HTML Website MakerThe words of those who knew Grand Duchess Maria Romanova.
On this page you will find the words of: Vyrubova, Dehn, Mossolov, Bitner, Kobylinsky, Buxhoeveden, Gilliard, Gibbes, Yurovsky.
Anna Vyrubova
Marie had splendid eyes and rose-red cheeks. She was inclined to be stout and she had rather thick lips which detracted a little from her beauty. Marie had a naturally sweet disposition and a very good mind.
Lili Dehn
When I first knew the Grand Duchess Marie, she was quite a child, but during the Revolution she became very devoted to me, and I to her, and we spent most of our time together—she was a wonderful girl, possessed of tremendous reserve force, and I never realised her unselfish nature until those dreadful days. She too was exceeding fair, dowered with the classic beauty of the Romanoffs; her eyes were dark blue, shaded by long lashes, and she had masses of dark brown hair. Marie was plump, and the Empress often teased her about this; she was not so lively as her sisters, but she was much more decided in her outlook. The Grand Duchess Marie knew at once what she wanted, and why she wanted it.
A.A. Mossolov
Maria (thirteen) at this time was a young girl with a happy Russian face and unusual strength. ... Maria was kind, though not without a certain obstinacy, but less able than her two elder sisters.
Klavdia Bitner
Maria Nikolaevna was the most beautiful, typically Russian, good-natured, cheerful, with an even character, friendly girl. She loved and knew how to "talk" with everyone, especially with the common people, soldiers. She always had many common topics with them. People said that she took after Alexander III in appearance and strength. She was very strong.
When the sick Alexei Nikolaevich needed to move somewhere, he would shout: "Mashka, carry me." She always carried him. Commissar Pankratov loved her very much, simply adored her. Yakovlev probably treated her well when they were traveling on the steamship. The girls later laughed when they received a letter from her from Yekaterinburg, in which she wrote them something probably about Yakovlev: "Mashka is lucky with commissars." She had talent for drawing and needlework.
Eugene Kobylinsky
The Grand Duchess Maria was eighteen; she was tall, strong, and better looking than the other sisters. She painted well and was the most amiable. She always used to speak to the soldiers, questioned them, and knew very well the names of their wives, the number of their children, and the amount of land owned by the soldiers. All the intimate affairs in such cases were always known to her. Like the Grand Duchess Olga, she loved her father more than the rest. On account of her simplicity and affability she was given the pet name by the family of “Mashka.” And by this term she was called by her brother and by her sisters.
Sophie Buxhoeveden
Marie Nicolaevna was like Olga Nicolaevna in colouring and features, but all on a more vivid scale. She had the same charming smile, the same shape of face, but her eyes, ‘Marie’s saucers,’ as they were called by her cousins, were magnificent, and of a deep dark blue. Her hair had golden lights in it, and when it was cut after her illness in 1917, it curled naturally over her head. Marie Nicolaevna, alone of the sisters, had a decided talent for drawing, and sketched quite well, always with her left hand. ‘Mashka,’ as her sisters called her, was ruled entirely by her youngest sister, Anastasia Nicolaevna, nicknamed by her mother ‘the imp.
Pierre Gilliard
Marie Nicolaïevna was a fine girl, tall for her age, and a picture of glowing health and colour. She had large and beautiful grey eyes. Her tastes were very simple, and with her warm heart she was kindness itself. Her sisters took advantage somewhat of her good nature, and called her “fat little bow-wow.” She certainly had the benevolent and somewhat gauche devotion of a dog.
Sydney Gibbes
The Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna was a young woman of broad build. She was very strong; for example, she could lift me up from the ground. She had lighter hair than Tatiana, but darker than Olga. (Olga Nicholaevna had brown hair, of a golden shade, and Maria Nicholaevna had brown hair with a light shade.) She had very nice, light grey eyes. She was very good looking, but got too thin after her illness. She had a great talent for painting and always liked to exercise it. She played the piano indifferently and was not as capable as Olga or Tatiana. She was modest and simple and probably had the qualities of a good wife and mother. She was fond of children and was inclined to be lazy. She liked Tobolsk and told me that she would be quite happy to stay there. It is quite difficult for me to tell you whom she preferred—her father or her mother.
Yakov Yurovsky
Maria, she is not similar to and [also] outwardly as the first two sisters: somewhat reticent and considered like a step-daughter in the family.
(From the Private Presidential Archives of the Russian Federation, APRF f.3 op 58 d. 280)
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