Memoirs of Tsar Nicholas II & Tsarina Alexandra of Russia by Those Who Knew Them

by Julia P. Gelardi
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6 books
These books are indispensable to understanding the imperial couple as gleaned from those who had served them and their family. Here’s a list of those whose works make for fascinating reading.
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Thirteen Years at the Russian Court - Scholar's Choice Edition

Pierre Gilliard, Hutchinson and Co, 2015
Gilliard, as tutor to the Tsar’s children, had a close association with the imperial family and hence gives this eyewitness account of the imperial family. He is especially good at revealing the drama concerning the hemophilia suffered by the young heir, the Tsarevich Alexei. Thanks to Gilliard’s accounts, we come to understand how the Tsarina, who was devoted to her only son, saw in Rasputin an indispensable helper in alleviating the boy’s sufferings during excruciating attacks wrought on by the disease she had passed to her son. Gilliard, who stayed with Nicholas and Alexandra and their children almost until the end, has also given an account of the family’s life in captivity. Gilliard has succeeded in illuminating the dignity and faith - and heartbreaking story of the last imperial family of Russia.

Life and Tragedy of Alexandra, Empress of Russia

Buxhoeveden, 1996
As a Lady-in-Waiting to Tsarina Alexandra, Boxhoeveden had come to know the imperial family intimately and consequently was well placed to write her impressions of the Tsarina and her family. Buxhoeveden shows the human side of Alexandra and was entrusted by the Tsarina to chaperone her daughters outside of the palace confines. Sophie Buxhoeveden loyally followed the imperial family into their Siberian exile. Like Pierre Gilliard, Buxhoeveden escaped execution by the Bolsheviks.

The Real Tsaritsa

Lili Den, 2013
A narrative of her personal views of, and interaction with, the Tsarina Alexandra. Dehn became friends with the Tsarina beginning in 1907 and was a witness to the impact on the imperial couple of the Tsar’s 1917 abdication. Dehn was also close to the imperial children and along with Anna Viroubova’s memoirs, Dehn’s impressions make for a fascinating reading on the lives and characters of the imperial family, especially Tsarina Alexandra.

Memories of the Russian Court

Anna Aleksandrovna Vyrubova, 2023
As one of the closest confidantes of Tsarina Alexandra, Virobouva’s memoirs of Nicholas and Alexandra contribute to a good understanding of them. Viroubova’s championing of Rasputin may have endeared her to the Tsarina, but it also attracted much criticism, and some contemporaries who crossed paths with Virobouva were highly critical of her. Nevertheless, any study of the imperial couple should include a reading of Virobova’s insights into the royal couple and their family. Virubova’s unrivaled access to the imperial couple makes her one of the very few who knew Nicholas and Alexandra to any great extent.

The Private World of the Last Tsar in the Photographs and Notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe

P. Grabbe, B. Grabbe, 1985
A charming and at the same time, poignant record of the family of Tsar Nicholas II and their entourage. Grabbe, a Russian general and commander of the Tsar’s Cossack guard regiment, was an amateur photographer. Grabbe captured with his camera the private life of Russia’s last tsar, showing them to be a close-knit, unassuming family. Here are delightful vignettes of the family on holiday off the coast of Finland, on their yacht, the Standart, and at their Crimean home, Livadia. There are photographs as well of visits to the front during World War I. Interspersed throughout the book are Grabbe’s impressions of the imperial family, presenting them above all as a happy and devoted unit, which makes their assassination in 1918 all the more tragic.

At the Court of the Last Tsar

Being the Memoirs of A. A. Mossolov, Head of the Court Chancellery, 1900-1916
A. A. Mossolov, 2020
Mossolov was the Head of the Imperial Chancellery from 1900 and thus had first-hand experience with dealing with Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. He saw them close-hand and served them until nearly the end of the Tsar’s reign, when he abdicated in 1917. Mossolov parts the curtain on the goings on in the imperial court and gives fascinating insights into the character and thinking of the Tsar and Tsarina. Mossolov also explains at some length the role played by the infamous Rasputin, whose association with the couple helped to bring down the monarchy.