Vintage CDV Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, Granduchess Alexandra Queen Olga
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Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (Russian: Константи́н Никола́евич Рома́нов; 21 September 1827 – 25 January 1892) was the second son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and younger brother of Tsar Alexander II.
During the reign of Alexander II, Konstantin was an admiral of the Russian fleet and reformed the Russian Navy. He was also an instrumental figure in the emancipation of the serfs. He was less fortunate a...s viceroy of Poland (1862–1863) and had to be recalled to Russia where he was attacked for his liberalism.
After the assassination of his brother Alexander II in 1881, Konstantin fell from favour. The new tsar, Alexander III, his nephew, opposed Konstantin's liberal ideas and gradually stripped him of all his governmental positions. His retirement was marked with personal turmoil and family setbacks. After suffering a stroke, he spent his last years as an invalid.
The male members of the Romanov family were famous for their good looks and their height, but Konstantin was rather short and ugly. He was described by one observer: " His complexion was sallow, the color of his hair was rather neutral, and resembled the sand of the seashore. His eyes were gray, dreamy, and half closed and an enormous wooden looking nose took the place of his father's Grecian outline".[5] He had a loud voice, imposing personality and brusque manners. With a quick temper, Konstantin was a difficult man and often unpleasant.
In 1846 Konstantin's sister, Grand Duchess Olga, married Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg. He went with her to Stuttgart then he continued to Altenburg to be introduced to Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. His parents had arranged the meeting thinking that Alexandra might make a good match for Konstantin. Alexandra was strikingly beautiful, tall and slim and Konstantin was immediately eager to marry her. "I don't know what is happening to me. It is as if I am a completely new person. Just one thought moves me, just one image fills my eyes: forever and only she, my angel, my universe. I really do think I’m in love. However, what can it mean? I've only known her a few hours and I'm already up to my ears in Passion".[6]
Konstantin was nineteen and Alexandra three years younger; they were engaged but had to wait two more years to get married. On 12 October 1847, she arrived in Russia. In February she converted to Russian Orthodoxy, taking the name of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna. They were married six months later on 11 September 1848 in the Winter Palace. Both were musical: he played the cello and she the piano. They seem to have been a good match. For the first years of their marriage, they were a devoted couple, starting their married life happily. In the following years, they had six children. The couple lived in some of the most luxurious palaces of the Empire: Pavlovsk, Strelna, and the Marble Palace. Konstantin received the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg as a wedding gift from his parents with Strelna, on the Gulf of Finland, as their country retreat. A year after his marriage Konstantin inherited Pavlovsk from his uncle Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, and, at the death of his mother, the palace of Oreanda in Crimea.
Olga Constantinovna of Russia (3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1851 – 18 June 1926) was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920.
A member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland and the Crimea, and married King George I of Greece in 1867 at the age of sixteen. At first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and schools, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, Greek translation of the Gospels sparked riots by religious conservatives.
On the assassination of her husband in 1913, Olga returned to Russia. When the First World War broke out, she set up a military hospital in Pavlovsk Palace, which belonged to her brother. She was trapped in the palace after the Russian Revolution of 1917, until the Danish embassy intervened, allowing her to escape to Switzerland. Olga could not return to Greece as her son, King Constantine I, had been deposed.
In October 1920, she returned to Athens on the fatal illness of her grandson, King Alexander. After his death, she was appointed regent until the restoration of Constantine I the following month. After the defeat of the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22 the Greek royal family were again exiled and Olga spent the last years of her life in the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (Russian: Константи́н Никола́евич Рома́нов; 21 September 1827 – 25 January 1892) was the second son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and younger brother of Tsar Alexander II.
During the reign of Alexander II, Konstantin was an admiral of the Russian fleet and reformed the Russian Navy. He was also an instrumental figure in the emancipation of the serfs. He was less fortunate a...s viceroy of Poland (1862–1863) and had to be recalled to Russia where he was attacked for his liberalism.
After the assassination of his brother Alexander II in 1881, Konstantin fell from favour. The new tsar, Alexander III, his nephew, opposed Konstantin's liberal ideas and gradually stripped him of all his governmental positions. His retirement was marked with personal turmoil and family setbacks. After suffering a stroke, he spent his last years as an invalid.
The male members of the Romanov family were famous for their good looks and their height, but Konstantin was rather short and ugly. He was described by one observer: " His complexion was sallow, the color of his hair was rather neutral, and resembled the sand of the seashore. His eyes were gray, dreamy, and half closed and an enormous wooden looking nose took the place of his father's Grecian outline".[5] He had a loud voice, imposing personality and brusque manners. With a quick temper, Konstantin was a difficult man and often unpleasant.
In 1846 Konstantin's sister, Grand Duchess Olga, married Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg. He went with her to Stuttgart then he continued to Altenburg to be introduced to Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. His parents had arranged the meeting thinking that Alexandra might make a good match for Konstantin. Alexandra was strikingly beautiful, tall and slim and Konstantin was immediately eager to marry her. "I don't know what is happening to me. It is as if I am a completely new person. Just one thought moves me, just one image fills my eyes: forever and only she, my angel, my universe. I really do think I’m in love. However, what can it mean? I've only known her a few hours and I'm already up to my ears in Passion".[6]
Konstantin was nineteen and Alexandra three years younger; they were engaged but had to wait two more years to get married. On 12 October 1847, she arrived in Russia. In February she converted to Russian Orthodoxy, taking the name of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna. They were married six months later on 11 September 1848 in the Winter Palace. Both were musical: he played the cello and she the piano. They seem to have been a good match. For the first years of their marriage, they were a devoted couple, starting their married life happily. In the following years, they had six children. The couple lived in some of the most luxurious palaces of the Empire: Pavlovsk, Strelna, and the Marble Palace. Konstantin received the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg as a wedding gift from his parents with Strelna, on the Gulf of Finland, as their country retreat. A year after his marriage Konstantin inherited Pavlovsk from his uncle Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, and, at the death of his mother, the palace of Oreanda in Crimea.
Olga Constantinovna of Russia (3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1851 – 18 June 1926) was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920.
A member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland and the Crimea, and married King George I of Greece in 1867 at the age of sixteen. At first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and schools, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, Greek translation of the Gospels sparked riots by religious conservatives.
On the assassination of her husband in 1913, Olga returned to Russia. When the First World War broke out, she set up a military hospital in Pavlovsk Palace, which belonged to her brother. She was trapped in the palace after the Russian Revolution of 1917, until the Danish embassy intervened, allowing her to escape to Switzerland. Olga could not return to Greece as her son, King Constantine I, had been deposed.
In October 1920, she returned to Athens on the fatal illness of her grandson, King Alexander. After his death, she was appointed regent until the restoration of Constantine I the following month. After the defeat of the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22 the Greek royal family were again exiled and Olga spent the last years of her life in the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
