The most famous Russian impostors

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Imposture is a mysterious phenomenon that, according to the whim of history, has arisen most often in Russia. In no other country in the world was this phenomenon so frequent and did not play such a significant role. According to the most conservative estimates of historians, only in the 17th century there were about 20 impostors in Russia, in the 18th - already 2 times more. Today about the most famous Russian impostors.

The first Russian impostor was the "peasant prince" Osinovik

The first Russian impostor was the "peasant prince" Osinovik

Osinovik, who called himself the grandson of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, became the "discoverer" in a series of Russian impostors. Nothing is known for certain about the origin of this impostor, but, judging by the fragmentary data, he was either a Cossack or a "showing up" peasant. The first time he appeared in Astrakhan in 1607. He was supported by the false princes Lavrenty and Ivan-Augustin. The Trinity was able to convince the Don and Volga Cossacks that it was necessary to "seek the truth" in Moscow. And everything seemed to go like clockwork, but during the campaign, either the three quarreled about “do you respect me?” a thief and an impostor "was hanged. Among the people, Osinovik and his two accomplices were christened "peasant princes".

False Dmitry II was recognized by the wife of False Dmitry I Maria Mnishek

False Dmitry II was recognized by the wife of False Dmitry I Maria Mnishek

The Time of Troubles in Russia came after the death of the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry. Today it is still unknown whether Godunov's men stabbed him to death, or if he inadvertently died in a fight. But the death of Tsarevich Dmitry led to the fact that the impostors began to appear like mushrooms after the rain.

Grigory Otrepiev, a fugitive monk who ascended the Russian throne in 1605, became False Dmitry I and perhaps the most famous and successful Russian impostor. He reigned for exactly a year, and after that he was killed during a popular uprising.

False Dmitry II, known in history as the "Tushinsky thief", appeared almost immediately. He posed as False Dmitry I who had escaped the boyar reprisals and managed to take control of a significant part of the European territory of Russia. False Dmitry II, about whose identity nothing is known, was supported by the Poles, and Maria Mnishek "recognized" her husband in him and lived with him. False Dmitry II was killed in Kaluga in 1610.

Six years later, False Dmitry III, the "Pskov thief", appeared in Russia. He established himself for some time in Pskov, and he was supported by part of the Moscow Cossacks and the local population. According to some sources, the Moscow fugitive deacon Matvey passed himself off as Tsar Dmitry, and according to others, the criminal Sidorka. In 1617, False Dmitry III was killed during a conspiracy.

The false woman was pardoned in Moscow

A lot of false offspring of False Dmitry I and Maria Mnishek entered Russian history as “false women”. Some historians claim that the real son of False Dmitry I and Mnishek, whose name was Ivashka "Voronok", was hanged in Moscow at the Serpukhov Gate. Indeed, due to the boy's low weight, the noose on his neck could not be tightened, but the child most likely died from the cold.

After a while, the Polish nobleman Jan Luba appeared, who declared that he was none other than Ivashka, who had miraculously escaped. In 1645, after lengthy negotiations, Luba was extradited to Moscow. He confessed to imposture, after which he was pardoned. In 1646, already in Istanbul, another False Woman appeared. It was the Ukrainian Cossack Ivan Vergunenok.

The non-existent son of Vasily IV Shuisky promised the European monarchs to "share" Russia

Timofey Ankudinov, an official from Vologda, became an impostor, apparently by chance. He got confused with finances, which is why he was forced to flee abroad. Previously, he burned down his own house with his wife and grabbed a substantial sum of money. And abroad Timothy, as they say, "suffered." For 9 years he traveled around Europe, calling himself "the prince of Great Perm", the son of Tsar Vasily IV of Shuisky (although this king did not have any sons). Thanks to his artistry and ingenuity, Ankudinov enlisted the support of such influential persons as Pope Innocent X, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Queen Christina of Sweden. He promised that as soon as he ascended the throne, he would definitely "share the territory", issued decrees and signed them with his own hand. As a result, the prince of Velikopermsk was handed over to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, taken to Moscow, where he was quartered.

False Petra Brought Intoxicating Drinks

Many actions of Peter I caused misunderstanding among the people. In this regard, rumors circulated from time to time in the country that “a substituted German” was on the Russian throne, and “real tsars” were appearing. Terenty Chumakov from Smolensk was the first False Peter. This half-mad man "secretly studied his lands, and also watched who and what said about the king." He was captured all in the same Smolensk, where he died without enduring torture.

Another "Peter I" is Timofey Kobylkin, a Moscow merchant. He had to go home on foot because of the "dashing people" who robbed him on the way to Pskov. In the roadside taverns, where he stayed for the night, Kobylkin called himself the first captain of the Preobrazhensky regiment, Peter Alekseev, received respect, honor, and most importantly - free meals and drinks "for appetite." And all would be fine, but strong drinks so permeated the mind of the poor fellow that he began to send threatening dispatches to the governors. The story could be considered amusing, if not for its sad ending. As soon as Kobylkin got home, he was arrested, tortured, and then beheaded.

There were several dozen impostors posing as Peter III

The death of Emperor Peter III, who was killed during a palace coup in 1762, brought with it a new stream of impostors. There were several dozen of them in total, but two of this cohort are better known: the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev - a participant in the Russian-Turkish war and a participant in the Seven Years War of 1756-1762 and a fugitive soldier Gavrila Kremnev. True, if Pugachev managed to ignite the Peasant War in the Volga region and the South Urals, then Kremnev received the support of only 500 people, and a hussar detachment was enough to suppress his uprising. In August 1774, Pugachev was betrayed by his associates. He was handed over to the tsar, and in January 1775 he was executed in Moscow. Kremnev was exiled to Siberia, and his further fate is unknown.

The largest group of impostors is the "Romanovs who escaped from execution."

The most famous, perhaps, of the self-proclaimed Romanovs, was Anna Anderson, posing as the Grand Duchess Anastasia who managed to escape. She had quite a few supporters supporting the version of her royal origin. But after Anderson's death in 1984, genetic testing showed that she belonged to the Schanzkowski workers' family from Berlin.

In 1920, an impostor appeared in France, who called herself the escaped Grand Duchess Tatiana. Due to her portrait resemblance to the daughter of Nicholas II, she had many supporters among Russian emigrants. Michelle Angers died in a country house, and the passport issued in her name turned out to be a fake.

Marja Boots from the Netherlands posed as Grand Duchess Olga and turned out to be, perhaps, the only impostor who was able to convince the relatives of the real Romanovs of the truth of her story. For over 20 years, they have paid her salary. Marja Boots died in Italy in 1976.

Former Polish intelligence officer and later adventurer Mikhail Golenevsky, who moved to the United States in the 1960s, said there that he was none other than the escaped Tsarevich Alexei. When asked why he looks so young and why he does not suffer from hemophilia, Golenevsky explained that the terrible disease only slowed down his physical development, after which it miraculously disappeared.

The legends of each of the "Romanovs who survived the execution" had varying degrees of persuasiveness, however, at the beginning of the 21st century, after the remains of all members of the royal family were discovered and a genetic examination was carried out, the issue was finally resolved.