Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova (Russian: Мария Александровна Ульянова; née Blank; 6 March [O.S.

Some researchers argue that he was a Jewish convert to Orthodox Christianity, while others say he was actually the descendant of German colonists invited to Russia by Catherine the Great.

[1] In 1838, Ulyanova's mother died and her father turned to his sister-in-law, Ekaterina von Essen, to help raise the children.

[1] Ulyanova was educated at home, studying German, French and English as well as Russian and Western literature.

After marrying Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, an upwardly mobile teacher of mathematics and physics, the couple lived in moderate prosperity in Penza.