Messages

61

The Final Chapter / Re: The remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria want to be buried ...

« on: September 29, 2015, 12:11:42 PM »

I have stated several times that I don't think this will ever be "over". The Imperial Family is in Heaven and beyond earthly cares. That the ROC continues to say this case has not been settled says more about themselves than about the Imperial Family.

62

The Yussupovs / Re: Countess Irina Sheremeteva (Bebe,daughter of Felix) and her descendants

« on: May 20, 2015, 11:47:42 AM »

Steph: You are a bit misinformed about the family of Madame Xenia Sfiris, who among other things, attended the burial of Emperor Nicholas II in 1998 and provided the sample of mt DNA which helped to positively identify HIM.

You are correct that Xenia Sfiris had only one child, Tatiana Sfiris. Tatiana married twice. Her first marriage to Alexei Giannakoupoulos (I hope I got this name right) had no issue. So there is no such person as Marila Giannakoupoulos!

Tatiana's second marriage appears to be happier, in that she and her husband Anthony (Tony) Vamvakidis, are the proud parents of two lovely daughters, Marila and Yasmine Xenia Vamvakidis. I hope these two grow up to be healthy and happy. They will carry, however, the identical mt DNA as their collateral ancestor, the Tsar Nicholas II, unless it has mutated.

How do I know this? I am acquainted with their father, Tony, a very nice gentleman who understandably does not want his two beauties publically misidentified, at least in case of the first, Marila, as daughters of another man. This one's for you, Tony, and please pass on our best wishes from the Alexander Palace Forum to you and Tatiana and your girls. And if you wish to keep them private and not share photos, we will absolutely respect that.

63

The Final Chapter / Re: Was it Murder or Assassination

« on: October 09, 2014, 01:59:06 AM »

The murder of the Romanovs began what is called The Red Terror. It's important to remember that the country that became the USSR was a rogue regime. What would be murder (criminal behavior, no due process, etc) in our country was called "liquidation" in their country. They did not even dignify their actions as assassination.

64

The Final Chapter / Re: Why does the Russian Orthodox Church chooses not to believe....

« on: October 07, 2014, 01:10:57 AM »

I should also make it clear that I am not an Orthodox Christian, I am a severely lapsed Catholic practicing as an Episcopalian. I respect the Orthodox Church even though I confess I don't understand their stance on the remains.

65

The Final Chapter / Re: Who were the 18 Romanovs who were murdered between 1918 1919

« on: October 07, 2014, 01:03:07 AM »

How do you think I feel? I was helping Bob get the biographies done back in the mid 1990's and I got the date wrong and have had to live with it for two decades now! Get over it if you can. There is still a lot of misinformation out there and that's all that happened - we took someone else's information as correct when it wasn't.

66

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna / Re: Ella and her foster children Marie Pavlovna and Dmitri

« on: October 07, 2014, 12:57:36 AM »

That's a pretty broad generalization. Most historians agree that Maria P. loved her brother Dmitri more than anyone else throughout her life. Her relationship with her son Lennart was a bit different, as they did not become close until later in her life. As a royal, MP was raised to behave properly so she was probably what we would consider "nice" to a good many people. For example, she looked after her parents in law, the Putiatins, for many years after her divorce from their son, something she was not obliged to do.

67

Nicholas II / Re: Nicholas II and Anti-Semitism.

« on: October 07, 2014, 12:16:17 AM »

It is difficult to judge an essentially 19th century monarch by 21st century standards. I would say that based on 21st century standards, Nicholas II had some anti-Semitic views throughout his life. However, he was also an intelligent man and so I think some of his life experiences softened some of these views subtly over time.

68

The Final Chapter / Re: Alexandra's mental health post abdication

« on: October 06, 2014, 11:40:33 PM »

I don't know that becoming very religious means someone is unable to cope. More accurately, she had physical symptoms which could not be properly diagnosed. But had she been mentally unstable I'm sure one of her many captors would have mentioned it, and none did. She acted like a royal to the very end. But emotionally, her comfort increasingly came from her Orthodox faith. As a Christian, this tends to make me think more highly of her rather than less.

