| Nicholas I |
| Alexandra Fedorovna |
| Alexander II |
| Maria Alexandrovna |
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the emperor’s children were not spoiled with luxury. Anastasia shared a room with her older sister Maria. The walls of the room were gray, the ceiling was decorated with images of butterflies. There are icons and photographs on the walls. The furniture is in white and green tones, the furnishings are simple, almost Spartan, a couch with embroidered pillows, and an army cot on which the Grand Duchess slept all year round. This cot moved around the room in order to end up in a more illuminated and warmer part of the room in winter, and in summer it was sometimes even pulled out onto the balcony so that one could take a break from the stuffiness and heat. They took this same bed with them on vacation to the Livadia Palace, and the Grand Duchess slept on it during her Siberian exile. One a large room next door, divided in half by a curtain, served the Grand Duchesses as a common boudoir and bathroom.
The life of the grand duchesses was quite monotonous. Breakfast at 9 o'clock, second breakfast at 13.00 or 12.30 on Sundays. At five o'clock there was tea, at eight there was a general dinner, and the food was quite simple and unpretentious. In the evenings, the girls solved charades and did embroidery while their father read aloud to them.
Early in the morning it was supposed to take a cold bath, in the evening - a warm one, to which a few drops of perfume were added, and Anastasia preferred Koti perfume with the smell of violets. This tradition has been preserved since the time of Catherine I. When the girls were small, the servants carried buckets of water to the bathroom; when they grew up, this was their responsibility. There were two baths - the first large one, left over from the reign of Nicholas I (according to the surviving tradition, everyone who washed in it left their autograph on the side), the other, smaller, was intended for children.
Sundays were especially looked forward to - on this day the Grand Duchesses attended children's balls at their aunt, Olga Alexandrovna. The evening was especially interesting when Anastasia was allowed to dance with the young officers.
Like other children of the emperor, Anastasia was educated at home. Education began at the age of eight, the program included French and English, history, geography, the law of God, natural Sciences, drawing, grammar, as well as dancing and lessons in good manners. Anastasia was not known for her diligence in her studies; she hated grammar, wrote with horrific errors, and with childish spontaneity called arithmetic “sinishness.” Teacher in English Sydney Gibbs recalled that she once tried to bribe him with a bouquet of flowers to improve his grade, and after his refusal, she gave these flowers to the Russian language teacher, Petrov.
As you know, Grigory Rasputin was presented to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on November 1, 1905. The Tsarevich’s illness was kept secret, so the appearance at court of a “man” who almost immediately acquired significant influence there caused speculation and rumors. Under the influence of their mother, all five children became accustomed to completely trusting the “holy elder” and sharing their experiences and thoughts with him.
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna recalled how one day, accompanied by the Tsar, she went into the children's bedrooms, where Rasputin blessed the Grand Duchesses, dressed in white nightgowns, for the coming sleep.
The same mutual trust and affection is seen in the letters of “Elder Gregory” that he sent to the imperial family. Here is an excerpt from one of the letters, dated 1909:
Anastasia wrote to Rasputin:
| My beloved, precious, only friend. How I want to meet you again. Today I saw you in a dream. I always ask Mom when you will visit us next time, and I am happy that I have the opportunity to send you this congratulation. Happy New Year and may it bring you health and happiness. I always remember you, my dear friend, because you have always been kind to me. I haven’t seen you for a long time, but every evening I certainly remembered you. I wish you all the best. Mom promises that when you come again, we will definitely meet at Anya’s. This thought fills me with joy. Yours, Anastasia. |
The governess of the imperial children, Sofya Ivanovna Tyutcheva, was shocked that Rasputin had unlimited access to the children's bedrooms and reported this to the tsar. The Tsar supported her demand, but Alexandra Feodorovna and the girls themselves were completely on the side of the “holy elder.”
At the insistence of the Empress, Tyutcheva was fired. In all likelihood, the “holy elder” did not allow himself any liberties, but rumors so dirty spread around St. Petersburg that the emperor’s brothers and sisters took up arms against Rasputin, and Ksenia Alexandrovna sent her brother a particularly harsh letter, accusing Rasputin of “Khlystyism,” protesting against that this “lying old man” has unrestricted access to children. Significant letters and cartoons were passed from hand to hand, which depicted the elder’s relationship with the empress, girls and Anna Vyrubova. In order to quell the scandal, to the great displeasure of the Empress, Nicholas was forced to temporarily remove Rasputin from the palace, and he went on a pilgrimage to holy places. Despite the rumors, the relationship imperial family with Rasputin continued until his murder on December 17, 1916.
A. A. Mordvinov recalled that after the murder of Rasputin, all four Grand Duchesses “seemed quiet and noticeably depressed, they sat closely huddled together” on the sofa in one of the bedrooms, as if realizing that Russia had come into a movement that would soon become uncontrollable. An icon signed by the Emperor, Empress and all five children was placed on Rasputin’s chest. Together with the entire imperial family, on December 21, 1916, Anastasia attended the funeral service. It was decided to build a chapel over the grave of the “holy elder,” but due to subsequent events this plan was not realized.
Maria and Anastasia gave concerts to the wounded and tried their best to distract them from difficult thoughts. They spent days on end in the hospital, reluctantly taking time off from work for lessons. Anastasia recalled these days until the end of her life:
| I remember how we visited the hospital a long time ago. I hope all our wounded survived in the end. Almost everyone was later taken away from Tsarskoe Selo. Do you remember Lukanov? He was so unhappy and so kind at the same time, and always played like a child with our bracelets. His business card remained in my album, but the album itself, unfortunately, remained in Tsarskoe. Now I’m in the bedroom, writing on the table, and on it there are photographs of our beloved hospital. You know, it was a wonderful time when we visited the hospital. We often think about this, and our evening conversations on the phone and everything else... |
According to the memoirs of Lili Den (Yulia Alexandrovna von Den), a close friend of Alexandra Feodorovna, in February 1917, at the height of the revolution, the children fell ill with measles one after another. Anastasia was the last to fall ill, when the Tsarskoe Selo palace was already surrounded by rebel troops. The tsar was at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief at that time, in Mogilev, only the empress and her children remained in the palace.
