Monarchies of Europe

(I freely acknowledge that the information on this Web page was reproduced from an article written by Professor Kent Sole, Department of Political Science at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia. It originally appeared in the Imperial Russian Journal, Volume Two, Number One, 1995 .This article was further edited and updated by Ivor Paul Gilbert, Editor of the Imperial Russian Journal – the URL for the source of the article can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/royalty/russia/survivor.html . The only amendment made to the information is in the production of the tables shown which link back to my Web Page on the genealogy of the Russian Royal family)

The fate of Russia's last Imperial Family is well known throughout the world. But what ever became of the other members of the Imperial House of Russia after the Empire was swallowed up by the Bolshevik Revolution?

When Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the Russian Throne in March of 1917 there were fifty-three Romanovs living in Russia. One of these, the Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich died of natural causes at Tashkent in February 1918. Of the remaining fifty-two, seventeen were murdered by the Bolsheviks! The remaining thirty-five members of the family all escaped by various methods narrowly managing to escape the same fate as their relatives.

In addition to the thirty-five full-fledged members of the family, there were also a number of quasi-Romanovs resulting from morganatic marriages of various male members of the family. Of these, only Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley and the Prince Artemi Nicholaievich were murdered.

Several notes of explanation are necessary before proceeding. Only the children and grandchildren of Emperors bore the title of Grand Duke or Grand Duchess while the great-grandchildren of an Emperor bore the title of Prince or Princess. The second name of an individual simply indicates the name of his or her father. Therefore, Vladimir Kyrilovich means Vladimir son of Kyril; Marie Vladimirovna means Marie daughter of Vladimir.

At the time of the Revolution the Romanov family was divided into four large branches--the Alexandrovichi, including the Vladimirovich and Pavlovich sub-branches; the Constantinovichi; the Nicholaievichi; and the Mikhailovichi. Each was descended from the four sons of Emperor Nicholas I. This examination of The Survivors begins with those members of the family that did not survive the Revolution.

Those Murdered

Note: Reference (1) refers to the numbering system in the article by Professor Kent Sole
      Reference (2) refers to the numbering system adopted on my Web Pages on the genealogy of
      Royal Families (e.g. 4.**** = Russian Royal family)

The Survivors

Note: Reference (1) refers to the numbering system in the article by Professor Kent Sole
      Reference (2) refers to the numbering system adopted on my Web Pages on the genealogy of
      Royal Families (e.g. 4.**** = Russian Royal family)

An additional eight Romanovs were living abroad at the time of the Revolution

Note: Reference (1) refers to the numbering system in the article by Professor Kent Sole
      Reference (2) refers to the numbering system adopted on my Web Pages on the genealogy of
      Royal Families (e.g. 4.**** = Russian Royal family)

There were also several morganatic wives and children of various members of the

Imperial Family that escaped or were living abroad at the time of the Revolution

Note: Reference (1) refers to the numbering system in the article by Professor Kent Sole
      Reference (2) refers to the numbering system adopted on my Web Pages on the genealogy of
      Royal Families (e.g. 4.**** = Russian Royal family)