Maria was born on 26 June 1899. She was the third child and daughter of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. … See more

Maria was a noted beauty. She had light brown hair and large blue eyes that were known in the family as "Marie's saucers." Maria, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Maria's great-aunt, declared that Maria was "a real … See more

Maria, like all her family, doted on the long-awaited heir Tsarevich Alexei, or "Baby", who suffered frequent complications of hemophilia and nearly died several times. Her mother relied on the counsel of Grigori Rasputin, … See more

Revolution broke out in St. Petersburg in the spring of 1917. At the height of the chaos, Maria and her siblings were stricken with measles. The Tsarina was reluctant to move the children to the safety of the imperial res… See more

Late that night, on the night of 16 July, the family was awakened and told to come down to the lower level of the house because there was unrest in the town at large and they would have to be moved for their own s… See more