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[[pl:Olga Aleksandrowna Romanowa]]
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[[ru:Ольга Александровна Романова]]

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Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Imperial Russia
Incumbency 1882-1960
Spouse Colonel Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky
Issue Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky-Romanoff
Juri Nikolaevich Kulikovsky-Romanoff
Royal House Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father Alexander III
Mother Maria Feodorovna
Born June 13 1882
Died November 24 1960, age 78

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (Template:Lang-ru; Olga Alexandrovna Romanova) (June 13, 1882November 24, 1960) was the last Grand Duchess of Imperial Russia under the reign of her elder brother, Tsar Nicholas II. Her father was Alexander III of Russia; her mother was the daughter of Christian IX of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna, formerly titled Princess Dagmar of Denmark. Raised at the Gatchina Palace of St. Petersburg, Russia, the young Grand Duchess was closest to her brother, "Misha", Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich.

The Grand Duchess was an accomplished painter and was responsible for the creation of over 2,000 works of art. She was the last surviving grandchild of Alexander II of Russia and is therefore considered the last reigning member of the House of Romanov. During the reign of her brother and father she was styled 'Her Imperial Highness (HIH), Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Romanov of Russia.

After the downfall of the Romanovs, she, her mother, and other relatives, were imprisoned in the Crimea. During a political upheaval within the ad interim, revolutionary government, the remaining family escaped to Copenhagen, Denmark. Upon the death of her mother in 1928, the Grand Duchess and her second husband, Nikolai Kulikovsky, moved to a farm near Copenhagen. During the spring of 1948, the family evacuated to rural Cooksville, Ontario near Toronto, Canada. While she lived in Canada, due to security concerns and for the sake of privacy, she was styled Olga Alexandrovna Kulikovsky. However, her Canadian descendants have revived the Romanov surname and are now addressed as Kulikovsky-Romanoff.

Early life

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Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Imperial Russia at right, Tsar Nicholas II (centre), and their mother (at left).

Born on June 13, 1882 in the Peterhof Palace, west of St. Petersburg in Peterhof, Russia, she was the youngest daughter of Tsar Alexander III and his consort, Empress Maria Feodorovna, formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark. Because she was born during her father's reign, she is described as born in the purple or as a porphyrogenite child, a Greek term used in the Russian Orthodox Church. The Grand Duchess was raised at Gatchina Palace, within the environs of the Imperial Palaces of St. Petersburg, Russia. The Gatchina was her childhood home and throughout her life the Grand Duchess would reflect on those memories as the "best" time of her life.[1]

However, Olga Alexandrovna and her siblings were not accustomed to a lavish early lifestyle, as modest, Spartan living and the strictest of discipline was required by their tutors, governesses, and parents. The Gatchina Palace Organisation's reference best described the living conditions of the young Romanovs:

The magnificence of the imperial suites did not, however, trickle down to the children's quarters. The Tsar's children slept on a firm bed with a hard, flat pillow and a very narrow mattress. A modest rug covered the floor. Straight-backed wicker chairs, the most ordinary of tables and bookshelves, needlework and toys, made up the only furnishings. A single precious object sat in the beautiful corner (icon corner): a silver-framed icon of the Blessed Mother of God, studded with pearls and other precious stones.[1]

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Breakfast in the Children's Room (1898), drawing by the Grand Duchess at the age of 16

Many of these English customs were introduced to the Russian court by the children's paternal grandmother, Marie of Hesse and by Rhine including the obligatory cold bath in the morning, porridge for breakfast, and an essential fresh air daily constitutional. The educational plan for the Grand Duchess and her siblings was of the highest standard. Royal tutors taught in depth the core subjects, such as the Russian language, Literature, Mathematics, History, and Languages. Although her siblings were taught in the same room, the "Children's" room (above right), her older brother, Nicholas, was being taught a different level of skills. The customary and traditional skills Nicholas was required to learn as Heir Apparent to the Throne were more urgent and necessary to learn than the lessons his other siblings were taught. Physical activities such as equestrian were also taught at an early age, eventually making the young Romanovs riding experts.

The Grand Duchess in her early years at the Gatchina Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia

The young Grand Duchess vacationed at Olgino, her estate in the province of Voronezh, southwestern Russia. There she practiced and exemplified her faith, the Russian Orthodox Church, by creating religious icons and blessing the village buildings and people. There she painted and drew many of her original works, later to be sold to neighbors and friends in rural Ontario, Canada. Equestrian, hiking, and swimming were also main activities at Olgino. The Grand Duchess developed a close relationship with the people of the village next to her estate. The relationship weakened due to the events leading to the Russian Revolution.

