Years of reign: Grand Duke of Tver (1326, 1327, 1338, 1339); Grand Duke of Vladimir (1326, 1327).

Alexander, the second son of Grand Duke Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, was born in 1301 and received the lands of Kholm and Mikulin from his father. After his father's death in the Horde on November 22, 1318, due to the slander of Yuri of Moscow, Alexander first entered the political arena by making peace with Yuri. In 1322, he helped his elder brother Dmitry the Terrible Eyes obtain the grand duchy. According to the terms of the peace of 1321, Yuri was supposed to pay the khan 2000 rubles but failed to do so in time. Dmitry went to the Horde with a complaint, and Yuri hurried after him to justify himself. However, Alexander attacked Yuri, seized his treasury, including the Tver "exit silver." Yuri fled to Pskov, and Dmitry received the grand duchy. In 1324, Yuri again went to the Horde with a complaint about the Tver princes. Dmitry caught up with him and killed him, avenging their father's death. This act did not go unpunished, as Yuri was the khan's son-in-law. Alexander, who was in the Horde at the time, had to do everything possible to save his brother and the Tver princes from the khan's wrath. Khan Uzbek, after a year of hesitation, executed Dmitry but granted the grand duchy of Vladimir to Alexander. This was an unexpected mercy, as the Tver princes were considered rebels in the eyes of the khan. Alexander did not remain grand duke for long and settled in Tver, where his "debtors," the Tatars, accompanied him.

The Tver land had already experienced two consecutive Tatar devastations (Kavgady in 1317 and Tayanchar in 1321). The people were dissatisfied with the Tatars and harbored barely suppressed resentment towards them. In 1327, the khan's cousin, Shevkal (Chol-khan Dudenya), arrived in Tver, occupied the grand duke's court, and began to oppress Christians. A rumor spread among the population that Shevkal wanted to kill the prince and take his place. This led to an uprising on August 15, when the deacon Dyudko, defending his mare from the Tatars, raised the alarm, and the enraged people killed all the Tatars, including Shevkal. Ivan Kalita, the brother of the slain Yuri, took advantage of the situation and went to the Horde before Alexander could justify himself to the khan. The khan gave Ivan 50,000 Tatars to punish Tver. Alexander fled to Novgorod but was not accepted there due to fear of the Tatars and headed to Pskov, where he was recognized as prince. Karamzin calls Alexander cowardly for not dying in battle or surrendering to the Tatars to save his subjects. However, fighting against a united army of Tatars and Moscow troops would have been madness, and going to bow to the khan would mean certain death. The folk song "About Shchelkane Dudenych" attributes actions to the princes that align with the people's sentiments and describes how the princes "Borisoviches" began the slaughter of the Tatars.

The Tver region bore the scars of Ivan Kalita's pogrom for half a century. The returning princes Konstantin and Vasily Mikhailovich "settled in Tver in great poverty and destitution." The people in the song hide the horrors of devastation, contenting themselves with a sense of revenge. Kalita, having received the grand duchy, arrived in Novgorod in 1329 and demanded Alexander to present him to the Horde. The Novgorod lord Moisey persuaded Alexander to go to the Horde voluntarily, to "not give Christians to perish." Alexander replied that he was ready to suffer for all, but the princes should also defend each other. However, wanting to save the Russian land from further devastation, Alexander agreed to go to the Horde, but the Pskovites did not let him go. Metropolitan Theognost excommunicated them from the church. Alexander, not wanting the Pskovites to suffer because of him, left for Lithuania. Pskov submitted to Moscow, and the metropolitan lifted the excommunication. Kalita informed the khan of Alexander's flight. Having lived in Lithuania for a year and a half, Alexander was again accepted by the Pskovites under the protection of the Lithuanian prince Gediminas. However, he regretted his children, who might lose their princely power. In 1335, he sent his son Fyodor to the Horde to inquire about the possibility of forgiveness. In 1337, receiving a favorable response, Alexander went to the khan and acknowledged his mistakes. Uzbek, pleased with Alexander's humility, returned Tver to him.

Alexander's return was a blow to Kalita, as it threatened a new struggle for the grand duchy. Perhaps Uzbek returned Tver to Alexander to keep Kalita in fear, as Tver remained Moscow's only rival. The victory remained with Moscow, and the chronicles attribute even a moral victory to it. Alexander was guilty only because his rival Kalita was wealthy and cunning. The Tver princes lacked the agility and cunning, and in the struggle for supremacy, they lost. Alexander, returning to Tver after a 10-year exile, did not get along with the Moscow prince, as he did not want to submit to him. Kalita went to the Horde and managed to have the khan summon Alexander and order his execution along with his son Fyodor on October 29, 1339. The bodies of the princes were brought to Tver and buried in the Spassky Cathedral. Tver remained with Konstantin Mikhailovich.