Biography Early life. Alexei was born on 12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1904 in Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire. He was the youngest of five children and ...
Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia
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Alexei Nikolaevich | |||||
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Tsarevich of Russia | |||||
Tsarevich Alexei as a lance corporal in the Russian Army, 1916
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Born | 12 August 1904 Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire |
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Died | 17 July 1918 (aged 13) Ipatiev House, Yekaterinburg, Russian SFSR |
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House | Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov | ||||
Father | Nicholas II | ||||
Mother | Alexandra Feodorovna | ||||
Religion | Russian Orthodox | ||||
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Contents
Biography
Early life
Alexei was born on 12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1904 in Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire. He was the youngest of five children and the only son born to Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. His older sisters were the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. He was doted on by his parents and sisters and known as "Baby" in the family. He was later also affectionately referred to as Alyosha (Алёша).Alexei was christened on 3 September 1904 in the chapel in Peterhof Palace. His principal godparents were his paternal grandmother and his great-uncle, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. His other godparents included his oldest sister, Olga; his great-grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark; King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the Prince of Wales and William II, German Emperor. As Russia was at war with Japan, all the soldiers and officers of the Russian Army and Navy were named honorary godfathers.[3]
The christening marked the first time some of the younger members of the Imperial Family, including some of the younger sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, as well as the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, and their cousin Princess Irina Alexandrovna, were present at an official ceremony. For the occasion, the boys wore miniature military uniforms, and the girls wore a smaller version of the court dress and little kokoshniks.[4] The sermon was delivered by John of Kronstadt, and the baby was carried to the font by the elderly Mistress of the Robes, Princess Galitzine. As a precaution, she had rubber soles put to her shoes to avoid falling and dropping him. Countess Sophie Buxhoeveden recalled:
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.[5]
Hemophilia
His disease led to controversy, as it led to gossip that his mother was having an affair with the Russian strannik, a religious wanderer, and faith healer, Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin claimed to be able to "heal" Alexei when he was on the brink of death after spells of hemophilia-related complications. On 8 October 1912, Alexei received the last sacrament during another and particularly grave crisis (a swelling in the groin). The Romanovs were visiting their hunting retreat in the Białowieża Forest, but moved to Spała (then in Russian Poland). The desperate Tsarina turned to her lady-in-waiting and best friend Anna Vyrubova[8][9] to secure the help of the peasant healer, who at that time was out of favor. The next day, on 9 October, Rasputin responded and sent a short telegram, including the prophecy: "The little one will not die. Do not allow the doctors [c.q. Eugene Botkin and Vladimir Derevenko] to bother him too much."[10] His temperature dropped and the hematoma disappeared, but it took a year before he recovered. According to Gilliard,
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.[11]There are various explanations for Rasputin's ability, such as that Rasputin hypnotized Alexei, administered herbs to him, or that his advice to the Tsarina not to let the doctors bother Alexei too much aided the boy's healing. Others speculated that, with the information he got from his confidante at the court, lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova, Rasputin timed his interventions for when Alexei was on the road to recovery anyway, and claimed all the credit. Others believe he truly possessed a supernatural healing ability or that his prayers to God saved the boy.[12]
Gilliard,[13] the French historian Hélène Carrère d'Encausse[14] and Diarmuid Jeffreys, a journalist, speculated Rasputin's healing practice included halting the administration of aspirin, a pain-relieving analgesic available since 1899.[15] Aspirin is an antiaggregant and has blood-thinning properties; it prevents clotting, and promotes bleeding which could have caused the hemarthrosis. The "wonder drug" would have worsened Alexei's joints' swelling and pain.[16][17]
Alexei and his sisters were taught to view Rasputin as "Our Friend" and to exchange confidences with him. Alexei was well aware 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?"[18]
Childhood
According to his French tutor, Pierre Gilliard, Alexei was a simple, affectionate child, but his environment was spoiling 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. His personal attendant the sailor Derevenko, required 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 replied 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".[19]As a small child, he occasionally played pranks on guests. One example occurred at a formal dinner party, where 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.[23]
Alexei was one of the first Boy Scouts in Russia.[28][29][30][31]
The Tsar's 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.[32] | ” |
Stavka
Imprisonment of the Imperial family
Death
Main article: Shooting of the Romanov family
