Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)

Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) was a historical figure associated with Empress consort of Russia and Dowager Empress of Russia. The record associates Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) with Denmark / Russian Empire. Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) belonged to the Glücksburg / Romanov.

Dagmar converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Maria Feodorovna before marrying the future Alexander III in 1866. As empress she became a prominent figure in court and charitable life. After Alexander’s death she remained an influential dowager empress, opposed some of Nicholas II’s decisions and survived the revolution, eventually leaving Russia and dying in Denmark.

C. W. Gortner’s The Romanov Empress makes Maria Feodorovna its central viewpoint, following Dagmar of Denmark from her conversion and marriage to the future Alexander III through widowhood and the collapse of the Romanov monarchy. The novel places her family relationships, public duties and conflict with Empress Alexandra alongside the assassination of Alexander II, Nicholas II’s reign, Rasputin and the First World War. Her eventual exile gives the fall of imperial Russia a personal, dynastic perspective.