Anna Demidova
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Anna Stepanovna Demidova (26 January 1878 – 17 July 1918) was a lady-in-waiting in the service of
Empress Alexandra of Russia german: Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrixrussian: Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , house = Hesse-Darmstadt , father = Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine , mother = Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , birth_name ...
. She stayed with the Romanov family when they were arrested, and was executed together with Alexandra and the Romanov family on 17 July 1918. She had shared the Romanov family's exile at Tobolsk and Ekaterinburg following the
Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
before their execution. She is remembered for staying with the Romanovs to the end. In 1981 she was canonized as an Orthodox
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
by the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...
(ROCOR) but not by the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
.


Life

Anna Demidova, whose nickname was "''Nyuta''," was described in adulthood as a "tall, statuesque blonde."King, Greg, and Wilson, Penny, ''The Fate of the Romanovs,'' John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2003, , pp. 63–64 She was the daughter of Stepan Demidov and his wife. Her father was a well-off merchant in
Cherepovets Cherepovets ( rus, Череповец, p=tɕɪrʲɪpɐˈvʲɛts) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. ...
, where he also served on the Cherepovets City Duma, and was a member of the House of Demidov, a Russian noble family. Demidova graduated from the Yaroslavl Institute for Maids with a teaching certificate. She was a good friend of Elizaveta Ersberg, a parlormaid at the court, and was once engaged to Ersberg's brother Nikolai. About 1905 Ersberg secured her friend a position at the court as a governess. In his memoirs,
Charles Sydney Gibbes Charles Sydney Gibbes (19 January 1876 – 24 March 1963) was a British academic who from 1908 to 1917 served as the English tutor to the children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. When Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917 Gibbes volun ...
, the Romanov children's English tutor, described Demidova as "of a singularly timid and shrinking disposition."


Exile and death

Later Demidova began working more directly in service to Tsarina Alexandra and followed her into captivity. In April 1918, after the Russian Revolution, she accompanied her mistress,
Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
, and
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (Maria Nikolaevna Romanova; Russian: Великая Княжна Мария Николаевна, 17 July 1918) was the third daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. H ...
when they were transferred by Bolsheviks from
Tobolsk Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and i ...
to
Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...
. The remaining four Romanov children and other members of their retinue stayed behind in Tobolsk for a month because the Tsarevich Alexei was ill as a result of his hemophilia. As her group left Tobolsk, Demidova said to Gibbes, "I am so frightened of the Bolsheviks, Mr. Gibbes. I don't know what they will do to us." On the night of the execution, the family was awakened and told to dress. Demidova carried two pillows into which gems had been sewn. After the first volley of fire by the execution squad, Demidova, who had fainted after being wounded, revived and, finding herself still alive, exclaimed "Thank God! God has saved me!" Hearing her, the executioners turned on her. Crying, she attempted to defend herself, but was stabbed to death with bayonets.


Discovery of remains

The Bolsheviks, followed by the Soviet Union government, tried to suppress information about the executions of the Romanov family and their retainers. In 1979 the gravesite containing most of the bodies was found by an amateur, but the government did not acknowledge this until 1989, in the period of ''
glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
.'' DNA analysis and forensics were used to identify the Romanov members. The remains of Tsarevich Alexei and one of his sisters were missing from this gravesite, but were finally discovered in 2007 in another, nearby, unmarked gravesite. Their identities were confirmed by DNA analysis, but the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
asked to retain Alexei's remains for more testing and, as of 2015, still held them.


Funeral

A state funeral was held on 17 July 1998, in Peter and Paul Cathedral in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
for the Romanov family, Demidova, and the other victims killed by the Bolsheviks 80 years earlier. Demidova's grandniece, Natalie Demidova, was among the attendees. At the time, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church did not attend because they disputed the identification of victims.


Canonization

In 2000, the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
canonized all seven members of the Russian royal family: Nicholas and Alexandra, and their five children.


In literature and drama

Demidova is featured as a character in the play, ''
Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...
'' (2013) by D. Logan. It explores the time in captivity of the Romanovs and their retainers in the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg.Logan, D., ''Ekaterinburg: A Play'' (2013)


Notes


See also

*
Romanov sainthood The canonization of the Romanovs (also called "glorification" in the Russian Orthodox Church) was the elevation to sainthood of the last Imperial Family of Russia – Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tat ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demidova, Anna Stepanovna 1878 births 1918 deaths Canonised servants of the Romanov household Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 20th-century Christian saints Victims of Red Terror in Soviet Russia People from Cherepovets People from Vologda Oblast People executed by stabbing Christian female saints of the Late Modern era People executed by Russia by firing squad Executed Russian women Anna Stepanovna Courtiers from the Russian Empire Court of Nicholas II of Russia Nobility from the Russian Empire