The Grand Duchess was described as being indifferent to the fine gemstones and expensive jewellery which remains identifiable with the House of Romanov during the reign of both her brother and father. Throughout her early life, the young Romanov amassed a near priceless collection of gems and jewellery which were later confiscated by Russian revolutionaries. The loving relationship between the Grand Duchess and her father was a defining chapter in her life. She also has a close relationship with her younger brother, Mikhail. Olga, Mikhail and their father were camping enthusiasts and frequently went on hikes around the Gatchina Palace area forests.[2] Tragically on November 1, 1894, the Grand Duchess' father, Alexander III of Russia, died at the early age of 49. The emotional impact Olga experienced at the age of only 12 was traumatic, as the family began to gradually encounter political upheaval in Russia.

Painter and philanthropist

Village Church in Autumn (1920), watercolor painting by the Grand Duchess

The Grand Duchess began drawing and painting at a young age. It was not until her late teenage years that her artistic ability began to prosper. She also had a philanthropic side, founding charity programs in the village of Olgino, near her estate, and improved basic medical and educational options for the local citizens. She also protected and was the patroness of many charitable organizations and establishments from an early age. She was, for the most part, benefactress to orphanages, hospitals, poorhouses and schools for girls. She gave considerable help to poor, but talented artists, and many destitute Russians sought help from her personally. Her support in rural Olgino sparked many foundations to begin humanitarian support for the poor of the Russian Empire. At Olgino, she subsidised the village school from her own pocket, established and visited the National Hospital in the village, and continued smaller, but considerable contributions to the most poverty stricken of the regional townships. At the hospital, she learned how to administer medical treatment and proper care of the ill from the local doctor. Through further medical training, the Grand Duchess was able to become a nurse, a capability which would later in life be extremely valuable. The Grand Duchess continued support for the Russian Orthodox Church and the church services held at Olgino. Even at Olgino, she was required to complete her daily educational lessons, which were usually complemented drawing or painting.

Apple Blossoms (1935), the Grand Duchess' still life painting of flowers and scenery

Even during my geography and arithmetic lessons, I was allowed to sit with a pencil in my hand. I could listen much better when I was drawing corn or wild flowers.[3]

Throughout her life, she created a vast collection of artwork from her time in Russia, Denmark, and later Canada, which soon amassed to a collection of over 2,000 pieces. In Russia and Denmark, her preferred art medium, scenery and landscape, continued to be prominently depicted in almost every one of her paintings created in Canada. The Grand Duchess also found her paintings to be a profitable source of income, selling many of her works upon completion in Copenhagen, Denmark. The young Romanov also praised the landscape of her Canadian surroundings, expressing them in a series of letters to her Danish friend, Alexandra Mikhailovna Iskra:

It was a wonderful evening, everything smelled so sweet. In the forests, it smelled just like in Russia with the birch and all kinds of trees in bloom. Then, when we were driving by homes and gardens of some friends, we saw them and got out of the car. What a beautiful garden they have! Lily of the valley, lilac and all kinds of plants scented the air. We walked through the gardens surrounding the house and on the other side we saw a deep ravine all covered with forest. We could see far off into the distance.[4]

Tsarskoye Selo

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The Grand Duchess and her then husband, Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, in 1901. Their questionable, unconsummated marriage ended in divorce fifteen years later.

At the age of nineteen, on August 9, 1901, the Grand Duchess married into the European House of Oldenburg, marrying Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg. Their marriage remained unconsummated, but the union continued and Oldenburg, with his newlywed, moved to Tsarskoye Selo, a large complex of palaces south of St. Petersburg, Russia. The Grand Duchess was very agreeable to the relocation, as her eldest brother, Nicholas, and his spouse, Alexandra, would be living at the Alexander Palace in close proximity to their own residence. In 1901, the Grand Duchess was appointed honorary Commander-in-Chief of the 12th Akhtyrsky Hussar Regiment of the Imperial Russian Forces. The Akhtyrsky Hussar, famous for its coalesced victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Kulm in 1813, was the only Russian force with the right to forever wear the distinguished Brown Doloman uniform.

