Identification of Anastasia Romanov's remains

DATE: Began in July 1991

THE EVENT: After Bolshevik revolutionaries executed the members of the Russian imperial family in 1918, rumors persisted—and the notion was popularized in books and films—that two of the czar’s children, Anastasia and Alexei, survived. Numerous pretenders came forward claiming to be the missing Princess Anastasia. Beginning in 1991, forensic science was put to use in attempts to clarify which members of the family were in fact executed.

SIGNIFICANCE: The forensic investigation undertaken to identify the remains of the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, was the first to employ both short tandem repeats and mitochondrial DNA for the identification of historical figures, portending the application of the same techniques in the identification of the remains of both well-known and obscure persons in future investigations.

On July 17, 1918, Czar Nicholas II of Russia, his family members (Czarina Alexandra, their four daughters—Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia—and only son, Alexei), the family physician, and three servants were herded into a basement and executed by firing squad or by stab wounds from bayonets. Eyewitness accounts stated that most of the bodies were then placed in a shallow pit, and sulfuric acid was added to impede identification; the remains of Alexei and an unidentified daughter were burned separately.

In 1991, the Russian government authorized an investigation at the burial site. The July 1991 of the grave near Yekaterinburg revealed that it contained nine corpses. A Russian forensic team did extensive work in determining the sexes of the bodies, in estimating ages, and in employing odontology and computer-assisted to attempt identification, although the latter tests were limited because the facial areas of the skulls were destroyed. The scientists determined that the grave contained the remains of the czar, the czarina, three of the daughters, the physician, and the servants. However, a disagreement about the identification of the daughters developed between the Russian scientists and an American team of forensic anthropologists who had been hired by the city of Yekaterinburg. Relying on the same evidence, the Russian researchers argued that the missing daughter was Maria, whereas the Americans thought her to be Anastasia. No of the allegedly burned children’s bodies was found at the site or nearby.

To bolster the authenticity of the identification, a joint team of British and Russian scientists evaluated the remains using three DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) tests. The first confirmed that the mass grave contained five female and four male bodies. The second test was a Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis; this type of test can establish whether individuals are closely related to one another. The second test showed that the remains included parents and three children. The third test was mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing, which can be employed for identification even when the related persons are separated by many generations; mtDNA is passed directly from mothers to their children. DNA from the body believed to be that of the czar was compared with DNA samples from two of the czar’s maternal grandmother’s descendants; DNA from the czarina and the children was compared with DNA from Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, whose maternal grandmother was the czarina’s sister. In both instances, matches were positive.

The researchers reported a 98.5 percent probability that the remains were those of the imperial family based on the anthropological, historical, and scientific evidence. They declined, however, to confirm the individual identities of the daughters. Both American and German authorities tested the DNA of Anna Anderson, the best known of the Anastasia pretenders, using STR analysis, and the DNA was not a match to the royal family.

In 2007, Russian archaeologists announced that they believed they had found the remains of the two missing children of the imperial family near the site where Nicholas, Alexandra, and the other three daughters were found. In April 2008, Russian forensic scientists who had performed analyses on DNA extracted from teeth, bones, and other fragments of those remains announced their findings: the last two of the Romanov children, Alexei and Maria, had been identified. The remains found in the mass burial site examined beginning in 1991 thus included those of Anastasia. In 2018, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation confirmed the identities of the bodies after continued disagreements with the Orthodox Church.

Bibliography

Gill, Peter, et al. “Identification of the Remains of the Romanov Family by DNA Analysis.” Nature Genetics, vol. 6, 1994, pp. 130–35.

Jobling, Mark A., and Peter Gill. “Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis.” Nature Reviews Genetics, vol. 5, 2004, pp. 739–51.

Katz, Brigit. "DNA Analysis Confirms Authenticity of Romanovs' Remains." Smithsonian, 17 July 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-analysis-confirms-authenticity-remains-attributed-romanovs-180969674/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024.

Klier, John, and Helen Mingay. Quest for Anastasia: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Romanovs. Carol, 1997.

Lucchesi, Emilie Le Beau. "How Scientists Identified the Remains of the Romanovs." Discover, 15 Apr. 2022, www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/how-scientists-identified-the-remains-of-the-romanovs. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. The Romanovs: 1613–1918. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

Rudin, Norah, and Keith Inman. An Introduction to Forensic DNA Analysis. 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2002.