Born: June 18, 1901
Supposed Death by Execution: July 17, 1918
Death of "Anna Anderson": February 4, 1984.
Whatever you choose to believe about my death, I invite you here to celebrate my life.
photo from www.peterkurth.com
I am called Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia
I am the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Empress Alexandra. I have three older sisters, Olga, Tatiana and Maria, and one younger brother, Alexis, the Tsarevitch. My childhood was spent in comfort in the royal palace, surrounded by culture, the arts, and my loving family. However, with the onset of the Bolshevik revolution everything changed for me. And for all of us.
The Ipatiev House, or "House of Special Purpose", my family's final prison.
Moving slideshow to Tori Amos song, "Yes Anastasia." Beautiful pictures of me and my family during our happiest times up through our imprisonment; also some of myself during my lonely struggle after 1919.
"We'll see how brave you are....." Full lyrics listed under my "Music" column.
Following paragraphs are from Alexander Palace :
"Anastasia had blue eyes, fine light-brown hair and a thin, delicate nose like her mother's. People close to the family though she could have become a real beauty when she grew up. As a child she was small and impish. As she grew into her teens she put on weight and become rather round and pudgy in Siberia. Alexandra dispared of her weight and hoped it was baby fat to be naturally lost as she grew older. Her weight was a constant source of affectionate harassment in the family."
"Aleksey and Anastasia had a close relationship, they seemed to communicate without speaking using some sort of sixth sense. She was always running to his rooms to entertain him with her antics - or steal food from his buffet tables. When the Tsarevich was ill, Anastasia seemed to 'feel' his illness herself. She knew how to distract him, how to make him forget his pain."
"Maria and Anastasia were close as well. They had a phonograph player in their room, with a large collection of records. They liked playing them as loud as possible while dancing about their room, pounding on the floor with their feet. They knew the noise could be plainly heard below in their mother's rooms. They thought it great fun to make a big racket for Mama and her guests below. Anastasia played the balalaika and the guitar very well. She and Aleksey liked performing duets or accompany their sisters on piano."
"Anastasia was extremely intelligent, but prone to be lazy and inattentive. Her teachers found she learned much faster than her sisters. On the other hand she was easily bored and had trouble focusing on her lessons. She was a cut-up, freely dispensing her own kind of dead-pan, sarcastic humour at the expense of others. The whole family would crack up at her jokes. Nobody was safe from her tongue and brutal observations of other foibles. She had a cutting wit and knew it, it was one of her chief ways of getting attention."
"Painting was one of her passions, dogs were another. She had one dog named Shibzig, who died of a brain disorder, which left Anastasia inconsolable. She and her canine companion had been inseparable and his death was a great shock to her. For a while after she lost him Anastasia became humorless, quiet and pensive. Little Shibzyg was buried on the Children's Island near the other family dog graves, surrounded by lily-of-the-valley. The children had a special service for him with special hymns and prayers. Later, to help her get over the loss Anya Vyrubova gave Anastasia another little dog, Jimmy, who died in the Grand Duchess' arms in Yekaterinburg."
Above paragraphs quoted from www.alexanderpalace.org
To those concerned over the seemingly duplicative Romanovs on "myspace", I firmly believe that one should not have to choose between the various manifestations of our identities. It is clear that our lives have touched many, like ripples in a pond. Therefore, it is right and natural that in the present age we can be found in many different manifestations, each representing different aspects of our lives. For this we should rejoice! In my opinion, we are each the "real" Romanov. And our strength should be in unity, not in division.
"I quote Brien Horan, who introduced me to Anna Anderson in July 1973:
'I knew her well and therefore have formed a personal opinion in her favor. I cannot dispute DNA findings and I am not a conspiracy theorist. But I cannot suspend everything I know on the basis of these tests. …
The odds are long that a fake claimant would be the right height, eye color and hair color, to begin with. The hallux valgus is an even greater long shot. The handwriting match is mind-boggling. And the ears send the odds right out of the park.
Can these odds be computed mathematically? What if this evidence makes it a million to one in her favor, and the DNA makes it a million to one against? This can't be reconciled—either the DNA was not hers or the ears were not hers, but we can identify the ears as we can see that they were attached to her head!'
The shape of ears does not change from cradle to grave. They get bigger -- and sometimes floppy – with age; otherwise, they are like fingerprints – no two persons have the same ones. In the compilation below (right), the red photos are of Anastasia's ear, while the blue inner ear is that of Anna Anderson. In 1993, these were determined to have an exact – “5-point†– match, the highest score possible."--- www.peterkurth.com
photo from www.peterkurth.com
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