In 1903, Olga was introduced to Colonel Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky by her beloved brother, Mikhail ("Misha"), during a royal military review at Pavlovsk. Soon a discrete love affair between the Grand Duchess and the Army Colonel began. The same year, at the age of 22, she confronted her husband and asked for an immediate divorce. Her brother, Tsar Nicholas II, believed the relationship with Kulikovsky to be a fleeting romance and agreed to allow Divorce within seven years. Oldenberg appointed Kulikovsky as an aide-de-camp and allowed him to live in the same residence of the Grand Duchess on the prestigious Sergievskaya street of Tsarskoye Selo. For those who knew, the relationship between Kulikovsky and the Grand Duchess was a guarded secret, especially from the Romanov family patriarchs. However, many influential members of the family were informed of the secret relationship, yet did nothing to show disapproval. In living at Tsarskoye Selo, the Grand Duchess also became very close to her nieces and nephew, the daughters and son of her venerated brother, the Czar. She especially took a liking to the youngest of Nicholas' daughters, Anastasia, whom she and other family members called "Shvibzik" (imp), a mischievous child.

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Neoclassical architecture of Tsarskoye Selo

The connection between the four daughters and their Aunt Olga was close and she would take them to parties in St. Petersburg. She was deeply trusted by both the Tsar and Tsarina. The Tsar and Tsarina were very protective parents and trusted few with the care of their children.

The Akhtyrsky Hussar Regiment, in the summer of 1914, appeared at an Imperial Review before Czar Nicholas II at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. When World War I erupted later in the same year, Kulikovsky was commissioned to command the regiment at the frontlines in Southwestern Russia. With the Grand Duchess' prior medical knowledge from the village of Olgino, started work as a Nurse with her own regiment in Proskurov, Russia. During the first year of the war, the Grand Duchess came under heavy Austrian fire. Nurses rarely worked so close to the frontlines and consequently the Grand Duchess was awarded the Order of St. George for her heroic actions.

The Fall of the House of Romanov

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Photograph of the Russian Imperial Family, 1913. Left to right, seated: Grand Duchess Marie Nicholaevna; Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna; Tsarevitch Alexei Nicholaevitch; Tsar Nicholas II; Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna Standing: Grand Duchess Tatiana and the Grand Duchess Olga (named after Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna)

In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II officially annulled the marriage between Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg and the Grand Duchess, allowing her to marry Colonel Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky (b. 5 November 1881) on November 14, 1916, in the Church of St. Nicholas in Kiev (present-day capital of the Ukraine). Among those in attendance were Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna, her older sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, her sister's husband, Grand Duke Alexander "Sandro", the officers of the Akhtyrsky Regiment, and fellow nurses from the hospital in Kiev founded by the Grand Duchess. After the revolution deposed her brother Tsar Nicholas II in early 1917, many members of the Romanov dynasty were arrested and held under house arrest. This happened to her brother and his family initially at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. The Dowager Empress, the Grand Duchess Xenia, and the Grand Duchess Olga managed to escape to Crimea where they lived for a time before they too were placed under house arrest at one of the imperial estates. On August 12, 1917, her first child and son, Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky (d. 9 April 1993) was born into the world as a royal prisoner under the Provisional government of Russia. He was named after the local, venerated Saint near the Grand Duchess' estate at Olgino, Tikhon of Zadonsk. Due to the communications problems and the official censorship imposed oon all Romanovs, little was known of the fate of her brother and family. Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children, were originally held at the Alexander Palace, but fearing for their safety, the Provisional government under Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky relocated the Imperial Family to Tobolsk, Siberia.

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (left), Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (center), and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (right); at a Russian beach, 1914

While in the Crimea, the Grand Duchess' family had been condemned to death by the Sevastopol and Yalta revolutionary councils. During a mild political upheaval between the two factions, the Central Power of Germany advanced on the Crimea, but upon arrival in November 1918, the German forces were informed of their nation's loss of the war. Shortly after the brief German occupation of the Crimea, the loyalist White Army temporarily restored the area to a fair level of safety, allowing the Grand Duchess and her family time to escape abroad. King George V of England sent the British warship HMS Marlborough to retrieve his aunt, the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna and some of her family from the unstable Crimea. An agreement was made between the Dowager Empress and George V to allow the evacuation of a large number of Russians onboard the ship. The communications blackout the family had experienced at the Crimea was relieved by the English sailors aboard the Marlborough. The Grand Duchess was told of her older brother's confirmed assassination and the assumed deaths of her sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew. The fate of her childhood confidant and brother, "Misha", Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, the one-time unofficial Emperor of Imperial Russia, was also uncertain. It was unknown to the Grand Duchess at the time, but the Grand Duke had been assassinated by the Cheka in Perm Krai, Russia on June 12, 1918, to ensure there was no possibility of a Romanov return to power.

