Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaievna of Russia (Tatiana Nikolaievna Romanova) (In Russian Великая Княжна Татьяна Николаевна) Tanya, Tatya or Tanushka (May 29 (O.S.)/June 10 (N.S.), 1897 - July 17, 1918) was the second daughter of Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse. She was a younger sister of Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. She was one of the elder sisters of Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia and Tsarevich Alexei of Russia.
Her godparents were Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, The King of Denmark, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich of Russia, The Duke of York, The Dowager Empress of Russia, The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, and Princess Victoria of Battenberg.
Tatiana and her older sister Olga, were known in the household as "The Big Pair". Like their younger sisters, they shared a bedroom and were very close to each other. Along with her sister Olga, she was assigned a regiment of soldiers, the Vosnesensky (Ascenscion) Hussars and given the rank of honorary colonel. She and her sister would go out and inspect the soldiers regularly.
Tatiana was reserved, fashionable and had the posture and attitude of a princess. She was close to her mother. She was arguably the most beautiful of all the sisters. Tatiana was deeply religious and read the Bible frequently. She was also the leader of the children who gave her the nickname "Governess". Tatiana was the one who took charge of everything which did not bother Olga, who was the eldest.
In 1914, she became an Red Cross nurse with her mother and Olga. She was twenty one when she was executed along with her family on July 17, 1918 in the cellar room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The executions were carried out by an execution squad under the command of Yakov Yurovsky.
In 2000, she and her family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
