Michael I,
'Mikhail Feodorovitch Romanov (
1596 -
1645), was son of Filaret Romanov and of Xenia Ivanova Chestova. Following the "Time of Troubles", he was elected
tsar by the other Russian boyars on
February 7,
1613, and became the first
Romanov tsar. This was mostly because of the powerful position of his father who was
Patriarch and
de facto ruler of Russia. The tsardom became hereditary in his house until 1762, when on the death of the Tsaritsa
Elizabeth, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Peter I the Great's daughter, succeeded as
Peter III.
Michael I reigned until his death in 1645.
He married Evdokia Stryeshneva (1608 - 1645): their son was Aleksey (1629-1678)