Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia
Alexei Nikolaevich | |||||
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Russian Soviet Republic
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Cause of death | Execution by firing squad | ||||
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Russian Orthodox | |||||
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Alexei Nikolaevich (Russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич) (12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1904 – 17 July 1918) was the last
After the February Revolution of 1917, the Romanovs were sent into internal exile in Tobolsk, Siberia. After the October Revolution, the family was initially to be tried in a court of law, before the intensification of the Russian Civil War made execution increasingly favorable in the eyes of the Soviet government. With White Army soldiers rapidly approaching, the Ural Regional Soviet ordered the murder of Alexei, the rest of his family, and four remaining retainers on 17 July 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Alexei had escaped his execution, with multiple impostors claiming his identity. Alexei's remains, along with those of his sister Maria (or Anastasia), were ultimately discovered in a secondary grave near the rest of the Romanov family in 2007. On 17 July 1998, the 80th anniversary of their execution, Alexei's parents, three of his sisters, and the four retainers, were formally interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, while Alexei's and Maria's (or Anastasia's) bones remain in Russian state archives. The Romanov family was canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
Alexei is sometimes known to Russian legitimists as Alexei II after his ancestor Alexis of Russia, as until his death they do not recognize the abdication of his father in favor of his uncle Grand Duke Michael as lawful.[4]
Appearance and personality
Alexei was a handsome boy, and he bore a striking resemblance to his mother. His tutor Pierre Gilliard described the 18-month-old Alexei as "one of the handsomest babies one could imagine, with his lovely fair curls and his great blue-grey eyes under their fringe of long curling lashes".[5] A few years later, Gilliard described Alexei as tall for his age, with "a long, finely chiseled face, delicate features, auburn hair with a coppery glint, and large grey-blue eyes like his mother".[6] Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, his mother's lady-in-waiting, reflected that "he was a pretty child, tall for his age, with regular features, splendid dark blue eyes with a spark of mischief in them, brown hair, and an upright figure".[7]
Alexei was proud of and enjoyed his position as Tsarevich. Buxhoeveden reflected that "he knew and felt that he was the Tsarevich, and from babyhood mechanically took his place in front of his elder sisters".[7] He liked being kissed on the hand by the officers and "didn't miss his chance to boast about it and give himself airs in front of his sisters".[8] He enjoyed jumping in front of the guards at the front of the Alexander Palace, who would immediately salute him as he walked past. Nicholas forbade the guards to salute Alexei unless another member of the family accompanied him. Alexei was embarrassed "when the salute failed him", which "marked his first taste of discipline".[9] On one occasion, he ordered all of the Finnish officers on various ships to stand before him on the deck of the Standart. He began commanding them, but the Finnish officers did not understand Russian and stood in confusion until an aide informed them that Alexei wanted to hear them say, "We wish you health, your Imperial Highness."[10] When he was told that a group of officers had arrived to call on him, the 6-year-old Alexei told his sisters, "Now girls, run away. I am busy. Someone has just called to see me on business."[11] Also at 6, he walked into his father's study and saw the Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolsky waiting to see Nicholas. Izvolsky remained sitting, and Alexei screamed, "When the heir to the Russian Throne enters a room, people must get up!"[11]
Alexei's parents indulged his tantrums and mischievous behavior, and they rarely punished him. In 1906, Alexei and his family went on a cruise to Finland. In the middle of the night, the 2-year-old Alexei commanded the ship's band to wake up and play for him.[8] Instead of punishing Alexei, Nicholas joked "that's the way to bring up an autocrat!"[12] Nicholas called Alexei "Alexei the Terrible."[13]
