Sheremetskaia, Natalia (1880–1952)
Sheremetskaia, Natalia (1880–1952)
Russian empress for one day. Name variations: Sheremetskaya; Nathalie Brasova; Countess Brassovna; Natasha. Born on June 27, 1880; died in an automobile accident in September 1952; daughter of Serge Scheremetersky; married Mamontov; married Wulfert; married Michael Aleksandrovich Romanov (1878–1918, son of Alexander III, tsar of Russia, and Marie Feodorovna ), grand duke Thronfolger, in July 1912; children: George M. (1910–1931, died in an automobile accident).
Natalia Sheremetskaia was technically married to the tsar of Russia for a few hours. When her brother-in-law Nicholas II abdicated in 1917, her husband Michael, son of Alexander III, became Michael II. But Michael had no in terest in becoming the tsar in the middle of a revolution and abdicated within hours. A beautiful Russian divorcée and nonroyal, Natalia created a scandal when she married Michael in 1912. Their life and letters are contained in Rosemary and Donald Crawford's Michael and Natasha: The Life and Love of Michael II, the Last of the Romanov Tsars (Scribner, 1997).