What got you interested in the Romanovs?

[aka-Romanov]

As far back as I can remember....I would hear my grandfather Paul and my mother talk in wispers about the "family".  Grandfather would not talk out loud about any thing to do with his "other life" except with my mother who was his first born. He did show me once a picture ( or lithograph) of the castle with the Romanov's and the peasants, which showed them ( the peasants) on the land. Which I understand they would be allowed to roam, I believe once a year.
Any how....my mother gave me all his documents , upon his death. I would love to meet or chat with any one here in Michigan who is a decendent of the Romanovs.  

[Fawzia]

You know, I was just thinking about that question last night.   As long as I remembered, I was always interested in royal history, but it took a while for me to really catch on.   What's always interested me about Russian history the most is just that it is so vast and so different.   I know all history is vast and different yadda yadda yadda, but Russian history just really strikes me as particularly so, the history is just so rich and fascinating, the big difference for me is that other royal countries' history interests me, but Russian history fascinates me.  

Anyways, I think I was in fifth grade and that Disney movie Anastasia was being played that day, and I didn't pay close attention because I've never cared for cartoons, but I remember being sort of struck by what an interesting, odd and unique story it was, and then I became a tad obsessed with it and reall read in to it(as much as an eleven-year-old can anyway!).   And then, a few years later, I know this is a cliche but I watched Dr. Zhivago and became even more fascinated, and then I read the book and fell into it even more.   And my mother indulged me, she gave me her copy of Nicholas and Alexandra and took me to a Faberge show and we'd watch all the documentaries, and now a few more years later I'm a full blown addict!       I love all things Russian, the history, the music, the art, the literature...that's why this site is perfect!  

[Fawzia]

Oh, wow Real Anastasia!   I hadn't seen your post when I made mine, they're pretty similar.   We both fell into Anastasia first, we were both eleven, and we both went for Nicholas and Alexandra first.   But I guess N&A is sort of like an Imperial Russia Bible, is there anyone here who hasn't read it lol!  

[glitterbuggybye]

lol im reading it right now haha but its sooo good!!

[mariah]

I live in Finland and our country was under of Russian from 1801 till December 1917, when we became independent. So in school we had to study things of Russians history, because it was part of our own too  

But the important thing is my grandgrandmother. She was born in 1902 and died in 2003, of course she told me what life was "those old days". Expecially she spoke things about Carl Gustaf Mannerheim. He was a finnish man but nearly thirty years Mannerheim served as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army (1887-1917) Example he had a commission in the Chevalier guards of H.H. Maria Feodorovna from 1891 till 1904. Later he was a president too. When I was just a kid, I started to read books about C.G.E.M and in that way I also read things of Royal family. http://www.mannerheim.fi/valokuva/05/d116.jpg (Mannerheim is the officer on the right in front of the Nicholas and Alexandra)
Romanovs story was so enchanting and tragic...  It just touched me.. The last thing was when I readed a fictional book about Sofia Orbeliani. And after that I started my own "researches"...

So now I can also blame Romanovs that they inspired me too mutch, may be... I falling in history and some day, I will be a history teacher... Hope so

[Anastasia_R]

My best subject is Social Studies(History).I became interested in the Romanovs in 2004,just after I finished 5th grade.I was going to Waukesha Library and my grandmother told me about the Anastasia movie w/ Ingrid Bergman.I became hooked.On my birthday when I turned 12,I bought Massie's book NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA.I was surfing the internet for more info,and I came across this site.

[David_Pritchard]

So the following Sunday we all walked down the street to Paul’s home, a lovely Tudor style house.

Your description of the former Ilyinsky home on Drake Road, under estimates the scale of the house. It is quite a large house made of fine materials as such houses were in the pre-war days. Paul's son Michael told me that the barn to the rear of the property was a functioning dairy as his father liked his milk fresh.

DAP

[Marialana]

I got interested in the Romanovs 18 years ago at the age of 12.  Our social studies class watched a very edited version of Nicholas & Alexandra during our unit on the Soviet Union. Our teacher didn't show the end, so at the end of class I asked her what happened to the family. When she told me that they'd been murdered I was beyond stunned, and instantly felt a hard-to-describe feeling of empathy that got me instantly hooked on all things Romanov. 18 years later, I still feel the same pull that I felt on that day. I've read everything I could get my hands on, and extended my interest to all things Russian. I became a European history major in college and even worked on a master's thesis concerning Nicholas II. One little movie changed my life in a major way!

