Author Topic: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1  (Read 181271 times)

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Offline grandduchessella

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #15 on: August 18, 2004, 09:59:00 AM »
Wow, how interesting that your grandfather was her neighbor. Did he tell you any interesting anecdotes you'd care to share with us?  ;) There's not a lot of first hand info floating around since they all passed so long ago.

I agree, Olga seemed very happy in Canada (if you go by Vorres bio of her which seemed more like a ghost-written autobiography) on her farm. She was always described as being more 'peasant-like' than the rest of the family (Marie reminds me of her in that way--I think she would've done just fine in exile) and very similar to AIII in having a taste for a similar life. I think if she was unhappy at all in the apt it was because she loved the farm so much and her sons had moved away, she was widowed, etc...
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Alexa

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #16 on: August 18, 2004, 10:13:09 AM »
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Wow, how interesting that your grandfather was her neighbor. Did he tell you any interesting anecdotes you'd care to share with us?  ;) There's not a lot of first hand info floating around since they all passed so long ago.


My grandfather died when I was still a small child, and since he didn't speak English well, and I didn't speak Polish well (and have since forgotton everything I did know), we didn't really talk.  

My father used to visit my grandfather in that neighborhood, and I've tried to get stories from him.  All he says is that she was just like everybody else who lived there.  She wasn't paid any more or any less attention to than the next person.  My grandfather was far from a fan of Imprerial Russia (he was in the Tsarist Army in WWI and blamed the Tsar for much), so he didn't really have anything to do with her.

However, I think knowing that she was just like any other joe-schmo on the block speaks volumes on her.  No pretension, no expectations of being treated differently.  She was just any other Russian or Polish emigre who ended up in Toronto.

Next time I talk to my dad (probably this weekend) I'll see if I can get anything else from him.

Alexa

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #17 on: August 18, 2004, 10:14:59 AM »
 In the pictures of Olga I have seen of her in later life, there always seems to be present an element of serenity about her, a peacefulness. I know she had lost so much in the Revolution, but I think her second marriage and her sons gave her a lot of happiness after the disaster of her first marriage. I think she was able to forge ahead with life afterwards in a way that some of the other Romanovs weren't able to, and that gave her a perspective on life that maybe some of the rest of the family did not have. She was a bit of a "different drummer" type, and that probably accounted for her perspective on life.

Annie

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #18 on: August 18, 2004, 10:22:33 AM »
Go Alexa, you're down to 2 degrees of separation from the Romanovs! ;)

jfkhaos

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #19 on: August 19, 2004, 10:46:52 AM »
Does anyone have any pictures of Olga at her farm or Ksenia at her grace and favor manor, Wilderness House?  Thanks in advance!

Offline Eurohistory

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #20 on: August 19, 2004, 10:57:05 AM »
I do...some of my photos illustrated Coryne Hall's ONCE A GRAND DUCHESS.

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Offline grandduchessella

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #21 on: August 19, 2004, 10:59:10 AM »
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In the pictures of Olga I have seen of her in later life, there always seems to be present an element of serenity about her, a peacefulness. I know she had lost so much in the Revolution, but I think her second marriage and her sons gave her a lot of happiness after the disaster of her first marriage. I think she was able to forge ahead with life afterwards in a way that some of the other Romanovs weren't able to, and that gave her a perspective on life that maybe some of the rest of the family did not have. She was a bit of a "different drummer" type, and that probably accounted for her perspective on life.


Exactly. She had a VERY strong character that she grew into--one wouldn't have guessed from the cut-up she was as a child and being pressured to marry Peter of Oldenberg. Maybe that marriage made her realize what's really important. It couldn't have been easy to buck her mother's wishes in respect to her 2 marriages. She seems to have inherited the most of he father's personality--tough and no nonsense (but with a soft core!  ;) )
They also serve who only stand and wait--John Milton
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kmerov

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #22 on: April 10, 2005, 06:31:24 PM »
You are welcome!
And couldnt resist posting the famous Serov portrait of a young Olga Alexandrovna.


Yoyo22

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #23 on: April 16, 2005, 06:04:08 PM »
kmerov, many thanks for posting the two OA pictures. It's the first time I see the Serov picture, though I have heard of it.

I really love the older OA picture too. She might not have been considered beautiful as a younger woman, but she aged truly gracefully. Her honesty and simplicity, with a wif of sadness, shines through it. What is the name of the artist that painted it and where is he/she from?

Yoyo

kmerov

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2005, 12:10:28 PM »
Crazy-wing and GD, thanks for the pictures :)
Yoyo, you are welcome! I havnt been able to track the artist down yet, but the portrait hangs in a Danish museum..
Different colours in the Serov portrait.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by kmerov »

lexi4

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #25 on: April 23, 2005, 10:18:51 PM »
Didn't know if these had been posted before, but I thought they were beautiful and thought I would share.





Offline GD Alexandra

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #26 on: April 23, 2005, 11:54:41 PM »
They are beautiful!!! thanks for posting them. i knew that Olga A. liked very much to play violin and paint.

Annie

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #27 on: April 24, 2005, 05:03:11 PM »
Beautiful! Thanks! I didn't get to see them the last time someone mentioned them. She was an artist and a poet, what a wonderful person she was. What a shame her life was wasted. :'(

kmerov

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #28 on: April 24, 2005, 05:38:57 PM »
I kindda like this painting of hers. I dont know why...


Olga painting

Offline grandduchessella

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Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 1
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2005, 11:22:56 AM »
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I kindda like this painting of hers. I dont know why...



It looks a bit like Ella's convent I think even though I don't think it could be.
They also serve who only stand and wait--John Milton
Come visit on Pinterest--http://pinterest.com/lawrbk/