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A somewhat rare formal photograph of Olga from the 1910 session.

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Happy Birthday Anastasia!

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, Olga’s youngest sister, was born on June 18th, 1901 in Peterhof. She was the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. He recorded in his diary: “At about 3 o’clock in the morning, Alix started to have strong pains. …At exactly 6 o’clock in the morning a little daughter - Anastasia - was born. Everything went off splendidly, quite quickly and thank God without any complications! …Luckily Alix felt quite cheerful. The little one weighs 11 1/2 pounds and measures 55 centimeters.”

Despite their difference in age, Olga and Anastasia, like the rest of their sisters, were very close. The two girls shared a love of fun and play. They were both witty and intelligent, but in a way that complimented one another. Olga was more dedicated to her studies, while Anastasia had a natural ability of reading people. Apart from the “big pair” and “little pair” groupings that occasionally separated them, Olga and Anastasia were more alike than any of their other sisters. While their sisters Tatiana and Maria were known for their dutiful and angelic demeanor, Olga and Anastasia were more prone to mischief and their mother’s displeasure. Olga predeceased Anastasia when they were killed on July 17th, 1918.

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia in her formal portraits. Summer 1914.

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Happy Birthday Tatiana!

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, Olga’s younger sister, was born on June 10th, 1897 in Peterhof. She was the second child of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. He recorded in his diary: “The second bright happy day in our family: at 10:40 in the morning the Lord blessed us with a daughter - Tatiana. …Tatiana weighs 8 3/4 pounds and is 54 centimeters long. Our eldest is very funny with her.”

Growing up, Olga and Tatiana were known as the “big pair” to differentiate them from their two younger sisters, Maria and Anastasia, who were known as the “little pair.” The pairs would often be dressed in very similar clothing and shared a bedroom together in the Alexander Palace. While all of the sisters were very close to each other, especially as they matured, the pairs had more of a mutual understanding and trust with one another.

“[Olga’s] more careful sister, Tatiana, would suggest practical measures, would note names and details, and come back to the subject later out of a sense of duty. …[Tatiana] had a less strong character than Olga Nikolaevna, whose lead she would always follow, but she could make up her mind in an emergency quicker than her elder sister, and never lost her head. …[Tatiana] became much better known than her cleverer elder sister, as she took more trouble about the people she met.” -Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, lady-in-waiting to the girls’ mother, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

“Having friends was very important to [Tatiana], and like her sister Olga, she eagerly sought them out. …Unlike Olga, [Tatiana] never complained when asked to do a chore by her parents. …Imprisonment was tough on Tatiana. Like her older sister, she became even more thin and withdrawn. Tatiana was religious, much in the same way her mother was, and she was an inspiration to the rest of the family in captivity.”

Tatiana was a tremendous source of support for her family while they were in captivity. She assisted in taking care of her younger brother Alexei, who had suffered from a hemorrhage and was unable to walk, while they were left in Tobolsk without their parents. Tatiana and Olga were holding onto one another when they were killed on July 17th, 1918.

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Olga and an officer, c. 1908.

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Today, 6 June, marks Empress Alexandra Feodorovna’s 149th birthday. Alexandra and her eldest child, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, had a somewhat turbulent relationship throughout the latter’s youth. Olga typically felt strained by her mother’s expectations and demands of her, particularly in terms of setting an example for her four younger siblings. However, their relationship mellowed in their later years, as Alexandra’s health gradually worsened after the birth of her fifth child. During World War I, the two worked as nurses together and were less at odds due to the difficult circumstances that surrounded them. While in captivity and imprisoned from 1917 to 1918, Olga and her sisters jointly doted upon their dear “mama” and younger brother, doing whatever they could to liven their spirits. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, Alexandra, Olga, their family, and accompanying servants were executed. Olga and her mother were both reported to have made the sign of the cross together upon hearing what would become of them. Alexandra was killed after her husband and a few of the servants, but before all of her children. Olga was uninjured during the first attempt at their lives, but was fatally shot after the gunmen returned minutes later. Olga had been clinging onto her sister Tatiana and died immediately after her.

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Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family as featured in Gleb Botkin’s The Real Romanovs (1931).

