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Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia

Tsarskoye Selo, 29 Jan 1882 – Athens, 13 Mar 1957

8 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 29 Jan 1882

    Born in Tsarskoye Selo

  2. 1903–1906

    3 children are born

  3. 13 Mar 1957

    Dies in Athens, aged 75

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 3

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Tsarskoye Selo.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1880s · Grand is born in Tsarskoye Selo

In the news1881

Thessaly annexed to Greece in 1881

In 1881, the region of Thessaly was annexed into the Kingdom of Greece, significantly altering the national territory and population.

Getting around

Cost of Post-Horse Travel

Travelers using post-horses paid 8 to 10 kopecks per horse per verst, making a 450-verst trip from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod cost over 100 rubles. A journey using one's own horses for a similar distance was significantly cheaper, costing only 20 to 25 rubles.

At the table

Peasant diet: bread, cabbage soup, and kvass

Peasant diets centered on rye bread, cabbage soup (shchi), and various porridges, with meat being a rare luxury reserved for holidays like Christmas or Easter. Ordinary families primarily drank water, kvass—a fermented beverage made from rye bread—or occasionally tea on special occasions.

Electric light. Edison’s light bulb and his first power stations, in New York and London, began to light cities with electricity.Around the world · 1879–1882

Electric light. Edison’s light bulb and his first power stations, in New York and London, began to light cities with electricity.

KMJ, alpha masking by Edokter · CC BY-SA 3.0

What people wore

Essential male headwear and belts

Men wore hats or caps constantly outdoors and felt it was improper to be seen bareheaded or without a belt. A belt or cap was so essential that a man might even leave one as a pawn in a tavern to guarantee he would return.

Music

Large communal round dances

The khorovod, a traditional round dance, could involve as many as one hundred participants moving in a circle or in lines.

Daily life

Log cabins with multifunctional ovens

Peasant homes were typically log cabins with a large brick oven that served for both heating and cooking, and in many families, as a sleeping area. By the late 19th century, most homes were still heated black, meaning smoke escaped into the room or through the door, rather than through a chimney.