2007 remains found and 2008 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 ten and thirteen years at the time of his death and of a young woman who was roughly between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three years old.[36] 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 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 proves that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and to one of his sisters.[37]
DNA information, made public in July 2008, that has been obtained from Ekaterinburg and repeatedly tested independently by laboratories such as the University of Massachusetts Medical School reveals that the final two missing Romanov remains are indeed authentic and that the entire Romanov family housed in the Ipatiev House, Ekaterinburg were executed in the early hours of 17 July 1918.[38] In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Tsarevich Alexei and one of his sisters.[39][40]
Sainthood
Main article: Romanov sainthood
In 2000, Alexei and his family were canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church. The family had previously been canonized in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as holy martyrs. The bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of their daughters were finally interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on 17 July 1998—eighty years after they were murdered.The reburial of Alexei's remains, so as to be with those of his family, was planned for 2015 but has been delayed due to the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church on more DNA-testing.[41]
Historical significance
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 present and realised that he would have to be separated from Alexei. Not wanting Alexei to be parted from the family, 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.[citation needed]
Alexei's haemophilia was integral to the rise of Grigori Rasputin. One of the many things Rasputin did that unintentionally facilitated the fall of the Romanovs was to tell the Tsar that the 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. This theme is explored in Robert K. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra. It is possible that if Alexei had not suffered so terribly, Rasputin could never have gained such influence over Russian politics during World War I, which is generally seen to have at least hastened the collapse of Romanov rule.[citation needed]
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.[43]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Styles of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia |
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Reference style | His Imperial Highness |
Spoken style | Your Imperial Highness |
Alternative style | Sir |
- Russian
- Order of St. Andrew (12 August 1904)
- Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (12 August 1904)
- Order of the White Eagle (12 August 1904)
- Order of St. Anne, 1st class (12 August 1904)
- Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class (12 August 1904)
- Commemorative Medal for the 100th anniversary of the Victory over France (1912)
- Commemorative Medal of the 300 years of the Romanov Dynasty (1913)
- Commemorative Medal of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Gangut (1914)
- St. George Medal for Bravery, 4th class (1915)
- Foreign
- Kingdom of Italy Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
- Kingdom of Italy Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- Kingdom of Italy Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy
- Sweden Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
- France Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Ancestry
[show]Ancestors of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia |
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The Royal haemophilia line
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See also
Notes
- The title tsesarevich is most often confused with tsarevich, which is a distinct word with a different meaning: Tsarevich was the title for any son of a tsar, including sons of non-Russian rulers accorded that title, e.g. Crimea, Siberia, Georgia while Tsesarevich was the title reserved for the heirs of the Emperors of Russia after Peter I.[1][2]
References
- Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967
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
- Charlotte Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album, Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3049-7
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexei Nikolaievich of Russia. |
- Alexei Romanov Fan Club
- The Romanov Memorial
- Posthumous account of Alexei's life, told in first person
- 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.
- Tsarevich Alexei A Spanish site about the life of the Tsarevich Alexei.
- RoyalRussia.org: Tsarevich Alexis Heir to the Throne.
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Categories:
- 1904 births
- 1918 deaths
- 20th-century Christian saints
- Burials at Peter and Paul Cathedral
- Child saints
- Deaths by firearm in Russia
- Heirs apparent who never acceded
- Haemophilia in European royalty
- House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
- Murdered children
- Executed royalty
- Executed children
- Murdered Russian royalty
- Passion bearers
- Victims of Red Terror in Soviet Russia
- Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Russian grand dukes
- Russian people of Danish descent
- Russian people of German descent
- Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russian)
- Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class
- Recipients of the Order of St. Andrew
- Recipients of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
- Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
- Recipients of the Medal of St. George
- Recipients of the Order of the Double Dragon
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
- Nicholas II of Russia
- Executed people from Saint Petersburg
- Russian people executed by firing squad
- People executed by Russia by firing squad
- Russian people of English descent
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