Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I Pavlovich, grandson of Catherine the Great, was Emperor of Russia from 1801 to 1825, celebrated as 'Alexander the Blessed' (Blagoslovenny) and the 'Savior of Europe'. Educated in enlightened republican ideals by Swiss tutor Frédéric-César de La Harpe, Alexander came to power following the palace assassination of his tyrannical father Paul I.

When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia in 1812 with the 600,000-man Grande Armée, Alexander refused to sue for peace, declaring that he would rather grow his beard and live as a peasant eating potatoes in Siberia than surrender. Backing Mikhail Kutuzov's scorched-earth retreat and watching Moscow burn, Alexander witnessed the catastrophic destruction of Napoleon's army in the Russian winter. Personally commanding Allied coalition armies across Germany, Alexander entered Paris in triumph on March 31, 1814. At the Congress of Vienna, he formed the Holy Alliance with Austria and Prussia. His sudden death in remote Taganrog at age forty-seven gave rise to a famous Russian legend that he had faked his death to live out his days in Siberia as the holy ascetic monk Feodor Kuzmich.