Maria Feodorovna, known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was a Danish princess who became Empress of Russia as spouse of Emperor Alexander III. She was the second daughter and fourth child of King Christian IX of Denmark and of Louise of Hesse-Kassel; her siblings included Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King Frederick VIII of Denmark and King George I of Greece. Her eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia - she lived for ten years after Bolshevik functionaries killed him and his immediate family in 1918.