Elizabeth Feodorovna, born on November 1, 1864, in Darmstadt and killed on July 18, 1918, in Alapaevsk, Perm Province, was a princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and, after marrying Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, became a grand duchess of the Romanov family.

From 1905 to 1917, she was an honorary member and chairwoman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society. Elizabeth Feodorovna mastered the Russian language perfectly and spoke almost without an accent. Being a Lutheran, she attended Orthodox services and, in 1888, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with her husband. In 1891, she converted to Orthodoxy, writing to her father that she had found in this faith the true and strong belief in God necessary for a good Christian.

On February 4, 1905, her husband was killed by the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev, who threw a bomb at him. Elizabeth Feodorovna visited the murderer in prison, forgave him on behalf of Sergei Alexandrovich, and left him a Gospel. She also asked Emperor Nicholas II for clemency for Kalyaev, but her request was denied.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, she refused to leave Russia and continued her work at the convent. On May 7, 1918, three days after Easter, Patriarch Tikhon visited the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and held a service. Half an hour after his departure, Elizabeth Feodorovna was arrested by Chekists and Latvian riflemen on the orders of F. E. Dzerzhinsky.

On the night of July 18, 1918, Elizabeth Feodorovna was killed by the Bolsheviks and thrown into the New Selimskaya mine, 18 km from Alapaevsk. After the city was liberated, her body was transported to Jerusalem.