Alexey Nikolaevich Romanov Nikolai 2. The Last Tsarevich

Such a sensation is now wandering around the Internet

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The newspapers reprint it. I recently saw with my own eyes how, on a reputable TV channel, smart experts and historians compared in photographs the ears of the late Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Nikolaevich and the innocently murdered Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Nicholas II. And they came up with a verdict: the same person! At the same time, they explained why in 1942 the Commissioner of the State Defense Committee Kosygin in besieged Leningrad quickly organized the legendary “Road of Life” with the mainland along frozen Ladoga. Young Alexey sailed around Ladoga many times on the royal yacht “Standart” and knew the surroundings of the lake well. Reinforced concrete evidence!

Several serious people sent me, an old conspiracy theorist, links to the sensation. Is it really true? Dig up Kosygin's biography, journalist! By the way, one of the questioners is a Doctor of Philosophy, the other is a Doctor of Law. What can we say about scientifically uneducated citizens, especially modern youth, victims of the Unified State Exam...

Videos on YouTube about the miraculous salvation of the royal family and the transformation of the crown prince into the prime minister of the USSR are also popular.

STALIN and NICHOLAS II – BROTHERS!

The primary source of the widely circulated sensation is an article by historian Sergei Zhelenkov “The Royal Family: real life after an imaginary execution” in the newspaper “President”. “Such a newspaper, connected with you know who, will not stoop to lies!” - write commentators.

According to this historian, the execution in the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918 was staged. Although the Rothschilds removed Her Lawful Sovereign from governing the country and sentenced him to execution, he and his household managed to escape. How? Not far from the Ipatiev House there was a factory. In 1905, the owner dug an underground passage to it in case of capture by revolutionaries. When the house was destroyed by Yeltsin, after the decision of the Politburo, the bulldozer fell into a tunnel, which no one knew about. Thanks to Stalin and the intelligence officers of the General Staff, the Royal Family was taken out through this secret passage with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius.

In the KGB of the USSR, on the basis of the 2nd Main Directorate, there was an entire special department that monitored all the movements of the Royal Family and their descendants, the historian claims. And shares secret security information.

Daughters Olga (under the name Natalia) and Tatyana lived in the Diveyevo monastery under the guise of nuns and sang in the choir of the Trinity Church. Later Tatyana moved to the Krasnodar Territory and got married. She was buried on September 21, 1992 in the village of Solenom, Mostovsky district. Olga went to Afghanistan through Uzbekistan with the Emir of Bukhara, Seyid Alim Khan. From there - to Finland to Vyrubova. Since 1956, she lived in Vyritsa under the name of Natalya Mikhailovna Evstigneeva, where she rested in Bose on January 16, 1976.

Maria and Anast Asia were in the Glinsk Hermitage for some time. Then Anastasia moved to the Volgograd (Stalingrad) region and got married. The husband died during the defense of Stalingrad. Buried at the station. Panfilovo 06/27/1980 Maria moved to the Nizhny Novgorod region in the village of Arefino, where she was buried on 05/27/1954.

Tsarevich Alexei, as you already know, became the Soviet Prime Minister. Stalin promoted him, more than once saved him from troubles and death, affectionately calling him “Kosyga”, sometimes “Tsarevich”. The ashes of the Tsarevich have been resting in the Kremlin wall since December 24, 1980!

Until 1927, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna stayed at the Tsar’s dacha (Vvedensky Skete of the Seraphim Ponetaevsky Monastery, Nizhny Novgorod Region). Visited Kyiv, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sukhumi. She met with Stalin, who told Her: “Live peacefully in the city of Starobelsk, but there is no need to interfere in politics.” And until her death in 1948, the Empress lived in the city of Starobelsk, Lugansk region.

As you can see, Zhelenkov has everything recorded.

What happened to the Tsar-Father? Don't worry, he was fine too. Stalin built a dacha in Sukhumi next to the dacha of the Royal Family and came there to meet with the Emperor and his cousin Nicholas II. Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, the citizens are good. What did you think, Stalin just pulled it out in the summer of 1918 royal family from the clutches of the almighty Rothschilds? Native blood! That’s why he protected Kosygin. Nephew, after all. By the way, Stalin, together with Nikolai, graduated from the General Staff Academy, was an employee of military counterintelligence, and was specially introduced by it to the Bolsheviks.

In the uniform of an officer, Nicholas II visited his brother, the “Red Emperor,” in the Kremlin. Outlived him by 5 years. Buried in Nizhny Novgorod at the cemetery “Red Etna” 12/26/1958 “The funeral service and burial of Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II was carried out by the famous Nizhny Novgorod elder and priest Gregory (Dolbunov, d. 1996). Whoever the Lord grants to go to the grave and be healed will be able to see from his own experience. The transfer of His relics is yet to take place at the federal level.”

This is how Zhelenkov concludes his article in the President newspaper.

SECRET HISTORIAN

I was shocked by what I read. I’ve been working in the central press for 30 years, but I’ve never held such a newspaper in my hands, I’ve never even heard of it. Apparently, because he was not allowed to the top. Although I saw Putin himself live, and even drank beer with Yeltsin. The newspaper, by the way, was registered “on the basis of the Presidential Administration in 1993.” However, then, in the troubled 90s, everything could be registered.

I had never heard of the historian Zhelenkov before, although I have been studying the affairs and legends of long-ago years for many years. I began to rummage through the all-knowing and all-seeing Internet. What scientific degrees, titles, books, articles does he have, where does he work, teach? Strange, no data! Only in another newspaper was his next sensational article, that the Rothschilds and Rockefellers founded the Federal Reserve System using the Romanovs’ gold, preceded by sparse information: “a historian of the royal family, who has been delving into closed and open archives for more than a quarter of a century, meets with the descendants of those people who at the end of the 19th century – at the beginning of the twentieth century we found ourselves in the thick of things.” Some highly classified specialist! In some of his sensational videos (there are more than a dozen of them on the Internet!) there is not even a last name in the announcement: “Sergei Ivanovich is a historian of the royal family.”

I’m carefully re-reading the article on the President’s website about the alleged execution in the Ipatiev House. I see numerous links. Well, I think, now I’ll click and highly secret documents will open, dug up by the mysterious Sergei Ivanovich, which do not fit into the official version of the recent Russian history. There is no documentary evidence in the article itself (as well as in the videos on YouTube). Just words, words, words. And dates.

ORGANISMIC FANTASY

No matter how it is. Links lead to... works by the editor-in-chief of "President" Tyunyaev in the genre of cyber-punk, philosophical fantasy, futurology, mysticism. And... organisms! Haven't you heard of this one? Well, of course! A new fundamental science created by the President of the Academy of Basic Sciences Tyunyaev. Here are the titles of his fundamental works: “The Battle for the World Throne (The Gospel of Yarila)”, “Tales from the Library of Ivan the Terrible”, “Transformation”, the documentary-fiction epic “Somersault of the Moon.” One of the main characters of “Somersault” is the same Andrei Nikolaevich Kosygin. Judging by the table of contents, the novel traces his path from the Petrograd Cooperative College to the heights of Soviet power. Only here the future prime minister appears... as a sent by Cossack of the same sinister Rothschilds. They say that they, and not Stalin at all, promoted him. A couple of pages were enough for me. Broke down on an episode, as back in 1925, with the help of the West, Kosygin, unnoticed by the revolutionary masses, became a dollar millionaire by organizing the Soviet-British enterprise “Lena Goldfields” - “Golden Fields of Lena”. Then the security officers took control of Lena Goldfields. Heads rolled. However, the long arm of the Rothschilds transferred their valuable agent to the swamps of Leningrad, where many ghouls took refuge. Pure fantasy. I'm not a fan of this genre.

A thought flashed: maybe Tyunyaev and Zhelenkov are the same person? The article about the imaginary execution in the Ipatiev House is painful; other speeches by the unknown “Sergei Ivanovich” look like fantasy. I compared the photo of the editor-in-chief of “President” (who is also the president of the Academy of Basic Sciences) with the hero of the sensational videos. No, completely different faces. They just work in the same genre.

Just in case, I call a respected historian who has degrees, titles, a department at the university, his own research center, numerous books, articles: “How do you like the sensation that Kosygin is the prince saved by Stalin?” - “Complete nonsense, I don’t even want to comment.” - “Have you heard anything about your colleague Zhelenkov? There is no information about him on the Internet.”

