The Diary of Olga Romanov

Posted on 22 August 2018 by Helen Azar

In August 1914, Russia entered the First World War, and with it, the Imperial family of Tsar Nicholas II was thrust into a conflict from which they would not emerge His eldest child, Olga Nikolaevna, great granddaughter of Queen Victoria, had begun a diary in 1905 when she was 10 years old and kept writing her thoughts and impressions of day to day life as a Grand Duchess until abruptly ending her entries when her father abdicated his throne in March 1917 Held at the State Archives of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Olga s diaries during the wartime period have never been translated into English until this volume At the outset of the war, Olga and her sister, Tatiana, worked as nurses in a military hospital along with their mother, Tsarina Alexandra Olga s younger sisters, Maria and Anastasia, visited their own infirmaries to help raise the morale of the wounded and sick soldiers The strain was indeed great as Olga records her impressions of tending to the officers who had been injured and maimed in the fighting on the Russian front Concerns about her sickly brother, Aleksei abound, as well those for her father who is seen attempting to manage the ongoing war Gregori Rasputin appears in entries too, in an affectionate manner as one would expect of a family friend While the diaries reflect the interests of a young woman, her tone increases in seriousness as the Russian army suffers setbacks, Rasputin is ultimately murdered, and a popular movement against her family begins to grow At the point Olga ends her writing in 1917, the author continues the story by translating letters and impressions from family intimates, such as Anna Vyrubova, as well as the diary kept by Nicholas II himself Finally, once the Imperial family has been put under house arrest by the revolutionaries, observations by Alexander Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government, are provided, these too in English translation for the first time Olga would offer no further personal writings as she and the rest of her family were crowded into a basement of a house in the Urals and shot to death in July 1918.The Diary of Olga Romanov RoyalWitness to the Russian Revolution, translated and introduced by scientist and librarian Helen Azar, and supplemented with additional primary source material, is a remarkable document of a young woman who did not choose to be part of a royal family and never exploited her own position, but lost her life simply because of what her family represented. Free Read [ The Diary of Olga Romanov ] Author [ Helen Azar ] – kino-fada.fr The five stars are really for the execution of the book as opposed to the actual content of Olga s diaries and letters Azar provides a vivid translation of the girl s diary entries that gives you a strong sense as to how Olga actually expressed herself, peppering them and her letters with mild and occasionally funny slang It also conveys a better idea of how close Tatiana and Olga were as a pair, as opposed to the usual OTMA assemblage and incidentally, is there evidence that the four girls The five stars are really for the execution of the book as opposed to the actual content of Olga s diaries and letters Azar provides a vivid translation of the girl s diary entries that gives you a strong sense as to how Olga actually expressed herself, peppering them and her letters with mild and occasionally funny slang It also conveys a better idea of how close Tatiana and Olga were as a pair, as opposed to the usual OTMA assemblage and incidentall...Had tea Had lunch Like a very bad twitter feed from the last days of the Russian Court.As this was the first of the diaries of the Imperial Daughters to be translated into English and published, I really looked forward to reading it However, I was greatly disappointed in the book as a whole The essays at the beginning about Olga s childhood and the discovery of the Romanov remains were actually the best, most coherent portions of the book Even then the writing seemsYoung Adult in tone and style then being geared for historians or adults When you get to the actual diary e As this was the first of the diaries of the Imperial Daughters to be translated into English and published, I really looked forward to reading it However, I was greatly disappointed in the book as a whole The essays at...He amado con locura este libro, es f cil de leer, no es aburrido, y me gusta que tiene pie de p gina, porque muchas veces mencionan palabras en Ruso y a personas que no me acuerdo o no s quienes son y s lo tengo que leer abajo para saber.Poco se habla de Olga,la hija m s grande del ltimo emperador de Rusia, con este libro pude conocer m s de ella,sus intereses, su amor por ayudar y hacer sentir bien a los dem s, como dijo uno de sus tutores Olga Nikolaevna has a crystal soul La ltima entr He amado con locura este libro, es f cil de leer, no es aburrido, y me gusta que tiene pie de p gina, porque muchas veces mencionan palabras en Ruso y a personas que no me