Nickname of "Imp"

[Georgiy]

I would like to know what is a first-hand source for Anastasia being known as Imp within the family - apart from nicknames based on her name, the only other nickname I know of is shvybzik which is from the German for tipsy.

[Sarushka]

I'm away from my books right now, but if I were home Olga's Alexandrovna's memoirs are the first place I'd check. I'm 99% sure she mentions schwipsig/shvybzik, but I can't recall whether she uses "imp."

Personally, I suspect there is no source for "imp." I don't think it was ever used by the family. Somewhere along the line the mistaken (but very prevalent) notion developed that shvybzik is Russian for imp, and Anastasia gained a retrospective nickname among English-speakers.

[edubs31]

Yeah Sarah would know best.

I'm almost certain I too have read "shvybzik" having been used with the family. Pretty certain that Nicholas refers to his youngest daughter as such in at least one of his letters to Alexandra from the front during the war.

"Imp" is another story. If that was indeed never used in reference during her lifetime I'd like to know when it started to be used afterwards. I know the introduction to that one "Biography" and "Unsolved Mysteries" episode about Anastasia/Anna Anderson from probably the early to mid-90s open with, "the impish fourth daughter of a the ruler of the largest Empire in the world..." Or something like that.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

I'm away from my books right now, but if I were home Olga's Alexandrovna's memoirs are the first place I'd check. I'm 99% sure she mentions schwipsig/shvybzik, but I can't recall whether she uses "imp."

Personally, I suspect there is no source for "imp." I don't think it was ever used by the family. Somewhere along the line the mistaken (but very prevalent) notion developed that shvybzik is Russian for imp, and Anastasia gained a retrospective nickname among English-speakers.

 

  Thank you, "Sharushka," for weighing in on "Georgiy"'s question re the origin of the alleged nickname of the GD Anastasia N. as "Imp."  I remember that this has come up several times over the years.  I have always treated the appellation with disdain, being IMO, a cutesy-cutesy pseudo-affectionate tag created out of English analogy and thin air, and perpetuated by would-be writers/commentators who desperately want to demonstrate that they were/are privy to affectionate Romanov family/personal nicknames.
   I, like you, feel VERY certain indeed that the GD Olga A. employed, and may even have given the name "Schwipsig/shvybzik" to the GD Anastasia N.  The excellent Greg King/Penny Wilson's book, "The Resurrection of the Romanovs" has a chapter (2)  entitled "The Imp", but nowhere do I find reference to the origin (of "Imp", per se), RATHER they DO devote space to the name"Schwibzik/Schwibes" on pps 121,127-128.  Therefore, as you say:   "I suspect there is no source for "imp."  I don't think that it was ever used by the family."
   Somewhere, I have a vague recollection (but I cannot document it at the moment) that the "tipsy" occurred in reference to an incident wherein the GD Anastasia N. turned over or fell from a chair in which she was sitting. To use such an intimate description certainly portends that it was a family member who  had knowledge of German to transpose or transliterate the word.  I have NEVER seen an authenticated, documented reference from one of the family members writing in letters, being authoritatively quoted, etc. as to the child being addressed as "Imp."   Should someone have such documentation as described, now is the time to cite your references.      Regards,  AP.

[blessOTMA]

That's astonishing...its very ( towering )  prevalence adds credence to it of course ...plus as an English word, it would be seen as likely since the family spoke English daily...and the English of the '90's.  Now I'm in trouble ."  Imp " is way easier to spell than " Shvybzik " lol

[Forum Admin]

I would have to go back through Spiridovitch, but I recall strongly that the translator from Russian to French used "espiègle" as the translation for Shvybzik. Which translates directly to Imp.  He was describing Anastasia's love of imitating people behind their backs, and her loving to play pranks on innocent victims. 

[Robert_Hall]

Sounds like a brat to me. I would not put up with her..

[edubs31]

Sounds like a brat to me. I would not put up with her..

No Robert? Slap the Emperor's daughter then why don't you and see how that works out for you! :-)

[Forum Admin]

Spiridovitch's account of her antics sounds really more like a typical ten year old kid, and not really a brat.  Fairly harmless stuff actually. Her sisters found it pretty funny.

[Sarushka]

  Somewhere, I have a vague recollection (but I cannot document it at the moment) that the "tipsy" occurred in reference to an incident wherein the GD Anastasia N. turned over or fell from a chair in which she was sitting.

This one, perhaps?

I would have to go back through Spiridovitch, but I recall strongly that the translator from Russian to French used "espiègle" as the translation for Shvybzik. Which translates directly to Imp.  He was describing Anastasia's love of imitating people behind their backs, and her loving to play pranks on innocent victims.  

That strikes me as a very plausible explanation for the source of "imp" in the west. A translator unaware that Shvybzik was derived from the German "schwips," would have had to improvise a translation based on context. Whether or not the imperial family actually referred to Anastasia as "Imp," there seems to be little doubt that she had an impish personality, which would have been apparent in Spiridovitch's descriptions.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

[/quote]

  That strikes me as a very plausible explanation for the source of "imp" in the west. A translator unaware that Shvybzik was derived from the German "schwips," would have had to improvise a translation based on context. [/quote]

    Somewhat of a linguistic "The Butler did it" situation.    And yes, that was the photograph to which I referred.  Thanks,   AP.

[Rodney_G.]

I would have to go back through Spiridovitch, but I recall strongly that the translator from Russian to French used "espiègle" as the translation for Shvybzik. Which translates directly to Imp.  He was describing Anastasia's love of imitating people behind their backs, and her loving to play pranks on innocent victims. 

Pursuing this idea, it seems we do come back to the fact that Anastasia did act like a little imp a lot so that she may have that term applied to her, rather than being addressed that way to her face, even by her sisters. And if we're talking about the word' imp' it is,of course English, and its infrequent use by the non-English speaking Romanov family circle wouldn't necessarily discredit the idea that it was used within Anastasia"s family.

[Ortipo]

Sarushka - Thanks for posting that photo.  Although Maria occupies the soft spot in my heart Anastasia occupies the most space on my hard drive.  It just seems like she, of the 4, had more than her fair share of entertaing poses in front of the camera lens.

[blessOTMA]

I add my thanks for posting the photo....what always amuses me about it is, no one is rushing to her aid, but for the officer next to her. They are all enjoying her  tumble . I dare say even Fraulein Schneider, in her quite way.  Royals of that era seemed to adore pranks...what else broke up a routine that was known for years in advance, or lighten a place that could tend to sadness ? I think her talent for them and her humor was greatly prized . She was irrepressible in a very pressurized position, Anastasia's fearlessness was particularly cherished by her Aunt Olga A .

[Robert_Hall]

IMO., she was an attention seeking child and got away with a lot of silly nonsense. I would not slap her, but would send her to her governess for  behaviour training.