“After reading his article about the Romanovs’ gold, I asked the editorial office for the phone number of a “colleague.” 5 minutes of conversation was enough to understand that the person was clearly inadequate. “I threw away the number,” the famous historian ended the conversation, anticipating my request for a phone number. And he asked not to use his last name.

But the people, judging by the reposts and views, believe in the wonderful fairy tale about the salvation of the Romanovs.

However, after thinking a little, I realized: Zhelenkov and the President newspaper only brought to the point of absurdity what had repeatedly appeared here and in the West.

“MEET THE KING! NICHOLAS III"

It turns out there was such an autocrat in Russia. Recently. Told me about him

retired FSO Major General Boris Ratnikov, first deputy in the 90s. Head of the Main Directorate of Security of the Russian Federation Korzhakov.

“A simple Soviet officer, captain of the third rank Nikolai Dalsky in 1993 suddenly declared himself the son of Tsarevich Alexei. The father, they say, was taken from the Ipatiev House on the eve of the execution to Suzdal (hence the surname Suz-Dalsky), and was raised in an Orthodox family. The Tsarevich grew up under someone else's name, got married, was cured of hemophilia, defended his dissertation, fought at the front as an officer and died in Saratov in 1956. In 1942, his son Nikolai, the natural grandson of Nicholas II, was born. The “grandson” immediately found fans, supporters, and patrons, including the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma. The times were troubled, the monarchical idea was gaining popularity. The Academy of Sciences allocated office space for Romanov-Dalsky and turned to Korzhakov with a request to help the “heir to the throne.” Korzhakov asked me to thoroughly understand what and how. With the head of the presidential security department, Colonel V. Ivanov, we went to an “audience with the heir.” To Pyatnitskaya street. It was (General Ratnikov opened his old diary) on July 27, 1994. Out of officer habit, I took notes on the circumstances of the meeting. Romanov-Dalsky received us in a naval uniform, with a dagger, orders, and monograms. I immediately began to draw fantastic prospects. They say he is ordained a master by the Order of Malta, has the support of the Vatican, the Pope himself, the Hasidim, the Queen of England, and influential people of the West. The same Clinton does not object to the restoration of borders Russian Empire within 17 years. He himself wants to save the Fatherland from a social explosion, and Yeltsin from a people’s trial for the shooting of the White House. To do this, he will declare Boris Nikolaevich the Grand Duke and create a Union of Officers loyal to the Crown and the President. It will help return to the Fatherland 500 tons of gold, 5 billion dollars, and grandfather’s jewelry stored in Western banks. Knows the location of three large treasures, including Kolchak's gold. Etc.

Clearly an inadequate person!

Just very adequate. In return, he asked Yeltsin for a good residence and Kremlin security. And money. Since he does not yet have access to the royal inheritance, he is very strapped for money.

He asked to provide specific evidence of belonging to the Romanov family. He replied that all the documents are stored in one of the Western banks, but there is no time to go there. We need to save the Fatherland. I proposed a simpler option - genetic examination. In Japan, a bloody handkerchief of Nicholas II is kept after an unsuccessful assassination attempt by a policeman. We'll take your blood and do a test. “Romanov” was embarrassed. And on the way out, the secretary of the “heir to the throne” started wailing, like, what kind of examination?! It’s the flag of the monarchy, we need to rally the people around it and save Russia! I reported to Korzhakov about the “audience” and closed the issue with the impostor.

Later, Romanov-Dalsky declared himself Emperor Nicholas III and crowned himself in Noginsk near Moscow with the participation of self-proclaimed “bishops” of the schismatic Kyiv Patriarchate. He died in 2001 from a brain tumor.

CENTENNIAL “PRINCE ANASTASIA”, HEIR TO TRILLIONS

This fantastic story was seriously promoted in the 90s by the Rossiya newspaper, close to the State Duma. Allegedly, the German Emperor Wilhelm saved the royal family by threatening Lenin to take Moscow and Petrograd. Nicholas II and Anastasia remained hostages of the Bolsheviks and lived in Abkhazia. The rest of the family left for the West. The tsar worked as an agronomist in a vineyard under the name Sergei Davydovich Berezkin, died in 1957. More precisely, he was poisoned by the British. So that the royal gold in Western banks goes to the British queen. The newspaper even published a photo of Tsar Berezkin with...Beria! Later, the Riga resident Gryannik, who started this story, took Anastasia herself from Abkhazia to Moscow. With the help of the GRU, avoiding ambushes of treacherous Georgians in the mountains. A certain old woman N.P. Bilikhodze. The International Public Charitable Christian Foundation of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova was created, which included her savior Gryannik and advisor to the speaker of the State Duma Dergausov, former secretary Central Committee of the Komsomol. The Foundation appealed to Yeltsin with a request to recognize the old woman as Anastasia, but the president remained silent. In May 2002, the Rossiya newspaper published an appeal from the Foundation’s management to the new President V.V. Putin.

“...Many predictions indicate the year 2002 as the year of the beginning of the Revival of a new Russia using the funds of the Russian Empire. According to our data, a number of banks in Europe, the USA and Japan have funds belonging to the royal family and the Russian state. Among them are the Rothschild, Morgan, and Rockefeller banks, which formed the US Federal Reserve System in 1913, including with this money (according to a preliminary estimate of 50% of all Fed assets at the time of its formation). Cash are estimated at approximately 2 trillion. $US. We have worked and continue to work with these banks in order to return funds to Russia through a legitimate person - A. N. Romanov...."

What did Gryannik and Dergausov ask from Putin? Head the Foundation's Board of Trustees, issue Bilikhodze with documents addressed to A. N. Romanova, allocate a state dacha with appropriate life support and security conditions under the supervision of her authorized representatives, meet with “Anastasia” himself, give her 10-15 minutes to speak in State Duma. And, of course, help return trillions of dollars to Russia.

Presumably, part of the trillions would go to the guardians of “Anastasia”.

Putin did not answer, despite the dizzying prospect of getting trillions!

At that time, the real Anastasia would have turned 101 years old.

What happened to old lady Bilikhodze? According to one version, her guardians hid her in Germany from the insidious British, who did not want to return the trillions. According to another, she died back in December 2000 in the Central Clinical Hospital, where she was placed at the request of the State Duma.

WERE RELATED THROUGH PRZHEVALSKY

Apparently, it was Gryannik’s legend that he took as the basis for his “ scientific research"secret "historian" Sergei Ivanovich. And creatively reworked it. The same myth about the royal gold, which became the basis of the American Federal Reserve System.

His “sensation” about the relationship between Stalin and Nicholas II was also not born out of nowhere. Also in Soviet times There were persistent rumors that Joseph Vissarionovich was the son of the great Russian traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky. Because they found similarities in the portraits of the Soviet Generalissimo in military uniform and the Tsarist Major General. They say, preparing for the next trip, the general arrived in Gori to recruit soldiers for the expedition. And Stalin’s mother was cleaning the barracks. Well, sin came out...

Zhelenkov went further. He made the son of the retired Smolensk lieutenant Przhevalsky an illegitimate offspring... of Tsar Alexander II. Brother of Alexander III. And their sons Stalin and Nicholas II became cousins. This is how “history” is written.

BY THE WAY

228 SAVED ROMANOV CHILDREN!

The all-knowing Wikipedia has counted so many impostors around the world.

28 self-proclaimed Olgas,

33 – False Tatiana,

53- False Mary,

33-False-Anastasia,

Private bussiness

Alexey Nikolaevich Romanov (1904-1918) Born in Peterhof, he was the fifth and most long-awaited child in the family of Emperor Nicholas II. Before this, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna gave birth to four daughters one after another. Almost despairing of waiting for their son, the royal couple attended the glorification of Seraphim of Sarov in July 1903 in Sarov, where the emperor and empress prayed for an heir.

However, the parents' joy after the birth of their son was very soon overshadowed by horror - on his mother's side, Alexey inherited hemophilia - a rare hereditary disease associated with a violation of the blood clotting process.

The disease hemophilia became obvious in the Tsarevich already in September 1904, when the baby, not yet two months old, began to have severe bleeding from the navel.

