Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova

ROMANOVA Anastasia Nikolaevna — the youngest daughter of Russia's last emperor, whose fate gave rise to one of the twentieth century's most enduring historical legends. She received a private education alongside her sisters and brother. Even after the family was detained, lessons, including music and foreign languages, continued at Tobolsk. The ordinary routines of adolescence unfolded against increasing isolation and uncertainty.

In May 1918 Anastasia was taken to Yekaterinburg, where she was killed with her family at the Ipatiev House in July. In the decades that followed, stories circulated claiming that she had survived, and several women claimed to be the missing grand duchess. The legend inspired books and films, but forensic investigations of the graves and DNA analyses, including tests on remains discovered in 2007, established that none of Nicholas II's children survived. Researchers nevertheless debated which of the two sisters, Maria or Anastasia, was represented by specific remains. In 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church canonised Anastasia as a passion-bearer.