View source for Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

{{Short description|Heir to the Russian throne (1904–1918)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name         = Alexei Nikolaevich
|title        = [[Tsesarevich|Tsesarevich of Russia]]
|image        = Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia (3x4 cropped).jpg
|caption      = Alexei in 1916
|birth_date   = {{Birth date|1904|8|12|df=y}}
|birth_place  = [[Peterhof Palace]], Saint Petersburg, Russia
|death_date   = {{Death date and age|1918|7|17|1904|8|12|df=y}}
|death_place  = [[Ipatiev House]], [[Yekaterinburg]], Russia
|death_cause  = [[Gunshot wounds]] ([[Murder of the Romanov family|murder]])
|burial_place = 
|full name    = Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov
|house        = [[Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov]]
|father       = [[Nicholas II of Russia]]
|mother       = [[Alix of Hesse and by Rhine]]
|religion     = [[Russian Orthodox]]
|signature    = SignatureAlexeyNikolaevich.jpg
}}
'''Alexei Nikolaevich''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Алексей Николаевич Романов|Aleksey Nikolaevich Romanov}}; {{OldStyleDate|12 August|1904|30 July}}{{spnd}}17 July 1918) was the last Russian [[tsesarevich]] ([[heir apparent]]).{{#tag:ref|The title [[tsesarevich]] was introduced in the 1797 [[Pauline Laws]] as the title of the heir apparent of the Emperor of Russia. The older [[tsarevich]] was a title given to any son of a tsar, and historically also to sons of non-Russian rulers, e.g. of  [[Crimean Khanate|Crimea]], [[Siberia Khanate|Siberia]] or [[Kartl-Kakheti|Georgia]]. The 1797 law abolished tsarevich as an official title, even though sons of tsars continued to be referred to as tsarevich in informal use.<ref name="dimitry">{{Cite journal |last=Macedonsky |first=Dimitry |date=2005–2006 |title=Hail, Son of Caesar! A Titular History of Romanov Scions |journal=European Royal History Journal |volume=8.3 |issue=XLV |pages=19–27}}</ref><ref name="burke">{{Cite book |title=Burke's Royal Families of the World II |publisher=Burke's Peerage Ltd |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-85011-029-6 |page=65}}</ref> |group=note}} He was the youngest child and only son of [[Nicholas II|Tsar Nicholas II]] and [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna]]. He was born with [[haemophilia]], which his parents tried treating with the methods of peasant [[faith healer]] [[Grigori Rasputin]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexis |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexis-prince-of-Russia-1904-1918 |access-date=22 April 2019 |website=Encloypaedia Britannica |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629000637/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexis-prince-of-Russia-1904-1918 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the [[February Revolution]] of 1917, the [[Romanovs]] were sent into internal exile in [[Tobolsk]], [[Siberia]]. After the [[October Revolution]], the family was initially to be tried in a court of law, before the intensification of the [[Russian Civil War]] made execution increasingly favorable in the eyes of the Soviet government. With [[White movement|White Army]] soldiers rapidly approaching, the Ural Regional Soviet ordered the [[Murder of the Romanov family|murder]] of Alexei, the rest of his family, and four remaining retainers on 17 July 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Alexei had escaped his execution, with multiple [[Romanov impostors#Alexei impostors|impostors]] claiming his identity. Alexei's remains, along with those of his sister [[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia|Maria]] (or [[Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Anastasia]]), were ultimately discovered in a secondary grave near the rest of the Romanov family in 2007. On 17 July 1998, the 80th anniversary of their execution, Alexei's parents, three of his sisters, and the four retainers, were formally interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, while Alexei's and Maria's (or Anastasia's) bones remain in Russian state archives. The Romanov family was [[Canonization|canonized]] as [[passion bearer]]s by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in 2000.

Alexei is sometimes known to Russian legitimists as '''Alexei II''' after his ancestor [[Alexis of Russia]], as until his death they do not recognize the abdication of his father in favor of his uncle [[Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia|Grand Duke Michael]] as lawful.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Abdication of Nicholas II: 100 Years Later|url=https://www.russianlegitimist.org/the-abdication-of-nicholas-ii-100-years-later/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131023643/https://www.russianlegitimist.org/the-abdication-of-nicholas-ii-100-years-later/|archive-date=31 January 2018|access-date=30 January 2018|website=The Russian Legitimist}}</ref>

==Biography ==

=== Early years ===
[[File:Alexei Nikolaevich, 1904.jpg|thumb|Alexei as an infant in 1904]]
[[File:Tsesarevich Alexei (right) with his sailor nanny Andrei Dereven'ko aboard the Imperial yacht Standart on June 1908.jpg|thumb|Alexei (right) with his sailor nanny Andrei Derevenko aboard the Imperial yacht ''[[Standart (yacht)|Standart]]'' in 1908]]

Alexei was born on {{OldStyleDate|12 August|1904|30 July}} at [[Peterhof Palace]], [[Saint Petersburg Governorate|St. Petersburg Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]. He was the youngest of five children and only son of Emperor [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] and Empress [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra Feodorovna]]. His father was the eldest son of [[Alexander III of Russia|Emperor Alexander III]] and [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Princess Dagmar of Denmark]], and his mother was the sixth child of [[Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse]], and [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom]]. His paternal great-grandparents were [[Alexander II of Russia]], [[Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)|Princess Marie of Hesse]], [[Christian IX of Denmark]] and [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel]], while his maternal great-grandparents were [[Queen Victoria]] and her husband [[Albert, Prince Consort]]. His older sisters were the Grand Duchesses [[Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia|Olga]], [[Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia|Tatiana]], [[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia|Maria]], and [[Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Anastasia]].

Alexei's birth was greeted with widespread joy because he was the first son Nicholas had had after four daughters. When she woke up from the [[chloroform]], Alexandra saw the happy faces around her and exclaimed: "Oh, it cannot be true. It cannot be true. Is it really a boy?"<ref>Mouchanow, ''Lifelong Passion'', pp. 154–155</ref> Nicholas wrote in his diary that today was "a great and unforgettable day for us . . . there are no words to thank God enough for sending us this comfort in a time of sore trials."<ref name="Simon Sebag Montefiore p. 518">Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs, p. 518</ref> According to [[Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia|Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia]], Nicholas's younger brother [[Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia|Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich]] "was radiant with happiness at no longer being heir."<ref name="Simon Sebag Montefiore p. 518" /> Baroness [[Sophie Buxhoeveden]] remembered that "we were nearly deafened by the church bells ringing all day".<ref>Buxhoeveden, Before the Storm, pp. 237–238.</ref> St. Petersburg "was ablaze with flags" and "the people gave themselves over to public rejoicing."<ref>New Czarevitch', Daily Express, 13 August 1904.</ref> Nicholas granted political amnesty to prisoners and set up a fund for military and naval scholarships.<ref>"The Cesarevitch" The Times, 25 August 1904.</ref>

Nicholas named Alexei after [[Alexis of Russia]], his favorite emperor.<ref>Carolly Erickson, Alexandra: The Last Tsarina, p. 146</ref> His doting family called him "Baby." He was later also affectionately referred to as Alyosha (Алёша).

