Background
She was a daughter of Semyon Fyodorovich Grushetsky (voivode, boyard and noble) and his spouse Mariya Ivanovna Zaborovskaya.
She was a daughter of Semyon Fyodorovich Grushetsky (voivode, boyard and noble) and his spouse Mariya Ivanovna Zaborovskaya.
She could speak and write Polish, French and Latin and was well informed about the Western European life style. She could also play harpsichord. She was described as beautiful as "an angels of heaven", with an easy going character.
In 1680, Feodor saw her during a religious procession: when she fainted after the sight of a witch in a religious theatre play, he rushed forward to support her, and fell in love with her.
Agafya shared the radical views of her spouse. Her husband"s relative Ivan Iljitj Miloslavskii exposed her to slander, which caused a conflict, and was punished by Feodor.
Agafya has been described as an angelic tsarina, merciful and loyal to Feodor and the public"s welfare. She was the first to advocate beard-shaving and the adoption of Western clothes at the Russian court.
She herself was the first tsarina to expose her hair and to wear a Western (Polish) dress.
Agafya died as a consequence of the childbirth three days later, on 14 July, and six days later, on 21 July, the nine-days-old Tsarevich also died. She was reportedly deeply mourned by Feodor.