Anybody alive NOW whohas met the IF?

[neva]

Does anybody know of a person who is alive now and has seen/met Nicholas/Alexandra or the children?

Thanks,
neva

[Margarita Markovna]

Wow that would be great! But they would be pretty old...

[lexi4]

No kidding. Alexei was born in 1904 so if anyone was alive that ever met him, they would have to be more than 100 years old to remember it.

[Laura Mabee]

Yes and no. I used to have a neighbour that was from Russia before the communist take over. But I've sinced moved, and I am unsure if he is still with us today, as he was rather old when I knew him. He was born in 1890 and I last saw him in January of 1999. He had just celebrated his 109th birthday. He was at the 1913 Romanov celebrations and had newspapers with articles on it. He was a lovely man, but unfortunatly didn't wish to share his life much past what I asked him. I am unsure if anyone else remains alive. The only time he said he saw the Tsar was during the celebrations, going from his carriage into the church. But I have to admit, his discription of Nicky's desposition was quite friendly, as he said that Nicky had given a daughter a kiss before getting out of the carriage. Now, I don't know how much this man said was true, but I knew he was actully as old as he was, and he had Russian Newspapers on the 1913 Celebrations as well as other Imperial memrobelia (sp?).

[neva]

Cool Laura.
I wonder why not all of those people want to share their memories of Imperial Russia.

[Laura Mabee]

Many people, especially poor lived unfavorably during the imperial reign. However, I believe many lived worse after.  :-/

[etonexile]

I'll bet that there are some marvelous personal archives of lesser know people who knew or even just met the IF once...It would be super to bring such materials together in some way....

[Margarita Markovna]

Or maybe the children of servants or palace staff or something...

[etonexile]

Or maybe the children of servants or palace staff or something...

Yes...I'd love to read little stories about servants and such who knew the IF......

[Abby]

Oh yes me too!  
I mean, it was cool to read Gilliard, Buxhoeveden, Dehn, and Vyrubova. But what about the recollections of those who haven't had a chance to speak? Maybe those who only saw gilmpses of the IF, but knew enough about them to tell the world and make an interesting anthology. It's a great idea, but there probably aren't too many of them left! :-/

[Margarita Markovna]

Yeah, I wonder how many people are still alive. If they all wrote their memoirs they could be compiled into a pretty interesting book.

[neva]

Yeah Eton and Margarita,
That is what exactly what I would have wanted to read. Books by these "lesser known" people who have been in contact with them and have seen  them in a totally different light.
neva

[RissiaSunbeam1918]

I agree, I wonder if there is anything like that (someone on here would have been bound to know about it, so probably not.) That's why I enjoyed "The Kitchen Boy"...because it was a new perspective. Too bad it was fictional. If there was more known on the real Lenoid Sedneov, it would be great to hear what he said, not the author...

[NAAOTMA]

My father-in-law worked at the Court Pharmacy. He rarely talked about his time serving the Imperial Family, but he did tell my sister-in-law before he died in the early 1970s that he loved his time at the Court, and made wonderful friends in the St. Petersburg area.

He also told her that when he made up medicines that went to the Alexander Palace, they were always made up for a fake name, so that one never knew which person the medicine was intended for. This was done as a security measure.

He spoke several languages and had received a topnotch education on the University of Dorpat in the province of Estonia. He was an Estonian by birth, born in 1888.

He treasured a large ruble coin with Nicholas II on its face that commemorated the 1913 Tercentenary. I have wondered if it was a gift from the Emperor to members of the imperial household. Of course we will never know.

[Laura Mabee]

Wow NAAOTMA!
That's fantastic! Having someone so close to the family to have been a member of the Imperial Court  
That's awesome!