| Princess Anastasia | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Leuchtenberg Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia |
|
| Spouse | George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia |
| Issue | |
| Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke of Leuchtenberg Princess Elena Georgievna of Leuchtenberg |
|
| Full name | |
| Anastasija Petrović-Njegoš | |
| House | House of Beauharnais House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov House of Petrović-Njegoš |
| Father | Nicholas I of Montenegro |
| Mother | Milena Vukotić |
| Born | 4 June 1868 Cetinje, Montenegro |
| Died | 25 November 1935 (aged 67) Cap d'Antibes, France |
Princess Anastasia Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (4 June 1868 in Cetinje, Montenegro–25 November 1935 in Cap d'Antibes, France) was the daughter of King Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (1841–1921) and his wife, Milena Vukotić (1847–1923). Through her second marriage, she became Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna Romanova of Russia. She and her sister "Militza" (Princess Milica), having married Russian royal brothers, were known colloquially as the "Montenegrin princesses" during the last days of Imperial Russia, and may have contributed to its downfall by the introduction of Grigori Rasputin to the Empress Alexandra.
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Princess Anastasia was born in Cetinje, Montenegro, on 4 June 1868; she was the third child and third daughter of her parents, and was the third of twelve children born to the royal couple. At birth, her name was Princess Stana Petrovich Njegosh of Montenegro; as of the date of her father's assumption of the title and style of Royal Highness in 1900, she became known as HRH Princess Stana Petrovich Njegosh of Montenegro.[1] She retained her childhood name of "Stana" to close relations.
Anastasia was educated at the Smolny Institute with her older sister Princess Milica.[2]
On 28 August n.s., 1889, at the Imperial Russian palace of Peterhof, Stana married HIH Duke George von Leuchtenberg, Fürst von Eichstadt, Prince Romanovsky (6th Duke of Leuchtenberg.) The Duke had previously been married and widowed, with one son, Alexander Georgievich, 7th Duke of Leuchtenberg, from that prior marriage. The couple had two children,[3] son Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke von Leuchtenberg (Duke of Leuchtenberg) (1890–1974) and daughter Elena Georgievena, Princess Romanovskaja (1892–1971), before divorcing in St. Petersburg on 15 November 1906.[1]
On 29 April 1907, at the age of 39, Anastasia was married to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929). The marriage was childless. Both her husbands were grandsons of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855): the first one through a mixed line, and the second one through a direct male line.
Both Anastasia and her second husband Nicholas were deeply religious Orthodox Christians, with a tendency to mysticism. Since the Montenegrins were a fiercely Slavic, anti-Turkish people from the Balkans, Anastasia reinforced the Pan Slav tendencies of Nicholas. Her sister, Princess Milica (Cetinje, Montenegro, 26 July 1866 – Alexandria, Egypt, 5 September 1951) was married to Grand Duke Peter Nicolaievich Romanov of Russia, brother of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich. The two Montenegrin princesses were thus also sisters-in-law, as their husbands were brothers.
Anastasia and her sister were intrigued by the more mystical side of the Eastern Orthodox religion; they were early supporters of the French seer "Dr." Philippe Vachot [4] and of the starets Rasputin, and introduced both in turn [2] to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Tsarina of Russia.[2] According to Soviet propaganda the influence of Rasputin was instrumental in the downfall of the Romanov family.
Anastasia's husband, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929), was Commander in Chief of the Russian Army during the first year of World War I, carrying out campaigns on the Austro-German front and in the Caucasus. His Supreme Commandership was terminated by Tsar Nicholas on the advice of Rasputin on 21 August 1915.
In March 1917, the last Tsar was overthrown and the ruling Romanov family removed from power. Anastasia and her husband lived from 1917-1919 first in the Caucasus, then in the Crimea. From Yalta in the Crimea, Anastasia and her husband escaped Russia and the Bolsheviks in 1919 aboard a British battleship, HMS Marlborough. They settled briefly in Italy, living with her sister Elena, Queen of Italy and later in France, spending winters on the Riviera. She died in Cap d'Antibes on 15 November 1935, having outlived her husband by six years.
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