Elizabeth Jennings (real name Nadezhda; Russian: Надежда) is a fictional character in the American television drama series The Americans on FX, as the female lead. Her character was conceived by showrunner Joe Weisberg and is portrayed by Keri Russell.

Elizabeth is a KGB agent who, with her husband Philip (Matthew Rhys), is an illegal, posing as a travel agent in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth was born Nadezhda in Smolensk in 1942/43, the daughter of a coal miner and a bookkeeper for the local Communist Party committee. She was named after the wife of Vladimir Lenin. Her family suffered great privation both during and after the Great Patriotic War, in which her father was killed during fighting in Stalingrad. Elizabeth grew up believing her father to be one of the honored war dead, until her mother revealed that he had actually been shot as a deserter. When she was 14 her mother was bedridden with diphtheria, forcing Elizabeth to nurse her while still attending school.

As a teenager, the KGB approached Elizabeth as a candidate for the Illegals Program. Although prohibited from telling anyone, Elizabeth surreptitiously managed to consult with her mother about her decision, who unhesitatingly told her that she must do her duty for her motherland. She trained to become an undercover agent until the age of 22, and was assigned the identity of "Elizabeth Korman". During this time, she was raped by one of her captains in the KGB, Timoshev. In 1962, Elizabeth and fellow KGB agent "Phillip Jennings" (Mischa) were assigned to each other to pose as husband and wife in America. In 1965, they move to America under their false identities as Mr. and Mrs. Jennings and take up work in a travel agency. Elizabeth meets and recruits civil rights activist Gregory to the KGB and has an ongoing affair with him. She gives birth to her and Phillip's first child, Paige, in 1967, and their second child, Henry, in 1970.

In 1981, Elizabeth Jennings lives with her husband Philip in suburban Falls Church, Virginia. They are revealed to be a pair of sleeper agents working for the KGB. They have two U.S.-born children, Paige and Henry, both of whom are completely unaware of their parents' true identities. The Jenningses run a small travel agency in Dupont Circle as a cover for their illegal activities.

After a failed forced exfiltration, Elizabeth and Philip kidnap Timoshev, a defected KGB agent, who raped Elizabeth when she was in training. At the time of Timoshev's kidnapping, counter-intelligence FBI agent Stan Beeman moves next door, causing Philip to suggest defecting themselves. Elizabeth declines and Philip murders Timoshev when he finds out he raped her. Despite a marriage arranged by the KGB, Elizabeth tells Philip that she is beginning to feel love for him for the first time in their 16-year relationship and they try to become a real married couple. However, Philip is hurt upon discovering Elizabeth had an ongoing affair with Gregory Thomas (Derek Luke), a Black militant.

After planting a bug in Caspar Weinberger's study, the Jenningses listen for vital intelligence. When the KGB begin to suspect a mole in their midst, they send operatives posing as FBI agents to kidnap and torture Elizabeth and Philip in order to test their loyalty. Elizabeth is hurt and angry that the people to whom she has devoted her life could treat her with such distrust, while Philip accuses Elizabeth of incurring the KGB's suspicions by reporting to them he had considered defecting. She denies this, admitting only that she had told their handlers that he liked living in the U.S. more than he should. Elizabeth and Philip later reconcile, but subsequently separate when Elizabeth discovers Philip had an affair with his former girlfriend, Irina. Philip moves out and into a motel.

Philip accidentally murders Stan's partner, Agent Chris Amador, during a botched operation, which causes Gregory to fall under the suspicion of the FBI regarding his involvement in the killing. Unwilling to go along with the KGB's plan to send him out of the country, Gregory spends a final night with Elizabeth and then commits suicide by cop to deflect attention from her. Later, Elizabeth's mentor, General Victor Zhukov, is assassinated under orders from a CIA officer, whom Elizabeth and Philip track down. Elizabeth brings the CIA officer into a bathroom for sex, and she and Philip kidnap him and bring him to a warehouse in order to kill him, but Elizabeth, still upset about Zhukov's death, decides to let him go, whereupon the CIA officer gives the FBI a vague description of her and Philip.