Ultimately, the Provisional Government decided to transfer the family of the former Tsar to Tobolsk. On the last day before leaving, they managed to say goodbye to the servants and visit their favorite places in the park, ponds, and islands for the last time. Alexei wrote in his diary that on that day he managed to push his older sister Olga into the water. On August 12, 1917, a train flying the flag of the Japanese Red Cross mission departed from a siding in the strictest secrecy.
There is information that after the first salvo, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia remained alive; they were saved by jewelry sewn into the corsets of their dresses. Later, witnesses interrogated by investigator Sokolov testified that of the royal daughters, Anastasia resisted death the longest; already wounded, she “had” to be finished off with bayonets and rifle butts. According to materials discovered by historian Edward Radzinsky, Anna Demidova, Alexandra's servant, who managed to protect herself with a pillow filled with jewelry, remained alive the longest.
Together with the corpses of her relatives, Anastasia’s body was wrapped in sheets taken from the beds of the Grand Duchesses and taken to the Four Brothers tract for burial. There the corpses, disfigured beyond recognition by blows from rifle butts and sulfuric acid, were thrown into one of the old mines. Later, investigator Sokolov discovered the body of Jimmy's dog here. After the execution, the last drawing made by Anastasia’s hand was found in the room of the grand duchesses - a swing between two birch trees.
Anastasia in another mime scene
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Anastasia was small and dense, with reddish-brown hair, and large blue eyes, inherited from her father. The girl had a light and cheerful character, loved to play lapta, forfeits, and serso, and could tirelessly run around the palace for hours, playing hide and seek. She easily climbed trees, and often, out of pure mischief, refused to go down to the ground. She was inexhaustible in her inventions; for example, she loved to paint the cheeks and noses of her sisters, brother and young ladies-in-waiting with fragrant carmine and strawberry juice. With her light hand It became fashionable to weave flowers and ribbons into hair, of which little Anastasia was very proud. She was inseparable from her older sister Maria, adored her brother, and could entertain him for hours when another illness put Alexei to bed. Anna Vyrubova recalled that “Anastasia seemed to be made of mercury, and not of flesh and blood.” Once, when I was just a baby, three or four years from birth, at a reception in Kronstadt, she climbed under the table and began to pinch those present on the legs, pretending to be a dog - for which she received an immediate severe reprimand from her father.
She also had a clear talent as a comic actress and loved to parody and imitate those around her, and she did it very talentedly and funny. One day Alexey told her:
To which I received an unexpected answer that the Grand Duchess cannot perform in the theater, she has other responsibilities. Sometimes, however, her jokes became harmless. So she tirelessly teased her sisters, once playing in the snow with Tatyana, she hit her in the face, so hard that the eldest could not stay on her feet; however, the culprit herself, scared to death, cried for a long time in her mother’s arms. Grand Duchess Nina Georgievna later recalled that little Anastasia did not want to forgive her high stature, and during games she tried to outwit, trip her leg, and even scratch her rival.
Little Anastasia was also not particularly neat and loving of order. Hallie Reeves, the wife of an American diplomat accredited at the court of the last emperor, recalled how little Anastasia, while in the theater, ate chocolate, not bothering to take off her long white gloves, and desperately smeared herself face and hands. Her pockets were constantly filled with chocolates and Creme Brulee sweets, which she generously shared with others.
She also loved animals. At first, she lived with a Spitz named Shvybzik, and many funny and touching incidents were also associated with him. So, the Grand Duchess refused to go to bed until the dog joined her, and once, having lost her pet, she called him with a loud bark - and succeeded, Shvybzik was found under the sofa. In 1915, when the Pomeranian died of an infection, she was inconsolable for several weeks. Together with his sisters and brother, they buried the dog in Peterhof, on Children's Island. Then she had a dog named Jimmy.
She loved to draw, and she did it quite well, she enjoyed playing the guitar or balalaika with her brother, knitting, sewing, watching movies, was fond of photography, which was fashionable at that time, and had her own photo album, loved to hang on the phone, read or just lie in bed . During the war, she began to smoke secretly from her parents, in which her older sister, Olga, kept her company.
The Grand Duchess was not in good health. Since childhood, she suffered from pain in her feet - a consequence of congenital curvature of the big toes, the so-called lats. hallux valgus- a syndrome by which she would later begin to be identified with one of the impostors - Anna Anderson. She had a weak back, despite the fact that she did her best to avoid the massage required to strengthen her muscles, hiding from the visiting masseuse in the cupboard or under the bed. Even with small cuts, the bleeding did not stop for an abnormally long time, from which doctors concluded that, like her mother, Anastasia is a carrier of hemophilia.
As testified by General M.K. Diterichs, who participated in the investigation of the murder royal family:
Drawing of Grand Duchess Anastasia
Teacher French Gilliard recalled her this way:
Cross over Ganina Pit
The “Four Brothers” tract is located a few kilometers from the village of Koptyaki, not far from Yekaterinburg. One of its pits was chosen by Yurovsky's team to bury the remains of the royal family and servants.
It was not possible to keep the place a secret from the very beginning, due to the fact that literally next to the tract there was a road to Yekaterinburg; early in the morning the procession was seen by a peasant from the village of Koptyaki, Natalya Zykova, and then several more people. The Red Army soldiers, threatening with weapons, drove them away.
Later that same day, grenade explosions were heard in the area. Interested in the strange incident, local residents, a few days later, when the cordon had already been lifted, came to the tract and managed to discover several valuables (apparently belonging to the royal family) in a hurry, not noticed by the executioners.
American scientists believed that the missing body was Anastasia's because none of the female skeletons showed evidence of immaturity, such as an immature collarbone, immature wisdom teeth or immature vertebrae in the back, which they expected to find in the body of a seventeen-year-old girl.
In 1998, when the remains of the imperial family were finally interred, the 5'7" body was buried under the name of Anastasia. Photos of the girl, standing nearby with her sisters, taken six months before the murder, show that Anastasia was several inches shorter than them. Her mother, commenting on the figure of her sixteen-year-old daughter, wrote in a letter to a friend seven months before the murder: “Anastasia, to her despair, has gained weight and her appearance exactly resembles Maria several years ago - the same huge waist and short legs... Let's hope, with age this will pass...” Scientists consider it unlikely that she grew much in the last months of her life. Her actual height was approximately 5'2".
The doubts were finally resolved in 2007, after the discovery of the remains of a young girl and boy, later identified as Tsarevich Alexei and Maria, in the so-called Porosenkovsky meadow. Genetic testing confirmed the initial findings. In July 2008 this information was officially confirmed by the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, reporting that an examination of the remains found in 2007 on the old Koptyakovskaya road established: the discovered remains belonged to Grand Duchess Mary and Tsarevich Alexei, who was the emperor's heir.