As soon as he was born, Alexei was granted the title of [[tsarevich]] and heir apparent to the Imperial Throne of Russia. An official announcement read, "From now on, in accordance with the Fundamental Laws of the Empire, the Imperial title of Heir Tsarevich, and all the rights pertaining to it, belong to Our Son Alexei.".<ref>Helen Rappaport, ''The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra,'' p. 75.</ref>

Alexei was christened on 3 September 1904 in the chapel in [[Peterhof Palace]]. His principal godparents were his paternal [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|grandmother]] and his great-uncle, [[Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia|Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich]]. His other godparents included his oldest sister, Olga; his great-grandfather [[Christian IX of Denmark|King Christian IX of Denmark]]; [[Edward VII|King Edward VII of the United Kingdom]], the [[George V of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]] and [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor]]. As Russia was at [[Russo-Japanese War|war with Japan]], all active soldiers and officers of the Russian Army and Navy were named honorary godfathers.<ref>Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, ''The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna'', 1928.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-24 |title=ALEXEI ROMANOV: CHRISTENING OF THE HEIR – The Romanov Family |url=https://www.theromanovfamily.com/alexei-romanov-christening-of-the-heir/ |access-date=2025-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Hemophilia ===
{{Main|Haemophilia in European royalty}}

Alexei inherited [[Haemophilia|hemophilia]] from his mother Alexandra, an X chromosome hereditary condition that typically affects males, which she had acquired through the line of her maternal grandmother [[Queen Victoria|Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom]]. It was known as the "royal disease" because so many descendants of the intermarried European royal families had it (or carried it, in the case of females). In 2009, genetic analysis determined that Alexei had [[hemophilia B]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Michael Price|date=8 October 2009|title=Case Closed: Famous Royals Suffered From Hemophilia|journal=Biomaterials Research|volume=21 |page=2 |publisher=AAAS |doi=10.1186/s40824-017-0088-4 |pmid=28250967 |pmc=5324229 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Evgeny I. Rogaev|display-authors=etal|date=8 October 2009|title=Genotype Analysis Identifies the Cause of the 'Royal Disease'|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=326|issue=5954|page=817|doi=10.1126/science.1180660|pmid=19815722|bibcode=2009Sci...326..817R|s2cid=206522975|doi-access=free}}</ref>

At first, Alexei seemed like a healthy, ordinary baby. He weighed 11 pounds at birth. His paternal aunt [[Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia|Xenia]] wrote that "he's an amazingly hefty baby with a chest like a barrel and generally has the air of a warrior knight."<ref>Mouchanow, ''Lifelong Passion'', p. 245.</ref> After his [[umbilical cord]] was cut, his navel continued to bleed for hours, and his blood did not clot. Nicholas wrote that Alexei lost "1/8 to 1/9 of the total quantity" of his blood in 48 hours.<ref>Simon Sebag Montefiore, ''The Romanovs'', p. 519</ref> Nicholas reflected in his diary that "Alix and I were very alarmed by the bleeding of young Alexei that came at intervals from his umbilical cord until evening. How painful it is to experience such anxieties!"<ref>''Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Imperial Family'', p. 237.</ref>

Nicholas and Alexandra decided not to reveal what Alexei's disease was to the Russian public or even to family members. After Alexei's first bleeding attack, Alexandra wrote, "Oh, what anguish it was... not to let others see the knife digging in one."<ref>Lifelong Passion, p. 249.</ref> According to his French tutor, [[Pierre Gilliard]], the nature of his illness was kept a state secret.

There were rumors about what Alexei's disease was because of the secrecy around it. Guesses ranged from a "certain form of infantile [[tuberculosis]] which gives rise to acute alarm" to "one of the layers of his skin was missing."<ref>Alexander Ular, ''Russia from Within'', 1905, p. 41</ref> An American magazine ascribed Alexei's "ill health" to "the misfortune that so many residences of the Tzars leave much to be desired from the point of view of sanitary science."<ref>"The Three-year-old Heir to the Throne of the Czar", ''Current Literature'' 43, no. 1, July 1907, p. 38.</ref> After Alexei's life-threatening hemorrhage at Spala, the American press speculated that Alexei had been stabbed "during an unguarded moment" by a "[[Russian nihilist movement|nihilist]]."<ref>"Daily News, Maryland, 23 October 1912</ref> ''The Times'' observed that the "incomprehensible silence of the Court bulletins" gave "free scope to the sensation-mongers."<ref>"The Times, 4 November 1912.</ref>

When he was 5, Alexei was assigned two navy sailors who monitored him at all times to ensure that he wouldn't injure himself. His parents appointed two sailors from the Imperial Navy: Petty Officer Andrei Derevenko and his assistant Seaman [[Klimenty Grigorievich Nagorny|Klementy Nagorny]].<ref>Kurth, Peter, ''Tsar: the lost world of Nicholas and Alexandra'', Allen & Unwin, 1998, p. 74, {{ISBN|1-86448-911-1}}.</ref> [[Anna Vyrubova]], Alexandra's friend, remembered that "Derevenko was so patient and resourceful, that he often did wonders in alleviating the pain. I can still hear the plaintive voice of Alexis begging the big sailor, 'Lift my arm,' 'Put up my leg,' 'Warm my hands,' and I can see the patient, calm-eyed man working for hours to give comfort to the little pain-wracked limbs."<ref>Robert K Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 138.</ref>

His hemophilia was so severe that trivial injuries such as a bruise, a nosebleed, or a cut were potentially life-threatening. His parents constantly worried about him. In addition, the recurring episodes of illness and long recoveries interfered greatly with Alexei's childhood and education.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yegorov, O.|date=21 February 2018|title=Royal diseases: 4 Russian rulers and heirs leveled by sickness|url=https://www.rbth.com/history/327649-royal-diseases-4-russian-rulers-who-had-serious-illnesses|access-date=19 February 2020 |publisher=Russia Beyond the Headlines}}</ref>

Nicholas and Alexandra believed that [[Grigori Rasputin]], a peasant monk, had the power to heal Alexei. Due to the secrecy around Alexei's condition, there are few records about Alexei's attacks and how often Rasputin treated him.

