compiled by Susan Flantzer

Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord and is caused by viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms. Symptoms include fever, headache, and neck stiffness, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light or loud noises. Young children often exhibit only nonspecific symptoms, such as irritability, drowsiness, or poor feeding. Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation’s proximity to the brain and spinal cord and today it is considered a medical emergency.

Of course, without modern medical diagnostic tools, it was impossible to accurately diagnose illnesses and so this does not purport to be a complete list. Until the development of antibiotics and other drugs, it was impossible to successfully treat many infectious diseases. Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist, developed Penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic in 1928. Antibiotics are only effective against diseases caused by bacteria. They are not effective against diseases caused by viruses.

All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia

• Born: August 30, 1842 at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Parents: Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Maria Alexandrovna)
• Died: July 10, 1849, aged 6, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Wikipedia: Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia 

Her parents’ eldest child, Alexandra Alexandrovna’s death from meningitis brought great sorrow to her family. After her death, no one in the Romanov family named their daughters Alexandra because all the daughters with that name suddenly died before they reached the age of 20.

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Prince Maurits of the Netherlands
Maurits on the left with his elder brother Willem

• Born: September 15, 1843 at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
• Parents: King Willem III of the Netherlands and Sophie of Württemberg
• Died: June 4, 1850, aged 6, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
• Buried: Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
• Wikipedia: Prince Maurits of the Netherlands

Maurits was the second of the three sons of King Willem III of the Netherlands and his first wife Sophie of Württemberg. All three sons were childless and predeceased their father. Maurits developed meningitis at the end of May 1850. His parents, whose relationship was far from ideal, got into an argument at his sickbed about the doctors to be consulted. Queen Sophie refused to allow the king’s personal doctor to treat her son and King Willem III denied the doctor chosen by Sophie access to their son. Sophie blamed Willem for Maurit’s death.

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Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia

• Born: September 20, 1843, at Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg, Russia
• Parents: Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Maria Alexandrovna)
• Died: April 24, 1865, aged 21, at the Villa Bermont in Nice, France
• Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Unofficial Royalty: Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia

Although he was born to succeed his father as Emperor of All Russia, it was not to be. In 1864, Nicholas became engaged to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark. On January 1, 1865, Nicholas traveled to Nice, France where his mother was spending the winter. In April 1865, Nicholas suddenly became nervous, feverish and complained of blurred vision. Nicholas then suffered a cerebral hemorrhage leaving one side of his body temporarily paralyzed. After six doctors consulted with each other, they determined that Nicholas had meningitis and that his condition was serious. It was the same disease that had claimed the life of his elder sister Alexandra Alexandrovna when she was just six-years-old.

Dagmar and her mother prepared to leave for Nice and at the same time, Alexander II and his sons Vladimir and Alexis left Russia. Nicholas’ next brother Alexander was already on his way to Nice. There is an uncorroborated story that shortly before he died, Nicholas clasped the hands of Dagmar and his brother Alexander together, begging them to marry. The couple did marry in 1866 and had six children including Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia, who was named in honor of his deceased uncle.

On April 24, 1865, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia died. He was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral near his sister Alexandra Alexandrovna. Nicholas’ parents bought the grounds and villa in which their son had died. They tore down the villa and built a memorial chapel in the exact location where Nicholas’ deathbed had been.

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Prince Sigismund of Prussia

• Born: September 15, 1864 at the Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
• Parents: Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal
• Died: June 18, 1866, aged 21 months, at the Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
• Buried: Friedenskirche in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Sigismund of Prussia

Sigismund was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria to die. On June 4, 1866, Vicky’s husband Fritz was on his way to the front of the Austro-Prussian War. Even before his father left, Sigismund had been fretful and it was thought to be caused by teething. However, the day after Fritz left, Sigismund was unable to eat or sleep. Twenty-four hours later, he could no longer stand. Because all the doctors normally used by the family had left with the army, Vicky was forced to consult doctors unknown to her who gave her the terrible news that her son had meningitis. At that time, there was no successful treatment for meningitis, and death usually occurred. Sigismund’s convulsions grew increasingly worse until he died in agony on June 18, 1866, only 21 months old. Vicky wrote to her mother Queen Victoria, “Oh to see it suffer so cruelly, to see it die and hear its last piteous cry was an agony I cannot describe, it haunts me night and day!”

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Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia

• Born: June 7, 1869 at Tsarskoye Selo in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Parents: Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Dagmar of Denmark (Empress Maria Feodorovna)
• Died: May 2, 1870, aged 11 months, at Tsarskoye Selo in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Wikipedia: Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia

Alexander’s father had lost his elder sister and his elder brother, who had also been his wife’s first fiancée, to meningitis. Now they also lost a son to the disease. Little Alexander’s only photograph was taken posthumously by his parents.

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Princess Johanna of Hesse and by Rhine

• Born: September 20, 1936 in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
• Parents: Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark
• Died: June 14, 1939, aged 2, in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
• Buried: In the burial ground next to the New Mausoleum at the Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany

On November 16, 1937, Johanna’s family was flying to London for the wedding of her paternal uncle Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine and Margaret Geddes. Johanna was too young and so she remained home. The plane was scheduled to stop in Brussels, Belgium, however, the weather did not allow for a safe landing and the pilot continued on to Ostend, Belgium, with the intent of landing there. Unfortunately, the weather was just as bad, with almost no visibility. While attempting to land, the plane clipped a chimney on a factory near the airport. The plane was torn apart and crashed. All aboard the airplane died including Johanna’s parents, her brothers Ludwig and Alexander, and her paternal grandmother, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, born Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

Johanna was adopted by her uncle Ludwig and his wife Margaret but she died of meningitis twenty months later.

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