Leonid Sednev

[aleksandr pavlovich]

I've always seen his last name written as SEDNEV, but recently i found "Sednyov" in The last diary of Tsaritsa Aleksandra" (the edition with Massie's introduction). I bet this is the translitteration for Sednëv, so it would be a question of wrong letter; but since pronunciation changes a lot, does anyone have idea of the truth?

 I would surmise that the variation is due to transliteration as you suggest. In the context of the scenario, it could only be he.
 I have only seen:  Леонид Иванович Седнев.    Regards,  AP.

[Olga Bernice]

I wonder if Sednev was the inspiration for Dmitri "the kitchen boy" in the children's movie Anastasia.

Wow - I've never thought of that! Hmm, good idea!

[Sunny]

I would surmise that the variation is due to transliteration as you suggest. In the context of the scenario, it could only be he.
 I have only seen:  Леонид Иванович Седнев.    Regards,  AP.

Thanks. I was a bit confused because i know Massie is very precise.

[archéologue]

This may have been discussed before, but I was hoping somebody could shed some light on this.

From what I've read, Leonid S.'s patronymic was Ivanovitch. His uncle (who was Leonid's father's brother, I think) was named Ivan.  Could it be possible that Leonid's uncle Ivan was his mother's brother? It seems a little unusual for two brothers both to be named Ivan.  (My Russian teacher told us that children whose parents were unmarried were given the patronymic Ivanovitch but that does not seem to be the case here.)

[aleksandr pavlovich]

This may have been discussed before, but I was hoping somebody could shed some light on this.

From what I've read, Leonid S.'s patronymic was Ivanovitch. His uncle (who was Leonid's father's brother, I think) was named Ivan.  Could it be possible that Leonid's uncle Ivan was his mother's brother? It seems a little unusual for two brothers both to be named Ivan.  (My Russian teacher told us that children whose parents were unmarried were given the patronymic Ivanovitch but that does not seem to be the case here.)

  Hello, "archeologue"!   Yes, this has come up before.  It remains one of the smaller mysteries surrounding Leonid I. Sednev. To my knowledge, no DEFINITIVE explanation has come forth as of yet, but for some "practical" SPECULATION, please refer to Reply # 195 (page 14) of this thread, and Replies # 212, 213 (page 15) of this thread.                 Regards,   AP.

[archéologue]

Oh, something interesting I also found, don't know what to make of this, but I had always heard of his first name as being Leonid, but going back through Edvard R.'s bio of Nicholas II, in the index, he note a nickname given to him that seems like it would be a nickname for the given name Alexei, and in the french Wikipedia for Eugene Botkin, they say his name is Alexei. Of course this is wikipedia, but it's just puzzling.

His name is Leonid, but why would they give him a nickname that would be a diminutive for the given name Alexei. Is there any truth in this? 

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Oh, something interesting I also found, don't know what to make of this, but I had always heard of his first name as being Leonid, but going back through Edvard R.'s bio of Nicholas II, in the index, he note a nickname given to him that seems like it would be a nickname for the given name Alexei, and in the french Wikipedia for Eugene Botkin, they say his name is Alexei. Of course this is wikipedia, but it's just puzzling.

His name is Leonid, but why would they give him a nickname that would be a diminutive for the given name Alexei. Is there any truth in this?  

  In my opinion, I think you are confusing the nickname "Alyosha" with "Leshka."  I have never heard of Sednev being given the diminutive for "Alexei" ( i e.  "Alyosha") and see no reason for such.  
 
  In Radzinsky's Index, he properly associates "Leonid" with "Leshka."   IMO, the French version of Wikipedia concerning the name is simply wrong.  The short English version on Sednev himself  contains a relationship error on which I have remarked earlier.                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                    Best regards,  AP.

[archéologue]

Ah, thank you for clearing that up. I was mistaken, just for some reason I thought Leshka was a diminutive of Alexei.

[Inok Nikolai]

RE: Fate of L. I. Sednev, the kitchen boy.

According to one version, he was shot in 1929; another account claims that he died in one of the battles of WW II near Moscow.

Now Yuri Zhuk, in his book “Preterpevshie do kontsa” (Those Who Endured Until the End, Moscow, 2013, p. 361), reveals that the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation contains a dispatch from the Military Tribunal of the Briansk Front, dated September 11, 1942, stating that, by order of said Tribunal, the soldier Leonid Ivanovich Sednev, of Sverchkovo village, had been shot. The precise reason for his execution is not given. And, as if with premeditation, the Tribunal had him shot on July 17th — exactly 24 years to the day from when he had escaped being killed with the Imperial family!

Vechnaya Pamiat!

[nena]

On July 17th? Dear Lord...What do you think -- did they know that Sednev accompanied the IF during their captivity? Did they shot him on that same day accidentally or?

Anyway, thank you for the information, Inok Nikolai, your sources are always reliable and amazing.

[Rodney_G.]

RE: Fate of L. I. Sednev, the kitchen boy.

According to one version, he was shot in 1929; another account claims that he died in one of the battles of WW II near Moscow.

Now Yuri Zhuk, in his book “Preterpevshie do kontsa” (Those Who Endured Until the End, Moscow, 2013, p. 361), reveals that the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation contains a dispatch from the Military Tribunal of the Briansk Front, dated September 11, 1942, stating that, by order of said Tribunal, the soldier Leonid Ivanovich Sednev, of Sverchkovo village, had been shot. The precise reason for his execution is not given. And, as if with premeditation, the Tribunal had him shot on July 17th — exactly 24 years to the day from when he had escaped being killed with the Imperial family!

Vechnaya Pamiat!

Thanks for that "Vechnaya Pamiat!", Inok Nikolai.   Your citing itself helps keep his memory eternal . And I think indeed that Bolshevik/Communist hatred and misguided revenge better accounts for the date of his execution than the one in 365 odds against it being a random date.

[Inok Nikolai]

...I think indeed that Bolshevik/Communist hatred and misguided revenge better accounts for the date of his execution than the one in 365 odds against it being a random date.

Well they did seem to have a macabre penchant for committing crimes on anniversaries. E.g, they shot V. Yakovlev on his 52nd birthday.

[Romanov_Fan19]

any news on Kitchen boy  Movie??

[Inok Nikolai]

Well they did seem to have a macabre penchant for committing crimes on anniversaries. E.g, they shot V. Yakovlev on his 52nd birthday.

Of course, the shooting of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu on Christmas Day was perhaps not in the best of taste either.

[JamesAPrattIII]

 Some comments on Sednev getting shot. It didn't take much to get shot in the Red army during WW II/ Great patriotic war. There was Smersh (death to spies) a part of the NKVD running around rounding up people and shooting them for the most trivial of reasons. For more information on what was happening on the Briyansk Front where he was executed during this period you need to read the book "To the Gates of Stalingrad" by David M Glantz. His execution occurred during Operation Blue the great Summer of 1942 German Offensive. If you go to amazon.com and look inside it gives the bios of the Red army generals during this period. One notices how few of these men were born before 1895 which means they could not have been officers in the pre-WW I Tsarist army. One hopes this is of interest.