Alexei loved to attend army inspections with his father. When he was 3, he wore a miniature army uniform and played with a toy wooden rifle.[8] From birth, he had the title of "Hetman of all the Cossacks."[14] He wore a miniature uniform of a sailor of the Russian navy, and he had his own Cossack uniform with a fur cap, boots, and dagger.[14] He ended his daily prayers with "Hurrah!" instead of "amen". When asked why, he replied that the soldiers on parade always said "Hurrah!" when his father finished speaking, so he should greet his Heavenly Father in the same way.[15] Before he understood the nature of his disease, he said that he wanted to be a warrior-tsar and lead armies as his ancestors had.[14]
Alexei resented that he was forbidden from doing what other boys could do because of his hemophilia. When his mother forbade him to ride a bike and play tennis, he asked angrily, "Why can other boys have everything and I nothing?"[16] All four of his sisters were accomplished horsewomen, but he was forbidden from horseriding.[17]
Alexei had few friends his age and was often lonely. Alexandra did not allow Alexei to play with his Romanov cousins because she was worried that they would knock him down when playing and he might bleed.[18] Alexei's companions were his sailor-nanny Derevenko's two young sons. Derevenko watched them as they played, and he chastised his children if they played too roughly with Alexei.[18]
Alexei was close with his sisters. Gilliard wrote that they "brought into his life an element of youthful merriment that otherwise would have been sorely missed".[18]
Despite the hemophilia, Alexei was adventurous and restless. Doctor Eugene Botkin's children noticed Alexei's inability to "stay in any place or at any game for any length of time".[19] When he was 7, he stole a bicycle and rode it around the palace. Shocked, Nicholas ordered every guard to pursue and capture Alexei.[14] At a children's party, Alexei began jumping from table to table. When Derevenko tried to stop him, Alexei shouted, "All grown-ups have to go!"[14] Recognizing Alexei's energetic nature, Nicholas ordered that Alexei be allowed "to do everything that other children of his age were wont to do, and not to restrain him unless it was absolutely necessary".[20]
Alexei was disobedient and difficult to control. Olga could not manage Alexei's "peevish temper".[21] The only person he obeyed was his father. Sydney Gibbes noted that "one word [from Nicholas] was always enough to exact implicit obedience from [Alexei]".[22] Buxhoeveden remembered that Alexei had once thrown her parasol in the river, and Nicholas had chastised Alexei: "That is not the way for a gentleman to behave to a lady. I am ashamed of you, Alexei."[23] After his father scolded him, Alexei was "scarlet in the face" and apologized to Sophie.[23]
As a small child, Alexei occasionally played pranks on guests. At a formal dinner party, Alexei removed the shoe of a female guest from under the table, and showed it to his father. Nicholas sternly told the boy to return the "trophy", which Alexei did after placing a large ripe strawberry into the toe of the shoe.[24]
As he grew up, Alexei became more thoughtful and considerate. When he was 9, he sent a collection of his favorite jingles to Gleb Botkin, Eugene Botkin's son. He asked Gleb, who was talented at drawing, to illustrate the jingles. He attached a note: "To illustrate and write the jingles under the drawings. Alexei." Before handing the note to Eugene Botkin, he crossed out his signature and explained, "If I send that paper to Gleb with my signature on it, then it would be an order which Gleb would have to obey. But I mean it only as a request and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to."[11]
Alexei enjoyed playing the balalaika.[14]
Alexei's favorite pet was a spaniel named Joy.[14] Nicholas gave Alexei an old performing donkey named Vanka. Alexei gave sugar cubes to Vanka, and Vanka pulled Alexei around the park in a sled during the winter.[25]
According to Gilliard, Alexei was a simple, affectionate child, but the court spoiled him by the "servile flattery" of the servants and "silly adulations" of the people around him. Once, a deputation of peasants came to bring presents to Alexei. Derevenko required that they kneel before Alexei. Gilliard remarked that the Tsarevich was "embarrassed and blushed violently", and when asked if he liked seeing people on their knees before him, he said, "Oh no, but Derevenko says it must be so!". When Gilliard encouraged Alexei to "stop Derevenko insisting on it", he said that he "dare not". When Gilliard took the matter up with Derevenko, he said that Alexei was "delighted to be freed from this irksome formality".[26]
"Alexei was the center of this united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections", wrote Gilliard. "His sisters worshipped him. He was his parents' pride and joy. When he was well, the palace was transformed. Everyone and everything in it seemed bathed in sunshine."[27]
