Alexander III

[grandduchessella]

If this is the lady I'm thinking of, AIII wanted to marry her very badly. He even considered renouncing his rights to the throne in favor of Vladimir (fueling the power struggles with the Vladimirovichi no doubt) but changed his mind. He dutifully agreed to consider marrying Dagmar and they discovered they would match well. He soon was very much in love with her and they had a successful marriage.

[QueenEna1887]

Really!! Interesting tell me more!!!

[grandduchessella]

I'll have to get out my book--the info was either in the bio on MF by Coryne Hall or the Romanovs by van der Kiste--or both.

I think this is her but it was in Russian so *fingers crossed*

[Svetabel]

Yes, the girl in the photo is Maria Elimovna. I think that is the best picture of her.

[QueenEna1887]

When and how did Alexander and Maria Elimovna meet? How long did the relationship last? Was it sexual? How did she feel when he decided to marry Dagmar?

[Laura Mabee]

From what I understand, there was no "affair" AIII was in love with this women and wanted to marry her, but after his brother's death, he decided to do what's best for the family and marry his brother's fiance Maria. He was heartbroken about not getting to marry his first love, but from what I understand he and Maria (Dagmar) fell in love after some time.

[GD Alexandra]

Later Marie Elimovna married Paul Demidoff (Prince de San Donato) and sadly died at childbirth. (of her 1st and only son)

[Svetabel]

Their relationship was not sexual according to AlexanderIII's diaries. Maria Elimovna certainly was very upset by Alexander's wedding,she confessed at her deathbed that she had loved him much.

[Daniela]

Hello!

I have just realized that Paul Demidoff was father of Aurore, who was married to Prince Arsen Karagorgevich. Aurore was eldest daughter from Paul's second marriage to Princess Trubetskoi. I'll try to post a link where is Aurore's photo.

http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=sl;i=188326

BTW, this is my first post on Alexander Palace MB. Soo, hay to everybody!

Daniela

[Caleb]

I remember reading in "A Chronicle of the Russian Tsars" that the train wreck happened because Alexander III was irritated that the Imperial Train was going so slow & that Alexander ordered the train's speed increased, but the speed was too fast for the antique locomotive. I live across the street from a main railroad artery that at least runs from Chicago to California & supposedly before I was born there was an accident when a train took a sharp curve too quickly, causing the train to jump the tracks. Was the accident scene on a curve and that could have caused the wreck? Or it could have been caused by poorly maintaned track in the Borki area. Or it could have been a terrorist attack like the attempted assasination of Alexander II. Or it could have been that the train was just going too fast for the conditions.

[Caleb]

I also remember seeing at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago (I live in the western suburbs of Chicago) that steam locomotives were more liable to tip over. I know for a fact that steam locomotives were in use in Russia at the time of the wreck in 1888 & that diesel & electrified locomotives werent available until the late 19th, early 20th century. However by the 1880's electric trolleys, subways & elevated trains were in use in cities such as London & Chicago. The New York subway I beleive wasnt completed until 1903. However a new law was passed by the late 1890's or early 1900's that steam locomotives were banned from entering Manhattan for two reasons: first was that they were causing property value to drop through the basement & causing pollution on a street, once the dirtiest street in New York, but is now synanomous with luxury: Park Avenue. The second reason was because the trains had to enter Manhattan through a tunnel & the tunnel was filled with blinding & chocking coal smoke. Eventually things got so bad that a passenger train collided into the back of a freight train in this tunnel because the smoke in the tunnel was so thick that the engineer couldnt see the brake lights of the frieghter. This accident caused fatalities & caused a law to be passed, banning steam locomotives from entering Manhattan & making electrified locomotives (powered by a third rail) the rule, but I'm sure there were instances when passangers were electricuted.

[Caleb]

There was an accident near Chicago (I live in the Western Suburbs of Chicago) with a Metra (commuter train) this weekend which might have been caused by the same thing that the train wreck in Borki might have been caused by: excessive speed. Supposedly the passenger train was going almost 70 miles an hour in a 10 mile per hour speed zone. Unfortunately that's what happens when your an engineer on a train & your going almost 60 miles per hour over the speed limit. Supposedly the train was also switching tracks also at 70 mph & the train got involved in a nasty derailment. Sadly 2 girls riding the train, both in their 20's were killed in the wreck. As of yet Metra isnt quite sure what happened but it sounds that it was human error!

[Romanov_fan]

I had never heard of this before-but it is interesting! Thanks for posting

[Caleb]

I think I remember reading that Marie Elimovna was a lady in waiting to Czarina Marie Alexandrovna.

[Svetabel]

I think I remember reading that Marie Elimovna was a lady in waiting to Czarina Marie Alexandrovna.

She was a maid of honor.