Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia

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HIH Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the infant son of Tsar Alexander III, on his bier, in 1870.

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov, (In Russian Великий Князь Александр Александрович Романов), was the infant son of Alexander III and Empress Marie of Russia. He was born on June 7, 1869, and died on May 2, 1870. At the time of his birth, his father, as the eldest son of Tsar Alexander II, was titled as the Tsarevich of Russia. After his elder brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas, the infant Grand Duke was third in succession to the imperial throne.

Alexander died of meningitis in 1870. His parents had him posthumously photographed and sketched to remember him, therefore it seems likely that the only existing photograph of Grand Duke Alexander is of the infant in his coffin surrounded by flowers.

Alexander's death may have profoundly influenced Russia's future. Unlike his father and grandfather, Nicholas II could not count on support from his brothers during his reign, with Alexander dead, the younger brother George suffering from tuberculosis dying young in 1899, and Michael spending most of Nicholas' latter reign in exile. If Alexander had lived, he might have been the brotherly support Nicholas needed, and likewise, had Alexander married someone of equal birth and had children, the pressure on Nicholas and Alexandra to produce a son might not have been so intense.