Dear Friends and Fellow Russian/Romanov History Enthusiasts! Some of you may know some of my work from the book series "The Russian Imperial Family: In Their Own Words". I have worked very hard in the past 5 years to bring you my own translations of the original words of the four Russian grand duchesses, who may never have had the chance to speak otherwise.
My book “The Diary of Olga Romanov: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution” was released in 2013, while the book dedicated to the Tsar’s second daughter, “Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913–1918” is scheduled to be released in Autumn 2015. In between, I had put together other books based on the imperial family's diaries and letters, including “Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar” and "Russia's Last Romanovs: In Their Own Words." Despite these, there remain many, many documents written by the Grand Duchesses, as well as by members of their family, that have never before been translated and published. Although "The Little Pair," the Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia have allowed me to speak for them in a book dedicated to them both, “Maria and Anastasia: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words”, I strongly believe that each them deserves her individual book, like their two elder sisters.
The State Archives of Russian Federation (GARF) are indeed holding many more documents written by all four grand duchesses, which have not been translated or published before, as well as a myriad of other primary source material which has remained untapped. Unfortunately it is very expensive to purchase copies and scans from GARF, especially while operating from another country, in addition to having to pay extra to a third party in Moscow to obtain them. I am no longer able to afford to do this on my own, but would like to continue doing the translations while it is still possible. Which was why I decided to start this GoFundMe campaign to fund the cost of copies of the material and a trip to the Russian archives. Traveling there myself would actually be cheaper than to pay someone in Moscow, and a lot more efficient. I am hoping to raise at least $3,000 in the next year which will allow me to travel to Moscow for about a week and get as many scans and copies from GARF as possible, and translate and publish them, including a lot of it for free on my upcoming website..
If you are able to contribute anything at all, any amount will help. I will be posting regular updates and reports on the GoFundMe page, and also sharing them on my Facebook "Russian Imperial Family: The Romanovs In Their Own Words" (
https://www.facebook.com/DiaryOfOlgaRomanovRoyalWitness?fref=ts). This is the link to the campaign page:
http://www.gofundme.com/z9x2n3uThank you all so much in advance!
All the best,
Helen
