Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia

Maria Kirillovna of Russia (2 February 1907 – 25 October 1951) was the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh.

She was born in Coburg when her parents were in exile because their marriage had not been approved by Tsar Nicholas II.

She was generally called "Marie," the French version of her name, or by the Russian nickname "Masha".

The family returned to Russia prior to World War I, but was forced to flee following the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Maria was raised in Coburg and in Saint-Briac, France.

She was born Princess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, but her father granted her the title Grand Duchess of Russia with the style Imperial Highness when he declared himself Guardian of the Throne in 1921.

As a child, the dark-haired, dark-eyed Maria took after her maternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, in appearance, with a wide, round face and a tendency to be overweight and to look older than her actual age when she was still a teenager.

She was described as "shy and easy-going", but also had her share of mishaps.

In 1922, when she was fifteen, the "flighty" Maria visited her aunt, Queen Marie of Romania, and carried on a flirtation with the son-in-law of a lady-in-waiting at the Romanian court.

Her fourteen-year-old cousin, Princess Ileana of Romania, spread rumors about the flirtation when Maria returned home, resulting in strained relations between Marie of Romania and Maria's mother, Victoria.

The conflict was eventually smoothed over.

On 24 February 1925, Maria was engaged to Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen (13 February 1898 – 2 August 1946), and they were married on 25 November.

Victoria was at her daughter's bedside when she gave birth to her first child, Emich Kirill, in 1926.

She also attended the subsequent births of Maria's children.

Maria had seven children in all, one of whom died in infancy during World War II.

Her husband was forced to join the German army and was taken captive by the Soviets at the end of World War II.

He died of starvation in a Russian concentration camp in 1946.

Maria, left with little money, struggled to support her surviving six children.

She died five years later of a heart attack at age forty-four.

Maria had seven children: