Was I named after Empress Alexandra (pictured above), wife of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia? It is a question I have been asked time and time again. It was not something I ever discussed with my mother. How do parents decide on names for their children? I had a few
On February 14, 1914, my maternal grandparents, Paul and Olga Woronoff (neé Countess Kleinmichel) were married in the Feodorovsky Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo – I have written about their wedding here and talked about it here on YouTube. So 108 years ago they would have been on their honeymoon. I
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna as a nurse in WWI – postcard from the author’s personal collection
I was reminded by the Facebook post in the group “In the Steps of the Romanovs” that Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of the Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, was born on 15th November. The Facebook post is linked to Helen Azar’s video about GD Olga’s
My parents and grandparents were definitely hoarders. Each time I attempt to sort through the papers and letters and documents and photographs and other things I brought home after the death of my father; I am amazed at how much they kept. Bearing in mind either my grandparents had to
I often find documents in the many papers I inherited, which make me wonder about why they have been kept for so long. Documents which nowadays we would (and I do) throw out after they are no longer needed – of course many of our documents are now virtual. In