Gilliard eventually convinced Alexei's parents that granting the boy greater autonomy would help him develop better self-control. Alexei took advantage of his unaccustomed freedom, and began to outgrow some of his earlier foibles.[28] Courtiers reported that his illness made him sensitive to the hurts of others.[29]
Due to his disease, Alexei understood that he might not live to adulthood. When he was ten, his older sister Olga found him lying on his back looking at the clouds and asked him what he was doing. "I like to think and wonder", Alexei replied. Olga asked him what he liked to think about. "Oh, so many things", the boy responded. "I enjoy the sun and the beauty of summer as long as I can. Who knows whether one of these days I shall not be prevented from doing it?"[30]
Nicholas' Colonel Mordinov remembered Alexei:
He had what we Russians usually call "a golden heart". He easily felt an attachment to people, he liked them and tried to do his best to help them, especially when it seemed to him that someone was unjustly hurt. His love, like that of his parents, was based mainly on pity. Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was an awfully lazy, but very capable boy (I think, he was lazy precisely because he was capable), he easily grasped everything, he was thoughtful and keen beyond his years ... Despite his good nature and compassion, he undoubtedly promised to possess a firm and independent character in the future.[31]
Early years
Alexei was born on 12 August [
Alexei's birth was greeted with widespread joy, because he was the first son Nicholas had had after four daughters. When she woke up from the chloroform, Alexandra saw the happy faces around her and exclaimed, "Oh, it cannot be true. It cannot be true. Is it really a boy?"[32] Nicholas wrote in his diary that today was "a great and "unforgettable day for us . . . there are no words to thank God enough for sending us this comfort in a time of sore trials."[33] According to Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia, Nicholas' younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich "was radiant with happiness at no longer being heir."[33] Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden remembered that "we were nearly deafened by the church bells ringing all day".[34] St. Petersburg "was ablaze with flags" and "the people gave themselves over to public rejoicing."[35] Nicholas granted political amnesty to prisoners and set up a fund for military and naval scholarships.[36]
Nicholas named Alexei after Alexis of Russia, his favorite emperor.[37] His doting family called him "Baby." He was later also affectionately referred to as Alyosha (Алёша).
As soon as he was born, Alexei was granted the title of tsarevich and heir apparent to the Imperial Throne of Russia. An official announcement read, "From now on, in accordance with the Fundamental Laws of the Empire, the Imperial title of Heir Tsarevich, and all the rights pertaining to it, belong to Our Son Alexei.".[38]
Alexei was christened on 3 September 1904 in the chapel in
The christening marked the first time that some of the younger members of the Imperial Family, including some of the younger sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich; the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana; and their cousin Princess Irina Alexandrovna, attended an official ceremony. For the occasion, the boys wore miniature military uniforms, and the girls wore smaller versions of the court dress and little kokoshniks.[citation needed] The sermon was delivered by John of Kronstadt. The baby was carried to the font by the elderly Princess Maria Mikhailovna Galitzine, Mistress of the Robes. As a precaution, she had rubber soles put on her shoes to prevent her slipping and dropping him.
Countess Sophie Buxhoeveden recalled:[40]
The baby lay on a pillow of cloth of gold, slung to the Princess's shoulders by a broad gold band. He was covered with the heavy cloth-of-gold mantle, lined with ermine, worn by the heir to the crown. The mantle was supported on one side by Prince Alexander Sergeiovich Dolgorouky, the Grand Marshal of the Court, and on the other by Count [Paul] Benckendorff, as decreed by custom and wise precaution. The baby wept loudly, as might any ordinary baby when old Father Yanishev dipped him in the font. His four small sisters, in short Court dresses, gazed open-eyed at the ceremony, Olga Nicholaevna, then nine years old, being in the important position of one of the godmothers. According to Russian custom, the Emperor and Empress were not present at the baptism, but directly after the ceremony, the Emperor went to the church. Both he and the Empress always confessed to feeling very nervous on these occasions, for fear that the Princess might slip, or that Father Yanishev, who was very old, might drop the baby in the font.
