Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughter of the last Russian emperor, would have turned 105 years old on June 18, 2006. Or is it still turned? This question haunts historians, researchers, and... swindlers.

The life of the youngest daughter of Nicholas II ended at 17 years old. On the night of July 16-17, 1918, she and her relatives were shot in Yekaterinburg. From the memoirs of contemporaries it is known that Anastasia was well educated, as befits the daughter of an emperor, she could dance, knew foreign languages, participated in home performances... She had a funny nickname in her family: “Shvibzik” for her playfulness. Moreover, she is with early age took care of her brother, Tsarevich Alexei, who was sick with hemophilia.

IN Russian history and before there were cases of “miraculous salvation” of murdered heirs: it is enough to recall the numerous False Dmitrys who appeared after the death of the young son of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In the case of the royal family, there are serious reasons to believe that one of the heirs survived: members of the Yekaterinburg District Court Nametkin and Sergeev, who investigated the death case imperial family, came to the conclusion that the royal family was at some point replaced by a family of doubles. It is known that Nicholas II had seven such twin families. The version of the doubles was soon rejected; a little later, researchers returned to it again - after the memoirs of those who participated in the massacre in the Ipatiev House in July 1918 were published.

A burial was discovered in the early 90s royal family near Yekaterinburg, but the remains of Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei were not found. However, another skeleton, “number 6,” was later found and buried as belonging to the Grand Duchess. Only one small detail casts doubt on its authenticity - Anastasia had a height of 158 cm, and the buried skeleton was 171 cm... Moreover, two judicial determinations in Germany, based on DNA examinations of the Yekaterinburg remains, showed that they completely correspond to the Filatov family - doubles of the family of Nicholas II...

In addition, there is little factual material left about the Grand Duchess; perhaps this also provoked the “heiresses.”

Two years after the execution of the royal family, the first contender appeared. On one of the streets of Berlin in 1920, a young woman Anna Anderson was found unconscious, who, when she came to her senses, called herself Anastasia Romanova. Miraculous Rescue According to her version, it looked like this: along with all the murdered family members, she was taken to the burial place, but on the way, the half-dead Anastasia was hidden by some soldier. She reached Romania with him, they got married there, but what happened next was a failure...

The strangest thing in this story is that Anastasia was recognized in it by some foreign relatives, as well as Tatyana Botkina-Melnik, the widow of Dr. Botkin, who died in Yekaterinburg. For 50 years, talk and court cases continued, but Anna Anderson was never recognized as the “real” Anastasia Romanova.

Another story leads to the Bulgarian village of Grabarevo. “A young woman with an aristocratic bearing” appeared there in the early 20s and introduced herself as Eleanor Albertovna Kruger. A Russian doctor was with her, and a year later a tall, sickly-looking young man appeared in their house, who was registered in the community under the name Georgy Zhudin.

Rumors that Eleanor and George were brother and sister and belonged to the Russian royal family circulated in the community. However, they did not make any statements or claims about anything. George died in 1930, and Eleanor died in 1954. However, Bulgarian researcher Blagoy Emmanuilov claims that he has found evidence that Eleanor is the missing daughter of Nicholas II, and George is Tsarevich Alexei, citing some evidence:

“A lot of information reliably known about Anastasia’s life coincides with Nora from Gabarevo’s stories about herself.” - researcher Blagoy Emmanuilov told Radio Bulgaria.

“Towards the end of her life, she herself recalled that the servants bathed her in a golden trough, combed her hair and dressed her. She talked about her own royal room, and about her children’s drawings drawn in it. There is another interesting piece of evidence. At the beginning of the 50- In the 1980s, in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Balchik, a Russian White Guard, describing in detail the life of the executed imperial family, mentioned Nora and Georges from Gabarevo... In front of witnesses, he said that Nicholas II ordered him to personally take Anastasia and Alexei out of the palace and hide them in the provinces. After long wanderings, they reached Odessa and boarded the ship, where, in the general turmoil, Anastasia was overtaken by bullets from red cavalrymen. All three went ashore at the Turkish pier of Tegerdag. Further, the White Guard claimed that by the will of fate, the royal children ended up in a village near the city of Kazanlak.

In addition, comparing photographs of 17-year-old Anastasia and 35-year-old Eleanor Kruger from Gabarevo, experts have established significant similarities between them. The years of their birth also coincide. Contemporaries of George claim that he was sick with tuberculosis and talk about him as tall, weak and pale young man. Russian authors also describe the hemophiliac Prince Alexei in a similar way. According to doctors, the external manifestations of both diseases are the same."

The website Inosmi.ru cites a report from Radio Bulgaria, which notes that in 1995 the remains of Eleonora and George were exhumed from their graves in an old rural cemetery, in the presence of a forensic doctor and an anthropologist. In the coffin of George they found an amulet - an icon with the face of Christ - one of those with which only representatives of the highest strata of the Russian aristocracy were buried.

It would seem that the appearance of the miraculously saved Anastasia should have ended after so many years, but no - in 2002 another contender was presented. At that time she was almost 101 years old. Oddly enough, it was her age that made many researchers believe in this story: those who appeared earlier could count, for example, on power, fame, money. But is there any point in chasing wealth at 101?

