Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt (November 1, 1864 - July 18, 1918) was named after her relative, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207, 1231). After her mother's death in childhood, she moved to England, where she lived under the guardianship of her grandmother, Queen Victoria. Although she was raised in the Lutheran tradition as a child, she was surrounded by Anglican culture in her youth. In 1884, Elizabeth married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the son of Russian Tsar Alexander II. Gradually, she became interested in Orthodoxy and converted to the faith in 1891.

Despite her privileges and comfort, her life was unstable. The imperial power struggled to maintain control over society, resorting to repression. Revolutionary sentiments were growing, and terrorist acts became more frequent. On February 18, 1905, Grand Duke Sergei was assassinated, marking a turning point for Elizabeth. She distributed her jewels, sold her luxurious possessions, and with the proceeds, founded the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, where women could combine prayer with charity. In April 1909, Elizabeth and seventeen women became sisters of love and mercy, opening a hospital and other charitable institutions.

In March 1917, the imperial power collapsed under the blows of the war with Germany, and in October, the Bolsheviks seized power, starting a civil war. The Bolshevik party, being atheistic, saw the Orthodox Church as a support for the old regime and began brutal persecutions. Many priests and nuns were arrested, sent to camps, or killed, and churches were closed or destroyed.

On May 7, 1918, Elizabeth was arrested along with two sisters from the convent and sent to Perm, then to Yekaterinburg and Alapayevsk. On July 17, the Tsar and his family were shot, and the following night, Elizabeth and members of the royal family were killed in a mine.

Despite the persecution, Christianity survived in the Soviet Union. Elizabeth was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1984 and by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1992. In 2015, a statue was installed in the cathedral, dedicated to the holy martyrs of various Christian denominations, created by sculptor Rory Young.