Several Empress consorts of Russia, Grand Duchesses of Russia by birth and Grand Duchess of Russia by marriage can be the owner of this snuff-box! The most prestigious: Alexandra Feodorovna (June 6, 1872 – July 17, 1918), Empress of Russia as the spouse of Nicholas II – the last ruler of the Russian Empire – from their marriage on November 26, 1894, until his forced abdication on March 15, 1917. Originally Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine at birth, she was given the name and patronymic Alexandra Feodorovna upon being received into the Russian Orthodox Church and – having been killed along with her immediate family while in Bolshevik captivity in 1918 – was canonized in 2000 as Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer.