Emperor Alexander I vs Fedor Kuzmitch - a mystery

[Mlle_Gabrielle]

Hello!

Does anybody ever heard about Feodor Kuzmitch?

In 1836, 11 years after the death of Alexander I., one old, strange man, was arrested in Perm. He said, that his name is Feodor Kuzmitch and he is coming back from Saint Land. The policemen were surprised from his noble style. He was very religious, and everybody wanted to talk with him. When bishop from Irkutsk met him, he was very imressed by him. Feodor was talking by many languages, he knows so many details about politician affairs, and some important persons in country. He also know so many specialities about war in 1812, and Alexander´s arrival to Paris.
One day, one soldier said to Feodor, that he (Feodor) is Alexander. Feodor quickly said: "I´m only vagrant..."
It´s true, that evidences of people, who saw Alexander´s death, were false. Autopsy report was signed by the doctors, who weren´t in Taganrog.
And, when the Alexander´s dead body was in Taganarog´s cathedral, everybody was surprised: his face was not similar to Alexander´s face...
After 40 years (because some people believed, that Feodor was Alexander) his nephew Alexander III. opened the Alexander I.´s coffin and... IT WAS EMPTY...

Please, send me your opinion: what do you think, was Alexander really Feodor, or he died in Taganrog?
                                  Thank you very much for your opinions!

[Robert_Hall]

The book IMPERIAL LEGEND by Troubetzkoy explores this myth rather well.

[David_Pritchard]

[size=14]Ma chère Mlle. Gabrielle,

I find the circumstances of the death and the handling of the body of Emperor Aleksander I Pavlovich to be most unusual and suspicious. It is possible that this event would not seem so odd to historians if it were not followed by more peculiar events such as the refusal of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich to take the Imperial Throne, the 1825 Dekabristi plot and the armed mutiny of some of the Imperial Guards regiments against Emperor Nikolai I Pavlovich.

There are a few books that I would recommend to you for further reading: Alexander of Russia, Napoleon’s Conqueror by Henri Troyat; Alexander I: Russia’s Mysterious Tsar by M.K. Dziewanowski; Imperial Legend, the Mysterious Disappearance of Alexander I by Alexis Troubetzkoy.

Amities et à bientôt, j’espère,

David[/size]

[Fay]

Gee, I just hope I'll be able to find at least one of those books, because the story of FK fascinates me! And yes, I believe that he didn't die in Taganrog. Such death would be... so unlike him!

[Mlle_Gabrielle]

Thanks a lot for your opinions!

There is a strange report of Alexander´s death (autopsy report was probably false, the doctors, who signed it, weren´t been in Taganrog on that day, and its results are very strange): officially he died for a impaludism, there wasn´t some information about spleen hypertrophy, what is a real mark of impaludism. There is only some information about scare on a right leg, but Alexander was suffered by a pain on a left leg. And there was wrote about a defect of the brain because of syphilis, but Alexander never had a syphilis...
It´s so strange, don´t you think so?

[hikaru]

We had discussion on this matter actually, somewhere in this thread.

[Svetabel]

The question about Alexander's death is one of the favourites among the Russian historians. It seems we never know the truth what was really happenned in Taganrog.
According to the diaries of Empress Elizaveta Alexeyevna, Alexander's spouse, he was indeed very ill last days of his life. The Empress in detail describes the condition of his health and it seems that Alexander was in a very weak state due to the hay fever, he looked exhausted. And what is more the medical treatment was unequal to the occasion.

[Fay]

Medical treatment? What kind of medical treatment?

[Mlle_Gabrielle]

But... there is one question: If Feodor Kuzmitch wasn´t Alexander, how did he can know a lot of details of war in 1812 and Alexander´s arriving to Paris...?
And I read, that Feodor secretly met some persons from imperial family... why?

[Romanov_fan]

Is this the only thread that covers this? If so, that's a pity because I have recently read the Imperial Legend book, and can only say it is very mysterious and perhaps there is some truth in it. Certainly, evidence points both ways, but one wonders if the mystery of those days in Taganrog will ever be solved, or if solved at all well. Alexander does sound like he was sick at the purported time of his death, yet, at the same time, Fedor Kuzmuch sounds from accounts that he had at the very least a connection to the Romanov family. Alexander may have died; after all in many ways he was mysterious during his life. As for Feodor, it is sometimes siad he was an illegitimate son of Paul's named Simeon, and this explains his connections to the Romanovs, amd also his connection to Count Osten-Sacken.. I find that rather convincing, but now we are back at the begining.

[Robert_Hall]

The details of the 1812 war and Alexander's visit to Paris were widely known, especially to those in the military who brought their stories home. That is no mystery. As for visiting members of the IF- they met many people, from peasants to soveriegns.  It was part of the job, so to speak. I am glad to plays devil's advocate here, as I do not believe in this "myth" of Alexander.

[Mlle_Gabrielle]

Dear Robert,

but if Feodor wasn´t Alexander, what´s happened with Alexander´s body? As I know, this body is still missing... where is it now?
What do you think about it?

[Robert_Hall]

The story of an empty tomb is just that- a story. Another Romanov myth.

[Romanov_fan]

There is alot of controversy about the bodies-those of Alexander, and Fedor Kuzmich. There is no proof that there is no body in existence in the tomb of Alexander, although this has been speculated. There is also no evidence, that if there is a body, it is not that of Alexander. But both are perhaps probabilities, that can be resolved only through opening the tomb, and then DNA testing. The body of Feodor, there were rumours that the body in his tomb was not that of him, and is known that part of it was missing when it was exhumed to be buried somewhere else in 1995, according to the book Imperial Legend.  Anyway, has the starter of this thread ever read this book? It's worth it, whatever you believe about this matter.

[Mlle_Gabrielle]

Dear Imperial Angel,

I never read this book, but I believe, that Feodor was really Alexander, but it´s only my opinion...