The wife of Nicholas II was the last czarina of Russia (1894-1917). After the Bolshevik revolution, she and her family were imprisoned and executed. Who was she?

Born Princess Alix of Hesse, she was a granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Nicholas II in 1894, she converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Alexandra Feodorovna, becoming Russia's final empress consort. Though the marriage was a genuine love match, Alexandra struggled to win over the Russian people. Her reserved personality was often perceived as coldness, and her German heritage would later fuel suspicions of disloyalty during World War I.

A central tragedy of her life was the hemophilia of her only son and heir, Alexei. Desperate to save him, Alexandra fell under the influence of the mystic Grigori Rasputin, believing he could heal the boy. Her deep reliance on the controversial figure scandalized the public and eroded respect for the monarchy, providing powerful ammunition for its opponents. This relationship, born from a mother's fear, became a symbol of the dynasty's perceived decay.

Following the abdication of Nicholas II during the Russian Revolution in 1917, the entire imperial family was placed under house arrest. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, Alexandra, Nicholas, and their five children were executed by Bolshevik forces in a cellar in Yekaterinburg, bringing a violent end to the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty.