311-A Disputed Russian Princess
Futility Closet
Greg Ross
4.8 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 14 September 2020
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1920, a young woman was pulled from a canal in Berlin. When her identity couldn't be established, speculation started that she was a Russian princess who had escaped the execution of the imperial family. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the strange life of Anna Anderson and her disputed identity as Grand Duchess Anastasia.
We'll also revisit French roosters and puzzle over not using headlights.
Intro:
In 1899, English engineer E.W. Barton-Wright introduced his own martial art.
One early American locomotive was driven by a horse walking on a belt.
Photo: The Russian royal family at Livadiya, Crimea, 1913, five years before the execution. Left to right: Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Sources for our feature on Anna Anderson:
Greg King and Penny Wilson, The Resurrection of the Romanovs: Anastasia, Anna Anderson, and the World's Greatest Royal Mystery, 2010.
John Klier and Helen Mingay, The Quest for Anastasia: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Romanovs, 1999.
James B. Lovell, Anastasia: The Lost Princess, 1995.
Frances Welch, A Romanov Fantasy: Life at the Court of Anna Anderson, 2007.
Toby Saul, "Death of a Dynasty: How the Romanovs Met Their End," National Geographic, July 20, 2018.
Alan Cooperman, "An Anastasia Verdict," U.S. News & World Report 117:11 (Sept. 19, 1994), 20.
"What Really Happened to Russia's Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov," Haaretz, Dec. 27, 2018.
Nancy Bilyeau, "Will the Real Anastasia Romanov Please Stand Up?", Town & Country, April 25, 2017.
"Is This Princess Alive?", Life 38:7 (Feb. 14, 1955), 31-35.
Martin Sieff, "Romanov Mystery Finally Solved," UPI, May 1, 2008.
"Amateurs Unravel Russia's Last Royal Mystery," New York Times, Nov. 24, 2007.
Lena Williams, "Chronicle," New York Times, Oct. 6, 1994, D.24.
"Topics of The Times; Anastasia Lives," New York Times, Sept. 11, 1994.
John Darnton, "Scientists Confirm Identification of Bones as Czar's," New York Times, July 10, 1993.
"Appeal in Anastasia Case Rejected in West Germany," New York Times, Feb. 18, 1970.
"Appeal in Anastasia Mystery Is Rejected by Hamburg Court," New York Times, March 1, 1967.
Arthur J. Olsenbonn, "Anastasia: Grand Duchess or Grand Hoax?", New York Times, Aug. 24, 1958.
Left: Franziska Schanzkowska in 1913. Right: Anna Anderson in 1920.
Listener mail:
Wikipedia, "Lynmouth Flood" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).
Wikipedia, "Project Cumulus" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).
Wikipedia, "Philip Eden" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).
John Vidal and Helen Weinstein, "RAF Rainmakers 'Caused 1952 Flood,'" Guardian, Aug. 30, 2001.
Susan Borowski, "Despite Past Failures, Weather Modification Endures," AAAS.org, Dec. 31, 2012.
"Rain-Making Link to Killer Floods," BBC News, Aug. 30, 2001.
Laura Joint, "Lynmouth Flood Disaster," BBC, Jan. 25, 2008.
Philip Eden, "The Day They Made It Rain," Weather Online.
Sam Harrison, "The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Rural France May Soon Be Protected by Law," Atlas Obscura, July 28, 2020.
"Proposition de loi nº 2211 visant à définir et protéger le patrimoine sensoriel des campagnes françaises," French National Assembly, Sept. 11, 2019.
"France: 74,000 Sign Petition Calling for Justice for Murdered Rooster," Euronews, Aug. 17, 2020.
Agence France-Presse, "Justice Sought for Marcel, French Rooster Shot for Crowing," Courthouse News Service, Aug. 17, 2020.
This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jule Ann Wakeman.
You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.
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Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.
If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Futility Closet Podcast, forgotten stories from the pages of history. |
| 0:15.2 | Visit us online to sample more than 11,000 quirky curiosities from Victorian stick fighting to a horse-powered locomotive. |
| 0:23.4 | This is episode 311. I'm Greg Ross. |
| 0:26.0 | And I'm Sharon Ross. In 1920, a young woman was pulled from a canal in Berlin. |
| 0:31.8 | When her identity couldn't be established, speculation started that she was a Russian princess |
| 0:36.3 | who had escaped the execution |
| 0:37.8 | of the imperial family. In today's show, we'll describe the strange life of Anna Anderson and |
| 0:44.0 | her disputed identity as Grand Duchess Anastasia. We'll also revisit French roosters and |
| 0:50.1 | puzzle over not using headlights. |
| 1:04.1 | The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for 300 years, until catastrophic failures abroad in the First World War brought increasing public hostility. In March 1917, Tsar Nicholas II |
| 1:10.1 | agreed to abdicate the throne, hoping to prevent a civil war, |
| 1:14.0 | and he and his family went into exile in the Ural Mountains, where they were held in captivity |
| 1:18.6 | at the Ipetiv House in the Siberian city of Yacaterinburg. |
| 1:22.8 | The civil war couldn't be stopped, and the family became symbols of the old order. |
| 1:27.1 | During the struggle, |
| 1:27.9 | it was decided to put an end to the potential threat that Nicholas represented, and a few |
| 1:32.5 | minutes after midnight on July 17, 1918, the family were awakened on the pretext that |
| 1:37.9 | counter-revolutionaries were advancing on the region. They dressed and went to the cellar, |
| 1:42.6 | where a Bolshevik commandant suddenly read a death |
| 1:45.2 | sentence, and nine riflemen opened fire on Nicholas, his wife, their five children, and four |
| 1:50.5 | retainers. The fuselade lasted two minutes, and afterward the gunmen went among the bodies, bayonetting |
| 1:56.4 | any that still showed signs of life. Two weeks later, when the White Army occupied Yacaterinburg, |
... |
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