Note: this topic is from 4/30/2008. Thanks Borges.
Posted on 04/30/2008 8:34:25 AM PDT by Borges
MOSCOW - DNA tests carried out by a U.S. laboratory prove that bone fragments exhumed last year belong to two children of Czar Nicholas II, putting to rest questions about what happened to Russia's last royal family, a regional governor said Wednesday.
Bone fragments dug up near the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg are indeed those of Crown Prince Alexei and his sister, Maria, whose remains had been missing since the family was murdered in 1918 as Russia descended into civil war, said Eduard Rossel, governor of the Sverdlovsk region.
"We have now found the entire family," he told reporters in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow.
The confirmation could bring the tortured history of the Russian imperial family closer to closure and end royal supporters' persistent hopes that members of the czar's immediate family survived the massacre.
Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 as revolutionary fervor swept Russia, and he and his family were detained. The czar; his wife, Alexandra, and their son and four daughters were fatally shot on July 17, 1918, in a basement room of the merchant's house where they were being held in Yekaterinburg
The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters were unearthed in Yekaterinburg in 1991 as the Soviet Union was collapsing. After genetic tests convinced forensics experts of their authenticity, they were buried in 1998 in a cathedral in the imperial capital of St. Petersburg.
The Russian Orthodox Church canonized Nicholas and his family in 2000, even as it expressed doubts that the remains were indeed those of the czar's family.
The remains of Alexei and Maria, however, had never been located, leading to decades of speculation that perhaps one or both had survived.
Last summer, researchers dug up the bone shards near Yekaterinburg and enlisted Russian and U.S. laboratories to conduct DNA tests.
"The main genetic laboratory in the United States has concluded its work with a full confirmation of our own laboratories' work," Rossel told reporters. "This has confirmed that indeed it is the children.
It was unclear which laboratory Rossel was referring to but a genetic research team working at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has been involved in the process.
The press service for Russian Orthodox Church said no one could comment on the discovery.
I read about this story years and years ago, in Richard Halliburton’s “Seven League Boots”. He interviewed one of the assassins of the Tzar’s family sometime between the two world wars. So far, all of the details that have emerged about the fate of the Tzar’s family are entirely consistent with Halliburton’s interview.
I wonder what they used for comparison?
So, then we can now expect that eccentric, demanding Anastasia impersonators will quit turning up in exotic ports of call all over the world?
> So, then we can now expect that eccentric, demanding Anastasia impersonators will quit turning up in exotic ports of call all over the world?
Jeez, I sure hope so. The poor dears would be 106 yrs old now.
How old would Anastasia be if she were alive today? When it gets to 140, the impersonators will thin out.
Wikipedia's entry for Nicolas II of Russia explains:
The remains of all the family and their [servants] with the exception of two of the children were later found in 1991.... The process to identify the remains was exhaustive. Samples were sent to Britain and the United States for DNA testing. The tests concluded that five of the skeletons were members of one family and four were unrelated. Three of the five were determined to be the children of two parents. The mother was linked to the British royal family, as was Alexandra. (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, grandson of Alexandra's oldest sister Victoria, Marchioness of Milford-Haven, gave a DNA sample which matched with that of the remains) The father was determined to be related to Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, younger brother of Nicholas II. British scientists said they were more than 98.5% sure that the remains were those of the Emperor, his family and their attendants.
Probably some long-lost relative of Pooty Poot's.
So much for the story of Anastasia. That is the right person I am thinking of, right?
Yes, what happened to Anastasia? Was she identified?
I think there was one prominent Anastasia impersonator several years ago who really managed to parlay that little scam into some high living for herself.
Not that I can see.
This may be a new tactic by the "Evil Empire" to suggest that she never existed, thus "all are accounted for".
Anastasia was murdered with the rest.
Was DNA ever found? If so, it wasn’t mentioned in this article.
The article states,
“The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters were unearthed in Yekaterinburg in 1991...”
I believe that would include Anastasia.
I don’t ever recall any positive ID of Anastasia’s remains or any news of results of DNA testing. Perhaps it slipped by me.
Note: this topic is from 4/30/2008. Thanks Borges.
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