The most famous of the false Anastasias is Anna Anderson
Rumors that one of the Tsar's daughters managed to escape - either by running away from Ipatiev's house, or even before the revolution, by being replaced by one of the servants - began to circulate among Russian emigrants almost immediately after the execution of the Tsar's family. Attempts by a number of people to use the belief in the possible salvation of the younger princess Anastasia for selfish purposes led to the appearance of over thirty false Anastasias. One of the most famous impostors was Anna Anderson, who claimed that a soldier named Tchaikovsky managed to pull her wounded from the basement of Ipatiev’s house after he saw that she was still alive. Another version of the same story was told by the former Austrian prisoner of war Franz Svoboda at the trial, at which Anderson tried to defend her right to be called a Grand Duchess and gain access to the hypothetical inheritance of her “father.” Svoboda proclaimed himself the savior of Anderson, and, according to his version, the wounded princess was transported to the house of “a neighbor in love with her, a certain X.” This version, however, contained quite a lot of clearly implausible details, for example, about violating the curfew, which was unthinkable at that moment, about posters announcing the escape of the Grand Duchess, allegedly posted all over the city, and about general searches, which, fortunately , they didn’t give anything. Thomas Hildebrand Preston, who was the British Consul General in Yekaterinburg at that time, rejected such fabrications. Despite the fact that Anderson defended her “royal” origin until the end of her life, wrote the book “I, Anastasia” and fought legal battles for several decades, no final decision was made during her lifetime.
Currently, genetic analysis has confirmed already existing assumptions that Anna Anderson was in fact Franziska Schanzkovskaya, a worker in a Berlin factory that produced explosives. As a result of an industrial accident, she was seriously injured and suffered mental shock, the consequences of which she could not get rid of for the rest of her life.
Another false Anastasia was Eugenia Smith (Evgenia Smetisko), an artist who published “memoirs” in the USA about her life and miraculous salvation. She managed to attract significant attention to her person and seriously improve her financial situation, capitalizing on the public's interest.
Rumors about Anastasia's rescue were fueled by news of trains and houses that the Bolsheviks were searching in search of the missing princess. During a brief imprisonment in Perm in 1918, Princess Elena Petrovna, the wife of Anastasia's distant relative, Prince Ivan Konstantinovich, reported that guards brought a girl into her cell who called herself Anastasia Romanova and asked if the girl was the Tsar's daughter. Elena Petrovna replied that she did not recognize the girl, and the guards took her away. Another account is given more credibility by one historian. Eight witnesses reported the return of a young woman after an apparent rescue attempt in September 1918 at the railway station at Siding 37, northwest of Perm. These witnesses were Maxim Grigoriev, Tatyana Sytnikova and her son Fyodor Sytnikov, Ivan Kuklin and Marina Kuklina, Vasily Ryabov, Ustina Varankina and Dr. Pavel Utkin, the doctor who examined the girl after the incident. Some witnesses identified the girl as Anastasia when they were shown photographs of the Grand Duchess by White Army investigators. Utkin also told them that the traumatized girl he examined at the Cheka headquarters in Perm told him: “I am the daughter of the ruler, Anastasia.”
At the same time, in mid-1918, there were several reports of young people in Russia posing as escaped Romanovs. Boris Solovyov, the husband of Rasputin's daughter Maria, deceitfully begged money from noble Russian families for the supposedly saved Romanov, in fact wanting to use the money to go to China. Solovyov also found women who agreed to pose as grand duchesses and thereby contributed to the deception.
However, there is a possibility that one or more guards could actually save one of the surviving Romanovs. Yakov Yurovsky demanded that the guards come to his office and review the things they stole after the murder. Accordingly, there was a period of time when the bodies of the victims were left unattended in the truck, in the basement and in the hallway of the house. Some guards who did not participate in the murders and sympathized with the grand duchesses, according to some sources, remained in the basement with the bodies.
The last of the false Anastasias, Natalya Bilikhodze, died in 2000.
Rumors revived again after the release of Sergo Beria’s book “My Father - Lavrentiy Beria,” where the author casually recalls a meeting in the foyer of the Bolshoi Theater with the supposedly saved Anastasia, who became the abbess of an unnamed Bulgarian monastery.
Rumors of a "miraculous rescue", which seemed to have died down after the royal remains were subjected to scientific study in 1991, resumed with new strength, when publications appeared in the press that one of the Grand Duchesses (it was assumed that it was Maria) and Tsarevich Alexei were missing from the bodies found. However, according to another version, among the remains there might not have been Anastasia, who was slightly younger than her sister and almost the same build, so a mistake in identification seemed likely. This time Nadezhda Ivanova-Vasilieva, who spent most of her life in the Kazan psychiatric hospital where she was assigned, was claimed for the role of the rescued Anastasia Soviet power, allegedly fearing the surviving princess.
The canonization of the family of the last king in the rank of new martyrs was first undertaken by foreign Orthodox Church(1981) Preparations for canonization in Russia began in the same 1991, when excavations in the Ganina Pit were resumed. With the blessing of Archbishop Melchizedek, a Worship Cross was installed in the tract on July 7. On July 17, 1992, the first bishop's religious procession took place to the burial site of the remains of the royal family.
| About the Holy Reign of the Great Martyr, Queen Alexandra, Princess Olgo, Tatiano, Maria, Anastasia, together with Tsarevich Alexy and the Venerable Martyrs Elizabeth and Varvara! Receive from our repentant hearts this warm prayer brought to you, and ask us from the All-Merciful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for forgiveness for the permission of the Regicide, against us and our father who fell, even to the seventh generation. Just as in your earthly life you have done innumerable mercies to your people, so now have mercy on us, sinners, and save us from fierce sorrows, from mental and physical ailments, from the elements that arise against us by God’s permission, from the battles of the enemy and internecine and brotherly bloodshed. Strengthen our faith and hope and ask the Lord for patience and everything useful in this life and useful for spiritual salvation. Comfort us, the grieving, and lead us to salvation. Amen. |
One of the most mysterious destinies among all members of the Romanov dynasty family - Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova. She was resurrected 33 times, but it is still not known whether she managed to escape, or whether she suffered a bitter fate, the same as her parents, sisters and brother. Subsequently, many years later, the Romanov family was canonized for their torment and innocence in the punishment they suffered.