The heir’s illness manifested itself in the fact that every bruise, which resulted in the rupture of even the tiniest internal blood vessel (which in an ordinary person would have resulted in a simple bruise), caused internal bleeding that did not stop. Slowly but without stopping, the blood penetrated into the surrounding muscles and other tissues, a hematoma the size of a large apple formed, the skin lost its elasticity and could no longer stretch, the pressure slowed down the blood circulation, resulting in the formation of a blood clot. After this, the hematoma gradually resolved and the dark purple bruise turned into a spotted yellowish-green. Minor external cuts or scratches anywhere on the surface of the body did not pose a danger - they were immediately healed, and then a tight bandage was applied to them, which compressed the blood vessel and allowed the damage to gradually heal. The exception was bleeding from the mouth or nose, since in such places it was impossible to apply a bandage to the source of bleeding. One day, the prince almost died from a nosebleed, although he did not experience any pain.

The disease caused constant hemorrhages in the joints, which caused Alexei unbearable pain and turned him into a disabled person. Blood, accumulating in the joint space of the elbow, knee or ankle, pressed on the nerve, resulting in severe pain. In addition, the blood that entered the joint destroyed the tendons and tissues, causing the limbs to freeze in a bent position. Sometimes the cause of the hemorrhage was known, sometimes not. It happened that the Tsarevich simply announced: “Mom, I can’t walk today,” or: “Mom, I can’t bend my elbow today.” The best way to get out of this state was constant exercise and massage, but there was always a danger that bleeding would start again. The heir was not given morphine to relieve pain symptoms because of its destructive properties, so he stopped feeling pain only when he lost consciousness. Each case meant weeks of bed rest, and treatment included hot mud baths and a litany of heavy iron orthopedic devices designed to straighten the limbs.

In the fall of 1912, during the traditional stay of the royal family in the hunting ground of Spala in Eastern Poland, the Tsarevich unsuccessfully jumped into a boat and severely bruised the inner side of the thigh in the groin area: the resulting hematoma did not resolve for a long time, the child’s health condition was very serious, there was a real threat of death. These days, for the first and only time, a government bulletin was published about the serious condition of the heir. In it, however, the Tsarevich’s illness was not named.

“The unfortunate little one suffered terribly,” Nikolai wrote to his mother, “the pain seized him in spasms and repeated almost every quarter of an hour. From high temperature he was delirious day and night, sat up in bed, and pain immediately began from movement. He almost couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t cry either, he just moaned and said: “Lord, have mercy.”

Due to hemorrhages in the joints, the heir was often unable to walk, and in all necessary cases he was carried in the arms of a specially designated “uncle” - the conductor of the Guards crew, A.E. Derevenko, assigned to him from the age of two. His love for Uncle Derevenko was tender, hot and touching. One of his greatest pleasures was playing with his uncle's children and being among ordinary soldiers.

Despite his illness, according to the recollections of his contemporaries, Alexey was a handsome boy, with a clean, open face, although too thin.

The Tsarevich had an easygoing character, he loved his parents and sisters very much, who, in turn, doted on him, especially Grand Duchess Maria. Alexey was a capable student and made progress in learning languages.

During the First World War, Alexey, who was the heir to the throne chief of several regiments and ataman of all Cossack troops, visited the active army with his father, awarded distinguished fighters, etc. He was awarded the silver St. George medal of the 4th degree for the courage shown during visiting a military hospital in a shelled zone.

In March 1917, Nicholas II signed for himself and his son the abdication of the throne in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.

In August 1917, Alexey and his family were sent from Tsarskoye Selo into exile in Tobolsk, and later to Yekaterinburg. The last exacerbation of hemophilia occurred in Tobolsk at the beginning of 1918. T. Melnik described the onset of the illness as follows: “Suddenly Alexey Nikolaevich fell ill. This was a great misfortune for everyone, since he again suffered greatly, he had the same internal hemorrhage from the bruise that had already tormented him so much in Spala. Terribly lively and cheerful, he constantly jumped, galloped and played very violent games. One of them is a ride down the steps of the stairs in a wooden boat on runners, the other is some kind of improvised swing made from a log. I don’t know during which of them, but Alexey Nikolaevich hurt himself and fell ill again.” The Tsarevich never began to move normally until his death.

“Alexey took his first bath after Tobolsk; his knee is getting better, but he cannot straighten it completely. The weather is warm and pleasant. We have no news from outside,” says the last entry in the diary of Nicholas II, dated July 13, 1918.

A few days later - on the night of July 16-17 - Alexey was shot along with his parents and sisters in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

According to the testimony of Medvedev, one of the participants in the execution, it took several shots to kill the Tsarevich.

In 1991, in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg, the remains of the executed royal family were discovered - Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, their daughters Olga, Tatyana, Anastasia and four people from the royal retinue. After lengthy examinations, it turned out that the remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Maria were not among them.

In August 2007, charred remains were discovered in Porosyonkovo ​​Log near Yekaterinburg, not far from a large burial site, presumably identified as the remains of Alexei and Maria. In 2008, genetic analysis confirmed that the remains belong to the children of Nicholas II. However, the Russian Orthodox Church did not recognize the results and the remains of Tsarevich Alexei were never interred. Since 2011 they have been stored in the State Archives of the Russian Federation

In September 2015, the investigation into the criminal case about the remains of members of the royal family - Grand Duchess Maria and heir to the throne Alexei - was resumed. In December 2015, the remains of Alexei and Maria were transferred for temporary storage to the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow.

His Imperial Highness, Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov.

What is he famous for?

Heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke, the fifth child and only son of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, who lived only 14 years and struggled with a serious illness throughout his short life.

Historians associate the rise of the elder and his enormous influence on the royal family (primarily Alexandra Feodorovna) with Grigory Rasputin’s ability to alleviate Alexei’s suffering. political life Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Even the warnings of the Empress’s sister Elizaveta Feodorovna that people’s dissatisfaction with Rasputin was being transferred to the royal family did not in any way affect the attitude of the Tsarevich’s mother towards the “elder”.

According to a number of researchers, it was largely the negative influence of Rasputin that led the country to revolution.

In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Nicholas II, his wife and children, including Tsarevich Alexei, as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia.

What you need to know

For a number of years after the execution of the royal family Soviet authorities stubbornly defended the official version that only Nicholas II was shot in the Ipatiev House, and his wife and son were transported to a “safe place” (the fate of their daughters was kept silent). This misinformation fueled rumors that some family members managed to escape and escape with their lives. In addition, the body of the crown prince was not found in the common burial of the royal family, which still gives rise to numerous speculations. The number of “Alekseevs”, who at various times posed as the surviving son of the last Russian emperor, has already exceeded eight dozen.

The latest “sensation” that received a wide response on the Internet was the information that in fact the Tsarevich was not shot, but he was saved, grew up and became the Soviet People's Commissar, and then the Prime Minister of the USSR, Alexei Kosygin.

The primary source of the widely circulated sensation is the article “The Royal Family: Real Life after the Imaginary Execution” by Sergei Zhelenkov, called a historian of the royal family, in the newspaper “President”. According to this article, the execution in the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918 was allegedly staged, and the sovereign and his household managed to escape through a secret passage. Personally supervised by Stalin, according to Zhelenkov, Tsarevich Alexei eventually became Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin.

Direct speech

N. A. Sokolov about Tsarevich Alexei (from the book “The Murder of the Royal Family”):“The heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, was a 14-year-old boy, smart, observant, receptive, affectionate, and cheerful. He was lazy and didn’t particularly like books. He combined the features of his father and mother: he inherited his father’s simplicity, was alien to arrogance, but had his own will and obeyed only his father. His mother wanted to, but could not be strict with him. His teacher Bitner says about him: “He had a great will and would never submit to any woman.” He was very disciplined, reserved and very patient. Undoubtedly, the disease left its mark on him and developed these traits in him. He did not like court etiquette, loved to be with the soldiers and learned their language, using purely folk expressions he overheard in his diary. He was reminiscent of his mother in his stinginess: he did not like to spend his money and collected various thrown things: nails, lead paper, ropes, etc.”

Oddly enough, we know much better about hemophilia, a severe hereditary disease that Tsarevich Alexei suffered from, than contemporaries of the imperial family at the beginning of the twentieth century. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna tried with all her might to hide the illness of her long-awaited and beloved son from society. And as a result, people simply did not understand the motives for her actions...

