Nicholas II, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Fyodorovna was born 18 May 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg. As heir apparent, the young Nicholas received an excellent "palace" education that prepared him for his future role as Autocrat of All the Russias. Among the young tsarevich's private tutors were the ultra-conservative Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod and former advisor to Alexander III, Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev, and General Grigory Danilovich. Partially due to their efforts, Nicholas' character combined extraordinary restraint (to the point of shyness), love of military service and of all things military, and the sacred belief in the inviolability of the principles of absolute autocracy - traits which to a greater or lesser degree later affected his activities as tsar.