In the autumn of 1907, Alexei fell and hurt his leg while playing in Alexander Park. The fall triggered an internal hemorrhage.<ref>Helen Rappaport, ''Romanov Sisters'', p. 111.</ref> His paternal aunt [[Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia]] reflected that "the poor child lay in such pain, dark patches under his eyes and his little body all distorted, and the leg terribly swollen."<ref>Vorres, ''Last Grand Duchess'', p. 142.</ref> The doctors could do nothing. Alexandra telegraphed [[Princess Anastasia of Montenegro]] and asked her to find Rasputin. Rasputin prayed over Alexei and told Alexei, "Your pain is going away. You will soon be well. You must thank God for healing you. And now, go to sleep."<ref>Helen Rappaport, Romanov Sisters, p. 112.</ref> Soon after Rasputin left, the swelling in Alexei's leg went down. [[Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia]] was amazed by Alexei's swift recovery, and she wrote that the next morning Alexei "was not just alive – but well. He was sitting up in bed, the fever gone, the eyes clear and bright, not a sign of any swelling on his leg."<ref>Vorres, ''Last Grand Duchess'', pp. 142–143.</ref>

In September 1912, Alexei and his family visited their hunting retreat in the [[Białowieża Forest]]. On 5 September, Alexei jumped into a rowboat and hit his groin on the oarlocks. A large bruise appeared within minutes but in a week reduced in size.<ref>M. Nelipa (2015) Alexei. ''Russia's Last Imperial Heir: A Chronicle of Tragedy'', pp. 76–77.</ref> In mid-September, the family moved to [[Spała]] (then in [[Russian Poland]]). On 2 October, Alexei accompanied his mother on a drive in the woods. The "juddering of the carriage had caused a still-healing hematoma in his upper thigh to rupture and start bleeding again."<ref>Helen Rappaport, ''Romanov Sisters'', p. 179.</ref> He had to be carried out of the carriage in an almost unconscious state. His temperature rose, his heartbeat dropped, and he hemorrhaged in his upper thigh and abdomen. For 11 days, he screamed, "O Lord, have mercy on me!" and begged Alexandra, "Mama, help me!"<ref name="Simon Sebag Montefiore p. 555">Simon Sebag Montefiore, ''The Romanovs'', p. 555.</ref> He asked Alexandra to "build me a little monument of stones in the woods" and asked "When I'm dead, it won't hurt any more, will it?"<ref name="Simon Sebag Montefiore p. 555" /> Alexandra never left his bedside, and she refused to rest or eat. Nicholas "took turns with Alix to sit with Alexei," but he "rushed weeping bitterly to his study" when he saw Alexei scream.<ref name="Simon Sebag Montefiore p. 555" /> On 6 October, Alexei's fever rose to 39 degrees, and he hemorrhaged into his stomach. On 8 October, Alexei received the [[Anointing of the sick#Eastern Orthodox Church|last sacrament]].<ref>M. Nelipa (2015) ''Alexei, Russia's Last Imperial Heir: A Chronicle of Tragedy.'' Chapter III,  p. 84.</ref> Alexei's tutor, [[Pierre Gilliard]], wrote to his children, "Pray, my children, pray daily and fervently for our precious heir."<ref>"Melnik-Botkina, Vospominaniya, p. 124.</ref> On 10 October, a medical bulletin announcing Alexei's impending death was published in the newspapers.

On 9 October, Alexandra asked her [[Lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Court of Russia|lady-in-waiting]] and best friend, [[Anna Vyrubova]],<ref>[[#Vyrubova|Vyrubova]], p. 94</ref><ref>[[#Moe|Moe]], p. 156.</ref> to secure the help of Rasputin. According to his daughter, Rasputin received the telegram on 12 October.{{refn|group=note|If Rasputin's daughter was right about the day that her father responded – 13 October – "the longstanding claim that Rasputin had somehow alleviated Alexei's condition is simply fictitious."<ref>M. Nelipa (2015) ''Alexei'', p. 90.</ref>}} On 9 October, Alexandra received a short telegram from Rasputin: "The little one will not die. Do not allow the doctors [c.q. [[Eugene Botkin]] and [[Vladimir Derevenko]]] to bother him too much."<ref>[[#Fuhrman|Fuhrmann]], pp. 100–101.</ref> Alexei's temperature dropped, and he began to improve. According to General Mosolov, the doctors "seemed in utter consternation"<ref>Mossolov, Court, p. 152</ref> at Alexei's sudden recovery. On 10 October, Doctor [[Eugene Botkin]] wrote to his children that "our priceless patient" was "undoubtedly significantly better."<ref>"Melnik-Botkina, Vospominaniya, p. 125</ref> The positive trend continued throughout the next day.<ref>M. Nelipa (2015) ''Alexei'', pp. 85–86.</ref> On 19 October, Alexei's condition was much better and the hematoma disappeared. The boy had to undergo orthopedic therapy to straighten his left leg.<ref>M. Nelipa (2015) ''Alexei,'' p. 93.</ref> Feodorov confirmed that Alexei's recovery was "wholly inexplicable, from a medical point of view."<ref>Vorres, ''Last Grand Duchess'', p. 143</ref>

According to Pierre Gilliard's 1921 memoir,
{{blockquote|The Tsar had resisted the influence of Rasputin for a long time. At the beginning, he had tolerated him because he dared not weaken the Tsarina's faith in him – a faith which kept her alive. He did not like to send him away, for, if Alexei Nicolaievich had died, in the eyes of the mother, he would have been the murderer of his own son.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilliard |first=Pierre |url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenyearsatr00gill#page/176/mode/2up |title=Thirteen Years at the Russian Court |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |others=Translated by F. Appleby Holt |year=1921 |edition=3rd |location=London |pages=177–178 |author-link=Pierre Gilliard |access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref>}}

Observers and scholars have offered suggestions for Rasputin's apparent positive effect on Alexei: he used [[hypnotism]], administered herbs to the boy, or his advice to prevent too much action by the doctors aided the boy's healing. Others speculated that, with the information he got from his confidante at the court, lady-in-waiting [[Anna Vyrubova]], Rasputin timed his "interventions" for times when Alexei was already recovering, and claimed all the credit. Court physician Botkin believed that Rasputin was a charlatan and that his apparent healing powers were based on the use of [[hypnosis]] but Rasputin did not become interested in this practice before 1913 and his teacher Gerasim Papandato was expelled from St. Petersburg.<ref>[[#Pares|Pares]], p. 138.</ref><ref>[[#Fuhrmann|Fuhrmann]], p. 103.</ref> [[Felix Yusupov]], one of Rasputin's enemies, suggested that he secretly gave Alexei [[Traditional Tibetan medicine|Tibetan herbs]], which he got from [[quack doctor]] [[Peter Badmayev]], but these drugs were rejected by the court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/XV.html|title=The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra – Chapter XV: A Mother's Agony – Rasputin|website=www.alexanderpalace.org}}</ref><ref>[[#Moe|Moe]], p. 152.</ref> [[Maria Rasputin]] believed her father exercised [[animal magnetism|magnetism]].<ref>[[#Rasputin|Rasputin]], p. 33.</ref>

