1913 Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaievna, transl. by Marina Petrov

[clockworkgirl21]

Sometimes people will sell their own stuff on Amazon. But if it doesn't go up, I'll order it from GRB's site.

[Marlene]

Only if the book is available through Amazon -- and Paul has never made an arrangement with Amazon.

Sometimes people will sell their own stuff on Amazon. But if it doesn't go up, I'll order it from GRB's site.

[tian79]

I belive that AKSH, Shurik and Sh are the same person. Shurik was the nickname for Aleksander Konstantinovits Shvedov. I've only quickly read the diary, but AKSH, Shurik and Sh never seem to be mentioned at the same time. Also AKSH's name day (30 August) is name day for Aleksander. I rest my case :-D

Olga gives AKSH's birthdate as July 25. Does that match with Shvedov?

Found Shvedov's birthdate, he was born July 25 1888.
Also I managed to connect names with faces:

Olga mentions Skvortsov, Shvedov and Zborovsky at least on April 17 and 21. Skvortsov and Shvedov seem to have been regular visitors at Aunt Olga's.

[Sarushka]

Very cool!

[helenazar]

Dear Raegan, will this second book be of only Olga Nikolaevna or all the grand duchesses?

Hi Ferah, that is something we are still thinking over. Everything is kind of coming together now, and we are sorting through material and deciding which route to take. It started out being all about Olga, but that might change. I hope to know for certain by early 2009.

We are now leaning more towards it being just Olga's diaries, but we also plan on including things that may help dispel some myths that are floating around about the family's dynamics, etc.

[Raegan]

I have to admit that for me, when I was reading Olga's 1913 diary, the whole issue of her and her sisters' so-called social isolation, which has been such a ubiquitous theme in recent historical works about the imperial family, seemed like a complete mischaracterization of their lives, in no small part because modern commentators read early 20th-century lives as if they should be late-20th century, early 21st-century lives.

Exactly.

The whole notion that the daughters of Nicholas II and Alexandra were "isolated" and cut off from an "active social life" should be thoroughly discredited by the publication of this diary by Raegan Baker.

Thanks Elisabeth.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this thread, as I had no idea Olga's diary for 1913 was being published. Wonderful news! I'm looking forward to reading it.

I missed this post before, but thanks for your interest.

We are now leaning more towards it being just Olga's diaries, but we also plan on including things that may help dispel some myths that are floating around about the family's dynamics, etc.

Yes, we agreed that this was the best path to follow.

[Sarushka]

Everything is kind of coming together now, and we are sorting through material and deciding which route to take. It started out being all about Olga, but that might change. I hope to know for certain by early 2009.

We are now leaning more towards it being just Olga's diaries, but we also plan on including things that may help dispel some myths that are floating around about the family's dynamics, etc.

Will these be different diary entries than those in Royal Sisters of Mercy?

I would definitely welcome new primary sources related to the family's dynamic. In particular, one of my frustrations with FOTR had to do with their portrayal of Maria's feelings about her position in the family (prior to the abdication and exile and the alleged incident with a guard in Ekaterinburg). K&W presented a compelling example to suggest Maria harbored feelings of insecurity, but IMO that wasn't sufficient evidence to indicate a long-term, habitual pattern of such strong emotions. More context would certainly help untangle these issues.

[Rodney_G.]

I belive that AKSH, Shurik and Sh are the same person. Shurik was the nickname for Aleksander Konstantinovits Shvedov. I've only quickly read the diary, but AKSH, Shurik and Sh never seem to be mentioned at the same time. Also AKSH's name day (30 August) is name day for Aleksander. I rest my case :-D

Olga gives AKSH's birthdate as July 25. Does that match with Shvedov?

Found Shvedov's birthdate, he was born July 25 1888.
Also I managed to connect names with faces:

Olga mentions Skvortsov, Shvedov and Zborovsky at least on April 17 and 21. Skvortsov and Shvedov seem to have been regular visitors at Aunt Olga's.

tian79, you may be a genius; at the very least you'd have a bright career as a detective.

[aniram]

Hi Reagan,

This is Marina Petrov, the translator of the diaries. I am glad you could use my modest efforts on decyphering the diaries. The book seems to be quite a success among the last Romanov Royal family followers. I had no idea there are so many! It makes me happy that all the countless hours spent trying to read Olga's far from perfect handwriting (and sometimes syntax!) were not in vain Looks like the readers aren't bored by numerous tennis records and weather reports

I really had no idea that the book was being planned since I was commissioned through my friend's translation agency and she told me that the translation was needed for research. I came across the link to this forum on google, quite by chance, so I registered in hopes to get in touch with you.

Can I list this publication in my resume? Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions at marina.petrov@comcast.net. Congratulations on this publication!

Marina

[Raegan]

Hi Reagan,

This is Marina Petrov, the translator of the diaries. I am glad you could use my modest efforts on decyphering the diaries. The book seems to be quite a success among the last Romanov Royal family followers. I had no idea there are so many! It makes me happy that all the countless hours spent trying to read Olga's far from perfect handwriting (and sometimes syntax!) were not in vain Looks like the readers aren't bored by numerous tennis records and weather reports

I really had no idea that the book was being planned since I was commissioned through my friend's translation agency and she told me that the translation was needed for research. I came across the link to this forum on google, quite by chance, so I registered in hopes to get in touch with you.

Can I list this publication in my resume? Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions at marina.petrov@comcast.net. Congratulations on this publication!

Marina

Marina, so good to hear from you! I'm so glad you have given me a way to contact you since it has been so long since this project started. Of course you can use this in your resume. I am going to send you an email because there is much more I want to discuss with you. Everyone should thank you for doing such an amazing job on the translation of this diary.

[markjhnstn]

Hi Marina,
              We are all extremely grateful for all your hard work and long hours spent in translating Olga's diaries.

              You have friends for life here now!!!!

              Many, many thanks.

[Sarai_Porretta]

Marina, so good to hear from you! I'm so glad you have given me a way to contact you since it has been so long since this project started. Of course you can use this in your resume. I am going to send you an email because there is much more I want to discuss with you. Everyone should thank you for doing such an amazing job on the translation of this diary.

Indeed, thank you very much Marina for your hard work!

[nena]

Also I managed to connect names with faces:

Olga mentions Skvortsov, Shvedov and Zborovsky at least on April 17 and 21. Skvortsov and Shvedov seem to have been regular visitors at Aunt Olga's.

Accroding to Russian site, :



Государь Император, Наследник Цесаревич и Великие Княжны (слева направо) Анастасия, Ольга, Татьяна и Мария на празднике Собственного Е.И.В. Конвоя с офицерами (слева направо): Е.Д. Шкуропатским, Ф.М. Киреевым, М.И. Свидиным, М.А. Скворцовым, гр. А.Н. Граббе, И.А. Ветром, Г.А. Рашпилем, А.К. Шведовым, С.Г. Лавровым, В.Э. Зборовским, Н.В. Галушкиным, А.А. Грамотиным, П.Г. Ергушевым. Царская Ставка, 4 октября 1916 г.


So, from L to R: persons, oficers,generals labeled.  E.D. Shkuropatski, F.M. Kireev, M.I.Svidin, M.A. Skvortsov, general A.N. Grabbe, I.A.Vetor, G.A. Rashpil, A.K.Shvedov, S.G.Lavrov,V.E. Zborovski, N.V.Galushkin, A.A. Gramotin, P.G. Ergushev, Tsarist Stavka, October 4th, 1916.   

We finally know all names of people there.  ;-)

[clockworkgirl21]

The idea is to run around the pole in the sling until you're barely touching the ground. The momentum of the sling carries you between strides, so you can take giant, flying leaps.

Ahh, I've wondered what they were doing. It looks like it would be easy to slam into the pole.

[nena]

It is topic - off, but I found daughter of Mikhail Svidin, who is presented in that 1916 photo alive.

Look:

http://smena.ru/news/2003/12/23/1677/