Hemophilia
Alexei inherited
At first, Alexei seemed like a healthy, ordinary baby. He weighed 11 pounds at birth. His paternal aunt Xenia wrote that "he's an amazingly hefty baby with a chest like a barrel and generally has the air of a warrior knight."[43] After his umbilical cord was cut, his navel continued to bleed for hours and his blood did not clot. Nicholas wrote that Alexei lost "1/8 to 1/9 of the total quantity" of his blood in 48 hours.[44] Nicholas reflected in his diary that "Alix and I were very alarmed by the bleeding of young Alexei that came at intervals from his umbilical cord until evening. How painful it is to experience such anxieties!"[45]
Nicholas and Alexandra decided not to reveal what Alexei's disease was to the Russian public or even to family members. After Alexei's first bleeding attack, Alexandra wrote, "Oh, what anguish it was... not to let others see the knife digging in one."[46] According to his French tutor, Pierre Gilliard, the nature of his illness was kept a state secret.
There were rumors about what Alexei's disease was, because of the secrecy around it. Guesses ranged from a "certain form of infantile tuberculosis which gives rise to acute alarm" to "one of the layers of his skin was missing."[47] An American magazine ascribed Alexei's "ill health" to "the misfortune that so many residences of the Tzars leave much to be desired from the point of view of sanitary science."[48] After Alexei's life-threatening hemorrhage at Spala, the American press speculated that Alexei had been stabbed "during an unguarded moment" by a "nihilist."[49] The Times observed that the "incomprehensible silence of the Court bulletins" gave "free scope to the sensation-mongers."[50]
When he was 5, Alexei was assigned two navy sailors who monitored him at all times to ensure that he wouldn't injure himself. His parents appointed two sailors from the Imperial Navy: Petty Officer Andrei Derevenko and his assistant Seaman Klementy Nagorny.[51] Anna Vyrubova, Alexandra's friend, remembered that "Derevenko was so patient and resourceful, that he often did wonders in alleviating the pain. I can still hear the plaintive voice of Alexis begging the big sailor, 'Lift my arm,' 'Put up my leg,' 'Warm my hands,' and I can see the patient, calm-eyed man working for hours to give comfort to the little pain-wracked limbs."[52]
His hemophilia was so severe that trivial injuries such as a bruise, a nosebleed or a cut were potentially life-threatening. His parents constantly worried about him. In addition, the recurring episodes of illness and long recoveries interfered greatly with Alexei's childhood and education.[53]
Nicholas and Alexandra believed that Grigori Rasputin, a peasant monk, had the power to heal Alexei. Due to the secrecy around Alexei's condition, there are few records about Alexei's attacks and how often Rasputin treated him.
In the autumn of 1907, Alexei fell and hurt his leg when he was playing in the Alexander Park. The fall triggered an internal hemorrhage.[54] His paternal aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia reflected that "the poor child lay in such pain, dark patches under his eyes and his little body all distorted, and the leg terribly swollen."[55] The doctors could do nothing. Alexandra telegraphed Princess Anastasia of Montenegro and asked her to find Rasputin. Rasputin prayed over Alexei and told Alexei "Your pain is going away. You will soon be well. You must thank God for healing you. And now, go to sleep."[56] Soon after Rasputin left, the swelling in Alexei's leg went down. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia was amazed by Alexei's swift recovery, and she wrote that the next morning Alexei "was not just alive – but well. He was sitting up in bed, the fever gone, the eyes clear and bright, not a sign of any swelling on his leg."[57]
In September 1912, Alexei and his family visited their hunting retreat in the
On 9 October, Alexandra asked her lady-in-waiting and best friend, Anna Vyrubova,[63][64] to secure the help of Rasputin. According to his daughter, Rasputin received the telegram on 12 October.[note 2] On 9 October, Alexandra received a short telegram from Rasputin: "The little one will not die. Do not allow the doctors [c.q. Eugene Botkin and Vladimir Derevenko] to bother him too much."[66] Alexei's temperature dropped, and he began to improve. According to General Mosolov, the doctors "seemed in utter consternation"[67] at Alexei's sudden recovery. On 10 October, Doctor Eugene Botkin wrote to his children that "our priceless patient" was "undoubtedly significantly better."[68] The positive trend continued throughout the next day.[69] On 19 October Alexei's condition was much better and the hematoma disappeared. The boy had to undergo orthopedic therapy to straighten his left leg.[70] Feodorov confirmed that Alexei's recovery was "wholly inexplicable, from a medical point of view."[71]