Before the birth of Anastasia Romanova, Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna already had three daughters: Olga, Tatyana and Maria. The absence of an heir greatly worried the imperial family, since by right of inheritance, Mikhail Alexandrovich, his younger brother, was to rule the empire next after Nicholas.
Against the backdrop of these circumstances, Alexandra Fedorovna fell into mysticism. Under the influence of the Montenegrin princess sisters Milica and Anastasia Nikolaevna, Alexandra Fedorovna invited a hypnotist of French origin named Philip to the court. He predicted the birth of an heir during the empress's fourth pregnancy, thereby reassuring her.
On June 18, 1901, Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova was born, named, as historians suggest, in honor of the Montenegrin princess, a close friend of Alexandra Feodorovna. This is what Nicholas II writes in his diary:
At about 3 o'clock Alix began to feel severe pain. At 4 o'clock I got up and went to my room and got dressed. At exactly 6 am, daughter Anastasia was born. Everything happened quickly under excellent conditions and, thank God, without complications. By starting and ending while everyone was still asleep, we both had a sense of peace and privacy! After that, I sat down to write telegrams and notify relatives in all corners of the world. Fortunately, Alix is feeling well. The baby weighs 11.5 pounds and is 55 cm tall.
According to an already established tradition, Nicholas II, in honor of the birth of his children, named one of the regiments after his daughter. In 1901, some time after Anastasia's birth, the 148th Caspian Infantry Regiment of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia was named in her honor.
As soon as the girl was born, she was given the title “Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess of Russia Anastasia Nikolaevna.” But in ordinary life they never used him, preferring to affectionately call him Nastya and Nastasya, and the comic nicknames “Shvybzik” for his mischievous character and “Kubshka” for his full figure.
Contrary to popular belief, children in the imperial family were not spoiled by luxury. All four girls occupied only two rooms, two of them lived in each. The older sisters Olga and Tatyana shared one room, and Maria and Anastasia lived in the other.
Gray walls with hanging icons and photographs that family members loved so much, and painted butterflies on the ceiling, white and green furniture and an army couch - this is how you can describe the almost spartan interior in which the girls lived.
These army beds accompanied them everywhere until the very end. In hot weather they could even be moved to the balcony to sleep on fresh air, and in winter they moved to the most illuminated and warmest part of the room. These beds accompanied them on trains to the Crimea to the Livadia Palace, and even during their exile in Siberia.
The daily routine was quite simple. At 8 am, wake up and harden in a cold bath. After the morning toilet, breakfast followed. At noon the whole family had lunch in the dining room. Tea time is at five o'clock in the evening, as in all decent families. Dinner is at eight o'clock, after which family members spend the rest of the day playing musical instruments, reading aloud, solving charades, embroidery and other entertainment. Before going to bed it was mandatory to take hot bath with drops of perfume. While the children were small, servants carried water into the bath. Later, as they grew up, the girls collected water on their own. They looked forward to the weekend with particular impatience, since on these days they attended children's balls, which were organized on her estate by their aunt Olga Alexandrovna, the younger sister of Nicholas II.
All offspring of the imperial family received home education, which began at the age of eight. The training program included foreign languages: French, English, German. As well as grammar, arithmetic and geometry, history, geography, the law of God, natural sciences, music, singing and dancing.
Anastasia Romanova was not particularly zealous for learning, like many capable children. She didn't like grammar and arithmetic lessons. She even called the second subject “disgusting,” and made many mistakes in grammar.
Her English teacher, Sydney Gibbs, recalled that the girl once tried to bribe her teacher to raise her grade. With childish spontaneity, she tried to give him flowers, but when he refused, she gave the bouquet to the grammar teacher.
The advent of cameras now allows us to see what Anastasia Romanova looked like. Numerous photographs from the family’s archives suggest that they loved to be photographed. At an older age, Anastasia was seriously interested in the art of photography and took numerous photographs of her family and close circle.
She was short, about 157 centimeters, and had a thick build. It is for this that Anastasia was nicknamed “little egg” in the Romanov family. But at the same time, her figure was extremely feminine: wide hips and voluminous breasts, combined with an elegant waist, gave the girl a certain airiness.
Large blue eyes and light brown hair with a slight golden tint made her face look like her father. She had a pretty appearance, like the rest of the children, but unlike her older sisters, she looked rather rustic. We can say that genetically she was the only one who inherited more of her father's features - high cheekbones and an elongated oval face shape.
Anastasia inherited poor health from her mother. Constant complaints of pain in the feet due to crooked big toes, back pain. At the same time, she diligently avoided therapeutic massage, which helps relieve symptoms and alleviate the condition. Presumably, she also suffered from hemophilia, like her brother Alexey, since even small wounds took a very long time to heal.
Like many young children born into a loving family, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova had a cheerful character. She loved active games, such as hide and seek, serso and lapta, easily climbed trees and did not want to get down for a long time, which she really liked to do in her free time. She constantly risked being punished because of her tricks.
Anastasia spent a lot of time with her older sister Maria and was practically inseparable from her. She could entertain her younger brother for hours when another illness knocked him down and left him bedridden. She was artistic and often parodied courtiers and relatives, acting out comic scenes. At the same time, she was not distinguished by accuracy.
Anastasia had a great love for animals. At first she had a small Spitz dog named Shvybzik, with whom many cute and funny stories were associated. He died in 1915, and therefore the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II was inconsolable for several weeks. Then the dog Jimmy appeared in the family.
She liked to draw, play stringed musical instruments with her brother, play pieces by famous composers on the piano four hands with her mother, watch movies and talk on the phone for hours. During the First World War, she became addicted to smoking along with her older sisters.
When it became known about the beginning of the war in 1914, Anastasia, along with her sisters and Alexandra Fedorovna, cried for a long time. When she was 14 years old, Anastasia received command of the 148th Caspian Infantry Regiment, named in honor of St. Anastasia the Patterner, which celebrates its day on December 22.
Alexandra Feodorovna donated many rooms of the palace in Tsarskoe Selo for the creation of the hospital. Olga and Tatyana began to play the role of sisters of mercy, while Maria and Anastasia, due to their young age, were patronesses of the hospital.
