CANDACE FLEMING

Language Lesson

Did you know? The Romanov family’s lan­guage was not Russian.

Tsar Nicholas spoke Russ­ian, but no one else in his imme­di­ate fam­i­ly did. Alexan­dra was Ger­man. As a fam­i­ly, they spoke English.

Many pri­ma­ry his­tor­i­cal doc­u­ments about the Romanovs are acces­si­ble to the Eng­lish speaker/reader (with­out a Russ­ian trans­la­tor) because Nicholas and Alexan­dra wrote in English.

Left to right: Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra, Grand Duchess Anastasia, Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duchess Tatiana. (photo credit: Library of Congress, Boissannas et Eggler, St. Petersburg, Nevsky 24)
Left to right: Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Maria, Nicholas II, Alexan­dra, Grand Duchess Anas­ta­sia, Tsare­vich Alex­ei, Grand Duchess Tatiana. (pho­to cred­it: Library of Con­gress, Bois­san­nas et Eggler, St. Peters­burg, Nevsky 24)

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