| Princess Anastasia | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duchess of Leuchtenberg Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia | |||||
 Photograph,c. 1905 | |||||
| Born | (1868-01-04)4 January 1868 Cetinje,Montenegro | ||||
| Died | 15 November 1935(1935-11-15) (aged 67) Cap d'Antibes,French Third Republic | ||||
| Burial | St. Michael the Archangel Church(1935–2015) Chapel of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in theBratsky military cemetery inMoscow(since 2015) | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
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| House | Petrović-Njegoš | ||||
| Father | Nicholas I of Montenegro | ||||
| Mother | Milena Vukotić | ||||
Princess Anastasia Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (4 January [O.S. 23 December 1867] 1868 – 25 November 1935) was the daughter ofKing Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (1841–1921) andQueen Milena (1847–1923). Through her second marriage, she becameGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia. She and her sister "Militza" (Princess Milica), having married Russian royal brothers, were known colloquially as the "Montenegrin princesses" during the last days of Imperial Russia, and may have contributed to its downfall by the introduction ofGrigori Rasputin to theEmpress Alexandra.
Princess Anastasia was born inCetinje,Montenegro, on 4 January 1868, the third child and third daughter of her parents. Although named Anastasia at birth, after her paternal grandmother, she was often known asPrincess Stana Petrovich Njegosh of Montenegro. As of the date of her father's assumption of the title and style ofRoyal Highness in 1900, she became known asHer Royal HighnessPrincessStana Petrovich Njegosh of Montenegro.[citation needed] She retained her childhood nickname of "Stana" to close relations.
Anastasia was educated at theSmolny Institute with her older sister,Princess Milica.[1]
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On 28 August 1889 N.S., at the Imperial RussianPalace of Peterhof, Stana marriedPrince George Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg (later theDuke of Leuchtenberg.) The Duke had previously been married and widowed, with one son,Alexander Georgievich, from his prior marriage to PrincessTherese of Oldenburg. The couple had two children:
On 29 April 1907, at the age of 39, Anastasia was married toGrand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929). The marriage was childless. Both her husbands were descendants ofEmperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855): the first one was his grandson through a maternal line, and the second one was his grandson through a direct male line.[citation needed]
Both Anastasia and her second husband Nicholas were religiousEastern Orthodox Christians, with a tendency to and interest inPersian mysticism. Since theMontenegrins were a fiercelySlavic, anti-Turkish people from theBalkans, Anastasia reinforced thePan Slav tendencies of Nicholas. Her sister,Princess Milica (Cetinje,Montenegro, 26 July 1866 –Alexandria,Egypt, 5 September 1951) was married toGrand Duke Peter Nicolaievich Romanov of Russia, brother of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich. The two Montenegrin princesses were thus also sisters-in-law, as their husbands were brothers.[citation needed]
Anastasia and her sister were intrigued by the more mystical side of theEastern Orthodox religion; they were early supporters of the French seer "Dr."Philippe Vachot[2] and of thestaretsRasputin, and introduced both in turn[1] to theEmpress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Tsarina of Russia.[1] According to popular Russian belief, the influence of Rasputin was instrumental in the downfall of the Romanov family.
Anastasia's husband, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929), was Commander in Chief of the Russian Army during the first year of World War I, carrying out campaigns on the Austro-German front and in the Caucasus. His Supreme Commandership was terminated by Tsar Nicholas on 21 August 1915.[citation needed]
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In March 1917, the last Tsar was overthrown and the rulingRomanov family removed from power by theBolsheviks. Anastasia and her husband lived from 1917 to 1919 first in theCaucasus, then in theCrimea. FromYalta in the Crimea, Anastasia and her husband escaped Russia in 1919 aboard a British battleship,HMSMarlborough. They settled briefly in Italy, living with her sisterElena, Queen of Italy and later in France, spending winters on theRiviera.
She died in Cap d'Antibes on 15 November 1935, having outlived her husband by six years. Grand Duchess Anastasia and her husband died in exile and were originally buried in the church of St. Archangel Michael in Cannes, France. Requests to transfer their remains came fromNicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, who died in 2014 andPrince Dimitri Romanov (who died in 2016), and were made in 2014. Their remains were re-buried in Moscow, at theBratsky military cemetery in May 2015.
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