In 1912, Russia widely and solemnly celebrated the centenary of the Battle of Borodino and the victory in the War of 1812. At the end of the celebrations, Nicholas II, together with his wife and children, went to secluded western estates - first to Belovezh, and then to the Polish Spala. After death Alexandra III his relatives almost never visited here; the places where his father spent the last months of his life gave rise to too heavy associations. But this time the imperial family stayed in the hunting grounds much longer than originally planned - until the onset of winter...
Those around him were surprised why the sovereign suddenly decided to seek solitude, but the matter was explained simply - Tsarevich Alexei's serious hereditary illness worsened, and Alexandra and Nicholas, as usual, tried to hide the deterioration of the boy's health from wider public circles. In the capital or on the busy Black Sea coast, it would be difficult to hide the illness of the heir, and the matter would receive wide publicity, but in the forest “hunting lodge” only a narrow circle of people knew what was happening in the royal family.

Pierre Gilliard with his pupil

The tutor of the royal children, Pierre Gilliard, drew attention to this. In mid-September, he began to study French with Alexei, which the eight-year-old Tsarevich practically did not speak. The boy immediately seemed “unwell” to his teacher. Soon Alexey fell ill, and Gilliard was struck by the unhealthy “ the pallor of the child, and also the fact that he was carried as if he were unable to walk. This means that the illness from which he suffered undoubtedly intensified... A few days later they began to whisper that his condition was causing great concern and that Professors Rauchfuss and Fedorov had been called from St. Petersburg. Life, however, continued as before; one hunt followed another, and there were more invitees than ever…»
As it turned out, in Belovezh, while boating, the Tsarevich fell and hit him hard on his left side. The blow caused profuse internal hemorrhage, and the boy developed a large hematoma in the groin, which threatened to cause blood poisoning...

Alexey in a boat

The situation was more than serious. Under these circumstances, the tutor could not understand the behavior of the royal couple. On one of the days of the heir’s illness, the Empress for some reason organized a party at which the Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia acted out costume scenes from Molière’s comedy “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” for the invited guests. Alexandra Feodorovna sat in the first row of spectators, tried to seem animated, smiled, talked to those around her...
The son, who was in serious condition, was in his room. The boy was in terrible pain. Soon he began to develop a fever.
« When the performance ended, I went out through the inner door into the corridor in front of Alexei Nikolaevich’s room, - recalled Gilliard. - His moans clearly reached my ears. Suddenly I saw in front of me the Empress, who was approaching at a run, holding in her haste with both hands a long dress that was in her way. I pressed myself against the wall, and she walked next to me without noticing me. Her face was excited and reflected acute anxiety. I returned to the hall; Liveliness reigned there, footmen in liveries carried around dishes with refreshments; everyone was laughing and joking, the evening was in full swing. A few minutes later the Empress returned; she put on her mask again and tried to smile at those who crowded in front of her. But I noticed that the Emperor, continuing to talk, took a place from where he could watch the door, and I caught on the fly the desperate look that the Empress threw at him on the threshold. An hour later I returned to my room, still deeply moved by this scene, which suddenly revealed to me the drama of this double existence.
(...) Finally, the next day, when the temperature reached 39.6 degrees and the heart became very weak, Count Fredericks asked the Emperor's permission to publish bulletins on health: the first bulletin was sent to St. Petersburg that same evening. This means that it took the intervention of the Minister of the Court to decide to openly acknowledge the seriousness of the Tsarevich’s position.
Why did the Emperor and Empress subject themselves to such terrible duress? Why, since they had only one desire - to be near their sick child, did they force themselves to appear, with a smile on their lips, among their guests? The fact is that they did not want it to become known what disease the Grand Duke Heir was suffering from. I realized that this disease in their eyes had the meaning of a state secret».

Nicholas II with his son

Alexandra Fedorovna with her son in Spala

Anna Vyrubova, who was in Spala with the imperial family, recalled: “ All this time, the empress did not undress, did not lie down and hardly rested, she sat for hours by the bed of her little sick son, who was lying on his side with his leg raised... The tiny waxen face with a pointed nose looked like the face of a dead person, the look of the huge eyes was meaningless and sad . One day, entering the room and hearing his desperate groans, the sovereign ran out of the room and, locking himself in his office, burst into tears.».
Alexey himself came to terms with the idea that he would soon die, and even asked with hope:
“When I die, it won’t hurt me anymore, right, mom?”
The Empress, in desperation, resorted to the last resort - she asked for help from Rasputin, who was at that time far away in Siberia, in his native village. A telegram was sent to the “Elder” with a request to pray for Alexei... A few hours later, an answer came from Siberia: “ God looked at your tears. Do not worry. Your son will live. Don't let the doctors torture him».
When Alexandra Feodorovna with a beaming face entered the room where sad, depressed courtiers, doctors and servants were sitting, longingly awaiting the terrible news of the death of the Tsarevich, and announced that now everything was in order and Alexey would live, since the “Friend” had sent him salvation, some of those present thought that the empress had gone crazy from grief.
But Alexey calmed down and for the first time in many days fell asleep peacefully.

Of course, it is difficult to say that it was Rasputin’s prayers that caused a turning point in the sick boy’s condition - scientific evidence for this fact is impossible to find. But to say that after the desperate mother turned to Rasputin, her son did not feel better means contradicting the obvious...
Even the most qualified doctors who treated the Tsarevich could not explain the phenomenon of Rasputin. Professor Fedorov, Alexei Nikolaevich’s attending physician, said: “ See for yourself. It used to be that Rasputin would come in, approach the patient, look at him, and spit on him. And the bleeding stops immediately. How could the Empress not believe Rasputin after this?»
And who could now convince Alexandra Fedorovna, who had almost lost her mind at the bedside of her dying child, that Gregory was not a saint and that he did not carry the grace of God with him? The Empress finally believed in Rasputin’s intercession before God.
« I am writing to you, and my heart is full of gratitude to the Lord for his mercy., Nikolai wrote to his mother when it became clear that the boy would live. - He sent us grace. Alexey began to recover...(Out of delicacy, Nikolai Alexandrovich does not tell his mother about turning to Rasputin for help, understanding how this will upset Maria Fedorovna. - E.Kh.) Alix endured this difficult ordeal more courageously than I did, when Alexei was very ill, but now that, thank God, the danger has passed, her own health is undermined: her poor heart aches from the terrible stress she experienced. Therefore, she tries to conserve her strength and during the day lies on the couch in Alexei’s room. All our servants, Cossacks, sailors and all the people around us sympathize with us so touchingly. (...) Polish peasants came in droves, they wept during the service. What a huge number of icons, telegrams, letters wishing our dear boy a speedy recovery we received!»

The Tsarevich learns to reap...

Well, as soon as the imperial couple stopped hiding from others, people began to sincerely sympathize - the grief of a mother in whose arms a sick child dies leaves no one indifferent.
But Alexandra Fedorovna still preferred to experience pain in solitude, not allowing any outsiders into her bitter secrets and giving endless reasons for misunderstanding and speculation. She relied on the help of one single person - Grigory Rasputin, but almost no one, even close relatives, could understand what connected the empress and the Siberian peasant... The Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna told Prime Minister V.N. Kokovtsov: “ My unfortunate daughter-in-law does not understand that she is ruining both the dynasty and herself. She sincerely believes in the holiness of some rogue, and we are all powerless to avert misfortune».

And mistakes are forgotten
And the sorrow that torments us,
At the sight of a royal smile
Your innocent, childish eyes.

The only Son of Emperor Nicholas II, bestowed by God in response to a long, diligent Parental prayer, can probably, without exaggeration, be called the Most attractive and Most mysterious Child figure in Russian history. “During the baptism of the Child, a remarkable incident occurred that attracted the attention of all those present,” wrote Abbot Seraphim (Kuznetsov). “When the newborn Tsarevich was anointed with holy myrrh, He raised His hand and extended His fingers, as if blessing those present.” What could this Boy have become if He had lived to maturity? One can only assume that for Russia it was begged for great king. But history does not know the “if” phrase. And although we understand that the figure of the young Tsarevich Alexei is too bright and unusual, we still turn to His bright image, wanting to find an example for teaching and imitation in the relationship of this Boy with the outside world.

