Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786%E2%80%931859)

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia was the third daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Wrttemberg. She was the Grand Duchess of SaxeWeimarEisenach by her marriage to Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of SaxeWeimarEisenach.

As a child, she was not considered pretty her features were disfigured as a result of a pioneering application of the Smallpox vaccine. Her grandmother, Catherine II of Russia, admired her precocious talent as a pianist but declared that she would have been better to have been born a boy. Her music instructor was Giuseppe Sarti , an Italian composer and Kapellmeister at the Russian court. From 1798, she was taught music by LudwigWilhelm Tepper de Ferguson . In 1796 her grandmother died making her father the new Emperor of Russia as Paul I.

Source: Wikipedia