| "Anastasie, the youngest Grand Duchess, might have been composed of quicksilver, instead of flesh and blood; she was most amusing, and she was a very clever mimic. She saw the humorous side of everything, and she was very fond of acting indeed, Anastasie would have made an excellent comedy actress. Her French accent was excellent, and she acted scenes from comedy with remarkable talent." Lili Dehn |
We girls call ourselves OTMA, an acronym of our names (Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia -- that's me at the very end!). I have pretty hair that's kind of brownish-reddish-golden. I'm the only one of the sisters to wear my hair in bangs! I also have beautiful cornflower blue eyes that are the same color as my dear, sweet Papa's! Olga and Tatiana are disgustingly thin... not like me and Mashka at all, but at least Marie is tall! Unlike me... I hate being short. Some people even have the nerve to call me "dumpy!"
Olishka is the smart one, Tanya holds the authority among we children (in fact, we call Tatiana "the Governess!"), Maria is a perfect angel, and Aleksey is our Baby. This leaves poor little me, the youngest daughter, to be the family clown. I do impressions of people (like the the fat countess who is afraid of mice, or...) and I often climb trees to avoid lessons or a visit from a doctor or massuese, and I only come down when Papa himself tells me to do so. I am very charming (or so everyone says, and I am inclined to agree!) and I love dogs. I've had two: Shvibzik was my doggy who died in 1915 of a brain disorder, and Jemmy.
But I am not all sweetness and goodness like my roommate Maria! Oh no. My cousins tend to remember me as a rough little girl: they remember me pulling their hair and whatnot! One reason is because I'm so short (I was only about 5'1" or so at 17) and I would mercilessly pick on anyone who was taller than me, especially when I out-ranked them (like cousin Nina... grr...) . That's really the only time my rank mattered to me, you see. I am also a tease and I will make fun of anyone and everything: Olga's funny little nose, Tatia's bossiness, Mashka's flirting. . . you get the idea! But I am overall kind-hearted like the rest of my family--when I feel like it!
| "Perhaps Anastasia Nikolaievna would have grown up the prettiest of the sisters. Her features were regular and finely cut. She had fair hair, fine eyes, with impish laughter in their depths, and dark eyebrows that nearly met. These combined to make the youngest Grand Duchess quite unlike any of her sisters. She had a type of her own and was more like her mother's than her father's family. She was rather short even at seventeen, and was, then decidedly fat, but it was the fatness of youth. She would have outgrown it, as had her sister Marie." Our Isa, Sophie Buxhoeveden |
I am called by various nicknames: "Shvibz", which is short for the Russian word for Imp, 'Shvibzik'; Malenkaya, Russian for "Little One," Nastasia, Ana, Nastya, Nastas... I answer to them all! In family correspondance I am often simply "A." or "An." and I am called "Anastasia Nikolaievna," without any of my formal titles, by members of the Imperial suite (tutors and servants and stuff). Same with my sisters and brother: Maria Nikolaievna, Aleksey Nikolaievich, etc...
I shared a room with my Mashka, who is just two years older than me. Maria and I are the "Little Pair." Olga and Tatiana are the "Big Pair" (they share a room, too. Aleksey has his own). Sometimes I think I may take advantage of my good Marie (she is so sweet about everything!), yet we two are the best of friends. I admit that I am the power behind much of "the Little Pair's" activites, especially the pranks!. Maria and I used to play tennis in our room at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo sometimes! It is great fun! Our room is also above Mama's receiving room and we would turn up our phonographs as loud as they would go, and generally make a racket, embarassing poor Mama in the process! Despite that fact that Maria is so much more obedient than me (and such a flirt, you should see it!), I love my Mandrifolie very much and we are very close.
