The Children of Tsar Nicholas II ("OTMAA")


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Indeed all four girls were fond of drawing, but according to Sophie Buxhoeveden, Maria was the only one with a talent for drawing:

Marie Nikolaevna, alone of the sisters, had a decided talent for drawing, and sketched quite well, always with her left hand.
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I personally think Anastasia was quite skilled as well.

Moonmaiden23 said:
Thanks Archduchess Zelia...I am a BIG fan of French bulldogs, adore the breed.:) Did Ortino perish at Ekaterinberg too?
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IIRC there were actually two Ortinos – both given to Tatiana by Dmitri Malama. One died shortly after it was given to her; the other is the one we see in various photographs.

As a little "terrier type dog" was found alongside the remains of Nicholas, Alix, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia, it is presumed that he was killed on the 17 July as well :sad:
 
I agree that Anastasia was quite skilled at art :)

And yes, there's that picture of Olga on the day of her 16th birthday at Livadia right?
 
Right now I'm re-watching an Australian/Newzealanic TV series, "Mirror mirror", where a huge plot point is about how the last Tsarevich survived and was taken to "safety" on New Zealand. (This TV series was made twelve years before his remains were discovered, so there still was a slight possibility that he could have survived.) Of course, the character is called Nicholas, not Alexei. But that was also explained by that he now went by the English form of his father's name to be ignognito. While I'm not an expert, it seems to me like plenty of research was done. Even the haemophilia is mentioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror,_Mirror_%28TV_series%29
 
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On page 241 and 242 of 'Four Sisters' by Helen Rsppaport, it states that the French bulldog given to Tatiana by Dmitri Malama, and bought by Anna Vyrubova as a gift for Dimitri to give Tatiana,was named 'Ortipo' and was a female who had a litter of puppies, which the Romanovs gave away. Ortipo was a companion for Anastasia's dog, named 'Shvybzik' before she owned 'Jim', which is what she called 'Jimmy'. At the time, Alexis also had a dog which died. The dog's name was 'Shot'. Alexis had this dog before Joy.
 
I sometimes think it's oddly just as well that all of them died. Imagine surviving, living with the trauma, and then having to deal with the fractious Romanov clan and dealing with the ambition of everyone around you. Men trying to jockey you down the aisle, various royal houses grabbing at you, and then dozens of relations wanting you to fall apart and mourn your family (as if you didn't have enough problems). Then dealing with the idea of the Communists trying to possibly kidnap and assassinate you. Or having the press trying to interview you and end up with other heads of state trying to get you to denounce Communists.

It would make anyone crazy.
 
I didn't know a lot about Tsar Nicholas II's children until I watched an interesting documentary about them (I can't remember what it was called, apologies). I've come to really like them and their family, it's such a shame that they passed away so young. I thought that "OTMAA" was a nickname that the press gave them, I didn't realise that it was them who came up with that nickname because of the first letters of their names. It was also interesting to learn that their mother Tsarina Alexandra wanted to look after her children herself, and gave them a rather simple upbringing, as that was what she had experienced as a child.

I love this photo of Grand Duchess Olga as a toddler and this photo of Grand Duchess Anastasia knitting as a child.

It will be interesting to learn more about them – I think I'm going to do some research. :google:
 
OTMA - BBC 2-part doco (2014)

"Russia's Lost Princesses"

2-part BBC2 documentary on OTMA

→ Find details, the first episode on YouTube [while it lasts] and a review in the Royal Library thread.
 
I'm not sure if this is the correct thread for this article, please feel free to move if not.

This intimate collection of photos capture Russia's imperial Romanov family like you've never seen them before.
Huddled together on a day out at the beach or around the beds of soldiers wounded in the Great War, the pictures were taken shortly before their 300-year dynasty came to a tragic and abrupt end.
Within a year of the album's latest photos, the Russian revolution swept across the country, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and he and his family were exiled, before being murdered on Lenin's orders.
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The Romanovs as you've never seen them before: Amazing photo album captures the intimate moments of Russia's last royal family just one year before they were exiled and executed | Daily Mail Online
 
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Yes she rarely joined them. But we can't blame her: the guards weren't glad seeing her. But there's a cute story which took place in Tsarskoe Selo captivity period which Baroness Buxhoeveden recounted in her book in Alix. There it's stated one soldier confronted her with many questions about her love for Russia (as he doubted her love for their country). Alix responded that she really wanted to tour around the country however the consecutive birth of her children and taking care of them herself (she was indeed a hands-on parent if you read more about her) and her subsequent illnesses (her heart problem, sciatica) all precluded her from doing so. The guard was impressed by her openness and kindness that Baroness Buxhoeveden noticed him eventually softening towards the Empress. Their conversation actually went on after those question and answer portion. God know what they talked about and I'm sad it's not possible for Sophie B. to write them down :'( Next time when the Empress came out, that very soldier began helping the Empress whenever he could. Beautiful story..