Writers from the 1920s had a variety of explanations for the apparent effects of Rasputin. [[Greg King (author)|Greg King]] thinks such explanations fail to take into account those times when Rasputin apparently healed the boy, despite being 2600&nbsp;km (1650 miles) away. For historian Fuhrmann, these ideas on hypnosis and drugs flourished because the Imperial Family lived in such isolation from the wider world.<ref name="foreignaffairs.com">Bernard Pares (6 January 1927) [http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/68834/sir-bernard-pares/rasputin-and-the-empress-authors-of-the-russian-collapse "Rasputin and the Empress: Authors of the Russian Collapse"], ''Foreign Affairs''. Retrieved on 15 July 2014.</ref> ("They lived almost as much apart from Russian society as if they were settlers in Canada."<ref name="foreignaffairs.com" /><ref>[[#Rappaport|Rappaport]], p. 117.</ref>) Moynahan says, "There is no evidence that Rasputin ever summoned up spirits, or felt the need to; he won his admirers through force of personality, not by tricks."<ref>[[#Moynahan|Moynahan]], p. 165.</ref>  Shelley said that the secret of Rasputin's power lay in the sense of calm, gentle strength, and shining warmth of conviction.<ref>G. Shelley (1925), ''The Speckled Domes. Episodes of an Englishman's life in Russia'', p. 60.</ref> Radzinsky wrote in 2000 that Rasputin believed he truly possessed a supernatural healing ability or that his prayers to God saved the boy.<ref>Edvard Radzinsky, ''The Rasputin File'', Doubleday, 2000, p. 77</ref>

Gilliard,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.litmir.net/br/?b=220457&p=11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101021756/http://www.litmir.net/br/?b=220457&p=11|title=Registrant WHOIS contact information verification &#124; Namecheap.com|archive-date=1 January 2016|website=www.litmir.net}}</ref> the French historian [[Hélène Carrère d'Encausse]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttiRLgQAzXoC&q=d%27Encausse+aspirin&pg=PT171|title=Nicolas II, la transition interrompue: Une biographie politique|first=Hélène Carrère|last=d'Encausse|date=2014|publisher=Fayard|isbn=978-2-213-64976-4 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&q=d%27Encausse+aspirin&pg=PA743|title=Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia|first=Phyllis G.|last=Jestice|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-355-1|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> <!--and perhaps {{cite journal|pmid=4597964|volume=108|title=Aspirin: the unique drug|year=1974|journal=Arch Surg|pages=765–769|last=Friend|first=DG|doi=10.1001/archsurg.1974.01350300009004}}-->and Diarmuid Jeffreys, a journalist, speculated that Rasputin may have halted the administration of [[aspirin]]. This pain-relieving [[analgesic]] had been available since 1899 but would have worsened Alexei's condition.<ref>{{cite book|author=Diarmuid Jeffreys|year=2004|title=Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug|url=https://archive.org/details/aspirinremarkabl00jeff|url-access=registration|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|page=121|isbn=978-1-58234-386-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwMndWYjLX8C&q=rasputin+aspirin&pg=PT78|title=Aspirin: The Extraordinary Story of a Wonder Drug|first=Diarmuid|last=Jeffreys|date= 2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4088-2042-1|via=Google Books}}</ref> Because [[mechanism of action of aspirin|aspirin]] is an [[antiaggregant]] and has blood-thinning properties; it prevents [[coagulation|clotting]], and promotes [[bleeding]] which could have caused the [[hemarthrosis]]. The "[[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug|anti-inflammatory drug]]" would have worsened Alexei's joints' swelling and pain.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=535471|page=1408| volume=329|issue=7479|journal=BMJ|title=Aspirin: The Story of a Wonder Drug|doi=10.1136/bmj.329.7479.1408|year=2004|last1=Lichterman|first1=B. L.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/Heroin_Aspirin_Part2_CMunsey.pdf|title=HEROIN® and ASPIRIN® The Connection! & The Collection! – Part II By Cecil Munsey |access-date=6 June 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924014132/http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/Heroin_Aspirin_Part2_CMunsey.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> According to historian M. Nelipa, [[Robert K. Massie]] was correct to suggest that psychological factors play a part in the course of the disease.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161018220646/http://erenow.com/modern/nicholasandalexandra/15.html Robert K. Massie (1967) ''Nicholas and Alexandra,'' p. 15.]</ref>

=== Childhood ===
[[File:Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich.jpg|thumb|Alexei in uniform of the Jaeger regiment of the Imperial family]]During [[World War I]], he lived with his father at army headquarters in Mogilev for long stretches of time and observed military life.<ref>Massie, p. 296</ref> Alexei became one of the first [[Boy Scout]]s in Russia.<ref name="Pravoveriye">[http://parus.pravoverie.ru/Pantuhin.doc Biography of Pantuhin on side pravoverie.ru] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528192716/http://parus.pravoverie.ru/Pantuhin.doc|date=28 May 2008}} {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.russianscouts.com/aboutus.html|title=National Organization of Russian Scouts – Who Are We ?|access-date=16 April 2008|publisher= National Organisation of Russian Scouts (N.O.R.S.)}}</ref>

In December 1916, [[Major-General (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[John Hanbury-Williams|Sir John Hanbury-Williams]], head of the British military at [[Stavka]], received word of the death of his son in action with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] in France. Tsar Nicholas sent twelve-year-old Alexei to sit with the grieving father. "Papa told me to come sit with you as he thought you might feel lonely tonight," Alexei told the general.<ref>Massie, p. 307.</ref> Alexei, like all the Romanov men, grew up wearing sailor uniforms and playing at war from the time he was a toddler. His father began to prepare him for his future role as Tsar by inviting Alexei to sit in on long meetings with government ministers.<ref name="Massie, pp. 136-146">Massie, pp. 136–146.</ref>

=== Stavka ===
During [[World War I]], Alexei joined his father at [[Stavka]], when his father became the [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] in 1915. Alexei seemed to like military life very much and became very playful and energetic. In one of his father's notes to his mother, he said "[I] have come in from the garden with wet sleeves and boots as Alexei sprayed us at the [[fountain]]. It is his favorite game [...] peals of laughter ring out. I keep an eye, in order to see that things do not go too far." Alexei even ate the soldiers' black bread and refused when he was offered a meal that he would eat in his palace, saying, "It's not what soldiers eat". In December 1915, Rasputin was invited to see Alexei when the 11-year-old boy was accidentally thrown against the window of a train and his nose began to bleed.

In 1916, he was given the title of [[lance corporal]], of which he was very proud. Alexei's favorites were the foreigners of Belgium, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and Serbia, and in favor, adopted him as their mascot. [[John Hanbury-Williams|Hanbury-Williams]], whom Alexei liked, wrote: "As time went on and his shyness wore off, he treated us like old friends and [...] had always some bit of fun with us. With me it was to make sure that each button on my coat was properly fastened, a habit which naturally made me take great care to have one or two unbuttoned, in which case he used to at once to stop and tell me that I was 'untidy again,' give a sigh at my lack of attention to these details and stop and carefully button me up again."

