Princess Elisabeth of Hesse 1865 Nov

Princess Elizabeth of Hesse (also known as Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia) was born on November 1, 1864, in Darmstadt, Germany. She was the second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. In 1884, Elizabeth married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, the fifth son of Tsar Alexander II. They had no children, but Elizabeth was known for her philanthropic work and her devotion to the Russian Orthodox Church. After her husband's assassination in 1905, Elizabeth withdrew from public life and devoted herself to charitable works. She founded the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, which provided medical care and shelter for the poor and homeless. During World War I, she worked as a nurse and tended to wounded soldiers. In 1918, following the Russian Revolution, Elizabeth was arrested by the Bolsheviks and imprisoned in Alapayevsk with several other members of the royal family. On July 18, 1918, she and several others were taken into the forest and brutally murdered. She was later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a martyr and saint.