Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786-1859)

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For other uses, see Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia.
Portrait of Maria Pavlovna, by Vladimir Borovikovsky.
Portrait of Maria Pavlovna, by Vladimir Borovikovsky.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (Russian: Мария Павловна; February 16, 1786–June 23, 1859) was the third daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

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[edit] Biography

She was born in 1786 in Saint Petersburg and raised in Pavlovsk.

As a child, she was not considered pretty: her features were disfigured as a result of a pioneering application of the smallpox vaccine. Her grandmother, Catherine II, admired her precocious talent as a pianist but declared that she'd better be born a boy. Her music instructor was Giuseppe Sarti, a composer.

[edit] Marriage and Children

On 3 August 1804, she married Carl Friedrich Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach (2 February 1783 - 8 July 1853). The couple stayed in Saint Petersburg for nine months, before departing for Weimar. There Maria was greeted with a bout of festivities, as described by Christoph Martin Wieland: "The most festive part of all the magnificence of balls, fireworks, promenades, comedies, illuminations was the widespread and genuine joy at the arrival of our new princess".

Maria and Carl had four children:

After the death of the Grand Duke Carl Friedrich in 1853 she retired from public life.

Her last trip to Russia was to the coronation of her nephew as Alexander II of Russia in 1855.

[edit] Patronage of Arts and Science

Maria Pavlovna by Friedrich Duerck (1858)
Maria Pavlovna by Friedrich Duerck (1858)

Maria Pavlovna was interested in arts as well as in sciences. She was a patroness of art, science and social welfare in the poor Grand-Dukedom of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

She maintained a lifelong correspondence with Vasily Zhukovsky and it was to her that Schiller dedicated one of his last poems. She attended ten courses at the University of Jena, some delivered by Alexander von Humboldt, and was instrumental in establishing the Falk Institute in Weimar.

She selected, as tutor to her son Charles Alexander, the Genevan Frédéric Soret, who became well acquainted with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

In her later years, Maria Pavlovna invited Franz Liszt to her court, restoring a measure of artistic excellence previously associated with Weimar. However, her growing deafness prevented her from enjoying the premiere of Lohengrin in Weimar on 28 August 1850.

Most famous were the "Literary Evenings (Literarische Abende)" where scholars from the neighboring Jena University and others from outside the Grand-Dukedom were invited to give lectures on various topics. This circle was a focus in post-classical Weimar.

Several collections of the Jena University benefitted by her patronage, among them the Grandducal Oriental Coin Cabinet founded in 1840 by Johann Gustav Stickel, orientalist at the University.

Schiller praised her "talents in music and painting and genuine love of reading", while Goethe hailed her as one of the worthiest women of his time.

[edit] Her Traces in Jena and Weimar

She owned a small chalet close to Jena, owned formerly by the Protestant theologist of Enlightenment Griesbach, where she used to spend the summer with her children. Maria Pavlovna is buried in Weimar, in a Russian-style chapel by the side of the Goethe-Schiller Mausoleum.

[edit] Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Hedwig Sophia of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Peter III of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Peter I of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Anna Petrovna of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Catherine I of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Paul I of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Johann Ludwig of Anhalt-Zerbst
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Christine Eleonore von Zeustch
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Catherine II of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Johanna Elisabeth, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Frederick Charles of Württemberg-Winnental
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Eleonore Juliane von Brandenburg-Ansbach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Anselm Franz of Thurn and Taxis
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Maria Augusta Anna of Thurn and Taxis
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Princess Maria Ludovika von Lobkowicz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Sophie Dorothea of Württemburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Philipp, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Friedrich Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Frederick William I of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Sophie Dorothea Marie, Princess of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
 
 
 
 
 
 

[edit] References

  • Jena, Detlef, Maria Pawlowna. Großherzogin an Weimars Musenhof, Regensburg 1999.
  • Ihre Kaiserliche Hoheit. Maria Pawlowna. Zarentochter am Weimarer Hof, ed. Stiftung Weimarer Klassik und Kunstsammlungen, Weimar, Weimar 2004.

[edit] External links

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