Some souls shine like stars in life — and blaze even more brightly in death, defying the darkness that abhors their light and seeks to extinguish it. And yet the stars, steadfast in their courses, shine on — and the darkness cannot overcome them.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna — “Ella” to those who knew her — was one such soul. Once hailed as the most beautiful woman in Europe, she was born a princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and married into the Romanov dynasty at its zenith. But her most extraordinary acts came not in the splendor of court life, but in its ashes.
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