Includes 48 black and white photographs Born Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Ella was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and older sister of Alexandra, the last Russian Empress, she became famous in Russian society for her dignified beauty and charm. In 1884 she married Sergei, a Russian grand duke and son of Emperor Alexander II. After her husband’s assassination in 1905, Ella departed the Imperial Court and became a nun, founding the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent dedicated to helping the downtrodden of Moscow. In 1918, she was arrested and subsequently murdered by the Bolsheviks near Alapaevsk. In 1981, she was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and in 1992 by the Moscow Patriarchate. She remains one of the most beloved and respected members of the Russian Imperial Family.