Gleb Botkin was the son of Dr. Eugene Botkin, who was the court physician for Nicholas and his family from 1908 to 1918. Dr. Botkin was close with both the Tsar and the Tsarina, and traveled with them to Yekaterinburg, where they were all executed on July 17, 1918. Gleb and his sister grew up alongside the imperial children, often playing together during the holidays. After the revolution, the two siblings fled to Siberia and Japan before settling in the United States in 1922. Gleb became acquainted with Anna Anderson, the most notorious of the Romanov impostors, in Germany in 1927. He recognized her as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, and became a fervent supporter of her claim for the rest of his life. He authored many novels and articles, including The Real Romanovs, and corresponded with the remaining Romanovs about “Anastasia.” Gleb, along with Princess Xenia Georgievna, paid for Anna to travel to France and the United States in 1928. Later that year, Nicholas II’s mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, died in her native Denmark. At her funeral in Copenhagen, many of the most prominent members of the family gathered to sign the “Copenhagen Statement,” which was a joint rejection of Anna’s claim. She lived in a state of tumultuous, on-and-off luxury and squalor in Europe from the 1930s to the 1960s. In 1968, Gleb and his friend John Manahan funded her journey to the United States. The three lived near one another in Charlottesville, Virginia. Anna and John were wed later that year, with Gleb as the best man. Gleb died the following year, and Anna passed in 1984. After her death, the remains of the Imperial Family were tested with Anderson’s DNA, proving once and for all that Anna was not the Grand Duchess Anastasia.

(I took these pictures myself! I have a copy of the original print of this book from 1931. These photographs are widely available on the internet, but I don’t believe the third one is very common. The two Grand Duchesses pictured are Olga and Tatiana.)

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“She could play by ear anything she had heard, and could transpose complicated pieces of music, play the most difficult accompaniments at sight, and her touch on the piano was delightful.”

- Baroness Sophie Buxdoeveden, The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, 1928

Pictured: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia playing the piano, Alexander Palace, 1910s

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia in her formal portraits. Peterhof, 1906.

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia featured in Félix Potin’s collection of postcards in the early 1900s.

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Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevna wearing court dresses in 1904 and 1913.

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia having tea at Eriklik, May 19th, 1914. This photograph was likely taken by her younger sister, Anastasia, who sat across from her at the table.

Eriklik was a dacha originally built in 1872 for Olga’s paternal great-grandmother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna (born Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine), the wife of Tsar Alexander II. It was located in close proximity to Livadia Palace, the summer residence of Olga’s family in the Crimea.

During the month of May in 1914, Olga and her family visited Eriklik twice, once on May 19th, and the other on May 28th.

Eriklik, May 19th, 1914. Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia having tea with their parents and family friends.

Monday, May 19th, 1914

“In the afternoon we four drove with Papa and Mama in two motors to the farm... Mama moved there in her small carriage. And we all went to Eriklik. There we talked, took photos and then went even further up to a bench, from there we admired the wonderful view. Then we went down again to Eriklik and the farm... drank tea. Returned home by motor...” - Grand Duchess Tatiana’s 1914 Diary

Eriklik, May 19th, 1914.

Eriklik, May 19th, 1914.

On May 28th, 1914, the Imperial family traveled to Eriklik again. They were met by members of their extended family and officers from the Imperial yacht. They had breakfast together and walked and relaxed in the garden. Olga noted in her diary that the day was “warm and sunny.” They left the Crimea three days later, never to return in better times. Their last visit was a brief one in 1916, in the middle of World War I.

Wednesday, May 28th, 1914

“At 12 we four with Papa and Mama went to Eriklik. It was very good. Then we walked and talked in general. When everyone had left, Mama got in her small carriage, and we walked home...” - Grand Duchess Tatiana’s 1914 Diary

Eriklik, May 28th, 1914. Olga is seated in the first picture and standing behind her mother in the second.

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Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia in their formal portraits with their newborn brother, 1904.

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Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia in their formal portraits, 1904.

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia with her parents and siblings in their formal portrait, 1904.

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Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia in court dress on the occasion of their younger brother’s christening. Saint Petersburg, 1904.

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Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia in court dress on the occasion of her younger brother’s christening. Saint Petersburg, 1904.