This site is produced by us, Kali Pappas and Anna Thompson , with the help of Lanie, Dasha, and others. Dasha Shevtchenko is our official translator. Our interest in the Romanovs is both intellectual and personal. We are not related to the Imperial family, and are not able to send messages to people who claim to be related to the family. If you claim to be a relative of the Romanovs, please don't bother writing us. We're not monarchists, and can't help you.

Additionally, we develop this site as a hobby, not as a career. As a result, we are not able to add to it daily or even weekly. If you notice that a portion of the site is under construction (for example, Tanya's and Ana's sections), please don't write us asking when it will be done. The answer is: "When we get around to it." :D How can you find out? That brings us to...

Site Updates

To find out when this site has been updated:

• Kali's Twitter Feed
• Updates Blog
• Updates Email List

FYI - The Courtyard RPG is gearing up for a limited cast as of summer, 2007. For details, check here.

Contacting Us

We welcome your comments, questions, and input. You can email Kali via this email form. To contact the primary maintainers of a particular section, please refer to that section for the appropriate email addresses.

Bear in mind that we cannot respond to every email we receive, though we read and appreciate each piece we get. If you have a question you'd like answered, email it - we rarely respond to guestbook entries because we review them so infrequently.

Also realize that Anna has a chronic illness that often makes it impossible for her to devote immediate attention to the web, so her time online is often limited or delayed.

If you'd like to commemorate your visits by signing a guestbook, note that the four grand duchesses' scrapbooks have tribute books available. All entries must be site owner approved, however, so it may be awhile be for they show up.

The Who is Missing? section has its own guestbook.

Sources

We have gleaned information and photographs from numerous sources. See our reading list for a starting bibliography. Many of our photos came directly from Anya Virubova's albums at Yale's Beinecke Library, while others came from a long list of Romanov books we've read.

The cultural question (In case you were wondering)...

With the exception of Dasha, we are not Russian, and are not fluent in the Russian language. So please cut us some slack if we get something "wrong." :D

Kali is Greek Orthodox, and Dasha is Russian Orthodox.

What's in a name?

Let's face it, there are a lot of different ways to spell these people's names. :) Romanov, Romanoff, Aleksei, Alexei, Alexey, Nicholas, Nikolai...it goes on and on. Everyone has their own favorite spelling schemes, and most of them, on a general level, are correct. Essentially, they depend on the linguistic backgrounds and preferences of the interpreter.

This is especially true of nicknames. For example, we often refer to Anastasia Nikolaievna as "Ana" on this site, though we have no evidence that this is something she was actually called. Think of it as shorthand. :)

Since we have several different people working on this site over a period of years, we can't be 100% consistent. Sometimes individual preferences or habits change, so even a single person won't always spell everything the same way.

Kali favors the Russian "K" spellings - Nikolai (instead of Nicholas or Nicolas), Nikolaievna, Aleksandra, &c. The one glaring point at which she wavers from this is on Xenia Alexandrovna's name. "Ksenia" just looks weird. On the issue of Is and Ys, she is again mixed. She spells "Evgeny" and "Vasily" with Ys, but is less settled on the Tanya/Tania/Anya/Ania questions, and spells "Virubova" with an I.

*Sigh.*

Site Credits

Overall site design is by Kali, who also created Olishka's, Tanya's, and Mashka's Sections. Anna created the Imperial Children and Who's Missing? sections. Lanie is doing Anastasia's scrapbook, and Dasha is in charge of Aleksei's section, which is still in the planning stages.

The main site collage was made using portions of Tatiana Nikolaievna's own handwriting and various brushes by Anna Sea.

About Us

Anna is a graphic artist who has studied the Romanovs in depth - both in college and on her own. She has extensively explored the forensic issues surrounding the remains of the family, corresponds with various authors and researchers regarding the Romanov dynasty, and co-moderates an educational role play group dedicated to the Romanovs called "The Courtyard." There, she plays Olga Nikolaievna. She has been a moderator and roleplayer with Tsarskoe_Selo previously, playing Anastasia Nikolaievna.

Kali teaches Political Science and Western Civilization at a community college, and works as freelance web producer and designer on the side. She has a BA in Political Science, a Minor in Classical Civilization, and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. While Kali didn't study Russian history in college, she finds it to be a pleasant post-education avocation. She discovered the Romanovs in high school, falling in love with OTMA. Like her, they were surprisingly normal Orthodox Christian girls who loved their family. In addition to producing livadia*org, Kali co-moderates "The Courtyard" roleplay list and rules this web empire. Kali has previously served as a moderator and roleplayer at Tsarskoe_Selo, filling the roles of Olga Aleksandrovna and Maria Nikolaievna. She played Anastasia Nikolaievna for a time on TsarevnasOTMA, and Irina Aleksandrovna at PanHistoria's Last Dance Roleplay. She currently 'governs' as Tatiana Nikolaievna at The Courtyard.

This page was last updated on June 9, 2007.