Nothing particularly new, but a couple of recent articles on Maria's reburial. Â Enjoy, DCA
http://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/14-06-2006/81945-czar-0Mother of last czar to brought from Denmark, reburied in St. Petersburg
14.06.2006 Source: Â URL:
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/81945-czar-0 The remains of the mother of Russia's last czar will be brought from Denmark to St. Petersburg in September for reburial, Russian officials said Tuesday.
Russian heritage council spokesman Georgy Vilinbakhov said saying that Empress Maria Feodorovna would be brought to Russia's imperial capital on Sept. 26, and a burial ceremony would take place two days later in her family's vault in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The Danish Foreign Ministry said last month that Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary would attend the reburial. Culture Minister Alexander Sokolov said President Vladimir Putin or other top Russian officials might also participate.
"First and foremost, we are fulfilling the wishes of Alexander, because there is an empty place next to his grave for his spouse," Sokolov said in televised comments.
Maria, the mother of Czar Nicholas II, was buried in 1928 in her native Denmark, where she lived after emigrating from Russia during the Revolution.
Born in 1847, Maria was the Danish Princess Dagmar before marrying Russian Czar Alexander III.
Nicholas II and his family were killed on July 17, 1918, some 16 months after he abdicated the throne. Nicholas' remains were ceremoniously buried in 1998 in the St. Petersburg fortress and he was canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2000.
President Vladimir Putin formally asked Denmark's Queen Margrethe four years ago for the body to be returned, but talks briefly stalled after Danish courts refused to extradite Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev to Russia and Putin canceled a planned state visit to Denmark.
Maria was also the sister of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Britain's Queen Alexandra and King George I of Greece, reports AP.
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http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060613/49417822.htmlFormer Russian empress to be reburied in St. Petersburg Sept. 28
16:33 | 13/ 06/ 2006
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MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - The wife of Emperor Alexander III, interred in Copenhagen after her death 78 years ago, will be reburied in St. Petersburg September 28, Russia's top culture official said Tuesday.
The governments of Russia and Denmark agreed last year that Empress Maria Fyodorovna's remains should be returned to St. Petersburg to be re-interred in the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral next to the remains of her husband and other members of the Romanov dynasty.
"The interdepartmental working group for the reburial of Empress Maria Fyodorovna held its final session today to sum up the results of two years' work," Culture and Mass Communications Minister Alexander Sokolov said.
He said the group had finalized documentation including a memorandum of understanding with Denmark's Foreign Ministry.
The empress' remains will be brought to St. Petersburg by ship September 26, 2006, and reburied two days later at the cathedral in the city's landmark Peter and Paul Fortress, which houses the remains of almost all Russia's pre-Revolutionary rulers from Peter the Great onwards.
Danish Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar (1847-1928), baptized a Lutheran, took the name Maria Fyodorovna when she converted to the Orthodoxy before marrying Alexander III. Her father became King of Denmark six days after her wedding.
Despite the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917, Empress Maria did not leave Russia for her native Denmark until 1919.
Maria Fyodorovna's son - Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II - and her daughter-in-law and grandchildren were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918, but until her death, she refused to acknowledge the massacre had ever taken place.
On July 17, 1998 the remains of the emperor, his family and servants were reburied in the chapel of St. Great Martyr Catherine in the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral.
