Anastasia Romanova

The princess who survived

Who is she?

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of the Russian tzar Nicholas II who sparked a myth that she mysteriously survived the execution of the royal family.

Why is she an overman?

Known affectionately as “Schwipsig” (meaning “little mischief”), Anastasia was vibrant, witty, and fiercely energetic. She loved performative skits, comedy, and practical jokes, frequently entertaining her family with her sharp sense of humor. She was also deeply affectionate with her siblings, particularly her younger brother Alexei, whom she frequently sought to entertain and comfort.

Anastasia is a symbol of the idea that beauty and high spirit can survive even in the darkest reality. The belief that she saved herself is a key aspect of human nature.

Curious incidents:

Anastasia hated strictly enforced lessons and routine. When she didn’t want to attend classes or do her chores, she was known to scramble high up into birch trees at the palace grounds and stubbornly refuse to come down, leaving her tutors and guards completely helpless below until she felt like descending.

Dubbed a “genius at being naughty” by the court doctor’s son, Anastasia loved physical comedy. She frequently tripped servants carrying trays, hid in cabinets to jump out and startle palace staff, and mimicked the pompous manners of visiting dignitaries behind their backs to make her family laugh.

Short biography:

18 June 1901 – 17 July 1917

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was born at the Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg. As the fourth child and youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, her birth was initially met with mild disappointment by the royal court, which was eagerly awaiting a male heir. Despite her high royal status, Anastasia and her siblings were raised in a surprisingly modest environment, sleeping on camp cots and taking cold baths.

Anastasia’s life was drastically transformed by the outbreak of World War I and the subsequent political upheaval in Russia. During the war, she and her sister Maria regularly visited wounded soldiers at military hospitals to boost morale. Following the February Revolution of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, bringing an end to the Romanov dynasty’s three-century rule. The entire imperial family was placed under house arrest, first at the Alexander Palace, then exiled to Tobolsk in Siberia, and finally moved to the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. Throughout their confinement, Anastasia kept spirits up among her family members with her trademark humor and plays.

On the night of July 17, 1918, at just 17 years old, Anastasia was executed alongside her parents, three sisters, brother Alexei, and several loyal family servants by Bolshevik revolutionaries in a cellar of the Ipatiev House. In the decades following the Soviet government’s secrecy regarding the details of the execution, wild rumors spread that Anastasia had somehow survived and escaped. Numerous imposters came forward claiming to be the lost grand duchess—most famously Anna Anderson.