The Memory Bank

Maria, Anastasia, Olga and Tatiana (in the chair)

A hundred and two years ago, a large country to the east of England celebrated three-hundred years of Romanov rule. The Romanovs were the ruling dynasty of Imperial Russia. The current Emperor had honourable decendants such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, figures of history who revolutionised Russia. Nicholas II, tsar (king) of Russia, was destined to do the same - but in a completely different way.
Nicholas walked down the grand procession with the company of his wife, Alexandra. She was a German princess and great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Beside her is Alexis Nikolaevich - the heir to the throne, the little boy who bleeds. Further behind, in the company of their glamourous grandmother, are four sisters. The elder is eighteen, her arm linked with her sixteen-year-old sister, while the girl next to her, age fourteen, giggles. She's laughing at the mischievous antics of her twelve-year-old sister, who pulls faces at the cossack guards. They follow the procession smiling at the people who would, in five years time, take their lives in the cold name of murder.
Those sisters are known for their closeness, their beauty and their tragic ending. Their names are frequently mensioned by historians as important figures in Russian history. Their papa's reign would crash and burn in 1917, as revolution and civil war stirred and started in the next year, followed by the blood-stilling assassination of a captive family paying for centuries of hardship on the poor. Gunshots and bayonets silenced eleven citizens, prisoners to the bloodcurdling new rule of soviet leaders Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. A fairytale turned tragedy.
This site is dedicated to the memory of those four girls, deprived of marriage and children, young women who were killed for their sirname. Olga - the reader, the learner, the elder. Tatiana - the beauty, the governess, the mother's companion. Maria - the angel, the follower, the middle child. Anastasia - the imp, the leader, the famed one. Did she survive?
'Memories of a Grand Duchess' is devoted to the seven members of the Imperial Family. Decorated poems and photographs, these are fictional accounts of day-to-day life of OTMA and their brother Alexei. Some of these really happened, too. I hope you enjoy readings the daily antics of the lost heirs of Russia. you learn about their enchanting story and grow to love them as much as I do. Drop in a comment here and there. You can vote in the poll of your favourite Romanov. Fall in love with the handsome men of the Imperial branch (just not supercutefitgorgeoushandsome Alexei *drool*)
Enjoy.

Katherine.x