**TW: Murder** **TL;DR: Her body has been found** On the 17th of July 1918 during the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks shot and killed the last Tsar of Russia, Nicolas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their 5 children: Tsarevitch Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. The Bolsheviks attempted to cover up the murders, announcing that Nicholas II was dead but [alleging that the Tsarina and children were safe](https://www.history.com/news/romanov-family-bodies-discovery-coverup). In truth, they had hidden their bodies in mass graves, and taken every measure to make them as unrecognisable as possible, pouring acid on them and setting them on fire. The public quickly caught on and speculated that the whole family had been killed, but rumours of a sole survivor also began to capture interest. Anastasia’s was not the only survival to be rumoured; [survival legends](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0392192107075290) sprang up about her father, Nicolas II, sister, Maria, brother, Tsarevitch Alexei, and their healer and friend, Rasputin. However, Anastasia’s survival gained especial traction and hysteria when in 1922 a German woman called [Anna Anderson](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/anastasia-arrives-in-the-united-states) claimed to be her. These rumours of survival were particularly hard to disprove because no one had ever found Anastasia’s or her family’s bodies. The now fully established Soviet Union prevented proper investigation. In 1979, a geologist called Alexander Avdonin [located the first of the mass graves](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/prince-philip-family-russia-murder-b1829742.html), but had to wait until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to exhume them safely. This dig found the remains of 5 Romanov bodies and 4 of their servants, but bodies of 2 of the children remained missing. This fuelled the ongoing speculation about Anastasia’s survival. Finally, in 2007 archaeologists [found the second grave](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838): they uncovered 44 bone fragments and teeth from the site which lay 70 metres away from the first grave. From their forensic study, they could tell that the remains came from two young people, one male (therefore, Tsarevitch Alexei) and one female, who were likely aristocratic due to silver fillings found in some of their molars. Later that year, scientists took DNA samples from the remains and could finally conclude that they were Romanov children. We do not know whether Anastasia was buried in the first or second grave, as due to their similar ages and genetics, we cannot now distinguish her from her sister Maria. Despite this “virtually irrefutable” evidence, people still claim that Anastasia survived. Whilst unscientific, this does illustrate the power of rumour and romance: whilst Anastasia is dead, her legend lives on.

**Although it is proven that Anastasia did not survive, the power of this myth tells a story in itself** In 2001, it was confirmed that Anastasia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia, [had not survived when her family was executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries in July 1918.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652717/) However, with decades of rumours and impostors, the legend of the missing princess has continued to live in infamy. Of course, it is true that Anastasia did not in fact survive, but there are ways in which she did that others do not. • Her (supposed) life has been [dramatised](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_(1956_film)) on [numerous occasions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_(1997_film)), even including a [Broadway musical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_(musical)) often under the guise of historical accuracy with just a touch of creative license • Anastasia and her family have been [canonised as passion bearers for the Russian Orthodox Church](https://web.archive.org/web/20050824094901/http://www.struggler.org/GlorificationOfTheRoyalFamily.html), elevating her to a status of sainthood • Many women impersonated the missing duchess, with the most famous being [Anna Anderson](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1900621_1900618_1900620,00.html). The allure of Anastasia's legacy was so powerful that Anna's own story has also been dramatised, and women persistently claimed to be the duchess with poor evidence Anastasia's survival is, in the literal sense, fiction. But in a broader cultural way, she is still alive to this day.

**DNA matches show that her body has been found.** - They have found [all of the bodies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjloJC8tpXyAhVKasAKHQ4WDtMQFnoECBQQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGrand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia&usg=AOvVaw19esUgXoxwSM-nPn6kbU97) of Nicholas II and his family, that includes Anastasia. There is DNA evidence to show that the remains found are in fact Anastasia, and the were located with the rest of the Romanov family. - Anastasia may have survived the initial onslaught onto the family, but she did not survive for long. The position that the Romanov family had been put in, being murdered in the [cellar](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjksoCrtpXyAhWHY8AKHbhgB3kQFnoECAMQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fthis-day-in-history%2Fromanov-family-executed&usg=AOvVaw2rxNGpQuieewlU8FxL1p3b) of the house, seems impossible for anyone to have survived. This, and the fact they found her body, shows that she did not survive.