69

The Final Chapter / Re: Who were the 18 Romanovs who were murdered between 1918 1919

« on: October 06, 2014, 11:25:42 PM »

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich was murdered on June 13, 1918. I got this wrong in my short biography of Michael on the Alexander Palace Time Machine, and so did many others, including the source of your information. The Bolsheviks wanted to see how the public reacted to Michael's reported "escape". People were not interested, and the murders of the Ural Romanovs began in earnest one month later.

70

The Final Chapter / Re: Why Wasn't Olga Chosen to go to Ekaterinburg?

« on: November 24, 2013, 02:01:19 AM »

I'll see if I can find it. I know for a fact that he stayed with friends in town at an apartment during the succession crisis, not at the Winter Palace. It was at the apartment that he met with members of what would become the Provisional Government.

There was another false story spread about him from this time by Kerensky, that he did not accept the throne because his safety could not be guaranteed. I doubt any Romanov would have expected his/her safety to be guaranteed! It's the kind of assumption someone would make if he had not lived most of his life under the constant threat of violence as had Michael and his brother and brother's family.

71

The Final Chapter / Re: Why does the Russian Orthodox Church chooses not to believe....

« on: November 24, 2013, 01:52:01 AM »

I can understand some mistrust of their own scientists, but the fact remains that a great deal of the work was done abroad, primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Our governments have not turned our churches into stables.

72

The Final Chapter / Re: Final Tally?

« on: November 22, 2013, 10:07:28 PM »

There is no dispute about HIH Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850 - 1918) and his death. He was exiled to Tashkent as a young man, where he did many beneficial things for the people, including bringing in irrigation for farming in the area and building a theater. He was therefore much loved by his community in spite of being a Romanov grand duke. And, he was not murdered by the Bolsheviks, far from it.

He married Nadezhda Dreyer, a police chief's daughter, by whom he had two sons who were styled as Prince Iskander. One of these princes died in the Civil War and one escaped Russia, leaving behind his two children who were later adopted by their mother's second husband.

The Grand Duke's home was used as his residence during his lifetime. The Bolsheviks kicked Princess Iskander out of her home in the 1920's. It is now used as a museum.

He died in January 1918 of pneumonia and was buried the following month with considerable ceremony.

73

The Final Chapter / Re: Why Wasn't Olga Chosen to go to Ekaterinburg?

« on: November 22, 2013, 08:18:03 PM »

I noticed something earlier in this discussion, that Michael Alexandrovich turned away troops at the Winter Palace during the February Revolution. His reason that their boots were dirty? Tsarfan, do you have a source for this?

AFAIK, Michael Alexandrovich was beloved by the notoriously difficult to lead "Wild (or Savage)" Division. They were near Gatchina where MA was living during the Kornilov Rebellion in the Summer of 1917. Had they been able to connect, there might have been more chances for a revolution from the right, who knows.

But, turning away troops with dirty boots sounds nothing like the Michael Alexandrovich of history. He was in Petrograd during the March Revolution but was not lounging around the Winter Palace. He was the guest of friends at an apartment in town.

74

The Final Chapter / Re: Why does the Russian Orthodox Church chooses not to believe....

« on: November 22, 2013, 07:24:17 PM »

To be sure, I can understand why the ROC "wants to be right", but from a scientific perspective, the testing is complete and to demand more tests could risk there not being enough samples left for veneration. At a certain point, enough is enough.

What is to stop them from wanting still more tests if more testing is done? There is a difference between science and belief. Scientifically, there is no need and I just can't see where more science is going to resolve a difficulty of belief.

75

The Final Chapter / Re: Sokolov box

« on: November 12, 2013, 01:52:38 AM »

I think there is some confusion as to what exactly is in the Box. Botkin's dentures have emerged in a recent exhibition, for example.