Eugene Nicolaievich Ivanoff of Poland, who claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei Romanov in the mid-1920s, was one of the first in a long line of

Romanov impostors Members of the ruling Russian imperial family, the House of Romanov, were executed by a firing squad led by Yakov Yurovsky in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on July 17, 1918, during both the Russian Civil War and near the end of the First World War. Af ...

to emerge from various parts of the world following the execution of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

and his family at

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

on 17 July 1918. He was both one of the first Alexei claimants, and one of the first Romanov claimants to generate any sort of serious publicity in the European and American press.

Overview

Ivanoff's claim was first documented in 1927 in the

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

newspaper ''Express Poranny'' and the article was subsequently adapted for publication in the French journal ''Le Matin'' by Henry de Korab.Richards, Guy (1970) ''The Hunt for the Czar''. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, pp. 114-116. In his version, Korab reported that he had heard rumours that "Grand Duke Alexis" (''sic'') was living as a refugee in Poland, either somewhere in

Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...

or on the outskirts of

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

. He noted: "there is on the subject a little conspiracy of silence; the persons knowledgeable about the matter have, no doubt, interest in being silent and only answer you by monosyllables". By his own account, Ivanoff fled the Yekaterinberg massacre in the company of "an old Cossack" and, passing through

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, arrived at a German

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

and, with his knowledge of the German language, succeeded in gaining access. He was repatriated to

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

but then, in 1919, travelled back to Poland because, as he put it, "wanting to be nearer to Russia, for I was expecting changes in my country". After arriving in Pomerelia, Ivanoff spent two years in the protection of Abbott Biernaz, parish priest of Chelmo, who was quoted as stating that the young man "is indeed the most authentic of the Czarevichs that he has, for several years, sheltered under his roof". The Abbott further noted that Ivanoff spoke perfect English, German and French, and that "he was knowledgeable of the lesser details of the court of Russia". He also appeared to suffer from

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

, just like the real Tsarevich Alexei. At the time that the article was published, Ivanoff was reported to be living in Bydogoszcz as the guest of a Russian emigre family named Zuruk. It was noted that "he sews and embroiders: feminine craftsmanship that the authentic Czarevitch has picked up as a habit during his long illnesses". On Sundays, Ivanoff also liked to dress up in the uniform of the former Russian Imperial Army. A photograph of the claimant in uniform, which accompanied the original article, is reproduced in Guy Richard's 1970 book, ''The Hunt for the Czar''. Ivanoff's claim was subsequently reported in several North American newspapers, including the ''New York Times'', the ''Schenectady Gazette'' (New Jersey) and the ''Victoria Daily Advocate'' (Texas)."Think Czar's son secluded in Poland", ''Victoria Daily Advocate'', September 23, 1927. After his initial flurry of international publicity, Ivanoff seems to have disappeared from the public record, and his subsequent fate remains unknown.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Romanov impostors 1920s in Russia 20th-century Polish people {{Improve categories, date=December 2023