=== Imprisonment of the Imperial family ===
The imperial family was arrested following the [[February Revolution]] of 1917, which resulted in the [[abdication of Nicholas II]]. When he was in captivity at [[Tobolsk]], Alexei complained in his diary that he was "bored" and begged God to have "mercy" on him. He was permitted to play occasionally with Kolya, the son of one of his doctors, and with a kitchen boy named [[Leonid Sednev]]. As he became older, Alexei seemed to tempt fate and injure himself on purpose. While in [[Siberia]], he rode a sled down the stairs of the prison house and injured himself in the groin. The hemorrhage was very bad, and he was so ill that he could not be moved immediately when the Bolsheviks relocated his parents and older sister Maria to [[Yekaterinburg]] in April 1918. However, neither Nicholas II nor Empress Alexandra mentions anything about a sledding accident in their diaries, and in fact, primary resources such as letters of Empress Alexandra and the diaries of both Nicholas II and Alexandra state that the haemorrhage was caused by a coughing fit.<ref>Vyrubova, ''Memories of the Russian Court'', p. 338, letter of Empress Alexandra to Ania Vyrubova</ref><ref>Nicholas II 1918 Diary 30 March 31 (old style)</ref> On 30 March (12 April) 1918, Empress Alexandra recorded in her diary: 'Baby stays in bed as fr[om] coughing so hard has a slight haemorrhage in the abdom[en].<ref>''The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra'', Yale University Press 1997</ref> Every day from then onwards until her removal to Yekaterinburg, Alexandra recorded Alexei's condition in her diary. Alexei and his three remaining sisters joined the rest of the family weeks later.<ref>King and Wilson, pp. 83–84</ref> He was reliant on a wheelchair for the remaining weeks of his life.

=== Death ===
{{Main|Murder of the Romanov family}}[[File:AlexeiOlgaRus.jpg|thumb|right|The last known photo of Alexei and sister [[Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia|Olga]] aboard the steamship ''Rus'' that took them to [[Yekaterinburg]] in May 1918.]]The Tsesarevich was murdered on 17 July 1918 aged 13 in the cellar room of the [[Ipatiev House]] in [[Yekaterinburg]].  The killings were carried out by forces of the [[Bolshevik]] secret police under [[Yakov Yurovsky]]. According to one account of the execution, the family was told to get up and get dressed in the middle of the night because they were going to be moved. Nicholas II carried Alexei to the cellar room. His mother asked for chairs to be brought so that she and Alexei could sit down. When the family and their servants were settled, Yurovsky announced that they were to be executed. The firing squad first killed Nicholas, the Tsarina, and the two male servants. Alexei remained sitting in the chair, "terrified," before the assassins turned on him and shot at him repeatedly. The boy remained alive and the killers tried to stab him multiple times with bayonets. "Nothing seemed to work," wrote Yurovsky later. "Though injured, he continued to live." Unbeknownst to the killing squad, the Tsarevich's torso was protected by a shirt wrapped in precious gems that he wore beneath his tunic. Finally Yurovsky fired two shots into the boy's head, and he fell silent.<ref>King and Wilson, pp. 309–310,</ref>

For decades (until all the bodies were found and identified, [[#Discovery and identification of remains|see below]]) conspiracy theorists suggested that one or more of the family somehow survived the slaughter. Several people claimed to be surviving members of the Romanov family following the assassinations. People who have pretended to be the Tsarevich include: Alexei Poutziato, Joseph Veres, [[Heino Tammet]], [[Michael Goleniewski]] and Vassili Filatov. However, scientists considered it extremely unlikely that he escaped death, due to his lifelong hemophilia.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

==Discovery and identification of remains==
On 23 August 2007, a Russian archaeologist announced the discovery of two burned, partial skeletons at a bonfire site near Yekaterinburg that appeared to match the site described in [[Yakov Yurovsky|Yurovsky]]'s memoirs. The archaeologists said the bones are from a boy who was roughly between the ages of twelve and fifteen years at the time of his death and of a young woman who was roughly between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838|doi-access=free|title=Mystery Solved: The Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children Using DNA Analysis|year=2009|last1=Coble|first1=Michael D.|last2=Loreille|first2=Odile M.|last3=Wadhams|first3=Mark J.|last4=Edson|first4=Suni M.|last5=Maynard|first5=Kerry|last6=Meyer|first6=Carna E.|last7=Niederstätter|first7=Harald|last8=Berger|first8=Cordula|last9=Berger|first9=Burkhard|last10=Falsetti|first10=Anthony B.|last11=Gill |first11=Peter|last12=Parson|first12=Walther|last13=Finelli|first13=Louis N.|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=4|issue=3|article-number=e4838|pmid=19277206|pmc=2652717|bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.4838C}}</ref>
Anastasia was seventeen years, one month old at the time of the assassination, while Maria was nineteen years, one month old. Alexei was two weeks shy of his fourteenth birthday. Alexei's elder sisters, Olga and Tatiana, were twenty-two and twenty-one years old, respectively, at the time of the assassination. Along with the remains of the two bodies, archaeologists found "shards of a container of [[sulfuric acid]], nails, metal strips from a wooden box, and bullets of various caliber." The bones were found using metal detectors and metal rods as probes. Also, striped material was found that appeared to have been from a blue-and-white striped cloth; Alexei commonly wore a [[Telnyashka|blue-and-white striped undershirt]].

On 30 April 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing had proven that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and the Grand Duchess Maria.<ref name="Eckel">{{cite web|author=Eckel, Mike|year=2008|title=DNA confirms IDs of czar's children|work=yahoo.com|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_eu/russia_czar_s_family|access-date=30 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501043005/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_eu/russia_czar_s_family|archive-date=1 May 2008}}</ref> DNA information, made public in July 2008, that was obtained from the [[Yekaterinburg]] site and repeated independent testing by laboratories such as the [[University of Massachusetts Medical School]] revealed that the final two missing Romanov remains were indeed authentic and that the entire Romanov family lived in the Ipatiev House. In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria.<ref>Details on the testing of the Imperial remains are contained in Rogaev, E.I., Grigorenko, A.P., Moliaka, I.K., Faskhutdinova, G., Goltsov,A., Lahti, A., Hildebrandt, C., Kittler, E.L.W. and Morozova, I., "Genomic identification in historical case of Nicholas II Royal family.", ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', (2009). The mitochondrial DNA of Alexandra, Alexei, and Maria are identical and of haplogroup H1. The mitochondrial DNA of Nicholas was haplogroup T2. Their sequences are published at [[GenBank]] as FJ656214, FJ656215, FJ656216, and FJ656217.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/czar.children/index.html|title=DNA proves Bolsheviks killed all of Russian czar's children|website=[[CNN]] |agency=[[CNN]]|access-date=11 March 2009|archive-date=5 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005015934/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/czar.children/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Appearance and personality ==
Alexei was a handsome boy, and he bore a striking resemblance to his mother. His tutor [[Pierre Gilliard]] described the 18-month-old Alexei as "one of the handsomest babies one could imagine, with his lovely fair curls and his great blue-grey eyes under their fringe of long curling lashes".<ref>Pierre Gilliard, ''Thirteen Years at the Russian Court'', p. 26 {{ISBN|9780405030291}}</ref> A few years later, Gilliard described Alexei as tall for his age, with "a long, finely chiseled face, delicate features, auburn hair with a coppery glint, and large grey-blue eyes like his mother".<ref>Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 144</ref> Baroness [[Sophie Buxhoeveden]], his mother's lady-in-waiting, reflected that "he was a pretty child, tall for his age, with regular features, splendid dark blue eyes with a spark of mischief in them, brown hair, and an upright figure".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra – Chapter XVI – The Empress and Her Family |url=https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/XVI.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606023400/https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/XVI.html |archive-date=6 June 2021 |access-date=16 July 2021 |website=www.alexanderpalace.org}}</ref>

