Alexandra's Russian.

Yes we know ( even me , who can not speak German) that fraulein means "Miss"
But for russians "Freylina" means "Lady- in -Waiting" and nothing more than this.

It is so hard to write Lady - in -Waiting instead of habitual and lovely 'Freylina"

I do not want to battle , I said it just for laugh.
I think that  Alex's "frauleina' looks  very graceful.

Yes, this is the point, Helen.

But I wonder , Why russian people did not think in such way about Marie Feodorovna or about Catherine II.

I think that the key word is " to be nice".
Catherine , when she came to Russia she made up a goal : to be loved by all russians - from a slave to the Empresse.
It seems that Alix did not want to "be nice"
She did not like to be an actresse.
It was her mistake.
In principal, Russian are always very open and kind to the foreigners. I think that at the first time, a lot of people was very kind  to Alex.
I think that Catherine the Great were in the worse position at the early years of her presence in Russia.

Alex,
What was your Grandmother's name? (If you will forgive my curiosity).

I think that Empress was a good woman  ( inside) but not a pleasant chat partner.
Everybody is saying in the memories that she had a strong accent.
I have read a lot of time, that a lot of people understood her goodness only after she dead.

I do not think that Alex's babushka hated Empresse.
They just  could not understand why she had such kind of accent and why she made such errors.
I think that they were desolee by the behavior or habits of Empresses more than by her accent.

Or I can imagine very serious face of Alexandra, no trace of smile, her pressured lips, her cold grey eyes,
a lot of icons around, her thoughts are far away .....

And I  do not understand why babushka of Alex had to know the Empress closer? I suppose that  she had her own life to worry about.

Giorgiy,

At this point I am not about to set out ANY MORE family details on this board...so that members like Helen and Thomas can sit back in their lederhosen and make cheap, petit bourgeois potshots at respectable family members.  Had I know that this Board was so full of such lowlife, I would have never, ever, ever joined it.  It is a Board for anonymous Internet trolls who gratuituously sit back, for some depraved reason, and maim and hurt innocent posters who have something to contribute.  Some of the postings are toilet postings and should be flushed.  For one, I am quite "lesé".

I do not participate in group psychotherapy sessions for Internet trolls.  I had truly thought that this Board served a higher purpose, a more intellectual forum, a forum where serious memories could be exchanged and cultivated.  Instead, I find it to be a hijacked Board full of snide, depricatory, provincial Eurotrolls.  And that is enough for me.

Je peux fort bien rentrer dans mon silence et n'en dire plus rien.

In any case, both Thomas and Helen owe me a direct, public apology for their rudeness and baseness.  Their troll-like Internet behaviour is not acceptable.

What a nasty, defensive, self-serving and low-class post, AlexP.  If anyone is owed an apology, it is owed by you to Thomas and Helen, both of whom are long-standing and valued members of this forum. Your use of personal insults is unacceptable.  If this board is too "petit bourgeois" for you to participate, then I doubt your absence will be mourned.

Well, I presume this point goes to Helen!    

Dear Alex - as German seems not to be one of the numerous languages you have a command of: the correct version of the word is "Fräulein" which means nothing more than "Miss". Well, my grandmother was one too  

The reference was to the Russian word "frauleina" and not the German word.  I am sorry that you are not aware of that.  And frauleina in Russian has nothing to do with the German word.

If you would like I could you various sites that would help broaden your knowledge.

There is a saying in Russian -- measure twice, cut once.  Panyatna?

What a nasty, defensive, self-serving and low-class post, AlexP.  If anyone is owed an apology, it is owed by you to Thomas and Helen, both of whom are long-standing and valued members of this forum. Your use of personal insults is unacceptable.  If this board is too "petit bourgeois" for you to participate, then I doubt your absence will be mourned.

Jane is right, this was one of the worst insulting posts I've ever read on this forum.
I've followed this thread with great interest and I don't like the way Helen and Thomas are treated as if they are nitwits. Helen and Thomas have contributed much to this forum, always fair and in a adult manner to other members.  Helen is a dear friend of mine, she would never lower herself to personal insults of this level.
I do think AlexP owns them an apology.

Anna

I think EVERYONE needs to "simmer down" here. Both sides are getting worked up over nothing really.

It is obvious to me that Alex P. meant the Russian word for lady in waiting and not the German. Second, Helen, you are quite wrong about Alexandra. She would have insisted on using the correct Russian term and not the German.  She was most devoted to observing the rules of the Russian Court, often to the annoyance of the other members of the Court.

M. AlexP must try to understand that we have had numerous "poseurs" in the forum, who try to pass themselves off as descendants of the Russian nobility.  No personal offense is meant, rather there is an understandable degree of scepticism among the long time users who have dealt with these charlatans in the past.

Alex P. has privately disclosed some of his ancestry to me. Now, I am in no real position to verify the information, it has the appearance of being genuine and his Babushka may very well have been a Freileyna.  Frankly, M. Alex writes in a manner that reminds me most strongly of my late and dear Tante Lilly who was herself Russian nobility.  American readers of his English should be a bit more tolerant of his style, he really doesn't mean things as personally as they may come across.  

As for Alix's pronunciation of specific vowel sounds, we will probably never know the answer unless the long lost Edison recordings of the IF that were at the Anitchkov Palace surface.

May I suggest that we all take the tone back down to something a little less antagonistic from all quarters?

FA

AlexP. has been most gracious to confirm his assertions about his ancestry to me privately. I am now personally convinced that he is what he claims to be.  I will respect his wish that his genuine identity be kept private, but he is indeed who he says he is, as far as I can tell.

So interesting.

My great-babushka was a dentist who made bombs for Trotsky.  After she moved to the US, she had her own business and hired a frauleina for my mother and my mother's cousins.

Of course, that stopped when WWII started, because no American in her right mind would employ a German.

well, if we are talking about great grandmothers, mine was Aniyunwiya.

From what part of  Russia does this name come from?  Karelia?  Kamchatka?  The Chuvash?

How limited your vision is. It does not come from Russia. And please, stop with the name calling.

I think it is up to the FA to police the boards.
Calling someone an internet troll is what I would consider inappropriate.

  
Finelly,
Gee, my nanny was merely from Mississippi----I was so unfortunate to not have had even a Mademoiselle.

Hey, you didn't ask about my grandma.