According to Pierre Gilliard's 1921 memoir,
The Tsar had resisted the influence of Rasputin for a long time. At the beginning he had tolerated him because he dare not weaken the Tsarina's faith in him – a faith which kept her alive. He did not like to send him away for, if Alexei Nicolaievich had died, in the eyes of the mother he would have been the murderer of his own son.[72]
Observers and scholars have offered suggestions for Rasputin's apparent positive effect on Alexei: he used
Writers from the 1920s had a variety of explanations for the apparent effects of Rasputin. Greg King thinks such explanations fail to take into account those times when Rasputin apparently healed the boy, despite being 2600 km (1650 miles) away. For historian Fuhrmann, these ideas on hypnosis and drugs flourished because the Imperial Family lived in such isolation from the wider world.[78] ("They lived almost as much apart from Russian society as if they were settlers in Canada."[78][79]) Moynahan says, "There is no evidence that Rasputin ever summoned up spirits, or felt the need to; he won his admirers through force of personality, not by tricks."[80] Shelley said that the secret of Rasputin's power lay in the sense of calm, gentle strength, and shining warmth of conviction.[81] Radzinsky wrote in 2000 that Rasputin believed he truly possessed a supernatural healing ability or that his prayers to God saved the boy.[82]
Gilliard,
Childhood
During
In December 1916,
Stavka
During
In 1916, he was given the title of
Imprisonment of the Imperial family
The imperial family was arrested following the February Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the abdication of Nicholas II. When he was in captivity at Tobolsk, Alexei complained in his diary that he was "bored" and begged God to have "mercy" on him. He was permitted to play occasionally with Kolya, the son of one of his doctors, and with a kitchen boy named Leonid Sednev. As he became older, Alexei seemed to tempt fate and injure himself on purpose. While in Siberia, he rode a sled down the stairs of the prison house and injured himself in the groin. The hemorrhage was very bad, and he was so ill that he could not be moved immediately when the Bolsheviks relocated his parents and older sister Maria to Yekaterinburg in April 1918. However, neither Nicholas II nor Empress Alexandra mention anything about a sledding accident in their diaries, and in fact primary resources such as letters of Empress Alexandra and the diaries of both Nicholas II and Alexandra state that the haemorrhage was caused by a coughing fit.[95][96] On 30 March (12 April) 1918, Empress Alexandra recorded in her diary: 'Baby stays in bed as fr[om] coughing so hard has a slight haemorrhage in the abdom[en].[97] Every day from then onwards until her removal to Yekaterinburg, Alexandra recorded Alexei's condition in her diary. Alexei and his three remaining sisters joined the rest of the family weeks later.[98] He was reliant on a wheelchair for the remaining weeks of his life.
Death
The Tsesarevich was murdered on 17 July 1918 aged 13 in the cellar room of the
For decades (until all the bodies were found and identified,
Discovery and identification of remains
On 23 August 2007, a Russian archaeologist announced the discovery of two burned, partial skeletons at a bonfire site near Yekaterinburg that appeared to match the site described in Yurovsky's memoirs. The archaeologists said the bones are from a boy who was roughly between the ages of twelve and fifteen years at the time of his death and of a young woman who was roughly between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old.[100] Anastasia was seventeen years, one month old at the time of the assassination, while Maria was nineteen years, one month old. Alexei was two weeks shy of his fourteenth birthday. Alexei's elder sisters, Olga and Tatiana, were twenty-two and twenty-one years old, respectively, at the time of the assassination. Along with the remains of the two bodies, archaeologists found "shards of a container of sulfuric acid, nails, metal strips from a wooden box, and bullets of various caliber." The bones were found using metal detectors and metal rods as probes. Also, striped material was found that appeared to have been from a blue-and-white striped cloth; Alexei commonly wore a blue-and-white striped undershirt.
On 30 April 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing had proven that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and the Grand Duchess Maria.
