Tchaikovsky
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Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna

Великая княгиня Елена Павловна

Born Princess Frederika Charlotte Mariia,on 9 January 1807 at Stuttgart, the daughter of Prince Paul of Würtemburg (1785-1852) and his wife Charlotte (1787-1847).

Raised and educated in Paris, In 1823 she married the Russian Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (1798-1849 ; younger son of Emperor Paul I, and brother to Alexander I and Nikolai I) and after converting to the Orthodox faith became the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. After her marriage she became a patroness of several charity organisations, including the Russian Musical Society (RMS), of which she was the president.

Elena Pavlovna's death at Stuttgart on 21 January 1873, aged 66, caused the postponement of the premiere of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 at an RMS concert in Moscow. The composer's opera Vakula the Smith (1874), was dedicated to the Grand Duchess's memory.