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Grand Duchess Olga with her husband, Nikolai, and her new-born son, Tikhon, at the Crimea, 1917

The Grand Duchess Olga and her husband, Colonel Kulikovsky, refused to leave Russia at that time. The two decided to leave for the Kuban, then still free of Bolsheviks, to the large Cossack village of Novominskaya, where Timofei Yatchik, bodyguard of the Dowager Empress, was from. In a rented farmhouse, on 23 April 1919, their second son, Juri Nikolaevich Kulikovsky (also spelled Guri) (d.1984), was born. Named after one of the Grand Duchess' close friends during World War I, Gury Panayev, a proclaimed battle hero who had fallen in 1914 serving in the Akhtyrsky Regiment. Soon after the birth of her second son, inner circles of the monarchist White Army approached the Grand Duchess with offers to officially declare her Empress of Imperial Russia. The Grand Duchess diplomatically declined the offer. With the Grand Duchess Olga being the last Heir Apparent to the Imperial Throne in Russia, she immediately became targeted by the Red Army. The family set out on what would be their last journey through Russia; they escaped to Rostov-on-Don, taking refuge in the residence of the Danish Consul, Thomas Nikolaevich Schutte, who informed them of the Dowager Empress' safe arrival in Denmark. After a brief stay with the Danish consul, the family then escaped to the island of Büyükada in the Dardanelles Strait near Istanbul, Turkey. The family next moved to Belgrade in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs where she was visited by Regent Alexander Karageorgevich, later to become King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. The Regent recommended that the Grand Duchess and her family permanently live on one of the royal estates of the former Austro-Hungarian territory, while the Dowager Empress immediately summoned her daughter to live with her in Denmark. The Grand Duchess immediately complied and the family relocated, once again, to Denmark. Sadly, the Dowager Empress, Maria Fyodorovna, died there on October 13, 1928.

Danish residency and exodus

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Knuds-Minde Farm, Denmark, 1930s

On the death of her mother, the royal estate of Hvidore was sold and the Grand Duchess and her family were able to purchase with her portion of the inheritance Knuds-Minde Farm, several miles outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her farm-estate became the centre of the Russian monarchist community in Denmark and the place of visitation for many Russian emigrants. She maintained a high level of correspondence with officers of the Guard Equipage, escorts, cuirassiers, members of the Akhtyrsky Regiment, Rifles of the Imperial Family, and her Danish royal cousins. She began to sell the collection of art from her childhood in Russia, with exhibition auctions in Copenhagen, London, Paris, and Berlin. A portion of the net income the Grand Duchess received from the auctions was donated to various Russian charities.

On April 9, 1940, neutral Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany and consequently became an occupied country throughout World War II. Food shortages, communication censorship, and transportation closures resulted in a large group of impoverished Danes. Her sons, Tikhon and Juri, served as officers in the Danish Army before Denmark was invaded, and because of this the two Romanovs were imprisoned in a more liberal form of concentration camp.

Royal Danish Guard (1935). The Grand Duchess' painting of a patrolling guard in the Royal Danish Forces

The Romanovs luck changed for the better on May 5, 1945, when Nazi Germany surrendered to The United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. When the economic condition of Denmark refused to improve, General Pyotr Krasnov wrote to the Grand Duchess, detailing the wretched conditions affecting poor citizens of Russia and Russian immigrants living in Denmark. She immediately corresponded with Prince Axel of Denmark concerning the economic struggle of Russia and he promised to send aid to the poor of Russia, especially the Cossacks.

Stalin ruthlessly controlled the Soviet Union. He proved to be a dangerous neighbour to the Romanov family as a letter was sent to the Danish government accusing the Grand Duchess and a Danish Catholic bishop of conspiracy against the Soviet government. When Soviet troops came closer to the border of Denmark with the end of World War II, the fear of an assassination attempt against the Romanovs grew. The Grand Duchess therefore made the decision to evacuate her family to a farm in rural Campbellville, Ontario, Canada.

The interview with Anna Anderson

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Anna Anderson

In 1920, Anna Anderson, later known as Anastasia Manahan, jumped into the icy waters of the Landwehr Canal in Berlin, Germany in an assumed suicide attempt. There she claimed that she was Olga's niece and godchild, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. While the details remain sketchy, she asserted that she was in Berlin to inform Princess Irene of Prussia (sister of Empress Alexandra and distant cousin of Czar Nicholas II) of her survival. Shortly after, Anderson was released from a Berlin mental hospital, and was sent a series of questions from the son of Princess Irene, Sigismund, that some suggest only the real Anastasia could possibly know. Anderson supposedly answered every question correctly. Whether this was by her own knowledge or with help from others is unknown to this day. Anderson gained scant support from members of the Romanov family. The vast majority refused to accept her claim to be Grand Duchess Anastasia. Finally, in 1925, Romanov family friends, tutors, and doctors made clear their opinions. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna travelled in secrecy to interview the recently hospitalized Anderson.