Sainthood
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad | |
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Major shrine | Church on Blood, Yekaterinburg, Russia |
Feast | 17 July |
The Romanov family had been canonized as
As noted, the remains of Alexei and Maria's (or Anastasia's) bodies were found in 2008. As of 2015, Alexei's remains had not yet been interred with the rest of his family, as the Russian Orthodox Church has requested more DNA testing to ensure that his identity was confirmed.[105]
Historical significance
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2012) |
Alexei was the heir apparent to the Romanov Throne.
Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917. He did this in favour of his twelve-year-old son Alexei, who ascended the throne under a regency. Nicholas later decided to alter his original abdication. Whether that act had any legal validity is open to speculation. Nicholas consulted with doctors and others and realised that he would have to be separated from Alexei if he abdicated in favour of his son. Not wanting Alexei to be parted from the family in this crisis, Nicholas altered the abdication document in favour of his younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia. After receiving advice about whether his personal security could be guaranteed, Michael declined to accept the throne without the people's approval through an election held by the proposed Constituent Assembly. No such referendum was ever held.[106]
Grigori Rasputin rose in political power because the Tsarina believed that he could heal Alexei's hemophilia, or his attacks. Rasputin advised the Tsar that the Great War would be won once he (Tsar Nicholas II) took command of the Russian Army. Following this advice was a serious mistake, as the Tsar had no military experience. The Tsarina, Empress Alexandra, a deeply religious woman, came to rely upon Rasputin and believe in his ability to help Alexei where conventional doctors had failed. Historian Robert K. Massie explored this theme in his book, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Massie contends that caring for Alexei seriously diverted the attention of his father, Nicholas II, and the rest of the Romanovs from the business of war and government.[107]
Honours
- Russian Empire:[109]
- Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-called, 11 August 1904
- Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, 11 August 1904
- Knight of the Imperial Order of the White Eagle, 11 August 1904
- Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Anna, 1st Class, 11 August 1904
- Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class, 11 August 1904
- Saint George Medal, 4th Class, 17 October 1915
- France: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, 8 July 1914[110]
- Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, 27 June 1909[111]
- Kingdom of Italy: Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, 25 October 1909[112]
- Qing dynasty: Imperial Order of the Double Dragon[citation needed]
Archives
Alexei's diary, which was presumably kept by his tutors and relates his daily activities for January and February 1917, is written in both French and English and is preserved in the "Grand Duchess Kseniia Aleksandrovna Papers" collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA).[113]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The royal haemophilia line
Legend: X – unaffected X chromosome; x – affected X chromosome; Y – Y chromosome; ? - unknown carrier status
Source: Aronova-Tiuntseva, Yelena; Herreid, Clyde Freeman (20 September 2003). "Hemophilia: 'The Royal Disease'" (PDF). SciLinks. National Science Teachers Association. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2018. |
Notes
- ^ If Rasputin's daughter was right about the day that her father responded – 13 October – "the longstanding claim that Rasputin had somehow alleviated Alexei's condition is simply fictitious."[65]
- ^ Alexei and the other Romanov saints are considered martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
References
- ^ Macedonsky, Dimitry (2005–2006). "Hail, Son of Caesar! A Titular History of Romanov Scions". European Royal History Journal. 8.3 (XLV): 19–27.
- ISBN 978-0-85011-029-6.
- ^ "Alexis". Encloypaedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "The Abdication of Nicholas II: 100 Years Later". The Russian Legitimist. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ Pierre Gilliard, Thirteen Years at the Russian Court, p. 26 [ISBN missing]
- ^ Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 144
- ^ a b "The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra – Chapter XVI – The Empress and Her Family". www.alexanderpalace.org. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Helen Rappaport, "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra," p. 109
- ^ Wheeler and Rives, Dome, p. 356
- ^ Kellogg Durland, Royal Romances of To-day, 206
- ^ a b c Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 139
- ^ Durland, Royal Romances, p. 206
- ^ Welch, Romanovs and Mr Gibbes, p. 37
- ^ a b c d e f g Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 140
- ^ Kellogg Durland, Royal Romances of To-day, 206–207
- ^ Radziwill, Taint, p. 196
- ^ Helen Rappaport, The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra, p. 175
- ^ a b c Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 142
- ^ Botkin, Real Romanovs, pp. 73–74
- ^ Helen Rappaport, "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra," p. 177
- ^ Radziwill, Taint, p. 397
- ^ Untitled TS memoirs, List 1 (82) Sydney Gibbes Papers, Bodleian Library, fo 4.
