Author Topic: What got you interested in the Romanovs?  (Read 136488 times)

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Offline DNAgenie

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #300 on: April 17, 2009, 12:05:51 AM »
I first got hooked when I read “The File on the Tsar” by Anthony Summers and Tom Mangold in 1976.  I’ve always been interested in historical mysteries, and here was a cracker of a mystery!  What happened on that fateful day in 1918 at Ekaterinburg?  Did the Royal Family die in that awful room, or were they spirited away alive to Perm before being lost to all human knowledge?  Was Anna Anderson really Anastasia of Russia? Did Alexei survive?

That was long before the Internet existed, so I had to read other books to find out more: “Anastasia, the Lost Princess” by James Lovell Blair in 1983, and then the well-researched “The Lost Fortune of the Tsars” by William Clarke in 1995. Clarke’s book included the first results of DNA tests, showing that the skeletons found outside Ekaterinburg probably belonged to the Imperial Family, and that Anna Anderson wasn’t Anastasia, but Franziska Schanzkowska.  That was sad, as I’d hoped that Anna Anderson, against all the odds, just might have been Anastasia after all.

Life moved on and, out of the blue, I encountered an old family story that my great great grandmother was a princess. I expect most families have such legends, and 99% of them are rubbish, but it had come down three different lines of our family, how our ancestor had been the illegitimate daughter of Prince Wilhelm, later Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia, before emigrating to Australia with her husband in 1848, the “Year of Revolution” in Europe.

So what?  How did this relate to Russia? It turned out that Prince Wilhelm’s younger sister Princess Charlotte of Prussia had married Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.  If the family legend was true, my father would have been the fourth cousin of Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei of Russia.

I’m a professional scientist (now retired) but I’ve kept up with the latest developments in DNA tests.  I’ve had my own DNA tested in several different ways for genealogical purposes, and I’d persuaded my sister to be tested as well. So a couple of weeks ago I was fascinated to see the detailed results of the DNA tests of the entire Russian Imperial family finally published by two independent teams of scientists – one Russian and one from the USA. Luckily, their results are identical (as one would expect from reputable researchers in both countries) but I was interested to check whether there might be any similarities between the DNA signatures of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra (his second cousin) and me and my sister. The relationship is so distant that the paternity testing companies won’t touch it, as fourth or fifth cousins are almost impossible to confirm by DNA tests. However there were enough similarities for us to conclude that we could be related to Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.

Offline Marie-Mathilde

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #301 on: August 13, 2009, 11:12:09 AM »
My interest started with the Disney cartoon "Anastasia". I always loved the film, but I was so little at the time that I'm not sure if I knew it was based on a true story. Anyway, my first memory of royalty is when I was four years old and Princess Diana died. I can just remember sitting in my neighbours kitchen whilst she and my mother talked about Diana's death. I was so little, but Diana's death stuck a cord and I burst into tears right there! It's one of my earliest memories lol. Eventually history became my favourite subject at junior school and I became fascinated by Henry VIII and the Tudors. This in turn lead to my grandmother purchasing a couple of books which listed all the Kings and Queens of Great Britain with short biographies on each. For a few years at the start of secondary school I never really read about royalty or gave much interest to it. Then, when I was about 14 I found those books again and began flicking through them once more. This lead to me researching British royalty of the 19th and 20th centuries on the internet, mainly by looking at the biographies on wikipedia. Eventually I came across the Last Imperial Family. I was struck by what an attractive family they were and how tragic their ends were. I was so taken aback and since then I've been fascinated by them and royalty of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Some people find it strange that one might take an interest in things like royalty and society of a bygone era, but I just find the subject endlessly fascinating, unlike royalty and society today which is completely different and pales in comparison. Royals of today bore me, they have no mystery and the younger ones have little dignity. Gosh, how old do I sound?! I'm supposed to be sixteen but I spend so much time reading about old time royals, historical figures and film stars of Old Hollywood that I feel as though I were born in 1893 not 1993! I wish!

Offline Romanov_fan

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #302 on: August 13, 2009, 01:32:54 PM »
I didn't know you were so young- your posts are indeed very mature for your age. I have always appreciated them, I thought you were older than me and I'm 23. I partly became interested in Anastasia through the movie too- it's actually by Fox, not Disney.

Offline Marie-Mathilde

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #303 on: August 13, 2009, 02:10:27 PM »
Lol Yeah I probably sound older because I read all the memoirs of people from that era and I end up taking on their writing style. I was thinking how much older I sounded when I read my posts back and was "Did I really write that?". It's funny because I was thinking the exact same thing.

RomanovsFan4Ever

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #304 on: August 14, 2009, 05:51:16 AM »
My interest for the Romanovs started when I saw a portrait of Nicholas II and Alexandra feodorovna with their older daughters Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, it is posted here in the forum.
I don't know why, this portrait particularly attracted my attention.

mercman

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #305 on: August 14, 2009, 01:24:49 PM »
I became interested in the Romanovs just this June when I visited Alexander Palace.  I knew the story on a superficial basis prior to the trip, but after seeing the palace, even in its poorly "restored" state, I could feel the history emanating through the walls.  I know this sounds weird, but I felt a connection with a real family that lived in that building and have reading and watching everything on NAOTMAA since then.  I am amazed by the wealth of information that is available in books, documentaries, film and the internet, and especially from the lively discussions on this forum.  Now that I am much more informed, I can't wait to go back for another visit, especially after AP is restored (the restoration began only a few days after I left). :)

IrinaAlexandrovna

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #306 on: August 17, 2009, 03:59:02 PM »
What got me interested?Well i saw ofcourse the cartoon about Anastasia  before 5 years and after the end my father told me that there really was this tsar but the cartoon is fiction so first my older sister start researching and found the beautiful Livadia site and after her month later i started research until today....So almost 6 years interested....

