Non Romanov and more obscure royal pretenders/impostors/claimants...

[Tsarina_Liz]

Anyways...  I know that the Romanov Memorial site has some comparisons of claimants but has anyone complied a more extensive list on which you can go straight across and look at all of their birthdays and then all of their places of origin?  I'm just wondering because it would be interesting to see if most if not all of these people have similiar stats.  

[Mander]

Have there ever been any claiments who say they were Nicholas, Alexandra or any of the retainers? Being older and less prone to change, it would be a dumb thing to do imo but there are certainly crazy's out there who might try!

[helenazar]

Have there ever been any claiments who say they were Nicholas, Alexandra or any of the retainers?

I don't know about the retainers (I think the answer for that is "no", since who wants to go through all this trouble just to be a servant?  ), but I think that there was some clamaint family in Russia that included the "tsar".  I can't remember who they were, but I remember seeing pictures of the "former imperial family" (minus Alexandra) in the 1940's...  

[Forum Admin]

Don't forget the "claimant" who came in here over a year ago, stating that Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich married Olga Nicholaievna and they had children together and that he was a "descendant"...

[helenazar]

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich married Olga Nicholaievna

You mean he married his niece?

[Forum Admin]

YEP! That was what was "claimed"...they did it allegedly "to ensure the continuation of the Dynasty..."

[Robert_Hall]

The were a couple of "Demidovas' and I think a kitchen boy- I fogert his name.  Also, there were supposed "sightings" of the whole family, on a ship, in the South of France and Poland, including N&A but no actual claimants that I can remember.

[AGRBear]

Have there ever been any claimants who say they were Nicholas, Alexandra or any of the retainers? Being older and less prone to change, it would be a dumb thing to do imo but there are certainly crazy's out there who might try!

FA - would you tell us who these "claimants" are?


Yes, some of the servants/re trainers have had claimants.

AGRBear

[Forum Admin]

Sorry Bear. I can't because that claimant threatened repeatedly to sue us for libel whenever anyone said anything negative about their allegations. As a result, that is all the information we can permit in the forum.

[Margarita Markovna]

Sorry Bear. I can't because that claimant threatened repeatedly to sue us for libel whenever anyone said anything negative about their allegations. As a result, that is all the information we can permit in the forum.

Have they got a website or are there links to info about them, just info?

[Forum Admin]

As a result of the awful way we were treated by that claimant and the repeated threats, we refuse to divulge even the existence of any possible contact or other information. Sorry.

[Belochka]

Have there ever been any claiments who say they were Nicholas, Alexandra or any of the retainers?

A few years ago I came across a Russian language book that discussed Nikolai's alleged survival. I left the book where I found it ... to gather dust on the shelf.

Why would anyone bother claiming to be one of the surviving retainers? There was no fortune to be had.

[helenazar]

Why would anyone bother claiming to be one of the surviving retainers? There was no fortune to be had.[/color]

IMO, most of these claimants did not do it for the money, since they were too mentally ill to even be that logical (although some certainly were), but most did it for "prestige" it brought them in their own minds. After all, when someone has delusions of grandeur, they would not imagine themselves to be some random retainer, but rather go all the way and become royalty. Regardless, as per Robert, it sounds like there still were some who claimed to be Demidova, etc... So there are no limits.

BTW, the last Imperial Family Romanovs were not the only ones who were plagued by claimants. Some centuries prior to this, there was the "False Dmitri", Fake Emperor Peter III (I think it was Emelyan Pugachev - if I remember correctly -and a couple of others), as well as a couple of "royal descendants" thrown in for good measure, such as Elizaveta Tarakanova, who claimed to be the secret daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna... I think even the Emperor Paul, or two, came out of the woodwork at some point, as well Alexander I. There were many more, but I can't think of them right now. So none of this is new at all!

[helenazar]

I just found a small blurb about Elizaveta Tarakanova on a Russian website (http://www.rubricon.com/wbiog_ann/..%5Cann%5Cwbiog%5C20_t%5C20_t47639.asp). It says:

Tarakanova, Elizaveta (circa 1745-1775), a pretender claiming to be the daughter of the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and Count A.G. Razumovsky. In 1772, in Paris, she proclaimed herself a pretender to the Russian throne. She was arrested in 1775 in Italy.

And if you want to read the rest, you have to pay the website  . I think that she was executed for treason, but I am not sure... There is a Russian movie called 'Tsarskaya Okhota (Imperial Hunt)", which deals with her life...



And there was something on "False Dmitri" also in Russian, (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9_I):

The "False Dmitri", officially proclaimed himself Tsesarevich (and later Tsar) Dmitri Ivanovich, and in his dealings with foreign governments - Emperor Dmitri (d. 17 May, 1606). He was the Tsar of Russia from 1 June, 1605, the pretender who passed himself off as the youngest son of Ivan VI the Terrible, who miraculously survived.

[Romanov_fan]

There are always going to be imposters of the famous, wealthy, or royalty, because it is better to be that than whoever you really are. And in addition, some may suffer from mental illness, that is more than likely. All of Anna Anderson's behiaviour was not normal and points up the fact that she had issues that went beyond the normal in mental health. She may not have been insane, nor diagnosed formally as anything, but all the evidence points to this. Other imposters may have been as well, or may just have wanted to step up in life. Imposters go back to the middle ages, like the Princes in the Tower,etc, there were imposters of them, and I am sure there will be imposters to the end of time.