The younger sisters devoted a lot of time to the wounded soldiers, entertaining them in every possible way. daytime reading books, learning to read and write, playing musical instruments, theatrical sketches and so on. The girls gave their own savings to buy medicine, wrote letters home on behalf of the wounded, played Board games, provided the hospital with bandages and linen, and spent a lot of time in the evenings telephone conversations with the soldiers, trying to distract them from physical and moral pain. Anastasia remembered this period in her life until the end of her days.
In 1917 the revolution began. It was during this period that all the daughters of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna fell ill with measles. Under the influence of illness and strong medications, everyone's hair begins to fall out. In this regard, it was decided to shave everyone's heads bald. Together with them, Alexey expresses a desire to shave, younger son, to which Alexandra Fedorovna reacted very sharply. In the story about Anastasia Romanova, there is even a photograph depicting the imperial children with bald heads.
At this time, Nicholas II was in Mogilev. They tried to hide the true cause of the shots outside the palace from the children for as long as possible, explaining this by the ongoing exercises. On March 2, 1917, the emperor renounced the title of tsar. Already on March 8, the Provisional Government decided to place the Romanov family under house arrest.
Living within the palace turned out to be quite bearable. However, they had to cut down their diet so as not to cause discontent among the workers, since every day the menu of the royal family was exposed to popular publicity. And also reduce the time spent in the palace courtyard. Passers-by often looked through the bars of the fence, and one could hear swear words to all family members.
Despite the unfolding events in the Empire, life went on as usual. Children did not stop receiving education even in a confined space. At that time, the hope had not yet faded that we could all go abroad together to England, to a safer place. But George V, King of Great Britain, to the surprise of the ministry, did not support his cousin in this matter.
In August 1917, the Provisional Government decided to transfer Nikolai Alexandrovich’s family to Tobolsk. On August 12, a train under the flag of the Japanese Red Cross mission departed from the siding in the strictest secrecy.
Exactly two weeks later, on August 24, a steamship arrived at the Tobolsk platform. But the house intended for imprisonment was not yet ready, so the Romanovs lived on the ship for several days. As soon as the work in the building was completed, the whole family was escorted to the house, forming a living corridor of soldiers so that passers-by could not see them.
Living in Tobolsk was quite boring and monotonous. The education of the children continued the same, the father taught them history and geography, the mother taught them the law of God. Surprisingly, they did not live at all like the royal couple, but were rather similar to ordinary people who did not indulge themselves in delicacies. Moreover, under conditions of exile, the way of life became even simpler.
The biography of Anastasia Romanova mentions that the girl suddenly quickly began to gain excess weight, thereby causing concern to his mother.
In April 1918, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the fourth convocation decided to try the Tsar in Moscow. Alexandra Feodorovna and Maria are also going on the road with Nikolai to support her husband. The remaining family members were left to wait in Tobolsk. The moment of seeing off was quite sad.
As a result, on the road it became clear that they would not get to Moscow. It was decided to stay in Yekaterinburg, in the house of engineer Ipatiev. And since a further route was not possible, Olga, Tatyana, Anastasia and Alexey were subsequently sent to Yekaterinburg by steamship with a transfer to a train in Tyumen. On the trip, the children were accompanied by maids of honor, the French teacher Zhillard and the sailor Nagorny, who was traveling in the same cabin with Tsarevich Alexei. At that time, Alexei felt better, but the guards locked the cabins and did not even let the doctor inside.
On May 23, the train arrived at the station platform in Yekaterinburg. Here the children were taken from the accompanying persons and sent to Ipatiev’s house. Life in Yekaterinburg was even more monotonous.
On June 18, Anastasia celebrated her last birthday. That day she turned only 17 years old. The weather was excellent, and only in the evening the clouds began to rise and a thunderstorm broke out. They baked bread for the holiday, and the celebration continued in the courtyard. In the evening the whole family played cards after dinner. Went to bed in usual time, at half past ten in the evening.
According to official data, the decision to impose the death penalty on the imperial family was made on July 16 by the Ural Council. The council came to this decision due to suspicions of a conspiracy to save the family of Emperor Nicholas II and the capture of the city by White Guard troops.
On the night of this date, the commander of the detachment, P.Z. Ermakov, was given an execution order. At this time, all family members were already sleeping in their rooms. They were woken up and sent to basements the Ipatievs' house under the pretext of rescue during a possible shootout.
As far as historians know now, those executed did not even suspect about the execution, and obediently went down to the basement. Two chairs were brought into the room, on which Nikolai with his sick son Alexei in his arms and Alexandra Fedorovna sat. The rest of the children and accompanying people stood behind. The girls took with them several reticules and their dog Jimmy, who accompanied them throughout their exile.
According to the data, after a survey of the “executioners”, Anastasia, Tatyana and Maria did not die immediately. They were protected from the first shots by jewelry sewn into their corsets. Anastasia resisted the longest and remained alive, so she was finished off with bayonets and rifle butts.
The corpses were taken outside the city and buried in the Four Brothers tract. The bodies, wrapped in sheets, were thrown into one of the mines, having first been doused with sulfuric acid and their faces mutilated beyond recognition. To this day, professionals and history buffs argue whether Anastasia Romanova managed to survive or not. Anastasia’s corpse was never found in the general grave.
According to rumors, Anastasia managed to avoid the death penalty. Either she escaped before her arrest, or she was replaced by one of the maids. After all, as you know, the emperor’s family had several doubles. On this basis, many impostors appeared, calling themselves the saved Crown Princess Anastasia.
The most famous false Anastasia claimed that she managed to escape thanks to a soldier named Tchaikovsky. Her name was Anna Anderson. According to her, this soldier managed to pull the wounded princess out of the basement of the Ipatievs’ house and helped her escape. Her similarity to the princess was evidenced by identical foot diseases. Anna Anderson even wrote the book “I, Anastasia” and until the end of her life she claimed to be the daughter of the Tsar.
So, thanks to rumors of a miraculous salvation, 33 women officially claimed that they were the same Anastasia. Some close relatives of the Romanovs admitted different girls daughter of the king. However, it was never possible to prove their relationship. Such a stir was most likely associated with the multimillion-dollar inheritance of the emperor.
In 1981, the Russian Church Abroad decided to canonize the family of the Russian Tsar as new martyrs. Preparations for the canonization of the Romanov family took place in 1991. Archbishop Melchizedek blessed the Four Brothers tract for the installation of the Worship Cross at the burial site. Later, in 2000, on October 1, the Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye laid the first stone in the foundation of the future church in honor of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.