"The attitude towards women is The best way test the nobility of a man. He must treat every woman with respect, regardless of whether she is rich or poor, high or low in social position, and show her every sign of respect,” Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wrote in her diary. She could write such words with confidence: an example of male nobility, a chivalrous attitude towards a woman was always before her eyes - her husband, Emperor Nicholas II.
It is very important that from childhood, little Tsarevich Alexei could see a respectful attitude towards women on the part of a man whose authority was indisputable for Him. The Emperor did not ignore even the little things, thanks to which it was possible to teach his Son a lesson, as is clear from an amusing incident told by Baroness S. K. Buchshoeveden:
“During one walk along the banks of the Dnieper, while visiting the Imperial Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Tsarevich, being in a playful mood, pulled out my umbrella and threw it into the river. Grand Duchess Olga and I tried to catch it with sticks and branches, but since it was open, it was picked up by the current and wind, and there was neither a boat nor a raft at hand from which to catch it.
Suddenly the Emperor appeared. "What kind of show is this?" - He asked, surprised by our exercises near the water. “Alexey threw her umbrella into the river, and this is such a shame, since it is her best,” answered the Grand Duchess, trying hopelessly to catch the handle with a large gnarled branch. The smile disappeared from the Emperor's face. He turned to His Son: “They don’t act like that towards ladies,” He said dryly. “I’m ashamed of You, Alexey. I apologize for Him,” He added, turning to me, “and I will try to correct the matter and save this ill-fated umbrella."
To my great embarrassment, the Emperor entered the water. When He reached the umbrella, the water was above His knees.”
He handed it to me with a smile.
“I didn’t have to swim after him after all! Now I’ll sit down and dry in the sun.” The poor little Tsarevich, red from his Father’s harsh remark, upset, came up to me. He apologized like an adult.

In any pedagogical literature we will read that a necessary condition for the development of a child is his communication with friends. Probably, this is especially important for boys - future men, social role which are traditionally broader and more responsible than women. However, the inability to establish first contacts with peers, a lack of communication with other children can have a harmful effect on the psyche of any child. It is equally important that from childhood a child learns to choose his own comrades, following his own sympathies, and not “make friends” according to parental orders. In the Royal Family this problem was more acute than in any other. Firstly, the boy was the Heir to the throne, and secondly, He was seriously ill. But precisely for the first reason, the Parents did not have the right to turn their Son into an unhappy lonely creature, a “greenhouse child” growing up in isolation from the world. In addition, the Heir was shy, and the Emperor wanted to help the Son get rid of shyness. Parents could try to solve the problem of the Son’s communication, so to speak, “officially,” by artificially keeping the child company from the children of Their relatives. The Tsar and Queen did not allow anything like this. On the contrary, according to Taneyeva’s memoirs, the Empress was afraid for her Son and rarely invited her cousins, “frisky and rude boys,” to see him. Of course, my relatives were angry about this...” But the Heir was not forbidden to play with the sons of His mentor, sailor Derevenko, about which the relatives, presumably, were even more angry. But the Tsar and Empress, who did not take gossip to heart, especially did not pay attention to them when it came to the benefit of the Children.
His teacher and mentor Pierre Gilliard was seriously concerned about all the problems of his Royal pupil. Subsequently, Gilliard will write that Alexey Nikolaevich suffered from the absence of comrades. “Both sons of the sailor Derevenko, His usual companions in games, were much younger than Him, and did not suit Him either in education or development. True, his cousins ​​came to see him on Sundays and holidays, but these visits were rare. I insisted several times to the Empress that this should be changed. Some attempts were made in this regard, but they came to nothing. True, Alexei Nikolaevich’s illness made it extremely difficult for him to choose comrades. Fortunately, His sisters, as I already said, loved to play with him, they brought fun and youth into His life, without which it would have been very difficult for him.”
Apparently, Gilliard considered the problem of child communication quite important if he mentioned it more than once in his memoirs. So, for example, he talks about how the Tsarevich finally found a real comrade - the son of the life surgeon Derevenko (the sailor's namesake): “Meanwhile, I was especially puzzled by finding comrades for the Heir. This problem was very difficult to solve. Fortunately, circumstances themselves partially filled this gap. Doctor Derevenko had a son about the same age as the Heir. The children met and soon became friends. Not a Sunday, a holiday or a day of vacation passed without them connecting. Finally, they began to see each other every day, and the Tsarevich even received permission to visit Doctor Derevenko, who lived in a small dacha not far from the palace. He often spent the entire afternoon there playing with His friend and His companions in the humble surroundings of this middle-class family. The innovation was subject to great criticism, but Their Majesties did not pay attention to it: They themselves were so simple in their privacy, that they could only encourage the same tastes of Their Children.”

Julia Den, however, claims that the Tsarevich, on the contrary, had many friends “of all ages and all classes who played with him.” But he only names the two sons of the sailor Derevenko, already mentioned by us, two more peasant boys, to whom Alexey Nikolaevich was very attached, and his son Titi. Lily's son Den, in her words, ran "headlong with the Heir and got great pleasure from it." With his friends, the Tsarevich behaved very politely and arrogantly. “The heir to the throne was as courteous as His Sisters,” recalls Den. “One day the Empress and I were sitting in Her purple boudoir, and suddenly the excited voices of the Tsarevich and Titi were heard from the next room.
“I think they are quarreling,” said the Empress and, going to the door, she listened. Then she turned to me with a laugh - They don’t fight at all, Lily. Alexey insists that Titi should enter the purple room first, but good Titi does not want to hear about it!”
In fact, the Heir’s social circle was very narrow. His closest childhood friend was, apparently, Kolya Derevenko, who, together with his father, followed the arrested Royal Family to Tobolsk, then to Yekaterinburg. In Tobolsk, Kolya was the only one who was allowed to visit the Royal Family on Sundays, and greatly brightened up the Heir’s bleak existence in captivity.

“Let’s move on to the power part - to the will,” St. John Chrysostom instructs in his Word on raising children. - We should neither completely cut it off from a young man, nor allow it to manifest itself in all cases, but let us educate them from an early age to endure it when they themselves are exposed to injustice, and if they see someone offended, then to speak out bravely to help and properly protect the tortured... Let him be neither pampered nor wild, but courageous and meek.”
These words were written as if about Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. Claudia Mikhailovna Bitner, who gave lessons to the Heir in Tobolsk, recalled Him this way: “I loved Alexei Nikolaevich most of all. He was a sweet, good boy. He was smart, observant, receptive, very affectionate, cheerful and cheerful, despite His often severe painful condition. If He wanted to learn something, He said: "Wait, I'll learn it." And if he really learned it, then it remained with Him and sat firmly. He was used to being disciplined, but did not like the former court etiquette. He could not tolerate lies and would not have tolerated them around Him if He had ever taken power. The features of the Father and Mother were combined in Him. From the Father He inherited His simplicity. There was no complacency, arrogance, or arrogance in Him at all. He was simple. But He had a great will and would never submit to outside influence. Now, the Sovereign, if He took power again, I am sure, would forget and forgive the actions of those soldiers who were known in this regard. Alexey Nikolaevich, if he received power, would never forget or forgive them for this and would draw the appropriate conclusions.
He understood a lot and understood people. But He was closed and reserved. He was terribly patient, very careful, disciplined and demanding of Himself and others. He was kind, like the Father, in the sense that He did not have the ability in His heart to cause unnecessary evil. At the same time, He was thrifty. Once, when He was sick, He was served a dish that was common to the whole Family, which He did not eat because He did not like this dish. I was indignant. How can they not prepare a separate meal for a child when he is sick? I said something. He answered me: “Well, here’s another thing. You don’t have to spend money because of Me alone.”
Tsarevich Alexei's strong will was an inherited quality, but it developed and strengthened due to the frequent physical suffering caused to the child by a terrible illness. The disease generally became a kind of teacher of the little martyr. As Anna Taneyeva writes, “frequent suffering and involuntary self-sacrifice developed in the character of Alexei Nikolaevich pity and compassion for everyone who was sick, as well as amazing respect for his Mother and all elders.” This is despite the fact that Alexandra Feodorovna could not be as strict with her Son as She might have wanted.

