9|pages=305–307}}</ref>
|3= 3. [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom]]<ref name=Weir/>
|4= 4. [[Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine]]<ref name="NDB-Ludwig IV">{{NDB|15|398|400|Ludwig IV.|Franz, Eckhart G.|11767026X}}</ref>
|5= 5. [[Princess Elisabeth of Prussia]]<ref name="NDB-Ludwig IV"/>
|6= 6. [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]<ref name=Weir/>
|7= 7. [[Victoria of the United Kingdom]]<ref name=Weir/>
|8= 8. [[Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse|Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by,Rhine]]<ref name="NDB-Ludwig II">{{NDB|15|397||Ludwig II.|Franz, Eckhart G.|102223262}}</ref>
|9= 9. [[Princess Wilhelmine of Baden]]<ref name="NDB-Ludwig II"/>
|10= 10. [[Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783–1851)|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]]<ref name="NDB-Elisabeth">{{NDB|4|444||Elisabeth|Clemm, Ludwig|136924565}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg|Landgravine Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg]]<ref name="NDB-Elisabeth"/>
|12= 12. [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]<ref name=Weir/>
|13= 13. [[Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg]]<ref name=Weir/>
|14= 14. [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn]]<ref name=Weir/>
|15= 15. [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]]<ref name=Weir/>
|ref=<ref name=louda>{{cite book|last1=Louda|first1=Jiří|author1-link=Jiří Louda|last2=Maclagan|first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Maclagan|title=Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe|year=1999|publisher=Little, Brown|location=London|isbn=1-85605-469-1|page=34}}</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[Canonization of the Romanovs]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{Cite book |last=Barkowez |first=Olga |title=Peterhof ist ein Traum. Deutsche Prinzessinnen in Russland. |date=2001 |publisher=Fedor Fedorow, Alexander Krylow |isbn=3861245329 |location=Berlin |language=German}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gelardi |first=Julia P. |title=From Splendor to Revolution |date=2011 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1429990943}}
* {{Cite book |last=Röhl |first=John |title=The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888 |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521497523}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marie |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.01824 |title=Education of a princess: a memoir |date=1930|publisher=Blue Ribbon Books, Newyork }}
* {{Cite book |last=Mager |first=Hugo |url=https://archive.org/details/elizabethgranddu0000mage |title=Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia |date=1998 |publisher=Carroll & Graf |isbn=0786705094 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Warwick |first=Christopher |title=The Life and Death of Ella Grand Duchess of Russia: A Romanov Tragedy |date=2014 |publisher=Albert Bridge Books |isbn=978-1909771093}}
* {{Cite book |last=Warwick |first=Christopher |title=Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-470-87063-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Millar |first=Lubov |title=Elizabeth grand Duchess of Russia |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-879066-11-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Croft |first=Christina |title=Most Beautiful Princess: A Novel Based on the Life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-9559853-0-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Croft |first=Christina |url=https://archive.org/details/ellagrandduchess0000unse/mode/2up |title=Ella: Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia |date=2005 |asin=B003GXZKZ8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Perry |first=John |title=The Flight Of The Romanovs: A Family Saga |date=1999|isbn=0465024629 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Nelipa |first=Margarita |title=The Murder of Grigorii Rasputin: A Conspiracy that Brought Down the Russian Empire |date=2010 |publisher=Gilbert's Books |isbn=978-0986531019}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shlapentokh |first=Dmitry |title=The French Revolution and the Russian Anti-Democratic Tradition: A Case of False Consciousness |date=1997 |isbn=1560002441}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shelley |first=Gerard |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77187/mode/2up |title=The Speckled Domes Episodes Of An Englishmans Life In Russai |date=1925 |oclc=7535783}}
* {{Cite book |last=Radzinsky |first=Edvard |url=https://archive.org/details/lasttsarlifedeat00radz_0 |title=The last tsar |date=1993 |publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=978-0-385-46962-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Packard |first=Jerrold |title=Victoria's daughters |date=1998 |publisher=New York St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=0-312-24496-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Paul |title=ELLA: Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr |date=2023 |isbn=9798854710466}}
* {{Cite book |last=King |first=Greg |title=The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia |date=1994 |isbn=0806517611}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Maylunas |first1=Andrei |title=A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra Their Own Story Dukes |last2=Mironenko |first2=Sergei |date=1997 |isbn=0-385-48673-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lincoln |first=Bruce |title=The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias |date=1981 |isbn=0-385-27908-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Van der Kiste |first=John |title=The Romanovs 1818–1959 |date=1999 |isbn=0-7509-2275-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Illana |title=The Russian Riddle: Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich of Russia (1857-1905) |date=2011 |isbn=9780977196197}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Almedingen |first=E. M |title=An Unbroken Unity |date=1964 |asin=B0000CMAEU}}
* {{Cite book |last=Duff |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIlnAAAAMAAJ |title=Hessian Tapestry |date=1967 |oclc=565356978}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maurice |first=Paléologue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aczDwAAQBAJ |title=Maurice Paléologue Le crépuscule des tsars. |date=1914–1917 |publisher=Editions du Mercure de France |isbn=978-2-7152-4653-9 |language=French}}
* Millar, Lubov, ''Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia'', US edition, Redding, California., 1991, {{ISBN|1-879066-01-7}}
* Zeepvat, Charlotte. ''Romanov Autumn'', 2000, {{ISBN|5-8276-0034-2}}
* Belyakova, Zoia. ''The Romanovs: the Way It Was'', 2000, {{ISBN|5-8276-0034-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Khoudokormoff-Kotschoubey |first=Anne |title=sœur Élisabeth, Sainte Élisabeth de Russie, moniale, martyre et sainte |date=2019 |isbn=978-2-87299-193-8 |language=French}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Elizaveta Fedorovna of Russia}}
* {{NPG name|name=Elizabeth Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Serge of Russia}}

===Orthodox sources===
* [http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/duchess.aspx Life of the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, by Metropolitan Anastassy]
* [http://life.orthomed.ru/st-elizabeth/palom_e.htm Pilgrimage to Alapaevsk]
* [http://life.orthomed.ru/st-elizabeth/pics/efs_e.htm Photo Library of Saint Elizabeth]

===Orthodox hymns to Saint Elizabeth===
* [https://www.akathists.com/saint-elizabeth-the-new-martyr/akathist/ Akathist to the New Martyr Elizabeth]
* [https://azbyka.ru/molitvoslov/canon-to-the-holy-and-righteous-nun-martyrs-elizabeth-and-barbara.html Canon to the Holy and Righteous Nun-Martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara New Martyrs of Russia]

===Secular sources===
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/murder.html Murder of the Romanovs at Alapayevsk]
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/annainterview.html American Reporter Interviews Elisabeth in 1917]
* [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/GDElisabeth.html HIH Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna by Countess Alexandra Olsoufieff]

{{Russian grand duchesses by marriage}}
{{Princesses of Hesse and by Rhine}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth of Hesse And by Rhine, Princess}}
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
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