Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Romanova was born in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire as the fourth child and second daughter of Tsesarevich Paul Petrovich of Russia (1754–1801) and his second wife, Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna, born Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828).

The formal betrothal was celebrated on 5 May 1799, and on 23 October 1799, they were married at the Great Gatchina Palace near Saint Petersbourg.

On 15 September 1800 she gave birth to her firstborn son, Paul Frederick, who would go on to inherit the throne of the grand duchy.

On 31 March 1803 she gave birth to a daughter, Marie Louise, named after her grandmothers, who would later become the duchess of Saxe-Altenburg.

Hereditary Princess Elena Pavlovna had two children with her husband, Hereditary Prince Frederick Louis (1778–1819), both of whom survived to adulthood: Elena Pavlovna's letters to her maternal grandfather, Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, written between 1795 and 1797, are preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany.

Two young girls embracing each other, wearing flower crowns. The older wears a light blue dress, the younger a yellow one, both with white lace and aprons. The younger holds a pendant with the portrait of a man in it.
Elena Pavlovna (on the right, in yellow) with her older sister Alexandra Pavlovna (on the left, in blue) on a portrait by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun from ca. 1795–1797, between the ages of 11 and 14.
A young woman with dark blonde hair and very pale white skin, wearing a simple blue dress and a red shawl.
Elena Pavlovna, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1802 at the age of 18 on Josef Grassi 's portrait .
The Helena Paulovna Mausoleum, Elena Pavlovna's resting place in Ludwigslust , Germany