Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, in Russian: Великая Княжна Анастасия Николаевна ) (June 18, 1901 - July 17, 1918) was the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and Empress Alexandra. She was a younger sister of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. She was an older sister of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia.

She carried the name of the Tsaritsa Anastasia of Russia. She was said to have been sometimes cruelly good at impersonations and to possess a sharp sarcastic wit. She also suffered from the medical condition hallux valgus, which affected the joints of her two big toes.

She was assassinated along with the rest of her family in the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg on July 17, 1918. Although rumors of her survival had persisted for several decades, DNA testing in 1994 on the bodies executed in Ekaterinburg have established that they were indeed the Romanovs, although two bodies - those of Alexei and one of the daughters (variously said to be Anastasia, Tatiana or Maria) - were missing, likely because they had been cremated.

She has been impersonated on several occasions. The two most famous instances were an American woman named Eugenia Smith and a woman calling herself "Anna Anderson."

In 2001, she and her family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Media appearances

The possible survival of Anastasia has been the subject of several films. Although the earliest such film was made in 1928 and the most recent a fictionalized 1997 animated musical version, the most famous is probably the 1956 Anastasia starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, and Helen Hayes. Anastasia's possible survival is also the subject of the song "Yes Anastasia" by contemporary musician Tori Amos.

Anastasia also appears as a playable character in the 2004 PlayStation 2 Computer role-playing game Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Older namesake

Another Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (Великая Княжна Анастасия Михаиловна) (July 28, 1860 - March 11, 1922) was the daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia . She was married to Grand Duke Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin .

External links

• www.alexanderpalace.org/anastasia