Grand Duchess of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (Olga Nikolaevna Romanova; Russian: , , ; 15 November [O.S. 3 November] 1895 – 17 July 1918) was the eldest child of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II, and of his wife Alexandra.
During her lifetime, Olga's future marriage was the subject of great speculation within Russia. Matches were rumored with Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, Crown Prince Carol of Romania, Edward, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Britain's George V, and with Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia. Olga herself wanted to marry a Russian and remain in her home country. During World War I, she nursed wounded soldiers in a military hospital until her own nerves gave out and, thereafter, oversaw administrative duties at the hospital.
Olga's murder following the Russian Revolution of 1917 resulted in her canonization as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. In the 1990s, her remains were identified through DNA testing and were buried in a funeral ceremony at Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, along with those of her parents and two of her sisters.
Appearance and personality.
Olga had chestnut-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a broad face, and an upturned nose. When she was 10, her tutor Pierre Gilliard reflected that she was "very fair" with "sparkling, mischievous eyes and a slightly retrousee nose." Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, her mother's lady-in-waiting, reflected that "[she] was fair and tall, with smiling blue eyes, a somewhat short nose, which she called 'my humble snub,' and lovely teeth." She was considered less pretty than her sisters, Tatiana and Maria, though her appearance improved as she grew older. "As a child she was plain, at fifteen she was beautiful", wrote her mother's friend Lili Dehn. "She was slightly above the medium height, with a fresh complexion, deep blue eyes, quantities of light chestnut hair, and pretty hands and feet." In her memoirs, Meriel Buchanan described the physical appearance of the 17-year-old Olga at an imperial ball in 1912: "She had not the regular features, the almost mystical beauty of her sister, Tatiana Nikolaevna, but with her rather tip-tilted nose, her wide laughing mouth, her sparkling blue eyes, she had a charm, a freshness, an enchanting exuberance that made her irresistible."
Olga was compassionate and sought to help others. As a child, she saw a little girl crying in the road. She threw her doll out of her carriage, saying, "Don't cry, little girl, here's a doll for you." Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden remembered that "she was generous, and an appeal to her met with immediate response. 'Oh, one must help poor so-and-so. I must do it somehow,' she would say." When she was 20, she took control of a portion of her sizable fortune and began to respond independently to requests for charity. One day when she was out for a drive she saw a young child using crutches. She asked about the child and learned that the youngster's parents were too poor to afford treatment. She set aside an allowance to cover the child's medical bills. A court official, Alexander Mossolov, recalled that Olga's character was "even, good, with an almost angelic kindness" by the time she was a young woman.
Olga was famous for her quick temper and moodiness. As a small child, she told a portrait painter, "You are a very ugly man and I don't like you one bit!" Her mother's friend Anna Vyrubova wrote that Olga's "chief characteristics ... were a strong will and a singularly straightforward habit of thought and action... Admirable qualities in a woman, these same characteristics are often trying in childhood, and Olga as a little girl sometimes showed herself willful and even disobedient." On 11 January 1909, Alexandra admonished the 13-year-old Olga for rudeness and bad behavior. She told the teenager that she must be polite to the servants, who looked after her well and did their best for her, and she should not make her nurse "nervous" when she was tired and not feeling well. Olga responded on 12 January 1909 that she would try to do better but it wasn't easy because her nurse became angry and cross with her for no good reason. However, Elizaveta Ersberg, one of the maids, told her niece that the servants sometimes had good reason to be cross with Olga because the eldest grand duchess could be spoiled, capricious, and lazy. On 24 January 1909, Alexandra scolded the active teenager, who once signed another of her letters with the nickname "Unmounted Cossack", again: "You are growing very big — don't be so wild and kick about and show your legs, it is not pretty. I never did so when your age or when I was smaller and younger even." According to Anna, Olga was 'extremely pretty, with brilliant blue eyes and a lovely complexion, Olga resembled her father in the fineness of her features, especially in her delicate, slightly tipped nose.' and measured 165 centimetres tall.
Olga's governess and tutors noted that she had some autocratic impulses. On a visit to a museum where state carriages were on display, Olga ordered one of the servants to prepare the largest and most beautiful carriage for her daily drive. Her wishes were not honored, much to the relief of her governess, Margaretta Eagar.
Olga was highly intelligent and enjoyed studying. "The eldest, Olga Nicolaevna, possessed a remarkably quick brain," recalled her Swiss tutor, Pierre Gilliard. "She had good reasoning powers as well as initiative, a very independent manner, and a gift for swift and entertaining repartee." She enjoyed reading about politics and read newspapers. She reportedly enjoyed choosing from her mother's book selection. When she was caught taking a book before her mother read it, Olga would jokingly tell her mother that Alexandra must wait to read the novel until Olga had determined whether it was an appropriate book for her to read.
Olga was musically gifted. Her teachers said that she had "an absolutely correct ear." Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden reflected that, "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. She sang prettily in a mezzosoprano. She was lazy at practising, but when the spirit moved her she would play by the hour."