acuerdo o no s quienes son y s lo tengo que leer abajo para saber.Poco se habla de Olga,la hija m s grande del ltimo emperador de Rusia, con este libro pude conocer m s de ella,sus intereses, su amor por ayudar y hacer sentir bien a los dem s, como dijo uno de sus tutores Olga Nikolaevna has a crystal soul La ltima entrada d...A slice of life of the Russian court told from the perspective of Tzar Nicholas s oldest daughter, Olga Sometimes giddy, at other times grounded in the stark realities of the first world war, it is a firsthand account in the form of a diary that outlines her day to day life and the impact of her changing world Sweetly innocent, and charmingly devoted to her family, it s an insider s look into the everyday details, filled with Olga s warmth Seemingly unaffected by her title, yet understanding A slice of life of the Russian court told from the perspective of Tzar Nicholas s oldest daughter, Olga Sometimes giddy, at other times grounded in the stark realities of the first world war, it is a firsthand account in the form of a diary that outlines her day to day life and the impact of her changing world Sweetly innocent, and charmingly devoted to her family, it s an in...Helen Azar has given us a real treat by translating snippets of Olga Romanov s diary entries and letters The Diary of Olga Romanov Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution offers insights into the life of Tsar Nicholas II s eldest daughter and brings her to life The book also includes diary entries and letters of those who were close to or had contact with the grand duchess.The book begins with a nice 25 page introduction providing some necessary background information The diary reads a bit Helen Azar has given us a real treat by translating snippets of Olga Romanov s diary entries and letters The Diary of Olga Romanov Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution offers insights into the life of Tsar Nicholas II s eldest daughter and brings her to life The book also includes diary entries and letters of those who were close to or had contact with the grand duchess.The book begins with a nice 25 page introduction providing some necessary background information The diary reads a bit like a laundry list of events that happened throughout the day but the letters ...This diary and some letters of a member of the Russian imperial family is well edited and annotated, and the introduction is excellent I commend Azar for curating the material so well and I m glad it s been translated into English for the first time This slim book will add to the sum of scholarly research on imperial Russia.I found some of the excerpts of letters quite intriguing when the subject matter was the events around the country, or serious conversations with wounded soldiers, or conce This diary and some letters of a member of the Russian imperial family is well edited and annotated, and the introduction is excellent I commend Azar for curating the material so well and I m glad it s been translated into English for the first time This slim book will add to the sum of scholarly research on imperial Russia.I found some of the excerpts of letters quite intriguing when the subject matter was the events around the country, or serious conversations with wounded soldiers, or concerns for the health of the son and heir, or a visit from close family friend Rasputin all these entries were interesting in themselves, and were also tinged with the foreknowledge of how it would end Far too much of the diary, I thought, had all the interest of reading a log file, a bare recording of the guests who visited, what they ate, the gossip they shared, what games they played, with little commentary or expression of emotional reaction T...Author Helen Azar is a librarian in Philadelphia who has worked at the Rare Book Foundation at the Museum of Tsarskoe Selo in Russia She has compiled a translation of diary entries of Olga Romanov, the eldest daughter of Nicholas II The translations encompass the years 1914 1918 Although Olga s entries stop in March of 1917, entries from other diaries namely those of Czar Nicholas II ...I enjoyed reading this account of the Russian Revolution from the eyes of an innocent caught in the middle The Grand Duchess,Olga Nicholavena Romanov, oldest daughter of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, is shown to be a strong, caring, yet naive She knows nothing out side of her fishbowl life She knows only of living in palaces and castles, sleeping on monogrammed sheets, eating gourmet meals, and yet, sleeping on an army cot every night and taking only cold showers She sees the war fro I enjoyed reading this account of the Russian Revolution from the eyes of an innocent caught in the ...A glimpse into a sheltered life filled with family, devotion, duty and such promise If anything, these diary entries and, especially, letters between Olga and her father shed light on how tragically misunderstood this particular family was in the eyes of the Russian people So many if only s

English
22 August 2018

Helen Azar