Alexei was proud of and enjoyed his position as Tsarevich. Buxhoeveden reflected that "he knew and felt that he was the Tsarevich, and from babyhood mechanically took his place in front of his elder sisters".<ref name=":0" /> He liked being kissed on the hand by the officers and "didn't miss his chance to boast about it and give himself airs in front of his sisters".<ref name="Helen Rappaport p. 109">[[Helen Rappaport]], "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra," p. 109.</ref> He enjoyed jumping in front of the guards at the front of the Alexander Palace, who would immediately salute him as he walked past. Nicholas forbade the guards to salute Alexei unless another member of the family accompanied him. Alexei was embarrassed "when the salute failed him", which "marked his first taste of discipline".<ref>Wheeler and Rives, Dome, p. 356</ref> On one occasion, he ordered all of the Finnish officers on various ships to stand before him on the deck of the ''Standart''. He began commanding them, but the Finnish officers did not understand Russian and stood in confusion until an aide informed them that Alexei wanted to hear them say, "We wish you health, your Imperial Highness."<ref>Kellogg Durland, Royal Romances of To-day, 206.</ref> When he was told that a group of officers had arrived to call on him, the 6-year-old Alexei told his sisters, "Now girls, run away. I am busy. Someone has just called to see me on business."<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 139">Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 139.</ref> Also at 6, he walked into his father's study and saw the Foreign Minister [[Alexander Izvolsky]] waiting to see Nicholas. Izvolsky remained sitting, and Alexei screamed, "When the heir to the Russian Throne enters a room, people must get up!"<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 139" />

Alexei's parents indulged his tantrums and mischievous behavior, and they rarely punished him. In 1906, Alexei and his family went on a cruise to Finland. In the middle of the night, the 2-year-old Alexei commanded the ship's band to wake up and play for him.<ref name="Helen Rappaport p. 109" /> Instead of punishing Alexei, Nicholas joked "that's the way to bring up an autocrat!"<ref>Durland, ''Royal Romances'', p. 206.</ref> Nicholas called Alexei "Alexei the Terrible."<ref>Welch, ''Romanovs and Mr Gibbes'', p. 37.</ref>

Alexei loved to attend army inspections with his father. When he was 3, he wore a miniature army uniform and played with a toy wooden rifle.<ref name="Helen Rappaport p. 109" /> From birth, he had the title of "Hetman of all the Cossacks."<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140">Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 140</ref> He wore a miniature uniform of a sailor of the Russian navy, and he had his own Cossack uniform with a fur cap, boots, and dagger.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" /> He ended his daily prayers with "Hurrah!" instead of "amen". When asked why, he replied that the soldiers on parade always said "Hurrah!" when his father finished speaking, so he should greet his Heavenly Father in the same way.<ref>Kellogg Durland, ''Royal Romances of To-day'', 206–207</ref> Before he understood the nature of his disease, he said that he wanted to be a warrior-tsar and lead armies as his ancestors had.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" />

Alexei resented that he was forbidden from doing what other boys could do because of his hemophilia. When his mother forbade him to ride a bike and play tennis, he asked angrily, "Why can other boys have everything and I nothing?"<ref>Radziwill, Taint, p. 196.</ref> All four of his sisters were accomplished horsewomen, but he was forbidden from horseriding.<ref>Helen Rappaport, ''The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra'',  p. 175.</ref>

Alexei had few friends his age and was often lonely. Alexandra did not allow Alexei to play with his Romanov cousins because she was worried that they would knock him down when playing and he might bleed.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 142">Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', p. 142.</ref> Alexei's companions were his sailor-nanny Derevenko's two young sons. Derevenko watched them as they played, and he chastised his children if they played too roughly with Alexei.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 142" />

Alexei was close with his sisters. Gilliard wrote that they "brought into his life an element of youthful merriment that otherwise would have been sorely missed".<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 142" />

Despite his hemophilia, Alexei was adventurous and restless. Doctor [[Eugene Botkin]]'s children noticed Alexei's inability to "stay in any place or at any game for any length of time".<ref>Botkin, Real Romanovs, pp. 73–74.</ref> When he was 7, he stole a bicycle and rode it around the palace. Shocked, Nicholas ordered every guard to pursue and capture Alexei.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" /> At a children's party, Alexei began jumping from table to table. When Derevenko tried to stop him, Alexei shouted, "All grown-ups have to go!"<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" /> Recognizing Alexei's energetic nature, Nicholas ordered that Alexei be allowed "to do everything that other children of his age were wont to do, and not to restrain him unless it was absolutely necessary".<ref>Helen Rappaport, "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas & Alexandra," p. 177.</ref>

Alexei was disobedient and difficult to control. Olga could not manage Alexei's "peevish temper".<ref>Radziwill, Taint, p. 397</ref> The only person he obeyed was his father. [[Sydney Gibbes]] noted that "one word [from Nicholas] was always enough to exact implicit obedience from [Alexei]".<ref>Untitled TS memoirs, List 1 (82) Sydney Gibbes Papers, Bodleian Library, fo 4.</ref> Sophie Buxhoeveden remembered that Alexei had once thrown her parasol in the river, and Nicholas had chastised Alexei: "That is not the way for a gentleman to behave to a lady. I am ashamed of you, Alexei."<ref name="Sophie Buxhoeveden p. 311">Sophie Buxhoeveden, Before The Storm, p. 311.</ref> After his father scolded him, Alexei was "scarlet in the face" and apologized to her.<ref name="Sophie Buxhoeveden p. 311" />

As a small child, Alexei occasionally played pranks on guests. At a formal dinner party, Alexei removed the shoe of a female guest from under the table, and showed it to his father. Nicholas sternly told the boy to return the "trophy", which Alexei did after placing a large ripe strawberry into the toe of the shoe.<ref>Massie, pp. 136–143.</ref>

As he grew up, Alexei became more thoughtful and considerate. When he was 9, he sent a collection of his favorite jingles to [[Gleb Botkin]], Eugene Botkin's son. He asked Gleb, who was talented at drawing, to illustrate the jingles. He attached a note: "To illustrate and write the jingles under the drawings. Alexei." Before handing the note to Eugene Botkin, he crossed out his signature and explained, "If I send that paper to Gleb with my signature on it, then it would be an order which Gleb would have to obey. But I mean it only as a request and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to."<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 139" />

Alexei enjoyed playing the [[balalaika]].<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" />

Alexei's favorite pet was a spaniel named [[Joy (dog)|Joy]], a dog who, even after Alexei's death, was faithful towards him.<ref name="Robert K. Massie p. 140" /> He also had an old performing donkey named Vanka, given to him by Tsar Nicholas. Alexei gave sugar cubes to Vanka, and Vanka pulled Alexei around the park in a sled during the winter.<ref>Robert K. Massie, "Nicholas and Alexandra," p. 141.</ref>