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The Grand Duchess (left) and her niece, Anastasia

After meeting Anderson, the Grand Duchess and Anastasia's former childhood tutor, Pierre Gilliard, publicly stated she was an imposter. After the Grand Duchess' visit, letters were exchanged between the two women. The Grand Duchess felt sorry for the young woman and sent her some gifts which included some photos and a knitted shawl. She did not believe that Anna Anderson was her niece.

In Olga's authorised biography, "The Last Grand Duchess" by Ian Vorres,(pages 174,176) she expressed her true feelings about the imposter Anna Anderson:

“My beloved Anastasia was fifteen when I saw her for the last time in the summer of 1916. She would have been twenty four in 1925. I thought Mrs Anderson looked much older than that. Of course, one had to make allowances for a very long illness and the general poor condition of her health. All the same, my niece’s features could not possibly have altered out of all recognition. The nose, the mouth, the eyes were all different.” She went on to explain: “…That child was as dear to me as if she were my own daughter. As soon as I sat down by that bed in the Mommsen Nursing Home, I knew I was looking at a stranger… I had left Denmark with something of a hope in my heart. I left Berlin with all hope extinguished. ""The Last Grand Duchess" by Ian Vorres

The End of Imperial Russia

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The Last Grand Duchess, her later years in Canada

When the farm became an increasing burden the elderly Grand Duchess Olga and her husband and family moved to Cooksville, Ontario, Canada, a small suburb of Toronto. Neighbours and visitors to the region took interest in the rumours of the "last Romanov" living in Canada, and visited her often. Foreign dignitaries and royal family members also frequently visited the Kulikovsky-Romanoffs in Cooksville. Such visitors included Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, the daughter of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia who had married Prince Nicholas of Greece and lived in Athens, Greece before the revolution. Other notable guests included Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia, His Highness Prince Vassily Alexandrovich, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and his wife, Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. One of grander visits occurred when Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Charles, Prince of Wales visited the Grand Duchess, her husband, and sons. The Queen later invited the Kulikovsky-Romanoff family onboard HMY Britannia, the Royal Yacht. In 1951, former officers and members of the famed Akhtyrsky Regiment gathered at the home of the Grand Duchess to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Regiment. Thereafter, she became the patroness of the Association of Russian Cadets of Toronto.

When her husband died on 11 August 1958, she moved to an apartment above a barber shop in Toronto where she died on November 24, 1960, at the age of 78. The Grand Duchess is interred next to her husband in York Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The funeral for the last Grand Duchess of Russia was attended by numerous Russian immigrants to Canada who arranged a guard of honour. The New York Times headlined in its obituaries the passing of the Grand Duchess, but inaccurately placed a photograph of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia. The funeral ceremony was attended by large crowds; however, there were no Romanov family members in attendance.

Legacy

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The Russian Orthodox memorial and grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia in York Cemetery, Toronto.

Long before the Grand Duchess died, her philanthropic tradition, which began at her estate in Olgino, sparked the birth of numerous humanitarian missions. Through agreements with her relatives, the monarchs of neighbouring countries, she was able to provide support for thousands of Russian refugees fleeing the conflict of the Russian revolution, World War I, and eventually World War II. Her level of benefaction surpassed the contributions of her ancestors, and the tradition to contribute was passed to her descendants. The Russian Relief Program was founded in honour of the late Grand Duchess, organised by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Program has written agreements with many of Europe's monarchies to continue a high level of contribution to the poor of Russia and the outerlying Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Grand Duchess, Olga Alexandrovna Romanov, was one of the most generous Russian benefactors in exile, leaving a legacy of philanthropy that continues to this day.

Family members

Siblings—the children of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna

The father and mother of the Grand Duchess Olga: Alexander III of Russia and Maria Fyodorovna.
  • Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (1875-1960), the first daughter of the family and wife of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov, a grandson of Nicholas I of Russia. Her family of seven children, lived in England and ensured the Romanovs' name's survival through a long line of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They still live in England to this day.
  • Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (1878-1918), the fourth and last son of the family. Mikhail ("Misha") was the childhood confidant of Grand Duchess Olga and remained so until shortly before his death. Mikhail, upon the abdication of his older brother, Nicholas, technically became the Tsar of Imperial Russia, but declined the position unless called on to do so by the Russin people. On June 12, 1918, he was murdered along with his secretary by the Cheka in Perm Krai, Russia.
  • Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882-1960)

Grandparents of the Grand Duchess

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Atchison, Bob (2004). "Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-07-20.

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