handwriting – The Romanov Family

October 29, 2015Helen Azar 4 Comments

TATIANA ROMANOV: HER HANDWRITING

Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov writing her lesson.

By the time I started working on Grand Duchess Tatiana’s letters and diaries, I had already completed numerous translations of the personal writings of other members of the Romanov family, and as a result was already familiar with their manner of expression, the idioms they used, and so on. Tatiana’s handwriting, however, was completely unique and certainly the most difficult to decipher out of all the Romanov family members. Her writing is sharp and graphic, with angular up and down diagonal strokes that evoke gables – very unusual for Russian penmanship.

October 7, 2015Helen Azar No Comments

OLGA ROMANOV: ARTIFACTS LEFT BEHIND

The artifacts of Olga Romanov:

Lesson notebook with label written by Olga Romanov hands. "O. Romanov" 1918 Tobolsk" — Lesson notebook with label written in the hand of Olga Romanov: “Student O. Romanov” 1918. Tobolsk”. GARF.

Grand Duchesse Maria and Grand Duchess Anastasia performing a play for the Romanov family in Tobolsk. — Grand Duchess Maria and Grand Duchess Anastasia performing in a play in 1912.

One of few entertainments the Romanov family had in captivity in Tobolsk, especially during the cold winter months when they could not go outside, was putting on plays. The youngest imperial children were especially enthusiastic about dressing up and memorizing the lines, and had a lot of fun doing it. Grand Duchess Olga was in charge of writing out the scripts and . Some of these scripts written in her hand survived and are currently kept at the Russian archives in Moscow. (more…)

September 21, 2015Helen Azar 1 Comment

DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: HER “SECRET CODE”

1911 diary of Olga Romanov, kept at GARF in Moscow. — 1911 diary of Olga Romanov.

DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: HER “SECRET CODE”

All of the original diaries of Olga Romanov are currently held at GARF (State Archives of Russian Federation) in Fond # 673, op. 1, 271 ed. Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna kept her diaries from the age of nine, writing in Russian. There are 12 diary books in total. From 1905 until 1912 – they are custom made memorial gift books (9×13), a different color for each year, in silk bindings, with the dates on the cover. From 1913 until 1916 – they are contained in large notebooks with dark leather bindings, which fit the entire year plus a few months of the next. Read more DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: HER “SECRET CODE”