- ^ a b Sophie Buxhoeveden, Before The Storm, p. 311
- ^ Massie, pp. 136–143
- ^ Robert K. Massie, "Nicholas and Alexandra," p. 141
- ^ "Pierre Gilliard – Thirteen Years at the Russian Court – memoirs of Nicholas, Alexandra and their family – Influence of Rasputin – Vyrubova – My Tutorial Troubles". alexanderpalace.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
- ^ Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967, p. 137.
- ^ Massie, p. 145
- ^ a b Massie, pp. 136–146
- ^ Massie, p. 143
- ^ Zeepvat, Charlotte, The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album, Sutton Publishing Limited, 2004, p. 20
- ^ Mouchanow, Lifelong Passion, pp. 154–155
- ^ a b Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs, p. 518
- ^ Buxhoeveden, Before the Storm, pp. 237–238.
- ^ New Czarevitch', Daily Express, 13 August 1904.
- ^ "The Cesarevitch" The Times, 25 August 1904.
- ^ Carolly Erickson, Alexandra: The Last Tsarina, p. 146
- ^ Helen Rappaport, The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra, p. 75
- ^ Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, 1928.
- ^ "The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra – Chapter XII – The Russo-Japanese War". www.alexanderpalace.org. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ Michael Price (8 October 2009). "Case Closed: Famous Royals Suffered From Hemophilia". ScienceNOW Daily News. AAAS. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- S2CID 206522975.
- ^ Mouchanow, Lifelong Passion, p. 245
- ^ Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs, p. 519
- ^ Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Imperial Family, p. 237.
- ^ Lifelong Passion, p. 249.
- ^ Ular, Russia from Within, p. 41
- ^ "The Three-year-old Heir to the Throne of the Czar", Current Literature 43, no. 1, July 1907, p. 38
- ^ "Daily News, Maryland, 23 October 1912
- ^ "The Times, 4 November 1912.
- ISBN 1-86448-911-1
- ^ Robert K Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, p. 138
- ^ Yegorov, O. (21 February 2018). "Royal diseases: 4 Russian rulers and heirs leveled by sickness". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ Helen Rappaport, Romanov Sisters, p. 111.
- ^ Vorres, Last Grand Duchess, p. 142
- ^ Helen Rappaport, Romanov Sisters, p. 112
- ^ Vorres, Last Grand Duchess, pp. 142–143
- ^ M. Nelipa (2015) Alexei. Russia's Last Imperial Heir: A Chronicle of Tragedy, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Helen Rappaport, Romanov Sisters, p. 179.
- ^ a b c Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs, p. 555
- ^ M. Nelipa (2015) Alexei, Russia's Last Imperial Heir: A Chronicle of Tragedy. Chapter III, p. 84.
- ^ "Melnik-Botkina, Vospominaniya, p. 124
- ^ Vyrubova, p. 94
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https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838
Further reading
- Greg King and Penny Wilson, The Fate of the Romanovs, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, ISBN 0-471-20768-3
- Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967.
- Robert K. Massie, The Romanovs: The Final Chapter, Random House, 1995, ISBN 0-394-58048-6
- Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story, Doubleday, 1997, ISBN 0-385-48673-1
- Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, Doubleday, 2000, ISBN 0-385-48909-9
- Demetrios Serfes, A Miracle Through the Prayers of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexis
- Maxim Shevchenko, The Glorification of the Royal Family, a 2000 article in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta
- ISBN 0-7509-3049-7
External links
- Media related to Alexei Nikolaievich of Russia at Wikimedia Commons
- The Romanov Memorial
- FrozenTears.org A media library of the last Imperial Family.
- The Search Foundation, an organization dedicated to searching for the remains of the two "missing" Romanov children.
- RoyalRussia.org: Tsarevich Alexis Heir to the Throne.