Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia spouse Duke George August of Mecklenburg
Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia (Russian: Великая Княжна Екатерина Михайловна) (28 August 1827 – 12 May 1894), was the third of five daughters of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (youngest son of Emperor Paul I) and Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (known as Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna after marriage). She was also the wife of Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
She was a great philanthropist and many of the organisations she supported and helped to create still operate today.Marriage and issue
On 16 February 1851, Catherine married Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in St. Petersburg. Catherine "loved her husband deeply and selflessly," despite a three-year age gap and the disapproval of her mother. Although the young couple ended up settling in the Mikhailovsky Palace with Elena, she supposedly did not get along very well with Georg. Nevertheless, the marriage produced five children of whom three lived to adulthood.
On 12 July 1854, Catherine gave birth to a son named Nikolaus (or Nikolai) who "died immediately by birth."On 16 January 1857, the couple's only surviving daughter was born and named Elena, presumably for Catherine's mother. Elena would go on to marry Prince Albert of Saxe-Altenburg and become Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. After her husband's death she remarried, but had no issue from either husband.Catherine's third child, Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was born on 6 June 1859 at the family's estate in Remplin, Germany. He would marry one of Catherine's ladies in waiting, Natalia Feodorovna Vanljarskaya, and have four children. Catherine severely disapproved of the marriage, and it became a point of contention between herself and her son until her death.
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