Anastasia Hendrikova
Encyclopedia
Countess Anastasia Vasilyevna Hendrikova, (1887 - September 4, 1918), was a lady in waiting
at the court of Tsar Nicholas II
and Tsarina Alexandra. She was arrested by the Bolsheviks and shot to death outside Perm
in the fall of 1918.
Like the Romanovs and their servants who were assassinated on July 17, 1918, Hendrikova and Catherine Adolphovna Schneider
, the elderly court tutor who was killed with her, were canonized as martyr
s by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
in 1981.
Hendrikova was appointed a lady of waiting in 1910. She acted as a "sort of unofficial governess" to the four grand duchesses.
, going with them first to Tobolsk
and later to Ekaterinburg, even though she was worried about her own family.
Hendrikov's sister, nicknamed "Inotchka," was ill with tuberculosis
. "The two sisters were all the world to each other," wrote her fellow lady in waiting, Baroness Sophie von Buxhoeveden
, recalling how Hendrikova's "dark eyes glowed" when she heard news about her sister. "And it was from Inotchka's bedside that Nastinka had rushed back to Tsarskoe Selo on the news of the revolution to join the empress in her danger. Now she seldom had news."
Buxhoeveden thought Hendrikova was aware of the danger that she was in. Hendrikova had "so fixed her thoughts on approaching death that it had no terror for her," Buxhoeveden wrote in her memoirs. "She was very pretty and looked younger than her twenty-eight years, but she welcomed the thought of death, so weary had she become of life and so much detached from earthly interests. I felt her drifting away to higher planes."
Hendrikova was separated from the family at Ekaterinburg and imprisoned in Perm for some months.
Volkov, who later escaped, recalled that when he asked a guard where they were being taken, he was told they were being taken "to the house of arrest." Hendrikova, who had been in the washroom, asked a guard the same question when she came out. She was told they were being taken "to the central prison." Hendrikova asked him, "and from there?" The guard replied, "Well! to Moscow." Hendrikova repeated this conversation to her fellow prisoners and made the sign of the cross
with her fingers. Volkov took her gesture to mean "they will not shoot us."
The sailor at the prison office door kept checking the front door that led to the street to make sure no one was there. After a while another sailor said, "Let's go." They lined the prisoners up in the street in rows of two, the men in front and the women in back. The group walked all the way to the edge of town and onto the Simbirsk road. Volkov asked another prisoner where the central prison was and was told they had long passed it. Volkov realized they were being taken into the woods to be shot. Volkov broke from the group and ran for his life at the first opportunity. A bullet whizzed past his ear. Behind him he heard gunshots as the other prisoners in the group, among them Hendrikova, were shot and killed.
Lady in Waiting
Lady in Waiting is the 2nd album by American southern rock band Outlaws, released in 1976. -Track listing:#"Breaker-Breaker" – 2:59#"South Carolina" – 3:05#"Ain't So Bad" – 3:48...
at the court of Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and Tsarina Alexandra. She was arrested by the Bolsheviks and shot to death outside Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
in the fall of 1918.
Like the Romanovs and their servants who were assassinated on July 17, 1918, Hendrikova and Catherine Adolphovna Schneider
Catherine Schneider
Catherine Adolphovna Schneider was a tutor at the court of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. She taught Alexandra Russian before her marriage, just as she had some years earlier taught Russian to the Tsarina's sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna before her marriage to Grand Duke...
, the elderly court tutor who was killed with her, were canonized as martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
in 1981.
Background
Hendrikova, who was nicknamed "Nastinka," was the daughter of Count Vassili Alexandrovich Hendrikov, Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Imperial Court, and his wife, Princess Sophia Petrovna Gagarine. She was a descendant of the sister of Catherine the First, the wife of Tsar Peter the Great.Hendrikova was appointed a lady of waiting in 1910. She acted as a "sort of unofficial governess" to the four grand duchesses.
Exile and death
Hendrikova was devoted to the Romanov family and followed them into exile after the Russian Revolution of 1917Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, going with them first to Tobolsk
Tobolsk
Tobolsk is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: -History:...
and later to Ekaterinburg, even though she was worried about her own family.
Hendrikov's sister, nicknamed "Inotchka," was ill with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. "The two sisters were all the world to each other," wrote her fellow lady in waiting, Baroness Sophie von Buxhoeveden
Sophie Buxhoeveden
Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, also known as Sophia Karlovna Buxhoeveden , was a lady in waiting to Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. She was the author of three memoirs about the imperial family and about her own escape from Russia...
, recalling how Hendrikova's "dark eyes glowed" when she heard news about her sister. "And it was from Inotchka's bedside that Nastinka had rushed back to Tsarskoe Selo on the news of the revolution to join the empress in her danger. Now she seldom had news."
Buxhoeveden thought Hendrikova was aware of the danger that she was in. Hendrikova had "so fixed her thoughts on approaching death that it had no terror for her," Buxhoeveden wrote in her memoirs. "She was very pretty and looked younger than her twenty-eight years, but she welcomed the thought of death, so weary had she become of life and so much detached from earthly interests. I felt her drifting away to higher planes."
Hendrikova was separated from the family at Ekaterinburg and imprisoned in Perm for some months.
Account of death
On September 4, 1918, Hendrikova and Schneider were taken from their prison cell and led to the prison office along with Aleksei Volkov, a sixty-year-old valet in the household of the Tsar. They were joined by eight other prisoners, including the chambermaid from the house where Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia had lived. They had an escort of twenty-two guards, none of them Russian.Volkov, who later escaped, recalled that when he asked a guard where they were being taken, he was told they were being taken "to the house of arrest." Hendrikova, who had been in the washroom, asked a guard the same question when she came out. She was told they were being taken "to the central prison." Hendrikova asked him, "and from there?" The guard replied, "Well! to Moscow." Hendrikova repeated this conversation to her fellow prisoners and made the sign of the cross
Sign of the cross
The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
with her fingers. Volkov took her gesture to mean "they will not shoot us."
The sailor at the prison office door kept checking the front door that led to the street to make sure no one was there. After a while another sailor said, "Let's go." They lined the prisoners up in the street in rows of two, the men in front and the women in back. The group walked all the way to the edge of town and onto the Simbirsk road. Volkov asked another prisoner where the central prison was and was told they had long passed it. Volkov realized they were being taken into the woods to be shot. Volkov broke from the group and ran for his life at the first opportunity. A bullet whizzed past his ear. Behind him he heard gunshots as the other prisoners in the group, among them Hendrikova, were shot and killed.
See also
- Romanov sainthoodRomanov sainthoodTsar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei are saints of the Orthodox Church...
- New MartyrNew MartyrThe title of New Martyr or Neomartyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church was originally given to martyrs who died under heretical rulers . Later the Church added to the list those martyred under Islam and various modern regimes, especially Communist ones, which espoused state atheism...