[Janet_W.]

Marialana, kudos to your highly creative teacher for piquing the interest of her class by showing the film and then omitting the ending. In my opinion, this type of inventive approach is the way history--and lessons in humanity--should be explored. Numbers representing years and populations and square miles and so forth rarely are relatable. But when a specific person or family is studied, we learn much more . . . and not only about that family, but about ourselves.

I am reminded of an experience which I think I shared earlier on this website. I was expected to give a dramatic speech at my Toastmasters club, so I selected a narrative from an anthology of reminiscences by friends of Anne Frank. Finally I came to the end of my monologue and, as I was in the process of sitting down, a club member (man in his late twenties) seated to my right leaned over and whispered (fortunately the applause was still going): “That was great! Whatever happened to Anne?"  



Just as has been said, if we forget (i.e. don't teach) the past, we'll repeat it. And while there are many, many other families besides the Romanovs who have been eliminated by war and revolution, unlike the Romanovs, most of them are lost to us forever. But when we make a study of a well-documented family we learn that, just like us, these people lived, loved, played, and sorrowed . . . and that unless we understand ourselves and the world around us, we are likely to repeat their tragedy.

[RealAnastasia]

Yes, Fawzia! "Nicholas and Alexandra" is like a Bible for all us, "Romanov Fans"!   I read it, at least three times all the years!  

RealAnastasia.

[Maria_Nikolaievna]

When I was younger, I had watched the cartoon 'Anastasia' a couple of times at my friend's house. I thought it was just a disney movie and didn't have any idea that the person Anastasia had actually existed. Then, in 6th grade, my English teacher had our class read 'Anastasia's Album'. I was totally enchanted by that book, and stayed in during recess for weeks just to read it over and over again. After that, I began to search everywhere for any Romanov book I could find, and ever since then, I have been hooked!

I'm so glad there are other Romanov fans out there! A couple years ago I thought I was practically the only one!  

[Marialana]

Marialana, kudos to your highly creative teacher for piquing the interest of her class by showing the film and then omitting the ending. In my opinion, this type of inventive approach is the way history--and lessons in humanity--should be explored. Numbers representing years and populations and square miles and so forth rarely are relatable. But when a specific person or family is studied, we learn much more . . . and not only about that family, but about ourselves.

I agree 100%. She was a remarkable teacher whose approach definitely got me more interested than I otherwise might have been. Teaching facts & figures is important, but she made the Romanovs flesh & blood to me. In doing so, ultimately she made me look at all of history as a conglomeration of individuals, not statistics.
For that, I am forever grateful
BTW, that Anne Frank story is a little disconcerting!   At least he learned about her from you, though, so that's a plus!

[AGRBear]

Really enjoy this thread and thanks everyone for your stories.

AGRBear

[Margarita Markovna]

A lot of things got me into the Romanovs. One was not the disney movie but the doll that came from my kids meal at burger king when that movie came out. I asked my mom about her because I hadn't seen the movie and she told me a bit about her. She had told me before that I looked like one of the grand duchesses so now I knew what she was talking about. Skip a few years, and zoom in on me reading the entire Royal Diaries series. The Anastasia one was my favorite, and I went to the library and got a bunch of books about Russian history. I found myself attached to OTMA.

[rosebud]

I was quite young, with my family and in our car, when I heard from the radio that Anna Anderson, a lifelong princess pretender, was dead. The announcer told about her and a strange image was stuck into my mind; for years I imagined a frightened young woman running and running, trying to find a place to hide, just glancing around with fear in her eyes. This sad story came back every now and then, and when I was in my pre-teens, reading a magazine, I found an article about Alexandras last diary and my heart went instantly to my throat; I combined these two things with each other, the words in my head and this fascinating story which was to read from this womans diary.

I was already interested in history and reading a lot, like young girls mostly do. I read every book I found about the IF. Their story just took me with it. The IF also represented kind of an escapistic place for me, a romantic teenager. They really helped me over that difficult period of life. My interest never went away but the passion of a teenager died a bit down after I grew older. I have bought books throughout these years but not all of them. I have become a bit sceptical or chynical about it all, but the IF is never going to let me go and I dont want to either. I also made my life choices partly inspirated by them, studied subjects that helped me to understand more previous generations and different cultures etc.

Part of my believe that AA was A is about the feeling I got when I heard the first time about her. About emotions, intuition, a childs deep trust in that people must be trustworthy or there is no logic or rules or society what so ever.

I know I am not wrong.

R