Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna of Russia (, née Princess Elisabeth Auguste Marie Agnes of Saxe-Altenburg; 25 January [O.S. 13 January] 1865 – 24 March 1927) was a Russian Grand Duchess by marriage. She was the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (1858–1915). Early life Princess Elisabeth, as she was usually known, was the second child of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg (1829–1907) and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen (1843–1919). During her youth she made several trips around Europe visiting her relatives. Marriage In 1882, when she was sixteen, she met her second cousin Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia in Altenburg. His mother and her father were first cousins; in addition to that, they shared Emperor Pavel I as a common ancestor. There was immediately some talk of marriage. However, although she said she was ready to marry Konstantin, he hesitated, even though he was by then 24 years old. When she left, he promised to write often, but he never did, as he was tremendously shy. Nevertheless, he did write several poems about her. In 1884, she visited Russia and the wedding was announced, although she manifested her wish to keep her Lutheran faith, which was a serious blow for her future husband, since he believed firmly in the Russian Orthodox Church. Even worse was the fact that she refused to kiss the cross held in Orthodox services. On the wedding day, which took place on 27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1884 in Saint Petersburg, she wrote to him a reassuring letter, saying that "I promise you that I will never do anything to anger nor hurt you through our divided religions... I can only tell you again, how very much I love you. The marriage was a success, although Grand Duke Konstantin secretly kept male lovers. Life in Russia Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna, or "Mavra" as she was known within the Romanov family, was a popular figure, and got on quite well with her nephew Tsar Nicholas II. She outlived most of her children. In 1905, her daughter Natalia died aged exactly two months. When World War I broke out, Elizaveta found herself fighting on the opposite side of her native Germany. However, several of her sons, who were trained soldiers, joined the army and fought bravely. One of them, Oleg, was killed in 1914 in Lithuania, where Elizaveta quickly went to see her dying son.