Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
Born Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, she was a daughter of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. She belonged to a junior branch of the House of Württemberg and grew up in Montbéliard receiving an excellent education for her time and station. In 1776, when Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia), became a widower, Sophie Dorothea was chosen by Frederick II of Prussia, her maternal great uncle, and by Empress Catherine II of Russia, as the ideal candidate to be Paul’s second wife. They met in a state dinner in Berlin and their engagement was quickly arranged.
Elizabeth of Russia
The young Peter had lost his mother, Elizabeth's sister Anna, at three months old and his father at the age of eleven. Elizabeth invited her young nephew to Saint Petersburg, where he was received into the Orthodox Church and proclaimed heir on 7 November 1742. Elizabeth gave him at once Russian tutors. Keen to see the dynasty secured Elizabeth settled on Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst as a bride for her nephew. Incidentally, Sophie's mother, Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, was a sister of Elizabeth's own fiancé who had died before the wedding. On her conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church Sophie was given the name Catherine in memory of Elizabeth's mother. The marriage took place on 21 August 1745. Nine years later, a son, the future Paul I, was finally born on 20 September 1754.