Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

Who was Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia?

Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov, full title: Heir, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke of Russia was Tsesarevich —the heir apparent—of Imperial Russia from 2 March 1855 until his death in 1865. He was nicknamed Nixa.

He was born at Tsarskoe Selo, the eldest son of Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaievich, eldest son of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. In 1855, his paternal grandfather died and his father succeeded as Emperor Alexander II. His early death at the age of twenty-one was a devastating blow to his mother. In 1864, he was engaged to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, but he died suddenly of spinal meningitis few months later.