Sophie of Merenberg

Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, Countess de Torby (1 June 1868 – 14 September 1927), was the elder daughter of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and his morganatic wife, Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (who had been granted the title of Countess of Merenberg). Early life She was born at Geneva, Switzerland, the first child of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and Russian noblewoman Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina. As the marriage of her parents was considered morganatic, she was ineligible to bear her father's title or rank. Her paternal grandparents were William, Duke of Nassau and Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Her maternal grandparents were Alexander Pushkin, the renowned Russian poet, and his wife, Natalia Pushkina. Her brother, Count Georg Nikolaus von Merenberg (Wiesbaden, 13 February 1871 – Wiesbaden, 31 May 1948); married firstly on 12 May 1895 in Nice, Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskaya (St. Petersburg, 8 November 1873 – Wiesbaden, 10 August 1925), daughter of Alexander II of Russia and his morganatic second wife, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova. Sophie would go on to marry the Tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia. Marriage and children