According to Gilliard, Alexei was a simple, affectionate child, but the court spoiled him by the "servile flattery" of the servants and "silly adulations" of the people around him. Once, a deputation of peasants came to bring presents to Alexei. Derevenko required that they kneel before Alexei. Gilliard remarked that the Tsarevich was "embarrassed and blushed violently", and when asked if he liked seeing people on their knees before him, he said, "Oh no, but Derevenko says it must be so!". When Gilliard encouraged Alexei to "stop Derevenko insisting on it", he said that he "dare not". When Gilliard took the matter up with Derevenko, he said that Alexei was "delighted to be freed from this irksome formality".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pierre Gilliard – Thirteen Years at the Russian Court – memoirs of Nicholas, Alexandra and their family – Influence of Rasputin – Vyrubova – My Tutorial Troubles |url=http://www.alexanderpalace.org/2006pierre/chapter_VII.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008222926/http://www.alexanderpalace.org/2006pierre/chapter_VII.html |archive-date=8 October 2010 |access-date=30 October 2010 |work=alexanderpalace.org}}</ref>

"Alexei was the center of this united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections", wrote Gilliard. "His sisters worshipped him. He was his parents' pride and joy. When he was well, the palace was transformed. Everyone and everything in it seemed bathed in sunshine."<ref>Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra,'' 1967, p. 137.</ref>

Gilliard eventually convinced Alexei's parents that granting the boy greater autonomy would help him develop better self-control. Alexei took advantage of his unaccustomed freedom, and began to outgrow some of his earlier foibles.<ref>Massie, p. 145.</ref> Courtiers reported that his illness made him sensitive to the hurts of others.<ref name="Massie, pp. 136-146" />

Due to his disease, Alexei understood that he might not live to adulthood. When he was ten, his older sister Olga found him lying on his back looking at the clouds and asked him what he was doing. "I like to think and wonder", Alexei replied. Olga asked him what he liked to think about. "Oh, so many things", the boy responded. "I enjoy the sun and the beauty of summer as long as I can. Who knows whether one of these days I shall not be prevented from doing it?"<ref>Massie, p. 143.</ref>

Nicholas's Colonel Mordinov remembered Alexei:{{blockquote|He had what we Russians usually call "a golden heart". He easily felt an attachment to people, he liked them and tried to do his best to help them, especially when it seemed to him that someone was unjustly hurt. His love, like that of his parents, was based mainly on pity. Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was an awfully lazy, but very capable boy (I think, he was lazy precisely because he was capable), he easily grasped everything, he was thoughtful and keen beyond his years ... Despite his good nature and compassion, he undoubtedly promised to possess a firm and independent character in the future.<ref>Zeepvat, Charlotte, ''The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album'', Sutton Publishing Limited, 2004, p. 20.</ref>}}
==Sainthood==
{{Main|Canonization of the Romanovs}}

{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
|image=Alekszej Nyikolajevics orosz nagyherceg.jpg
|name=Alexei Romanov
|titles=Tsesarevich and [[Passion bearer]]{{#tag:ref|Alexei and the other Romanov saints are considered martyrs by the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]]|group=note}}
|feast_day=17 July
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|canonized_date={{ubl|1981 by [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]]|2000 by [[Russian Orthodox Church]]}}
|major_shrine=[[Church of All Saints, Yekaterinburg|Church on Blood]], Yekaterinburg, Russia}}

The Romanov family had been canonized as [[Martyr|holy martyrs]] in 1981 by the [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]], which had developed among emigres after the Russian Revolution and the World Wars. After the decline of the Soviet Union, the government of Russia agreed with the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] to have the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of their daughters (which were found at the execution site) interred at [[Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg|St. Peter and Paul Cathedral]] in St. Petersburg on 17 July 1998, eighty years after they were executed.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} In 2000, Alexei and his family were [[Canonization|canonized]] as [[passion bearer]]s by the Russian Orthodox Church.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/15/world/nicholas-ii-and-family-canonized-for-passion.html|title=Nicholas II And Family Canonized For 'Passion'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=15 August 2000}}</ref>

As noted, the remains of Alexei and one of his sisters' bodies were found in 2008. As of 2015, Alexei's remains had not yet been interred with the rest of his family, as the Russian Orthodox Church has requested more DNA testing to ensure that his identity was confirmed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/11/russia-agrees-to-further-dna-tests-over-remains-of-romanov-children|title=Russia agrees to further testing over 'remains of Romanov children'|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 September 2015|last=Luhn|first=Alec|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=7 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507180932/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/11/russia-agrees-to-further-dna-tests-over-remains-of-romanov-children|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Historical significance==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2012}}
Alexei was the heir apparent to the Romanov Throne. [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] had passed laws forbidding women to succeed to the throne (unless there were no legitimate male dynasts left, in which case, the throne would pass to the closest female relative of the last Tsar). He had established this rule in revenge for what he perceived to have been the illegal behavior of his mother, [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] ("the Great"), in deposing his father [[Peter III of Russia|Peter III]].

Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on {{OldStyleDate|15 March|1917|2 March}}. He did this in favour of his twelve-year-old son Alexei, who ascended the throne under a regency. Nicholas later decided to alter his original abdication. Whether that act had any legal validity is open to speculation. Nicholas consulted with doctors and others and realised that he would have to be separated from Alexei if he abdicated in favour of his son. Not wanting Alexei to be parted from the family in this crisis, Nicholas altered the abdication document in favour of his younger brother [[Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia]]. After receiving advice about whether his personal security could be guaranteed, Michael declined to accept the throne without the people's approval through an election held by the proposed Constituent Assembly. No such referendum was ever held.<ref>Kerensky, A. F. (1927), [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kerensky/1927/catastrophe/ch01.htm ''The Catastrophe''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827015421/https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kerensky/1927/catastrophe/ch01.htm |date=27 August 2016 }}, Chapter 1, Marxists Internet Archive</ref>

[[Grigori Rasputin]] rose in political power because the Tsarina believed that he could heal Alexei's hemophilia, or his attacks. Rasputin advised the Tsar that the Great War would be won once he (Tsar Nicholas II) took command of the Russian Army. Following this advice was a serious mistake, as the Tsar had no military experience. The Tsarina, Alexandra, a deeply religious woman, came to rely upon Rasputin and believe in his ability to help Alexei where conventional doctors had failed. Historian Robert K. Massie explored this theme in his book, ''[[Nicholas and Alexandra (book)|Nicholas and Alexandra]]''.

