Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg

Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg (1 April 1845 – 4 May 1925) was a daughter of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. Although she was a member of the French House of Beauharnais, she was born and raised in her mother's native country, Russia. In 1868, she married her distant cousin, Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg. The couple had an only child, Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg. Princess Eugenia and her husband were particularly noted for their extensive philanthropy throughout Russia; so much so in fact that by 1914, a newspaper source could claim that "there [were] probably not two who are so universally beloved as the Duke and Duchess of Oldenburg". Early life Princess Eugenia of Leuchtenberg was born on at the Mariinskiy Palace in Saint Petersburg. She was the fourth child and third daughter of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. Eugenia's father, Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg, had traveled to St. Petersburg, eventually winning the hand of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Nicholas I's eldest daughter. Maximilian was subsequently bestowed with the style Imperial Highness and given the title Prince Romanowsky. As the daughter of a Russian grand duchess and an ennobled Russian prince, Eugenia and her siblings were always treated as grand dukes and duchesses, bearing the styles Imperial Highness.