First, here are a few more memories. Anna Taneyeva: “The life of Alexei Nikolaevich was one of the most tragic in the history of the Tsar’s Children. He was a charming, affectionate Boy, the most beautiful of all Children. In early childhood, His parents and His nanny Maria Vishnyakova spoiled Him greatly, fulfilling His slightest whims. And this is understandable, since it was very difficult to see Little’s constant suffering; Whether He hit his head or his hand on the furniture, a huge blue tumor would immediately appear, indicating an internal hemorrhage that was causing him great suffering. At the age of five or six he moved to man's hands, to Uncle Derevenko. This one used to be less pampering, although he was very loyal and had great patience. I hear the voice of Alexei Nikolaevich during His illnesses: “Raise My hand,” or: “Turn my leg,” or “Warm My hands,” and often Derevenko calmed Him down. When He began to grow up, His parents explained His illness to Alexei Nikolaevich, asking him to be careful. But the Heir was very lively, loved the games and fun of boys, and it was often impossible to restrain Him. “Give Me a bicycle,” He asked Mother. "Alexey, you know you can't!" - “I want to learn to play tennis like the Sisters!” - “You know that you don’t dare play.” Sometimes Alexey Nikolaevich cried, repeating: “Why am I not like all the boys?”
S. Ofrosimova: “His liveliness could not be tempered by His illness, and as soon as He felt better, as soon as His suffering subsided, He began to uncontrollably play pranks, He buried himself in pillows, crawled under the bed in order to scare the doctors with an imaginary disappearance. Only the arrival of the Emperor could pacify Him. Sitting the Father on His bed, He asked Him to tell about His Majesty’s activities, about the regiments of which He was the Chief and which He missed very much. He listened carefully to the Tsar's stories from Russian history and about everything that lay outside His boring hospital bed. The Emperor shared everything with him with great joy and deep seriousness...

P. Gilliard: “This was the terrible disease that Alexey Nikolaevich suffered from; a constant threat to life hung over His head: a fall, a nosebleed, a simple cut - everything that would be a trifle for an ordinary child could be fatal for Him.
He had to be surrounded with special care and concern in the first years of His life and with constant vigilance to try to prevent any accident. That is why, on the orders of the doctors, two sailors from the Imperial yacht were assigned to him as bodyguards: the boatswain Derevenko and his assistant Nagorny, who in turn were supposed to watch over him.
When I began my new duties, it was not so easy for me to establish my first relationship with my child. I had to speak to him in Russian, giving up French. My situation was delicate. Having no rights, I could not demand obedience.
As I said, I was initially surprised and disappointed to not receive any support from the Empress. For a whole month I did not have any instructions from her. I got the impression that She did not want to interfere in my relationship with the child. This greatly increased the difficulty of my first steps, but it might have the advantage that, having once gained a position, I could more freely assert my personal authority. At first, I was often lost and even despaired. I thought about abandoning the task I had taken on.
Fortunately, I found an excellent advisor in Dr. Derevenko, whose help was very valuable to me. He advised me to be more patient. He explained that due to the constant threat to the life of the child and the religious fatalism that had developed in the Empress, She submitted everything to the passage of time and postponed Her intervention in our relationship from day to day, not wanting to cause unnecessary suffering to Her Son if He, perhaps, was not destined to live. She did not have the courage to fight with the child to force me on Him.
I myself was aware that the conditions were unfavorable. But, despite everything, I still had hope that over time my pupil’s health would improve.
A serious illness, from which Alexei Nikolaevich had just begun to recover, greatly weakened Him and left Him with great nervousness. At this time He was a Child who did not tolerate any attempts to restrain Him; He was never subject to any discipline. In me He saw a man who was entrusted with the responsibility of forcing Him into dull work and attention, and whose task was to bend His will by training Him to obedience. He was already surrounded by vigilant surveillance, which, however, allowed Him to seek refuge in inaction; joined this supervision now new element persistence, threatening to take away this last refuge. Without realizing it yet, He felt it. I had a very clear impression of mute hostility, which sometimes turned into open opposition.”
As we can see, not everything went well. The illness, instead of strengthening the boy’s character (which happened later), could completely break Him and destroy his good inclinations. From the above fragments of memories, it becomes clear that it was especially difficult for a lively, cheerful child to constantly restrain His boyish impulses and feel “not like other boys.” Nevertheless, it seems that the overprotection to which the little Tsarevich was subjected was completely justified. But was it so? Gilliard was the first to doubt, especially since every day he discovered more and more wonderful qualities in his pupil and became more and more attached to him:
“Meanwhile, days passed by days, and I felt my authority strengthening. I could notice in my pupil more and more often repeated impulses of trust, which were for me, as it were, a guarantee that soon more cordial relations would be established between us.
As the child became more frank with me, I became more aware of the richness of His nature and became convinced that, with such fortunate gifts, it would be unfair to give up hope...

Alexei Nikolaevich was then nine and a half years old. He was quite large for His age, had a thin, elongated oval face with delicate features, wonderful light brown hair with bronze tints, large blue-gray eyes that resembled the eyes of His Mother. He thoroughly enjoyed life when he could, like a playful and cheerful boy. His tastes were very modest. He did not at all boast of being the Heir to the throne; this was the least of his thoughts. His greatest happiness was playing with the two sons of the sailor Derevenko, who were both somewhat younger than Him.
He had great quickness of mind and judgment and much thoughtfulness. He sometimes amazed me with questions above His age, which testified to a delicate and sensitive soul. In the little capricious creature that He seemed at first, I discovered a child with a heart that was naturally loving and sensitive to suffering, because He Himself had already suffered a lot. As soon as this conviction was fully formed in me, I began to look cheerfully into the future. My work would be easy if it weren’t for the environment and environmental conditions around us.”
Now let’s take a moment away from Gilliard’s memories and return to our time. Let's open the book modern psychologists Irina Medvedeva and Tatyana Shishova, who have been working with problem children for many years. Here's what we'll read: “The so-called overprotection, when parents surround their child with excessive care, is a fairly common phenomenon today... After all, allowing a child to be independent is a risk, and often a huge risk. Is it the case of vigilant supervision? Of course, it takes a lot of time and effort, but you ensure a quiet life for yourself and at the same time look respectable in the eyes of others... As for risk, without it, of course, you can live more peacefully. But peace of mind comes at the expense of the child you supposedly care about so much. For each of his independent steps is a rehearsal. The more rehearsals, the more fully he will play the play called “Life”. What are you dooming him to?”
In the above passage we were talking about healthy children. And in the case of the Heir, the increased care of the Parents does not seem unnecessary at all. But it didn’t seem so to Tsarevich Alexei Himself, who, by the way, had ahead of him not just “a play called “Life”,” but the most difficult role in this play - managing a great empire. And the teacher Gilliard understood the Child perfectly. Let's return to his memories:
“I supported, as I said above, better relationship with Dr. Derevenko, but there was one issue between us on which we did not agree. I found that the constant presence of two sailors - the boatswain Derevenko and his assistant Nagorny - was harmful to the Child. This external force, which acted every minute to remove all danger from Him, seemed to me to interfere with the strengthening of attention and the normal development of the Child’s will. What the Child gained in terms of safety, the Child lost in terms of actual discipline. In my opinion, it would be better to give Him more independence and teach Him to find within Himself the strength and energy to counteract His own impulses, especially since accidents continued to recur. It was impossible to foresee everything... This was the best way to turn a Child, already physically weak, into a spineless, weak-willed person, lacking self-control, and morally weak. I spoke in this sense with Dr. Derevenko. But he was so preoccupied with the fear of a fatal outcome and depressed, like a doctor, by the consciousness of his heavy responsibility that I could not convince him to share my views.
Only Parents could take upon themselves the solution of such an issue, which could have such serious consequences for the Child. To my great surprise, they completely joined me and declared that they agreed to a dangerous experiment, which I myself decided on only with severe anxiety. They were, no doubt, aware of the damage the existing system was doing to what was most valuable in Their Child. They loved Him infinitely, and it was this love that gave Them the strength to risk some accident, the consequences of which could be fatal, so as not to make Him a person devoid of courage and moral fortitude.
Alexey Nikolaevich was delighted with this decision. In His relations with His companions He suffered from the constant restrictions to which He was subjected. He promised me to justify the trust that was placed in Him.
No matter how convinced I was of the correctness of this approach, my fears only intensified. I kind of had a premonition of what was going to happen...
At first everything went well, and I began to calm down, when suddenly the misfortune that we were so afraid of happened. In the classroom, a child climbed onto a bench, slipped and fell, hitting his knee on the corner. The next day He could no longer walk. A day later, the subcutaneous hemorrhage intensified, the tumor that formed under the knee quickly spread to the lower part of the leg. The skin has stretched to last chance, became rigid under the pressure of the hemorrhage, which began to put pressure on the nerves and caused terrible pain, increasing from hour to hour.
I was depressed. Neither the Emperor nor the Empress gave me even the shadow of a reproach - on the contrary, it seemed that They with all their hearts wanted me not to despair of the task, which illness made even more difficult. It was as if they wanted to encourage me, by their example, to accept the inevitable test and join Them in the struggle that They had been waging for so long. They shared Their concern with me with touching benevolence.”
The fight for the child was won. No one could cure an incurable disease, but from the “small capricious creature” that Tsarevich Gilliard initially seemed to be, a true Christian with a sensitive heart and a strong will grew. From year to year, the Sovereign would grow from the Heir. But he was destined differently. This amazing, rich nature never had the chance to mature and fully reveal itself.
I. Stepanov: “Several times (in the infirmary. - M. K) the Heir visited. I can’t write calmly here. There is no tenderness to convey all the charm of this appearance, all the otherworldliness of this charm. Not of this world. They said about him: “Not a tenant!” I believed in it then too. Such children do not live. Radiant eyes, pure, sad and at the same time glowing at times with some amazing joy.”
From Y. Ofrosimova: “A festive service is underway... The temple is filled with the radiance of countless candles. The Tsarevich stands on the Tsar's Elevation. He has almost grown to the level of the Emperor standing next to Him. The radiance of quietly burning lamps pours onto His pale, beautiful face and gives it an unearthly, almost ghostly expression. His large, long eyes look with an unchildishly serious, mournful gaze... He is motionless turned towards the altar, where the solemn service is being performed... I look at Him, and it seems to me that somewhere I saw this pale face, these long, mournful eyes... I strain my memory and suddenly remember... The murdered Boris and Gleb...”

