My Ongoing Obsession With Imperial Russia

I have a million fond memories of my father, but one of the strongest is our weekly date with In Search of…, a TV documentary series from the late 70s and early 80s. The show often dealt with mysteries, controversial theories, and the supernatural, and for me, cultivated interest in everything from Easter Island to the Salem Witch Trials. One of my most notable obsessions stems from an episode centering around the fate of Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II.

From the moment my impressionable young mind wrapped itself around the tragic story of this beautiful young “princess” and her doomed family, I became a Romanov Dynasty and Imperial Russian history buff. The mystery surrounding the death of Anastasia has finally been laid to rest, but interest in her story has given way to an Academy Award-winning Ingrid Bergman film, Disney cartoon, children’s books, and countless documentary treatments.

Today is her Birthday. Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov would be 107 years old.