One of the most famous impostors in history there were False Dmitrys, swindlers who, in search of easy money, to varying degrees successfully passed himself off as the sons of Ivan the Terrible. Another “leader” in the number of “fake” children was Romanov family. Despite the tragic death of the imperial family in July 1918, many subsequently tried to pass themselves off as “surviving” heirs. In 1920, a girl appeared in Berlin claiming that she was the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II, Princess Anastasia Romanova.
Based on materials from Commons.wikimedia.org
Russian scientists have collected the most complete archive of documents about the life of the notorious Anna Tchaikovskaya and came to the conclusion that she could be the daughter of Nicholas II Anastasia, who survived the night of her execution in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg in 1918
On March 27, in Yekaterinburg, the Basko publishing house published the book “Who are you, Mrs. Tchaikovskaya? On the question of the fate of the Tsar’s daughter Anastasia Romanova.” This work, which will obviously force the audience to be divided into two camps, was prepared by scientists from the Institute of History and Archeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Academician Veniamin Alekseev.
Under one cover are collected for the first time published documents dating back to the 20s of the last century and capable of shedding light on a mystery that still haunts the minds of people interested in national history. Did Nicholas II’s daughter Anastasia really survive the night of her execution in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg in 1918? Did she really flee abroad? Or was the crowned family, after all, shot and burned in its entirety in Porosenkovo Log, and a certain Mrs. Tchaikovskaya, posing as the surviving Anastasia, was just a poor, out-of-mind worker at a Berlin factory?
In a conversation with the compiler of the book, candidate of historical sciences Georgy Shumkin, “RG” tried to lift the veil of secrecy over the fate of the “most famous impostor.”
They say that your book can cause, if not a scandal, then at least controversy in the circles of interested people. Why?
Georgy Shumkin: The thing is that it contains documents that cast doubt on the truth of the official point of view existing today, which states that the entire family of Nicholas II was shot on the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the house of engineer Ipatiev in Yekaterinburg, and later burned and buried in Porosenkovy Log not far from the city. In 1991, amateur archaeologist Avdonin announced that he had discovered the remains of the last Russian Tsar and his relatives. An investigation was carried out, as a result of which the remains were recognized as genuine. They were subsequently moved to Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, where he was reburied with all honors. Academician Alekseev, who was also one of the members of the government commission, did not sign the conclusion adopted by the majority of votes, remaining unconvinced. In short, it boils down to the fact that the commission’s conclusions were hasty, since a historical examination was not carried out on the basis of archival documents that were already available at that time.
That is, Alekseev already found something in the archives that made him doubt the truth of his colleagues’ conclusion?
Georgy Shumkin: Yes, in particular, in the nineties, he published the testimony of waitress Ekaterina Tomilova, which he discovered in the state archives of the Russian Federation, where she says that she brought food to Ipatiev’s house on July 19, that is, the day after the execution, and saw women of the imperial family, alive and healthy. Thus, a contradiction arises, which in itself requires additional research.
What kind of documents were included in the book about Anastasia Tchaikovskaya? Are there any unique, newly discovered specimens among them?
Georgy Shumkin: These are documents from the personal archive of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov. In the mid-nineties of the last century they were transferred from Paris to the State Archives Russian Federation, where they are still stored. We made only the first inventory of this fund, which included exclusively those papers that Prince Andrei collected in the case of Anastasia Tchaikovskaya. This woman is today called “the most famous impostor” who tried to pass herself off as the miraculously saved daughter of Nicholas II. Since the documents have been preserved in very in good shape, and at one time were drawn up according to all the rules of office correspondence, then their attribution seems to be quite accurate.
What exactly do they contain?
Georgy Shumkin: These are mainly letters about how the case of Tchaikovskaya’s personality was investigated. The story is truly detective. Anastasia Tchaikovskaya, also known as Anna Anderson, claimed that she was the daughter of Nicholas II. According to her, with the help of soldier Alexander Tchaikovsky, she managed to escape from the house of the merchant Ipatiev. For six months they traveled on carts to the Romanian border, where they later got married and where she had a son, named Alexei. Tchaikovskaya also claimed that after Alexander's death she fled with his brother Sergei to Berlin. A reasonable question arises here: why did she, if it really was Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, while in Bucharest, not appear to her relative, her mother’s cousin Queen Mary? We don't have an answer to this question. Be that as it may, in Berlin Tchaikovskaya tried to meet with Princess Irene, the sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, but she was not received. Then she despaired and tried to commit suicide by throwing herself into the canal. She was rescued and, under the name “unknown Russian,” was placed in a hospital for the mentally ill. The woman refused to talk about herself. Later, a certain Maria Poutert, who had previously served as a laundress in St. Petersburg and, by coincidence, ended up in the same ward with her, recognized her neighbor as the daughter of the deposed Russian Tsar, Tatyana Nikolaevna Romanova.
Could it really be Tatiana?
Georgy Shumkin: Hardly. The woman’s face at that time was indeed somewhat similar to Tatyanino, but her height and build were different. The figure of the “unknown Russian” really more closely resembled Anastasia. And she was about the same age as the fourth daughter of the emperor. But the main similarity is that Tchaikovskaya and Grand Duchess Anastasia had the same leg defect - bursitis of the big toe, which is very rarely congenital. In addition, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova had a mole on her back, and Anastasia Tchaikovskaya had a gaping scar in the same place, which could have remained after the mole was burned out. As for appearance, there really is little in common between the girl in the photograph of 1914 and the lady photographed in the 20s. But we must take into account that Tchaikovskaya’s teeth were knocked out: a dozen teeth were missing in the upper jaw, and three teeth in the lower jaw, that is, the bite had completely changed. In addition, her nose was broken. But all these are just clues that cast doubt on the official version. They still do not allow us to say with 100% certainty that Tchaikovskaya and Grand Duchess Anastasia are the same person.
Opponents of the hypothesis about the identity of Anastasia Tchaikovskaya and Princess Anastasia Nikolaevna have one compelling argument. They claim, citing data from certain studies, that no Tchaikovsky soldier existed in nature.