The upbringing of any boy as the future head of the family should consist of instilling responsibility, independence, and the ability to make a decision in the right situation, without looking at anyone. At the same time, it is necessary to cultivate compassion and sensitivity and an important property - the ability to listen to the opinions of other people. The boy needs to be prepared for the role of husband, father and master of the house. For Tsarevich Alexei, all of Russia was such a home.
“The Queen inspired Her Son that everyone is equal before God and that one should not be proud of one’s position, but one must be able to nobly hold oneself without humiliating one’s position” (Hegumen Seraphim (Kuznetsov). “Orthodox Tsar-Martyr”). If the Mother had not made efforts to do this, then the position of the Heir’s educator, which was already difficult, would have become even more difficult.
“I understood more clearly than ever how much environmental conditions were hindering the success of my efforts. I had to contend with the servility of the servants and the absurd admiration of some of those around me. And I was even very surprised to see how the natural simplicity of Alexei Nikolaevich resisted these immoderate praises.
I remember how a deputation of peasants from one of the central provinces of Russia once came to bring gifts to the Heir Tsarevich. The three men of whom it consisted, by order given in a whisper by the boatswain Derevenko, knelt before Alexei Nikolaevich to present their offerings to Him. I noticed the embarrassment of the child, who blushed crimson. As soon as we were alone, I asked Him if it pleased him to see these people kneeling before him. “Oh no! But Derevenko says that’s how it’s supposed to be!”
I then spoke with the boatswain, and the child was delighted that He was freed from what was a real nuisance for Him.”
I. Stepanov recalls: “In the last days of January 1917, I was in the Tsar’s Alexander Palace with the tutor Heir Gilliard, and we went with him to the Tsarevich. Alexey Nikolaevich and some cadet were animatedly playing a game near a large toy fortress. They positioned soldiers, fired cannons, and their whole lively conversation was full of modern military terms: machine gun, airplane, heavy artillery, trenches, etc. However, the game soon ended, and the Heir and the cadet began to look at some books. Then Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna entered... All this furnishing of the Heir’s two children’s rooms was simple and did not give any idea that the future Russian Tsar was living here and receiving his initial upbringing and education. There were maps hanging on the walls, there were cabinets with books, there were several tables and chairs, but all this was simple, modest to the point of extremes.
Alexey Nikolaevich, speaking to me, recalled our conversation with him when He was on the train with the Emperor in the fall of 1915 in the south of Russia: “Remember, you told me that in New Russia Catherine the Great, Potemkin and Suvorov tied Russian influence with a strong knot, and "The Turkish Sultan has forever lost its importance in the Crimea and the southern steppes. I liked this expression, and I told the Pope about it then. I always tell Him what I like."
Then the Heir began to remember Headquarters.
The Heir spoke all this animatedly and looked cheerfully and cheerfully with His large expressive eyes. And in general, Alexey Nikolaevich looked healthy and beautiful. He was constantly running from one place to another."
It was especially clearly demonstrated that the boy cared a lot about Russia, but little about himself, in the episode told by Gilliard. The Empress instructed the Tsarevich’s mentor to tell him about the abdication of Sovereign Nicholas from the throne: “I go to Alexei Nikolaevich and tell him that the Sovereign will return from Mogilev and will not go there again.

From what?
- Because your Father no longer wants to be Supreme Commander

This news saddens Him very much, since He loved to go to Headquarters. After a while I add:

You know, Alexey Nikolaevich, your Father no longer wants to be Emperor. He looks at me in fear, trying to read on my face what happened.
- How? Why?
- Because He was very tired and suffered a lot of hard things. last days.
- Oh yes. Mom told me that His train was stopped when He was coming here. But will the Pope be Emperor again later?

I then explain to him that the Emperor abdicated in favor of Grand Duke Michael, who abdicated in turn.

But then who will be the Emperor?
- I don’t know... now - no one.

Not a single word about Yourself, not a single hint of Your rights as an Heir. He blushed deeply and was worried.
After several minutes of silence He says:

If there is no longer an Emperor, who will rule Russia?

I explain to him that a Provisional Government has been formed, which will deal with the affairs of the State until the Constituent Assembly is convened, and that then, perhaps, His uncle Mikhail will ascend to the throne. Once again I am amazed at the modesty and generosity of this child.”
However, the modesty of the little Tsarevich did not at all interfere with His awareness of Himself as the Heir to the throne. The episode that S.Ya. Ofrosimova told about is quite well known: “The Tsarevich was not a proud child, although the thought that He was the future Tsar filled His entire being with the consciousness of His highest destiny. When He was in the company of noble people and people close to the Sovereign, He became aware of His royalty.
One day, the Tsarevich entered the office of the Tsar, who at that time was talking with the minister. At the entrance of the Heir, the Sovereign's interlocutor did not find it necessary to stand up, but only, rising from his chair, offered his hand to the Tsarevich. The heir, offended, stopped in front of him and silently put his hands behind his back; this gesture did not give him an arrogant appearance, but only a regal, expectant pose. The minister involuntarily stood up and straightened up to his full height in front of the Tsarevich. The Tsarevich responded to this with a polite handshake. Having told the Emperor something about His walk, He slowly left the office. The Emperor looked after him for a long time and finally said with sadness and pride: “Yes. It will not be as easy for you to cope with him as with Me.”
According to the memoirs of Yulia Den, Alexey, while still a very small boy, already realized that He was the Heir:
“Her Majesty insisted that the Tsarevich, like His sisters, be raised completely naturally. IN Everyday life Everything happened casually to the heir, without any ceremony, He was the Son of His Parents and the Brother of His Sisters, although sometimes it was funny to watch how He pretended to be an adult. One day, when He was playing with the Grand Duchesses, He was informed that officers of His sponsored regiment had come to the palace and asked permission to see the Tsarevich. The six-year-old child, immediately leaving the fuss with his sisters, said with an important look: “Girls, go away, the Heir will have a reception.”

Yes, one can assume that under Sovereign Alexei Nikolaevich there would be order. This Tsar could have been very popular among the people, since will, discipline and awareness of his own high position were combined in the nature of the Son of Nicholas II with kindness and love for people.
A. A. Taneyeva: “The heir took an ardent part if the servants experienced any grief. His Majesty was also compassionate, but did not actively express it, while Alexey Nikolaevich did not calm down until he immediately helped. I remember the case of a cook who for some reason was denied a position. Alexey Nikolaevich somehow found out about this and pestered his parents all day until they ordered the cook to be taken back again. He protected and stood like a mountain for all of His own.”
From Y. Ofrosimov: “The heir Tsarevich had a very soft and kind heart. He was passionately attached not only to those close to him, but also to the simple employees around Him. None of them saw arrogance or harsh behavior from Him. He especially quickly and passionately became attached to ordinary people. His love for Uncle Derevenko was tender, hot and touching. One of His greatest pleasures was playing with his uncle's children and being among ordinary soldiers. With interest and deep attention He peered into the lives of ordinary people, and often an exclamation escaped Him: “When I am King, there will be no poor and unhappy people, I want everyone to be happy.”
The Tsarevich’s favorite food was “cabbage soup and porridge and black bread, which all My soldiers eat,” as He always said. Every day they brought him sample cabbage soup and porridge from the soldiers’ kitchen of the Consolidated Regiment; the Tsarevich ate everything and still licked the spoon. Beaming with pleasure , He said: “This is delicious - not like Our dinner.” Sometimes, eating almost nothing at the royal table, He quietly made his way with His dog to the buildings of the royal kitchen and, knocking on the glass of the windows, asked the cooks for a hunk of black bread and secretly shared Him with His curly-haired darling.”
P. Gilliard: “We set out immediately after breakfast, often stopping at the exit of oncoming villages to watch how the peasants worked. Alexey Nikolaevich loved to question them; they answered him with the good nature and simplicity characteristic of a Russian peasant, completely unaware of Who they were talking to.”

