Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg was a 19th-century Grand Duchess of Russia and a nun who dedicated her life to medical charity. Born in Saint Petersburg to Duke Peter of Oldenburg and Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg, she was the great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I. Although raised in the Lutheran faith, she converted to Eastern Orthodoxy following her marriage to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. Following a difficult marriage and a paralyzing accident, she eventually settled in Kyiv, where she founded a convent and hospital to serve the impoverished.