Offline Ally Kumari

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #307 on: August 22, 2009, 06:30:24 AM »
2,5 years my interest lasts. Of course that as a kid I saw cartoon Anastasia, but even though I liked it I never really cared much....

Then one day I didn´t have anything to do so remembering the cartoon I wrote Romanov into the google search bar. The first picture it gave me was the famouse photo of Maria with kokoshnik from 1911. I stared at it and stared.... And this strange urge inside began to find out more about the girl..... From the girl I moved to the whole family.... Then to Alexander III. family.... and now I simply love everything associated with the name Romanov.

Mimì

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #308 on: September 15, 2009, 02:00:35 AM »
I'm writing a pamphlet against rationalism in the Western history, included communism. The provisory title is "The age of the antichrist" and about one month ago I found for only 1 Euro a book about the end of the IF, surely the most famous victims. Of course I'll insert something about them, even if I have still serious doubts about the opportunity of canonizing all of them.  :-\

RomanovMartyrs

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #309 on: September 15, 2009, 03:28:15 AM »
I became interested in the Romanovs just this June when I visited Alexander Palace.  I knew the story on a superficial basis prior to the trip, but after seeing the palace, even in its poorly "restored" state, I could feel the history emanating through the walls.  I know this sounds weird, but I felt a connection with a real family that lived in that building and have reading and watching everything on NAOTMAA since then.  I am amazed by the wealth of information that is available in books, documentaries, film and the internet, and especially from the lively discussions on this forum.  Now that I am much more informed, I can't wait to go back for another visit, especially after AP is restored (the restoration began only a few days after I left). :)

Hearing this makes me wonder- which do you think is a more impacting experience (question to everyone): Seeing the palace(s) before researching the Romanovs, or after? I could see both sides of the argument really.



I guess I learned about the Romanovs the same way as most people- the cartoon movie. Though I didn't actually see the movie until my coach picked out a song from the soundtrack for me to do a figure skating routine to. That's when I really fell in love with the Romanovs- skating to music inspired by them, in front of a crowd. It sounds odd, I know, but it was a very moving experience. I was about 11.

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mercman

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #310 on: September 15, 2009, 08:13:45 PM »
I am not sure, but I certainly wished that I knew what I know now before I visited AP.  There would be so many things that I would have paid more attention to, especially after viewing so many photographs of NAOTMAA in and outside of the palace over the last four months.  There is also something to be said for looking at something without any preconceived notions and the feeling that I got when I was there was pure and will always be with me.  I know that someday I will return to see AP again, and whenever that comes, I can answer the question for sure.

Nayomini

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #311 on: November 07, 2009, 03:25:54 AM »
Like most of you, I got interested in the Romanovs when I picked up Massie's Nicholas & Alexandra a while ago in 1987 - I found it accidently at a flea market while living in Germany with my father who was a diplomat. I read and re-read the book many times. I am from Sri Lanka, in South Asia near India and didn't think that there would be many more resources on the ill fated Romanovs accessible from here in Sri Lanka . But then internet grew and I got busy with the magazine publishing company I run. Around 1999, while doing some research for the magazine, I came upon the treasure trove of Alexandra Palace Time Machine. I have been hooked ever since. I am usually busy with work or my kids - when I finish work, this is where I surf to. I am fascinated and read up everything here.  I enjoy being a part of this community here - sharing and exchanging info on the Romanovs, learning new tid bits etc. My eleven year old son has been watching me and guess what, he too is very interested he says in the Romanovs. A second generation of Romanov fans! All thanks to Bob and his wonderful team - and everyone else who contributes to this site.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2009, 03:53:23 AM by Nayomini »

toscany

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #312 on: November 10, 2009, 03:13:07 PM »
I was adopted at 3 days old by a wonderful family.  My adopted father's side immigrated to the United States, through Ellis Island, from Odessa, Ukraine in 1897.  Growing up, I learned and sampled the wonderful ethnic foods that his family would prepare.  My adopted father would tell us the stories of his family living in Odessa.  One of the most interesting, was the escape of his father from Siberia, after shooting a cossack in self defense. His father returned to Odessa, and he and his wife and family left the country.  Many relatives of my father, fled Russia, and most immigrated to other countries.  Relatives can be found in Argentina, as well as Monterrey, Mexico. 

As I got older, I wanted to learn more of the place called, "Mother Russia".  I read Robert Massies's book, The Romanovs, The Final Chapter, and The Romanov Legacy, by Zoia Belyakova. 

I also viewed various films, that not only centered on the Romanovs, but also classics like Doctor Zhivago (David Lean 1965), and the novel, by Boris Pasternak.  This film, I can watch each Winter!  The sleigh ride out into the country is one of my favorite scenes.  Of course, I have also viewed "Russia, Land Of The Tsars", which is a History Channel documentary.  I have a copy of it. I have also enjoyed learning about the famous AA, and have seen the fantastic film "Anastasia", starring Yul Brynner, made in 1956.

I am now reading two books written about the Grand Duke Mikhail. One is written by the Crawfords, and the other, Pauline Gray.             


morvilaRomanov

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #313 on: December 07, 2009, 07:08:51 PM »
The Anastasia's cartoon

a smal correction: THE ANASTASIA'S CARTOON IS NOT FROM DISNEY BUT FROM 20 FOX.

Marshall II

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Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?
« Reply #314 on: December 16, 2009, 02:11:41 PM »
When I was 12, I watched the cartoon Anastasia and then when I was 15, I by chance found Massie's book Nicholas and Alexandra. I have been interested ever since then.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2009, 02:13:36 PM by Marshall II »