Yevgeny Sergeyevich Botkin (; 27 March 1865 – 17 July 1918), commonly known as Eugene Botkin, was the

court physician A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

since 1908 for

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 Tsarina Alexandra. He sometimes treated the

Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia Alexei Nikolaevich (; – 17 July 1918) was the last Russian tsesarevich (heir apparent). He was the youngest child and only son of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. He was born with haemophilia, which his parents tried treat ...

for

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 ...

-related complications, like in Spala in 1912. Following the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Botkin went into exile with the Romanov family, accompanying them to

Tobolsk Tobolsk (, ) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1587, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and was the historic capita ...

and

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 ...

in Siberia. He was murdered with the Imperial family by guards on 17 July 1918. Like the Romanov family, Botkin was canonised in 1981 as a

New Martyr The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr (-, ''neo''-, the prefix for "new"; and μάρτυς, ''martys'', "witness") is conferred in some denominations of Christianity to distinguish more recent martyrs and confessors from the old martyrs of the pe ...

by the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Currently, t ...

. In 2000, the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

canonised the Romanov family as

passion bearers In Eastern Christianity, a passion bearer ( rus, страстотéрпец, r=strastoterpets, p=strəstɐˈtʲɛrpʲɪts) is one of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when honouring their feast on the C ...

. On 3 February 2016, the Bishop's Council of the Russian Orthodox Church canonised Botkin as '' Righteous

Passion-Bearer In Eastern Christianity, a passion bearer ( rus, страстотéрпец, r=strastoterpets, p=strəstɐˈtʲɛrpʲɪts) is one of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when honouring their feast on the C ...

Yevgeny the Physician''.

Early life and career

Botkin was born in the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in the Russian Empire, the fourth son of Anastasia Alexandrovna (Krylova) and

Sergey Botkin Sergey Petrovich Botkin (; 5 September 1832 – 12 December 1889) was a Russian clinician, therapist, and activist, one of the founders of modern Russian medical science and education. He introduced triage, pathological anatomy, and post mort ...

, who had been a court physician ("Leib Medik") since 1870 under Tsars Alexander II and Alexander III. His father is considered one of the founders of modern Russian medical science and education who introduced

triage In medicine, triage (, ; ) is a process by which care providers such as Health professional, medical professionals and those with first aid knowledge determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform th ...

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the gross examination, macroscopic, Histopathology, microscopic, biochemical, immu ...

, and

post mortem An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death; ...

diagnostics into Russian medical practice. Initially home educated he entered the 5th grade of The Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium. Botkin followed his father in studying medicine, getting his degree at the

S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy The S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy () is a higher education institution of military medicine in Saint Petersburg and the Russian Federation. Senior medical staff are trained for the Russian Armed Forces and conduct research in military m ...

on the properties of blood and doing additional studies at the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg (1890-1892, 1895).King; Wilson (2003), p. 61 He served with distinction aboard the St. Georgievsky Red Cross hospital train and wrote notes on the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. In 1907 he was appointed as chief physician at Saint George City Hospital in St. Petersburg. Botkin married Olga Vladimirovna Manuilova in 1891 and had four children, Dimitri, Yuri,

Gleb Gleb (; ) or Hlib (, ) is a Slavic male given name derived from the Old Norse name ''Guðleifr'', which means "heir of god." According to another version, the name Gleb comes from the name Olaf. It is popular in Russia due to an early martyr, Saint ...

and

Tatiana Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Origin Tatiana is a feminine, diminutive derivative of the Sabine—and later Latin� ...

. His marriage broke up under the strain caused by Botkin's dedication to the Romanovs and his long hours at court. His wife, Olga, started an affair with Friedrich (Fritz) Lichinger, a pharmacist and was granted a divorce. His oldest son, Dimitri was killed in action during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Botkin became increasingly religious and "developed an increasing abhorrence for the flesh," according to his son

. His daughter Tatiana wrote his memoirs. Years later, his brother Peter spoke of him:Botkine, Peter. ''LesMorts sans Tombes''. Paris: Louis Conard, 1921

"From a very tender age, his beautiful and noble nature was complete," his brother Peter recalled later. "He was never like other children. Always sensitive, of a delicate, inner sweetness of extraordinary soul, he had a horror of any kind of struggle or fight. We other boys would fight with fury. He would not take part in our combats, but when our pugilism took on a dangerous character he would stop the combatants at risk of injuring himself. He was very studious and conscientious in his studies. For a profession he chose medicine: to help, to succour, to soothe, to heal without end."^apud

Exile and death

Botkin felt it was his duty to accompany the Romanovs into exile, not only because of his responsibility to his patients, the Romanov family, but also to his country. Botkin was considered a friend by Tsar Nicholas II. The doctor also often spoke with Tsarina Alexandra in her native German and acted as a translator for her when she received a Russian delegation. After Botkin and the family were executed,

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

investigators found this unfinished letter by him. It was written in his quarters on the night of 16 July 1918: The letter was interrupted when

Yakov Yurovsky Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (, ; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revoluti ...

, the head of the command at the

Ipatiev House Ipatiev House () was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg (city in 1924 renamed Sverdlovsk, in 1991 renamed back to Yekaterinburg) where the abdicated Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918, reigned 1894–1917), all his immediate family, and ...

knocked on Botkin's door. He ordered the entire Romanov party to dress and come downstairs, on the premise that there was gunfire in the town, and they were to be evacuated. But the entire family and their servants (including Botkin who volunteered) were

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

a short time later. In the early 1990s, after the unmarked gravesite had been discovered and Botkin's remains were examined, he was found to have had bullet wounds on his legs, pelvis,

vertebrae Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

, and forehead.

Honours and awards

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'. Grades The order had four ...

, 3rd and 2nd classes with swords, * Order of St. Anna, 2nd class * Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class *

Order of St. Sava The Order of St. Sava () is an ecclesiastic decoration conferred by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a dynastic order presented by the house of Karađorđević. It was previously a state order awarded by both the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom ...

, 2nd class *Bulgarian "For Citizenship Award" *1981, canonised by Russian Church Outside of Russia as

. *2016, canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church as

passion bearer In Eastern Christianity, a passion bearer ( rus, страстотéрпец, r=strastoterpets, p=strəstɐˈtʲɛrpʲɪts) is one of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when honouring their feast on the ...

Representation in other media

Botkin features as a character in David Logan's (an Australian playwright) ''Ekaterinburg''. It explores the time in captivity of the Romanovs and their retainers in the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg.Logan, D. (2013) Ekaterinburg Botkin was featured in the 1971 film ''

Nicholas and Alexandra ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' is a 1971 British epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay by James Goldman and Edward Bond based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 book of the same name. It tells the story of the l ...

'', portrayed by

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West (20 October 1934 – 12 November 2024) was an English actor with a long and varied career across theatre, film, and television. He began acting in repertory theatres in the 1950s before making his London stage debut in 19 ...

; as well as the 1996 television movie '' Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny'' where he was portrayed by

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Othe ...

References

* * *Wegner, Armin T. (1930). ''Fünf Finger über dir.'' Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart. Berlin und Leipzig.

Notes