- SOFIA, Bulgaria (Reuters) - Weeks before the remains of Nicholas II
and his family are due to be buried, a magistrate says he may have the
bones of Anastasia, one of two children of the last Russian czar whose
fate has been shrouded in mystery. Blagoi Emanuilov, a senior magistrate
in the southern town of Karlovo, wants international genetic tests conducted
on the bones of a Russian woman who lived in Bulgaria under the name Eleonora
Albertova. Emanuilov told Reuters years of research convinced him she was
Nicholas' youngest daughter. ``For six years I have been collecting and
examining facts and details about Eleonora's life and I can say -- she
and Russia's Grand Duchess Anastasia were one and the same person,'' he
said. He added that he hoped to send samples of her bones to the United
States for DNA tests. He exhumed the bones in 1996 in the remote village
of Gabarevo some 140 miles east of Sofia. Anastasia Romanov's fate is unknown
despite persistent rumors that she survived when a Bolshevik firing squad
executed Russia's imperial family in the basement of a house in the Urals
city of Yekaterinburg nearly 80 years ago. Remains of the family were dug
up near Yekaterinburg in 1991 but the bones of two of the children, Czarevitch
Aleksei and a sister, either Anastasia or Maria, were never found. Extensive
DNA tests in Russia, Britain and the United States, including blood samples
donated by Britain's Prince Philip, a Romanov relative, identified the
bones as those of the imperial family. But the tests failed to agree on
whether the missing bones were those of Anastasia or Maria.
-
- MANY HAVE CLAIMED TO BE ANASTASIA
-
- The burial will take place in St Petersburg
on July 17, the 80th anniversary of the family's execution. Several women
during the past eight decades have claimed to be Anastasia. The most famous,
and regarded as the most credible, Anna Anderson, was established as a
fake by DNA tests carried out after she died in the United States in 1984.
Emanuilov's theory clashes with a claim by Yekaterinburg governor Eduard
Rossel earlier this year that a local scientist had discovered the missing
remains of Aleksei and Anastasia. Eleonora arrived in Gabarevo in 1922
or 1923 after escaping from Bolshevik Russia. Bulgaria is predominantly
Eastern Orthodox and has a language similar to Russian. Locals were impressed
with the attractive Russian woman, who spoke several languages, played
the piano, had refined manners and never revealed her origin. Soon after
her arrival other Russians began to settle in. They were obviously from
a different background but they had something in common -- they never spoke
about their past and even now their local relatives know nothing about
their roots. According to Emanuilov, they all shared a sense of adoration
and some kind of awe of the tall, slender, blue-eyed Eleonora, as if she
was their master. ``There are lots of strange coincidences between her
and Anastasia. Her sophistication combined with secretiveness has convinced
us Eleonora was actually the czar's daughter.''
-
- MAY HAVE SAID SHE WAS SHOT
-
- Eleonora always wore a scarf around her
neck and spoke in a strange voice, which local people believed resulted
from a gunshot wound that may have damaged her vocal cords. She is said
to have mentioned that she had been shot and had had an operation to remove
the bullet. The facial resemblance between Eleonora and Anastasia was also
very strong, according to Emanuilov, and Eleonora's year of birth coincided
with that of the czar's daughter. A local legend says Eleonora had mentioned
that she ``was bathed as a child in a golden bath,'' or that ``the autumn
flowers reminded her about her room in the royal palace.'' But Eleonora
never openly claimed a link with the Romanovs. She lived with two other
Russians, George Zhudin, who some claimed was her brother, and Dr. Peter
Alekseev, her husband. Zhudin died of tuberculosis in 1930, 14 years before
Eleonora. Emanuilov said he wanted the DNA tests to be carried out in the
United States because some anthropologists there believed Anastasia's bones
had not been among those found. He said a Bulgarian businessman had promised
to pay for tests. He said he was determined to get to the bottom of the
Eleonora mystery and wanted the tests made ``in the name of historic truth.
There is a chance this might mean the end of Anastasia mystery as well,''
he added.
|
Sightings HomePage