| Princess Charlotte | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia | |||||
 Elena Pavlovna in 1840, painted by Vladimir Ivanovich Hau | |||||
| Born | (1807-01-09)9 January 1807 Stuttgart,Kingdom of Württemberg,Confederation of the Rhine | ||||
| Died | 2 February 1873(1873-02-02) (aged 66) Saint Petersburg,Russian Empire | ||||
| Burial | Peter and Paul Cathedral,Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Grand Duchess Maria Elizabeth, Duchess of Nassau Catherine, Duchess Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Grand Duchess Alexandra Grand Duchess Anna | ||||
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| House | Württemberg | ||||
| Father | Prince Paul of Württemberg | ||||
| Mother | Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen | ||||
Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (9 January 1807 – 2 February [O.S. 21 January] 1873), later known asGrand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, was the wife ofGrand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia, the youngest son ofPaul I of Russia andDuchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
She was born inStuttgart, as Princess Charlotte of Württemberg, the eldest daughter ofPrince Paul of Württemberg and ofPrincess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen. As a child, Charlotte lived in Paris with her father and her younger sisterPauline. Their home was quite modest by royal standards. InParis, Charlotte came under the tutelage of several intellectuals.
In 1822, she became engaged to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia, her first cousin once removed (Mikhail's mother was her father's aunt). It was said that Charlotte was an exceptional girl, highly intelligent and mature for her age of 15.[1] The Grand Duke was obviously impressed by her beauty and her poise, and during a reception held in her honor, she charmed all the guests with her conversations.[1] On 17 December 1823, she was received into theRussian Orthodox Church and was given the name Elena Pavlovna.[2] On 20 February 1824, the couple married inSaint Petersburg and settled in theMikhailovsky Palace. When theDowager EmpressMaria Feodorovna died in 1828, the palace ofPavlovsk passed on to Mikhail and he and Elena visited it often. Their marriage was not a happy one: Mikhail's only passion was for the army, and he neglected Elena. Nevertheless, he and Elena had five daughters, only three of whom lived to adulthood:
Elena became a close friend of her brother-in-law, EmperorAlexander I of Russia and of his wife theEmpress Elizabeth Alexeievna. She was also quick to befriend the shyMaria Alexandrovna, who married the thenTsarevich Alexander in 1841. When Princess Charlotte's husband died, in 1849, she became a patron of several charitable organizations and of the arts. She founded theSaint Petersburg Conservatoire and co-founded (1854) a group of nursing sisters (Society of the Sisters of Marcy [ru]) which would eventually become the forerunners of theRed Cross in Russia. During her time in Russia she became known as the "family intellectual", and was considered[by whom?] the most exceptional woman in the imperial family sinceCatherine the Great (r. 1762–1796). She founded theRussian Musical Society (1859) andthe Russian Conservatoire (1862), and was liberal onserfdom. She helped to push her nephewAlexander II toabolish serfdom while he stayed with her.[3][need quotation to verify]
As a patroness of the composerAnton Rubinstein (1829-1894), she commissioned some of his earlyoperas:Fomka the Fool (1853),The Siberian Hunters (1852), andVengeance (1852/1853).[4]
Elena died inSaint Petersburg, at the age of 66.
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