People here, there are actually lots of books about them currently published - mostly collection of their letters - they are fantastic to read (for fans of course, hehe). However don't ask me how they are or how the books give more info about the children because I haven't bought even one of those books~ I just depended my opinion upon buyers' comments.
 
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has tasked a working group with studying and reburying the remains of two members of the Romanov royal family who were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries almost 100 years ago.

Crown Prince Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria were executed along with their other siblings and parents — Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra — and family servants in the basement of a house they were being kept in in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in 1918 as royalist forces closed in on the city.
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More: Working Group Set Up for Remains of Russia's Last Royal Family | News | The Moscow Times
 
The cruelty of mankind directed on innocent children......seeing pictures of the royal children always reminds me of such.......time and time again mankind is cruel and horrifying.
 
M. Payton said:
The cruelty of mankind directed on innocent children......seeing pictures of the royal children always reminds me of such.......time and time again mankind is cruel and horrifying.
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There is plenty of cruelty towards children, not just royal ones.....
 
I know that yet my comment was referring to the picture posted here, no lecture needed to tell me the cruel ways of men and war towards children and women.....I have plenty of history books that tell the stories.
 
And some of us have personal experience of such things as well. However, although we all know of cruelties in wars and all over the world, I agree that there is something very compelling about the murder of these four young girls and boy. I sometimes can't look at pictures of them all in happier times without getting a lump in my throat about their fate.
 
:previous:

Sorry, but for me at least the link does not work. :sad:

The "Romanov - Royal Martyrs" Channel at youtube, which I have linked before, has a new vid with a collection of pictures of the Imperial Family in captivity. A lot of OTMAA pics as well....


I think it is a really moving, what "ordinary" stuff the family did while awaiting their fate.
 
The remains of the children of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Maria and Tsesarevich Alexei may be buried in 2021, announced by Princess Olga Andreevna Romanov, President of the Romanov Family Association.

"“We want (Tsesarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria) to be buried next to their parents and sisters. We have always dreamed that they would be buried in the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg,” TASS quoted her as saying. According to the Princess, due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus, the burial may take place in 2021. Thus, the 103rd anniversary of their death would be marked."


https://tass.ru/obschestvo/8991569
 
Marina Amaral has released a series of linked tweets containing photographs of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaievich of Russia. There are also snippets of letters from Maria and Anastasia to Tsar Nicholas II. I think there are at least two photos in Marina Amaral's tweet with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1316080887767891980

Marina Amaral has been working on the project #Romanovs100, which "is an online educational narrative — a research into history through the visual language of photography combined with the digital reality of social media.".
https://romanovs100.com/
 
eya said:
The remains of the children of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Maria and Tsesarevich Alexei may be buried in 2021, announced by Princess Olga Andreevna Romanov, President of the Romanov Family Association.

"“We want (Tsesarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria) to be buried next to their parents and sisters. We have always dreamed that they would be buried in the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg,” TASS quoted her as saying. According to the Princess, due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus, the burial may take place in 2021. Thus, the 103rd anniversary of their death would be marked."


https://tass.ru/obschestvo/8991569
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I have recently been reading books about the Romanovs and is it factual that the remains found with Alexei are Marie? I know there was some disagreement in the books I read about whether they were Marie or Anastasia. I am just wondering as I have recently gotten very interested in learning about them.
 
I don't think they honestly know for sure. They can tell the approximate age, but Marie and Anastasia were only 2 years apart - it'd presumably be easier with younger children as there'd be more development in a short time, but I suppose you don't really change much between 17 and 19. Most sources say that they originally found Anastasia with the two elder girls and the parents, and then Marie with Alexei, but I don't think anyone's 100% sure.
 
Alison H said:
I don't think they honestly know for sure. They can tell the approximate age, but Marie and Anastasia were only 2 years apart - it'd presumably be easier with younger children as there'd be more development in a short time, but I suppose you don't really change much between 17 and 19. Most sources say that they originally found Anastasia with the two elder girls and the parents, and then Marie with Alexei, but I don't think anyone's 100% sure.
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Thank you. I am about to read a fifth book on this family in one month. Their story is so interesting but so tragic.
 
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