Natalia Petrovna Bilikhodze, who claimed to be considered Grand Duchess Anastasia, of course, counted on the monetary inheritance of the royal family, but only in order to return it to Russia. According to representatives of the Interregional Public Charitable Christian Foundation Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova, they had data from “22 examinations carried out by commission and judicial procedure in three states - Georgia, Russia and Latvia, the results of which were not refuted by any of the structures.” According to these data, Georgian citizen Natalya Petrovna Bilikhodze and Princess Anastasia have “a number of matching features that can only occur in one out of 700 billion cases,” stated members of the Foundation. A book by N.P. was published. Bilikhodze: “I am Anastasia Romanova,” containing memories of life and relationships in the royal family.

It would seem that the solution is close: they even said that Natalia Petrovna was going to come to Moscow and speak in the State Duma, despite her age, but later it turned out that “Anastasia” died two years before she was declared the heir.

In total, since the murder of the royal family in Yekaterinburg, about 30 pseudo-Anastasius have appeared in the world, writes NewsRu.Com. Some of them did not even speak Russian, explaining that the stress they experienced in the Ipatiev House made them forget their native speech. A special service was created at the Geneva Bank to “identify” them, an exam which none of the former candidates could pass.

The main proof of the existence of Grand Duchess Anastasia is historical and genetic examination

Message from Professor Vladlen Sirotkin about the results of the examination

This was announced by Professor of the Diplomatic Academy, Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladlen Sirotkin. According to him, 22 genetic examinations were carried out, photographic examinations were also carried out, that is, comparisons of young Anastasia and the current elderly one, and handwriting examinations, Izvestia.ru reports.

The examination confirmed that Anastasia Romanova is alive

Research confirmed Anastasia Nikolaevna is alive

All studies have confirmed - youngest daughter Nicholas II Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova and the woman under the name Natalya Petrovna Bilikhodze are one and the same person. Genetic examinations were carried out in Japan and Germany. Moreover, on the latest equipment (so-called nuclear or computer forensics). There is still no such equipment in Russia.

Documentary evidence

In addition, according to Sirotkin, there is documentary evidence of Anastasia’s escape from the executioner of the royal family, Yurovsky. There is archival evidence that on the eve of her execution Godfather, an officer of the tsarist secret services and an employee of Stolypin Verkhovsky, secretly took Anastasia out of the Ipatiev House and fled with her from Yekaterinburg. (At that time he served in the Cheka).

Together they went to the south of Russia, were in Rostov-on-Don, Crimea, and in 1919 settled in Abkhazia. Subsequently, Verkhovsky guarded Anastasia in Abkhazia, in the mountains of Svaneti, and also in Tbilisi. In addition, Academician Alekseev in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (formerly the Central Archive October revolution) found a stunning document - the testimony of the royal waitress Ekaterina Tomilova, who, under signature to tell the truth, the truth and only the truth, told the investigators of Nikolai Sokolov’s Kolchak Commission that even after July 17, that is, after the execution of the royal family, “I carried ... lunch for the royal family and I personally saw the sovereign and the whole family." In other words, Professor Sirotkin noted, since July 18, 1918, the royal family was alive.

However, members of the commission for the study of the remains of the royal family, chaired by Boris Nemtsov, ignored this document and did not include it in their dossier. Moreover, the director of Rosarkhiv, Doctor of Historical Sciences Sergei Mironenko, a participant in the program about Anastasia on REN-TV, did not include this document in the collection of documents “The Death of the Royal Family” (2001), although Yurovsky’s forged note without any indication that it was not written by Yurovsky , and Pokrovsky, published more than once.

false Anastasia

Meanwhile, there were more than three hundred reports that Anastasia had died, Sirotkin noted. According to him, there were 32 reports of living Anastasias from 1918 to 2002, and each of them “died” 10-15 times. In the real situation there were only two Anastasias. "Anastasia" Andersen, a Polish Jew who was tried twice in the 20-70s of the twentieth century, and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova (Bilikhodze). It is curious that the second court case of the false Anastasia (Andersen) is in Copenhagen. Neither representatives of Nemtsov’s government commission nor representatives of the Interregional Charitable Christian Foundation of the Grand Duchess were allowed to see him. It is classified until the end of the 21st century.

Russian scientists have collected the most full archive 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 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 are hasty, since a historical examination was not carried out on the basis archival documents, which 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 the 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 to be 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 Princess Irene, sister Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, but she was not accepted. 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 thumb, 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. 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 the book, comparison table 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 that time the internal crisis was 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 political career and Hessensky 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 in the near future in this mysterious story a point will be made.

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

Some of the most famous impostors in history were the False Dmitrys, swindlers who, in search of easy money, posed as the sons of Ivan the Terrible with varying degrees of success. Another “leader” in the number of “fake” children was Romanov family. Despite tragic death the imperial family in July 1918, and subsequently many 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

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. Young Grand Duchesses, unique in the world thanks to their high position, were also considered the embodiment of beauty and elegance in 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 clothing 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, at the 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 fear that his future wife will be among monstrous individuals, 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 clumsy and full child, but then 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, which, as her teacher later told investigator Sokolov in English Sydney Gibbs, she could lift him up with ease. 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- without causing the slightest doubt - the fourth daughter of Nicholas II will forever remain the most famous. During long history 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 was never possible to establish 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...