Klementy Nagorny, sailor who looked after the Tsarevitch Alexei

[Foxie]

Hey everyone, first time on Royal Forums ever, seriously enjoying what it has to offer. :)

Anyway, onto the actual post.

I am writing a historical-fiction radio script following the story of Klementy Nagorny, one of the sailor-nannys that watched over the Tsarevitch Alexei. It is for a school assessment.

I've conducted research into this somewhat illusive and mysterious character and have gained some useful information, however I am always looking for more!

Myself being an Aussie, I have no knowledge of the Russian language nor have any relatives living there to assist me.

So basically what I am asking for is any information about Nagorny that anyone can dig up, and, to a lesser degree information that I might need to know or might like to include in the final product.

Thanks for any and all help.

[NGalitzine]

^^^^
What information do you have so far? What specifically are you looking for?

[Foxie]

I have only very basic information on him gathered from Pierre Gilliard's "Thirteen Years at the Russian Court" and Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra", in which Nagorny is merely mentioned. But this is all I have found so far, just mentions; whilst this is good in writing a historical-fiction as it gives me more room to maneuver , I'd always like to learn more.

Its quite hard for me to acquire any information at all on this topic, so any mentions anyone comes across to Nagorny would be a great help to me - whatever topic they may discuss.



Basically all I'm looking for is any mentions of him, whether vague or not, I could very likely put them to use. :)

[NGalitzine]

^^^^
Perhaps you should write to the Hoover Institute at Stanfords University as they seem to own quite a lot a Romanov papers and related information.

[Vasillisos Markos]

You might find additional references by reading the books listed in the bibliography in Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra. I am thinking of accounts by Buxhoeveden and Vryubova, both of whom were intimate with the Empress and the royal family. They might offer some additional information about Nagorny.

[Foxie]

Thanks both of you for your efforts and replies. I sent an inquiring email off to the Hoover Institute and have printed off some samples from the memoirs in Massie's book.

To stress the fact that these mentions are rare and unpredictable, I was flipping through Massie's book and came across the photo section, in which - to my surprise was a photo of Nagorny playing with Alexei and his friends.

Just keep an eye out and notify me if you stumble across anything like this. :)

Thanks again.

[Vasillisos Markos]

My dear Foxie,
You are welcome and welcome to the Forums!

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Do you need information about just his life or also events leading up to his death? Although I admit I am definitely not as helpful on this subject as those who have already posted. On Nagorny I just know the basics that you probably have having read Massie.

[Grandduchess24]

It never occured to me until now but I wonder what happened to him after the family was sent to exile. I know he must've written a memoir and most likely in russian.

[AristoCat]

Impossible; Ngorney was executed by the Bolsheviks a short time before the rest of the Imperial Family was executed.

[Foxie]

Yep, in my research I have seen that Nagorny was taken away with Ivan Sednev, then imprisoned with Georgy Lvov for 4 days before he was executed.

Just looking for things that may be relevant in writing a story about him. :)

[Alexey 1904]

Dear Foxie: If you look up 'Klementy Nagorny' on amazon.com, you will find 5 books, both hardcover and paperback, where he is mentioned. I don't know how much he gets a mention;maybe you already have info about him from other sources, and maybe it's just a rehashing of your own info, but it might be worth a look....

[JR76]

I remember reading in a biography written by someone close to the imperial couple that when he/she one day after the abdication walked past a room he/she could see how a sailor that previously had cared for little Alexei was mistreating him badly by forcing him to jump up and down or something until the poor boy was completely exhausted.
I'm sorry but I neither remember who's biography it was, who the sailor was (but I remember that he was named in the book) or exactly what he did to the boy when seen by the biographer.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

[Chubb Fuddler]

I remember reading the same thing somewhere a few years ago, but cannot remember where. But I did find something in the new book Four Sisters: the Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses, that I bought last week. There are two footnotes about the sailor Andrey Derevenko:

The jury is still out on Derevenko’s behaviour after the revolution. Having been extremely well paid and well treated by the Imperial Family, who extended their generosity to his children and even his sick relatives, Derevenko appears to have been sent away having been discovered pilfering from Alexey’s belongings. From Petrograd he sent numerous requests to rejoin the family in Tobolsk (which suggests he still had a degree of loyalty to the family), but was never allowed to travel there, leading to accusations that he had betrayed them. He is thought to have died of typhus in Petrograd in 1921. See Zimin, Detskii Mir, pp. 86–8.

Alexey’s other dyadka, Derevenko, did not travel with them to Tobolsk; his behaviour towards the boy had changed since the revolution. He had become harsh and churlish in his manner towards Alexey and was no longer perceived as the kind and trustworthy carer he had once been.

It looks as if the accusations of unkindness are based on accounts by Anna Vrubova, whose reliability is questionable. As for Nagorny Klementy, he remained kind and loyal until he was removed from the Ipatiev House and shot in late May 1918.

[JR76]

Aha! I've read Anna Vrubova's memoirs so that might be where I read about it!!
.

[CyrilVladisla]

Klementy's full Russian name was Klementy Grigoriyevich Nagorny.
He was born in 1889.

[CyrilVladisla]

Klementy Nagorny accompanied Tsarevich Alexis as Alexis played with friends
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/1077579996