Georgy Shumkin: Unfortunately, I personally did not work with the regiment’s documents. In 1926 and 1927, two investigations were actually carried out in Romania, on the initiative of Queen Mary herself. Then they looked for traces of the Tchaikovskys’ presence in Budapest, but did not find them. Not a single church had a record of a couple with that last name getting married or having a child. But it could well be that Tchaikovskaya was taken out of Russia using someone else’s documents, and they were married using them.
Another argument against the identity of the two Anastasias is that Tchaikovskaya did not speak Russian, preferring to communicate with everyone in German.
Georgy Shumkin: She spoke German poorly, with a Russian accent. I actually tried not to speak Russian, but I understood the speech. Sometimes people addressed her in Russian, but she answered in German. Without knowing the language, you won’t be able to respond to cues, right? Moreover, while recovering from an operation for bone tuberculosis, Tchaikovskaya raved in English, in which, as is known, members of the imperial family communicated with each other. Later, moving to New York and stepping off the Berengaria onto American soil, she instantly began to speak English without an accent.
There is also a version that the “imposter” Anastasia Tchaikovskaya is actually a worker at the Berlin factory, Franziska Shantskovskaya. How viable do you think it is?
Georgy Shumkin: We have an interesting document in our book, a comparative table of the anthropometric data of Tchaikovskaya and Shantskovskaya. By all parameters, it turns out that Shantskovskaya is larger: taller, shoe size 39 versus 36. In addition, Shantskovskaya does not have any injuries on her body, but Tchaikovskaya is literally all chopped up. Shantskovskaya worked at a military factory during the war in Germany, and had to speak German perfectly, without an accent, and our heroine, as I said, spoke poorly. While working at the factory, Francis was concussed in an accident and after that suffered mental damage and was hospitalized in various psychiatric clinics. Anastasia was also observed by a number of psychiatrists, including luminaries of that time, for example, Karl Bonhoeffer. But he unequivocally admitted that this woman is absolutely mentally healthy, although she is susceptible to neuroses.
On the other hand, among some of your colleagues there is an opinion that not only Anastasia, but all the women of the imperial family were saved. What is it based on?
Georgy Shumkin: This line is consistently pursued by Mark Ferro, a major specialist in the history of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. How does he justify his version? If you remember, Russia emerged from the First World War in 1918 as a result of the conclusion of the “obscene” Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, where at that time Emperor Wilhelm II, the closest relative of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, still reigned. So, under the terms of the peace treaty, all German citizens who were in Russia at that moment were to be released and sent home. Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess of Hesse by birth, fell completely under this rule. If she had been shot, this could have become a reason for the termination of the peace treaty and the resumption of the war, but with Soviet Russia, where at this time the internal crisis is gaining momentum. So, according to Ferro, the empress and her daughters were handed over to the Germans out of harm's way. After this, Olga Nikolaevna was allegedly under the protection of the Vatican, Maria Nikolaevna married one of former princes, and Alexandra Feodorovna herself, together with her daughter Tatyana, lived in a monastery in Lvov, from where they were transported to Italy in the 30s. Ferro is also inclined to think that Tchaikovskaya is Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, whom her relatives chose to disown because she once blurted out too much. The fact is that when she arrived at Princess Irene of Prussia, she said that she had seen her brother Ernest of Hesse during the war in Russia, and that he was secretly negotiating a separate peace. If this information were leaked, it would put an end to the political career of both Gessensky himself and, possibly, his entire family. So, by mutual family agreement, Tchaikovskaya was recognized as an impostor.
Are there any documents included in your book that still cast doubt on the identity of the two Anastasias?
Georgy Shumkin: Of course, even despite the fact that Prince Andrei Vladimirovich himself tried to prove that Tchaikovskaya was his niece. Thus, we have published the testimony of Alexandra Fedorovna Volkov’s footman, who came to Berlin to identify Anastasia, but refused to recognize her as his young mistress. There are testimonies from other people close to the royal family. Most of them had a negative attitude towards Tchaikovsky. Of the entire family, only two people recognized her as Anastasia Nikolaevna - this Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Ksenia, married Leeds.
How did the life of the “most famous impostor” end?
Georgy Shumkin: She went to America and there became known as Anna Anderson. She married her admirer, the historian Manahan, and died a widow at the age of 84. She had no children, except for Alexei, who was born in Romania, who, by the way, was never found. Her body was cremated and her ashes were buried in a castle in Bavaria, where she lived for a time.
And yet, what do you personally think, is Anastasia Tchaikovskaya an impostor or not?
Georgy Shumkin: We categorically refused to express our own opinion in our book, citing only documents that everyone can interpret in their own way. But the question is spinning in my head: if Tchaikovskaya is not Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, then who is she? How could she identify herself with Anastasia Romanova, where could she get the most subtle details about the life of the royal family, intimate details that only people from her closest circle knew about? No matter who she is, in any case she is a phenomenal, unique person.
What argument do you think could firmly put an end to history, prove once and for all whether it is her or not?
Georgy Shumkin: There can be many arguments here. For example, during one of the trials in Hamburg, they looked for an advertisement about the search for the escaped Anastasia. A number of Germans who were held captive in Yekaterinburg in 1918 claimed that they had seen leaflets that said that Anastasia was being sought after the execution of the Tsar. Where did they go? Was every single one of them destroyed? If at least one was found, this would be a weighty argument in favor of the fact that Anastasia Nikolaevna really escaped. But it is extremely difficult to find an absolutely “iron” argument in this story. Even if this is a document indicating that Anastasia Nikolaevna really was in Romania, there will be people among skeptics who will doubt its authenticity. Therefore, it is unlikely that this mysterious story will be put to rest in the near future.
By the way
Academician Veniamin Alekseev in the preface to the book “Who are you, Mrs. Tchaikovskaya” writes that today the Royal Archives of Copenhagen contains a multi-volume dossier from the official trial of Anastasia Tchaikovskaya, which took place in Germany from 1938 to 1967 and became the longest in the history of this countries. There is also a report by the Danish diplomat Tsaale on the personality of Anastasia, dated 1919. The documents are marked with strict secrecy for 100 years, that is, it is possible that after 2018 at least part of them will fall into the hands of historians, and the data contained therein will be able to shed light on the secret of Anna-Anastasia.
Anastasia, Olga, Alexey, Maria and Tatyana after measles. June 1917. Photo: www.freewebs.com
Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, Tsarevich Alexei.