I am also very close to Aleksey, my little brother the Heir Tsesarevich who was born in 1904. Mama and Papa were so happy to finally have a boy after four girlies (they love OTMA dearly, of course, but they needed a son because only a boy can rule Russia). Our Baby is sick though... It's kind of a secret so I don't want to talk about it. So let's not talk about it, OK? Alyosha is so much fun! He likes jokes and pranks and other nonsense as much as me, and if I can't convince Mashka to do something with me (she can be so stubborn), Aleksey is always willing, except when he is ill. It is so hard for us when our Lyosha is ill. He'll be in bed for days and days... Oh! I'm sorry, I thought we weren't going to talk about this?
| "Anastasie Nicolaievna, on the other hand, was very roguish and almost a wag. She had a very strong sense of humour, and the darts of her wit often found sensitive spots. She was rather an 'enfant terrible', though this fault tended to correct itself with age. She was also extremely idle, though with the idleness of a gifted child. She was so lively, and her gaiety so infectious, that several members of the suite had fallen into the way of calling her "Sunshine," the nickname her mother had been given at the English Court." Pierre Gilliard--Zhilik! |
I also like to act, take photographs, and paint. I like art, and so does my god-mother, Auntie Olga Alexandrovna. She sometimes has parties for me and my sisters, and I also like it very much when she visits and we paint together. She's a very talented artist! Sometimes Mashka paints with us too, because Maria is also a very good painter, but sometimes it seems like Masha doesn't really care too much about it. I like to paint pictures and give them to Papa. He likes them a lot, so that leads me to believe that I must be a very good painter too!
When the war statred in 1914, everything started to change. Mama, Olga, and Tatiana became nurses. Masha and I were too young, be we went and visited the soldiers and sponsored our own hospital! Papa was often away and Aleksey would go with him later, and I wrote Papa lots and lots of letters!
In March of 1917, we were all coming down with the measles. Maria and I were the last ones to catch it, and I helped out Mama (Papa was away, Olga, Tatiana, and Aleksey were already sick) until I got sick too. Blech. It was no fun being sick, and there was a lot going on. While Mama was taking care of we children, the revolution happened. The people didn't want a tsar anymore, so Papa abdicated--for himself and Alyosha--and gave the throne to Uncle Mikhail, who didn't really want it, either! Marie then got sick--with measles and pneumonia! She and Olga had it real bad, and almost died. Papa came home, we got well, had our heads shaved (our hair was falling out!) and were under house-arrest in the Alexander Palace! Can you beleive that? From Grand Duchess to prisoner!
| "My favorite god-daughter she was indeed! I liked her fearlessness. She never whimpered or cried, even when hurt. She was a fearful tomboy. Goodness only knows which of the young cousins had taught her how to climb trees, but climb them she did even when she was quite small. It was not generally known that she had a weak back and the doctors ordered massage. Anastasia or 'Shvibzik,' as I used to call her, hated what she labeled 'fuss.' A hospital nurse, Tatiana Gromova, used to come to the palace twice a week, and my naughty little niece would hide in a cupboard or under her bed, just to put off the massage by another five minutes or so. I suppose the doctors were right about the defective muscle, but nobody, seeing Anastasia at play, would have believed it, so quick and energetic she was. And what a bundle of mischief!" Dear Auntie Olga Alexandrovna |
We stayed there until the summer, working outside on a kitchen garden, and then we were moved to Tobolsk, Siberia. We lived in the Governor's mansion, all four of us girlies sharing a room. It wasn't bad, but it was so boring! We put on plays and stuff to try and pass the time. In April of 1918, we were told that Papa needed to go. To Moscow, I think it was. We would have all gone together, but Aleksey had hurt himself. Mama was so upset, having to decide between Papa and her "Sunbeam." In the end she decided to go with Papa, and they took Maria with them! Olga needed to watch after Alyosha, Tatia was to be in charge of the household and I was supposed to "cheer all up."
We were so surprised when we found out that they didn't end up in Moscow at all, but Ekaterinburg! We joined them there eventually, when Lyosh was well enough to travel. We were so happy to be all together again, but--UGH!--was life there awful. The guards were all drunk and mean and they drew nasty cartoons and--it's too awful to talk about. No matter what anyone tells you, we all died together (along with four loyal friends) in the early hours of July 17, 1918. I was barely seventeen years old. Some people think I escaped, and some even pretended to be me, like Anna Anderson.
My whole family was cannonized in 2000 (we were all very religious and even before we were granted sainthood many thought of us as martyrs). I wonder what my cousins would think to know that "wild, rough" Anastasia is now a Saint!?
Pictures of the best Grand Duchess - ME!
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