Massie contends that caring for Alexei seriously diverted the attention of his father, Nicholas II, and the rest of the Romanovs from the business of war and government.<ref>Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'', 1967.</ref>

[[File:Emperor Nicholas II Land Russian Empire Map.jpg|thumb|[[Tsarevich Alexei Island|Tsesarevich Alexei Island]] southeast of [[Emperor Nicholas II Land]] in a 1915 map of the Russian Empire.]]
[[Tsarevich Alexei Island]] ({{langx|ru|Остров Цесаревича Алексея}}), later renamed [[Maly Taymyr]], was named in honour of Alexei by the 1913 [[Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition]] led by [[Boris Vilkitsky]] on behalf of the [[Russian Hydrographic Service]].<ref name=Barr1975>{{cite journal|author=Barr, William|year=1975|title=Severnaya Zemlya: the last major discovery|journal=Geographical Journal|volume=141|number=1|pages=59–71|doi=10.2307/1796946|jstor=1796946|bibcode=1975GeogJ.141...59B}}</ref>

==Honours==
*{{flag|Russian Empire}}:<ref name="Army">[http://regiment.ru/bio/A/245.htm Russian Imperial Army – Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407194847/http://regiment.ru/bio/A/245.htm|date=7 April 2020}} (In Russian)</ref>
**Knight of the Imperial [[Order of St. Andrew|Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-called]], ''11 August 1904''
**Knight of the Imperial [[Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky]], ''11 August 1904''
**Knight of the Imperial [[Order of the White Eagle (Russia)|Order of the White Eagle]], ''11 August 1904''
**Knight of the Imperial [[Order of Saint Anna]], 1st Class, ''11 August 1904''
**Knight of the Imperial [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of Saint Stanislaus]], 1st Class, ''11 August 1904''
**Saint George Medal, 4th Class, ''17 October 1915''
*{{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}: Grand Cross of the National Order of the [[Legion of Honour]], ''8 July 1914''<ref>{{cite book|author=M. & B. Wattel|title=Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers|location=Paris|year=2009|publisher=Archives & Culture|page=520|isbn=978-2-35077-135-9|ref=M. et B. Wattel}}</ref>
*{{flag|Sweden}}: Knight of the Royal [[Order of the Seraphim]], ''27 June 1909''<ref>{{citation|title=Sveriges statskalender|year=1915|page=671|url=https://runeberg.org/statskal/1915/0671.html|via=runeberg.org|access-date=6 January 2018|language=sv|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011202843/http://runeberg.org/statskal/1915/0671.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}: Knight of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]], ''25 October 1909''<ref name="dell'interno1920">{{cite book|author=Italy. Ministero dell'interno|title=Calendario generale del regno d'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PR3|year=1920|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PA58 58]|access-date=8 October 2020|archive-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922183837/https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PR3|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flag|Qing dynasty}}: Imperial [[Order of the Double Dragon]]{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==Archives==
Alexei's diary, which was presumably kept by his tutors and relates his daily activities for January and February 1917, is written in both French and English and is preserved in the "Grand Duchess Kseniia Aleksandrovna Papers" collection in the [[Hoover Institution]] Archives (Stanford, California, USA).<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Duchess Kseniia Aleksandrovna Papers|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt687013w0/entire_text/|access-date=12 October 2021|publisher=Hoover Institution Library & Archives.|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001185550/https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt687013w0/entire_text/}}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{See also|Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark}}

{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia'''
|2= 2. [[Nicholas II of Russia]]
|3= 3. [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine]]
|4= 4. [[Alexander III of Russia]]<ref name="EB-Nicholas II">{{Britannica|414099|Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia}}</ref>
|5= 5. [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Princess Dagmar of Denmark]]<ref name="EB-Nicholas II"/>
|6= 6. [[Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse|Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine]]<ref name="Gelardi2007">{{cite book|last=Gelardi|first=Julia P.|title=Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhSNaK7IFnIC&pg=PT10|date=1 April 2007|publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-4299-0455-1|page=10}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom]]<ref name="Gelardi2007"/>
|8= 8. [[Alexander II of Russia]]<ref name="EB-Alexander III">{{Britannica|14102|Alexander III, Emperor of Russia}}</ref>
|9= 9. [[Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)|Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine]]<ref name="EB-Alexander III"/>
|10= 10. [[Christian IX of Denmark]]<ref name="DanishMonarchy-Christian IX">{{cite web|url=http://kongehuset.dk/artikel.php?dogtag=k_en_his_chrix|title=Christian IX |publisher=The Danish Monarchy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050403232709/http://kongehuset.dk/artikel.php?dogtag=k_en_his_chrix|archive-date=3 April 2005|access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel|Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel]]<ref name="DanishMonarchy-Christian IX"/>
|12= 12. [[Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine]]<ref name=willis>{{cite book |last=Willis |first=Daniel A. |title=The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain |publisher=Clearfield Company|year=2002|page=717|isbn=978-0-8063-5172-8}}</ref>
|13= 13. [[Princess Elisabeth of Prussia]]<ref name=willis/>
|14= 14. [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]<ref name=louda>{{cite book|last1=Louda|first1=Jiří|author1-link=Jiří Louda|last2=Maclagan|first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Maclagan|title=Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe|year=1999|publisher=Little, Brown|location=London|isbn=978-1-85605-469-0| page = 34 }}</ref>
|15= 15. [[Queen Victoria|Victoria of the United Kingdom]]<ref name=louda/>
}}

===The royal haemophilia line===
{{British haemophilia line}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Reflist|2}}
 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
*Greg King and Penny Wilson, ''The Fate of the Romanovs,'' John Wiley and Sons, 2003, {{ISBN|0-471-20768-3}}
*Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967.
*Robert K. Massie, ''The Romanovs: The Final Chapter'', Random House, 1995, {{ISBN|0-394-58048-6}}
*Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko, ''A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story,'' Doubleday, 1997, {{ISBN|0-385-48673-1}}
*Edvard Radzinsky, ''The Rasputin File,'' Doubleday, 2000, {{ISBN|0-385-48909-9}}
*Demetrios Serfes, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070206173420/http://www.serfes.org/royal/miracleprayers.htm A Miracle Through the Prayers of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexis]''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050824094901/http://www.struggler.org/GlorificationOfTheRoyalFamily.html Maxim Shevchenko, ''The Glorification of the Royal Family,'' a 2000 article in the ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'']
*[[Charlotte Zeepvat]], The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album, Sutton Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7509-3049-7}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.romanov-memorial.com/ The Romanov Memorial]
*[http://www.frozentears.org/ FrozenTears.org] A media library of the last Imperial Family.
*[http://www.searchfoundationinc.org/ The Search Foundation, an organization dedicated to searching for the remains of the two "missing" Romanov children.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101230004230/http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/royalty/russia/aleksei.html  RoyalRussia.org: Tsarevich Alexis Heir to the Throne].

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Romanov]]|30 July|1904|17 July|1918}}
{{S-roy|ru}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia|Michael Alexandrovich]]|as=heir presumptive}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Tsesarevich|Tsesarevich of Russia]]|years=12 August 1904 - 15 March 1917}}
{{S-non|reason=Monarchy abolished}}
{{S-pre}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]]}}
{{S-tul|title=[[Emperor of Russia]]|years=15 March 1917<sup>1</sup> – 17 July 1918|reason=[[February Revolution|Empire abolished in 1917]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Russian tsareviches}}
{{Russian grand dukes}}
{{Murder of the Romanovs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsesarevich Of Russia}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
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[[Category:European royalty with haemophilia]]
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[[Category:House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov]]
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[[Category:Children of Nicholas II of Russia]]
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[[Category:Russian people of English descent]]
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