Russian Grand Duchess, as a daughter of Emperor Nikolai (Nicholas) I of Russia, and sister of Alexander II. She was an art collector and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg.
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna was noted for her formidable personality, her wit and her strong character. She was brave and inventive, appreciated novelty, and was almost indifferent to the opinion of high society. She was lively, energetic, talented and impulsive. In appearance and character she was like her father. She was Nicholas I’s favourite child and the one who resembled him most closely both in appearance and character. Like him she looked serious and severe. Her stare also brought to mind her father’s formidable gaze.
On 2 July 1839 she married Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg (2 October 1817 Munich – 1 November 1852). Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had seven children from her marriage to the Duke of Leuchtenberg.
Maria Nikolaievna made a second marriage in 1854, to Count Grigori Stroganov (16 June 1824 – 13 March 1879). It was a morganatic union and was kept secret while her father lived. Officially the marriage did not take place until 16 November 1856, after Nicholas I’s death. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna had two children in her second marriage.
Grand Duchess Maria probably suffered either from varicose veins or from some sort of bone disease, and by the end of her life she had become an invalid. She died on 21 February 1876 in Saint Petersburg at age 56.
Link to Wikipedia biography