Photo: RIA Novosti www.ria.ru
Nadezhda Gavrilova
The daughters of the imperial couple were the only beautiful phenomenon in which tsarism, which had fallen into decline and was approaching its end, expressed itself. The young Grand Duchesses, unique in the world due to their high position, were also considered the embodiment of beauty and elegance at all European courts. Numerous photographs that have come down to us fully confirm the stories about the charm of the sisters. However, we see sad, unsmiling faces, gripped by an underlying feeling of anxiety that even youth could not overcome. Probably the reason for this was the art of photography itself: in those days it was believed that when taking pictures one had to take decorous and completely unnatural poses.
We know very little about these four sisters, named by traditional Russian names, and as fate would have it, they passed away before history could record their thoughts and aspirations. We still have several letters sent by girls from prison, correspondence from parents, as well as memoirs of surviving relatives and courtiers.
Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia were strongly attached to each other and as girls they came up with the abbreviation “OTMA”, combining the first letters of their names; this monogram denoted the “secret society” they created; they signed letters with it and accompanied gifts. The mother raised her daughters in a stern Spartan spirit; English puritanism and German precision, which distinguished Alexandra Feodorovna’s character, did not allow her to make any concessions to them. The girls slept without pillows, in beds that looked like camp cots, and had to take a cold bath every morning. They lived in twos, “big” and “little,” Olga and Tatyana and Maria and Anastasia, and even in their clothes this system was preserved.
The parents chose Tsarskoe Selo as their residence, twenty-four kilometers from St. Petersburg, and their residence was a magnificent palace of one hundred rooms, built by the Italian architect Quarenghi for Tsar Alexander I. The sisters lived in solitude, almost completely isolated from the rest of the world, being in complete ignorance regarding the events taking place there. They had the opportunity to talk only with numerous court ladies, maids and Cossacks of the Alexander Palace, and during rest - with the sailors of the imperial yacht "Standart".
The only opportunity to escape from this gilded but stuffy cage was public ceremonies and military parades: the fact is that each of the sisters had the rank of colonel and was considered the chief of the regiment. Everything else is balls, theaters, Savor- suddenly ceased to exist for them: first the war, and then the revolution turned the royal daughters into real captives. They left Tsarskoye Selo only to reach their final destinations. life path: Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg.
All four sisters were very different, and over time this difference increased, but their mutual affection never weakened. They spoke like little girls and seemed to be consciously trying to preserve purely childish traits in themselves, as if they foresaw their tragic end.
The eldest of the sisters, Grand Duchess Olga, was most like her father in both appearance and character. She was typical Russian face, wide and high cheekbones, blue eyes and beautiful light brown hair; she first gathered them into a knot, as was customary for adult women, at one of the few balls that her parents gave. That evening in 1911, in summer residence in Livadia, Olgino’s sixteenth birthday was celebrated, and in her first adult outfit she looked like a pink cloud.
Olga was the most capable of the sisters, perhaps the smartest: she played the piano, sang (she had a soprano voice) and drew very well, but behind her outward timidity and seemingly submissiveness hid a soul that was too well aware of all the vicissitudes of fate and managed to make peace with them. And Colonel Kobylinsky, a faithful companion of the royal family during her stay in Tobolsk, would later note that Grand Duchess Olga seemed to have experienced some kind of grief in her life that did not pass without a trace.
At that time, at European courts, Olga was considered one of the best parties, and two offers had already been made to her, but both applicants were refused. The first time she herself rejected the groom - the Romanian prince, the future king Carol II - and the second time Alexandra Feodorovna did this, not agreeing to give her daughter to Boris Vladimirovich, I. Without a doubt, one of the reasons for the refusal was the deep hostility of the empress to Maria Pavlovna, Boris's mother, a secular and vain woman, whose salon was one of the intellectual and political centers of the capital.
Alexandra Fedorovna writes a letter to her husband about this. Speaking about Boris Vladimirovich, the empress once again shows her slavish adherence to Puritan views and the belief that court life is the spawn of the devil. She expresses concern that he future wife will find herself among monstrous personalities, surrounded by endless intrigue. In addition, her daughter, a pure and young girl who is eighteen years younger than Boris Vladimirovich, will have to live with him in the house where he previously cohabited with other women.
The second Grand Duchess, Tatiana, was especially attached to her mother, and she responded to her with friendship and frankness; Tatyana was tall, slim, had a proud bearing and rarely smiled. She was believed to have the feel of “the emperor’s daughter.” She had red hair and gray eyes; She enjoyed success in society because she was sociable and self-confident by nature. Tatyana did not show any particular inclination towards art, and religion - unlike Olga - was for her only a fulfillment of duty. In the family she stood out for her determination and organizational skills; It is she, and not Olga, who the parents, forced to leave Tobolsk for Yekaterinburg, will entrust to care for the sick Alexei.
The most beautiful of the sisters was, of course, Maria, as we can judge from photographs; She was a clumsy and overweight child, but then she turned into a real Russian beauty with huge dark blue eyes, which her family called “saucers.” Maria was a stately and cheerful girl and had such physical strength that, as her English teacher Sydney Gibbs later told investigator Sokolov, she could easily lift him. Maria - her family simply called her “Mashka” - had such earthly aspirations as marriage and children, and she liked to talk with the soldiers even while the royal family was under arrest: she was the only one who always knew everything about their lives.
And finally, Anastasia, who was bayoneted on that terrible July night; According to Yurovsky, the direct perpetrator of this crime, it was Anastasia’s corsage that turned out to be impenetrable to bullets, since diamonds were hidden in it. Despite her terrible death - which does not raise the slightest doubt - the fourth daughter of Nicholas II will forever remain the most famous. During the long story with Anna Anderson and the subsequent never-ending process, all the features - real and fictional - of the appearance and character of the young Grand Duchess were studied; With regard to many of these traits, it has never been established whether they correspond to Anderson’s appearance and character.
Anastasia was an “enfant terrible” (Enfant terrible (French) - a mischievous child.) and seemed to be a born actress. Only she managed to make everyone laugh while remaining serious; Thanks to the exceptional capabilities of her facial expressions, she was able to identify the comical in a person and, parodying him, laugh at him. Anastasia’s stocky and ungraceful figure, too plump for her short stature, caused constant anxiety in Alexandra Fedorovna. In one of her letters to Anna Vyrubova, written in Tobolsk in December 1917, the Empress complains that her youngest daughter is too fat; Maria, however, was the same at one time, but Anastasia already has a very wide waist and short legs. The queen hoped that over time she would become taller...