Olga felt the rights of eldest children should be protected. When she was told the Biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, she sympathized with the eldest brothers rather than Joseph. She also sympathized with Goliath rather than David in the Biblical story of David and Goliath. When her French tutor, Pierre Gilliard, was teaching her the formation of French verbs and the use of auxiliaries, ten-year-old Olga responded, "I see, monsieur. The auxiliaries are the servants of the verbs. It's only poor 'avoir' which has to shift for itself."
Due to her sheltered life, Olga had little experience with the world. She and her sisters had little understanding of money, because they had not had an opportunity to shop in stores or to see money exchange hands. Young Olga once thought that a hat maker who came to the palace had given her a new hat as a present. Olga was once frightened when she witnessed a policeman arresting someone on the street. She thought the policeman would come to arrest her because she had behaved badly for Miss Eagar. When reading a history lesson, she remarked that she was glad she lived in current times, when people were good and not as evil as they had been in the past.
Olga was fascinated with heaven and the afterlife. In November 1903, the 8-year-old Olga learned about death when her first cousin, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, died of typhoid fever while on a visit to the Romanovs at their Polish estate. "My children talked much of cousin Ella and how God had taken her spirit, and they understood that later God would take her body also to heaven," wrote Eagar. "On Christmas morning when Olga awoke, she exclaimed at once, 'Did God send for cousin Ella's body in the night?' I felt startled at such a question on Christmas morning, but answered, 'Oh, no, dear, not yet.' She was greatly disappointed, and said, 'I thought He would have sent for her to keep Christmas with Him.'"
Early life.
Olga was born on 15 November 1895. She was the oldest child and daughter of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. The birth was difficult, and Alexandra was in labour for 13 hours. Ultimately, Dr. Ott used forceps to deliver Olga. She weighed 4.5 kg at birth, and she was so robust that Nicholas said that she didn't look like a newborn. Her parents were overjoyed and insisted that they were not disappointed that their first child was not a boy. When he was congratulated by the court chamberlain, Nicholas declared, "I am glad that our child is a girl. Had it been a boy he would have belonged to the people, being a girl she belongs to us." Alexandra agreed: "For us there is no question of sex. Our child is simply a gift from God."
In 1896, Nicholas and Alexandra brought Olga on a visit to Scotland, France, and Darmstadt. In Balmoral, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, Alexandra's grandmother and Olga's great-grandmother, met Olga for the first time. Queen Victoria approved of Olga and declared "the baby is magnificent." In France, Olga was very popular. Nicholas told his mother that "our daughter made a great impression everywhere." Olga was greeted by shouts of "Vive la bebe!"
Olga and her siblings were raised as simply as possible. They slept on hard camp cots unless they were ill, and they took cold baths every morning. Servants called Olga and her siblings by their first names and patronyms rather than by their imperial titles.
Olga had four siblings: Grand Duchesses Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei of Russia. Her great-grandmother Queen Victoria was one of her godmothers.
Olga's Russian title ("Velikaya Knyazhna" Великая Княжна) is most precisely translated as "Grand Princess," meaning that Olga, as an "imperial highness," was higher in rank than other princesses in Europe who were "royal highnesses". However, "Grand Duchess" is the usual English translation. Olga's friends and family generally called her simply Olga Nikolaevna or nicknamed her "Olishka," "Olenka," or "Olya."
Olga was most often paired with her sister Tatiana. The two girls shared a room, dressed alike, and were known as "The Big Pair."
In 1900, before her brother Alexei was born, her father fell seriously ill with typhoid fever. During this period, the empress attempted to persuade her husband to change the succession laws in Russia to allow females to inherit the throne in the absence of any male heirs in order for Olga to inherit the empire, as opposed to her uncle, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich. Ultimately, these changes did not take place.
Relationships with family.
Olga idolized her father and wore a necklace with an icon of St. Nicholas on her chest. She, like her siblings, enjoyed games of tennis and swimming with her father during their summer holidays and often confided in him when she went with him on long walks.
Although she loved Alexandra, Olga had a strained relationship with her mother, especially in Olga's teenage years. "Olga is always most unamiable about every proposition, though may end by doing what I wish", wrote Alexandra to Nicholas on 13 March 1916. "And when I am severe – sulks me." In another letter to Nicholas during World War I, Alexandra complained that Olga's grumpiness, bad humor and general reluctance to make an official visit to the hospital where she usually worked as a Red Cross nurse made things difficult. Parlormaid Elizaveta Nikolaevna Ersberg told her niece that Nicholas II paid closer attention to the children than Alexandra did and Alexandra often was ill with a migraine or quarreled with the servants. In 1913, Olga complained in a letter to her grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna about her mother's invalidism. "As usual her heart isn't well", Olga wrote. "It's all so unpleasant." Queen Marie of Romania, who met Olga and her sisters when they visited Romania on a state trip in 1914, commented in her memoirs that the girls were natural and confided in her when Alexandra wasn't present, but when she appeared "they always