The Heir adored the Father, and the Tsar in his “happy days” dreamed of taking up the education of his Son himself. But for a number of reasons this was impossible, and Mr. Gibbs and Monsieur Gilliard became Alexei Nikolaevich’s first mentors. Subsequently, when circumstances changed, the Emperor managed to fulfill His desire.
He gave lessons to the Tsarevich in a gloomy house in Tobolsk. The lessons continued in the poverty and squalor of Yekaterinburg captivity. But perhaps the most important lesson that the Heir and the rest of the Family learned was the lesson of faith. It was faith in God that supported them and gave them strength at a time when They lost Their treasures, when their friends abandoned them, when They found themselves betrayed by that very country, more important than which nothing in the world existed for them.

Marina Kravtsova "Education using the example of the Holy Royal Martyrs"

Tsarevich Alexei was a long-awaited child. Beloved by everyone, he grew up surrounded by family and servants, but his life was darkened by a terrible disease - hemophilia.

Long-awaited child

Tsarevich Alexei was a long-awaited child. After the birth of four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia (the difference between them was two years), the emperor and empress really wanted a son who would become the heir to the throne.

Anastasia Fedorovna was especially worried. She was so worried that she developed pathological mysticism. All sorts of “advisers” began to revolve around her. One of them, the Frenchman Philip, was able to convince the empress that he could provide male offspring. The Empress, after his exhortations to nervous soil There was even a false pregnancy.

Only a few months later, Alexandra Feodorovna agreed to a medical examination, which showed that the empress was not pregnant. The charlatan was exposed by agents of the tsarist police in France.

Seraphim's help

Both Nicholas II and the Empress were deeply religious people. They fervently prayed for the birth of an heir to the recently canonized Seraphim of Sarov. The proposal to canonize Sarovsky was made by the emperor himself. In his family, the Elder of Sarov was revered for a long time: according to legend, Alexander I visited him incognito, and the 7-year-old daughter of Alexander II was cured of a serious illness with the help of the mantle of St. Seraphim.

About the role of the Empress in this matter, Count Witte said: “They say that they were sure that the Sarov saint would give Russia an heir after four Grand Duchesses. This came true and finally and unconditionally strengthened the faith of Their Majesties in the holiness of the truly pure Elder Seraphim. A large portrait appeared in His Majesty’s office - the image of St. Seraphim.”

Name

There are two points of view as to why the boy was named Alexei. According to one, the Tsarevich was named in honor of the Moscow Metropolitan Alexy, according to the other - in honor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It is known that Nicholas II considered him one of the best Russian sovereigns. And there was a reason for it. Alexey Mikhailovich, although he was called “the quietest,” pursued a purposeful and tough policy, annexed Left Bank Ukraine and brought the borders of Russia to Pacific Ocean. At a costume ball in 1903 (a year before the birth of his son), Nicholas II wore the costume of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Hemophilia

The heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei was born on July 30, 1904. However, the birth of a son did not bring peace to the imperial family. Two months after his birth, the Tsarevich began to experience severe bleeding, which could not be stopped for a long time. Then Alexandra Feodorovna heard a terrible word: hemophilia. In this disease, the lining of the arteries is so thin that any injury can cause the vessels to rupture. Before this, Alexandra Fedorovna’s three-year-old brother died from the consequences of hemophilia.

Hemophilia is inherited. The first carrier of the gene was British Queen Victoria. Her children inherited the fatal gene from her. Her son Leopold died of hemophilia at age 30, and two of her five daughters, Alice and Beatrice, were carriers of the ill-fated gene.

Rasputin

The heir to the throne’s hemophilia was also associated with his closeness to the court of Grigory Rasputin, who was able to quickly relieve its symptoms.

The Empress's maid of honor, Anna Vyrubova, wrote about one of the most severe cases of bleeding of Tsarevich Alexei, whose nose was bleeding: “Professor Fedorov and Doctor Derevenko fiddled around him, but the bleeding did not subside. Fedorov told me that he wanted to try the last resort - to get some kind of gland from guinea pigs. The Empress knelt beside the bed, racking her brains about what to do next. Returning home, I received a note from her with an order to call Grigory Efimovich. He arrived at the palace and went with his parents to Alexei Nikolaevich. According to their stories, he approached the bed, crossed the Heir, told his parents that there was nothing serious and they had nothing to worry about, turned and left. The bleeding has stopped."

Most often, Rasputin did not even touch the heir, but began to pray earnestly, after which the bleeding stopped. However, sometimes Rasputin also used natural remedies. Anna Vyrubova recalled that during one of the bleedings, the “elder” took a lump of tree bark from his pocket, boiled it in boiling water and covered the boy’s entire face with this mass. The bleeding has stopped. In this case, it is obvious that Rasputin used the properties of oak bark to stop bleeding.

“The prince is alive as long as I am alive,” said Rasputin. He turned out to be right. Tsarevich Alexei outlived the elder by only a year and a half.

Seven nannies

Due to Alexey's terrible illness, he came to him with early years Bodyguards were assigned: two sailors from the imperial yacht, boatswain Derevenko and his assistant Klimenty Nagorny.

At the age of seven, Tsarevich Alexei began to study. His studies were supervised by the empress herself, and she also chose teachers for her beloved son. Alexey’s teacher of the law was the confessor of the imperial family, Archpriest Alexander Vasiliev, and the Russian language was taught by Privy Councilor P.V. Petrov, arithmetic - State Councilor E.P. Tsytovich, tutor and teacher of the French language was a teacher of the French language and tutor - Pierre Gilliard, English language the heir to the throne was taught by Charles Gibbs, as well as Alexandra Fedorovna herself.

He loved to take his pets - a dog named Joy and a cat Kotik - to the classroom where the Tsarevich was trained.

Alexey treated his mentors with great love. Anna Vyrubova recalled: “The heir took an active part if the servants experienced any grief. I remember the case of a cook who for some reason was denied a position. Alexey Nikolaevich somehow found out about this and pestered his parents all day until they ordered the cook to be taken back again. He defended and stood up for all his people.”

Character

Tsarevich Alexei was a very active boy. He loved to play pranks. Georgy Shavelsky writes in his memoirs: “Sitting at the table, the boy often threw
generals with lumps of bread; taking it from the saucer onto your finger butter smeared it
neck to a neighbor, so it was with Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich. One day, for
"At breakfast, the Heir smeared oil on his neck three times."

Death

Since March 8, 1917, the royal family was under arrest in Tsarskoe Selo. August 1 - exiled to Tobolsk. There the royal family was under arrest in the governor's house.

Here, in exile, in the Tobolsk house, the long-standing dream of Nicholas II came true - he himself raised his son, taught him history and other sciences. His father's lessons continued for Alexei in the Yekaterinburg house, where the royal family was transported in the spring of 1918.

The Tsarevich's illness followed him and worsened. In Tobolsk, he fell down the stairs and was badly hurt, after which he could not walk for a long time. In Yekaterinburg, his illness worsened even more.

Alexey adopted deep religiosity from his parents; icons on a gold chain hung at the head of his bed (it was stolen by guards after the execution of the royal family). The Tsarevich always, even when he could not walk, attended services and sat in a chair.

The Tsarevich did not live until his 14th birthday only a few weeks. On the night of July 17, 1918, he was killed along with his parents and sisters in the basement of the Ipatiev House. In August 2000, the canonization of the holy passion-bearer Tsarevich Alexy took place.