Throughout time and the world, there have been many puzzling mysteries. One of the most puzzling mysteries of its century was the mystery of Anastasia of Russia. For many years scholars have tried to figure out what happened to her. They thought she may be alive, and many people thought they found her at some points. However it turns out there have been many " Anastasias," but Anna Anderson was the most believed.

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevana was born on June, 18 1901 at the Farm Palace in the Alexandria Park Peterhof. Her parents were the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife Alexandra. Anastasia had three older sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Marie. She had only one brother Alexei who was born in 1904. Alexei suffered from Hemophilia, a disorder in which the blood did not clot properly, causing internal bleeding. Only a few people knew about Alexei's disorder. Anastasia was the youngest and most intelligent of the Tsar's daughters. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. She enjoyed practical jokes, but also had a gentle side towards her 2 dogs, Shipka and Jemmy. Anastasia and her sisters spoke English and Russian, they were also taught other languages. During the Revolut

ion Nicholas had taken command of the army, and on March 15 1917 he was forced to abdicate. At this time Anastasia and her siblings were suffering from the measles, while they went to bed the palace was taken over by soldiers. The imperial family were now prisoners. They had little peace during their time of captivity. They eventually moved to Siberia, where there were rude guards. Anastasia and her sisters could not even lock their bedroom at night and guards even followed them to the bathroom. Later they were taken to the Impatiev house, "house of special purpose". On the night of July 16, 1918 the family was awakened and taken to the cellar; they thought they would be photographed. The family stood with their 3 servants; a worker girl, cook, valet, and doctor. Armed men came in the room and began firing. Anastasia's parents, Olga, Dr Botkin, and 2 servants died at once. Bullets bounced off Anastasia, Tatiana, and Marie and richeted around the room. The men did not know, but the girls had sewn jewels into their clothes so they could smuggle them from place to place. Alexei was on the floor groaning but alive, so a soldier shot him in the head. Eventually Tatiana and Marie died, a maid was bayoneted to death. The bodies were thrown down a mine shaft, but later were removed and doused with acid. The remains were thrown into a pit. Anastasia was also bayoneted, but we do not know if she died. "Eighteen bayonet marks embedded in the flooring of the cellar marked the spot where the horrified girl writhed her last." (Kurth, 1986, XIV) Some people say that she could not have survived the bayonet, but others say she did not die at all.

Later Anna Anderson got married to Dr John E. Manahan. The wedding had been performed on December 23. They both lived in Charlottesville until her death. Anna Anderson Manahan died on the night of February 12, 1984 after returning home from a meeting with friends. Her last words were "Where is Martha Jefferson Hospital?" On June 18, 1984 (Grand Duchess Anastasia's 83rd birthday) she was cremated and her ashes were interred, according to her wish, in the courtyard at Castle Seeon. Jack died 6 years later, in the spring of 1990. Later there had been a discovery outside of Ekaterinburg of a mass grave containing the skeletons of the Russian Imperial family. Nine bodies were found, not the eleven there should have been if the entire family and their four servants were accounted for. Forensics experts all agree that the missing corpses belong to two of the Tsar's children, the Tsarevitch Alexei and one of the Grand Duchesses, although which grand duchess is a matter of dispute. Al

Some common words found in the essay are:
Anna Anderson, Revolution Nicholas, Tatiana Marie, Asylum March, Marie Alexei, Duchess Anastasia, Ekaterinburg DNA, Anastasia Anna, Russian Imperial, Anna Anderson's, anna anderson, grand duchess, anastasia anna, anastasia anna anderson, anastasia sisters, tatiana marie, anderson anastasia, imperial family, duchess anastasia, kurth 1986, grand duchess anastasia, declared grand duchess, piece intestine, grand duchess anastasia's, grand duchess russia,
Approximate Word count = 1768
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)