2025-04-25 The 160th Anniversary of the Death of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich

April 25, 2025, marks the 160th anniversary of the death of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich (1865), the son of Emperor Alexander II the Tsar-Liberator and Empress Maria Alexandrovna (née Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt).

The Heir, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich was born in Tsarskoe Selo (on 8/21 September 1843) and died in Nice, France (on 12/(24)25 April, 1865).

He began his military service in 1850 in the rank of ensign. From 1855 to 1865, he was the Heir to the Russian Imperial Throne and Ataman of all Cossack Hosts. He held the title of aide-de-camp after taking his dynastic oath in 1859, and, after 1862, the rank of Major-General of His Majesty’s Retinue. He was an active patron of the sciences and culture.

Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich was engaged to Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark, who, after his death, married his brother, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (the future Emperor Alexander III).

Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich died in Villa Bermond in Nice, France, of tuberculosis. He was buried in the Imperial Mausoleum of the House of Romanoff—the Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to Thy servant, the Right-Believing Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, and may his memory be eternal!