Dowager Empress still living near Livadia

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December 16, 1918


Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, the mother of former Emperor Nicholas II is living near Livadia in the Crimea, reports the Associated Press from Warsaw.

She has been receiving letters "every ten days purported to be from the former ruler," state Polish officers who have arrived from Sevastopol.

The Dowager Empress and "all about her are convinced" that Nicholas is still alive.  This belief has been confirmed by one of members of her household to the Polish officers.

There have been a number of "conflicting reports" about the the "tragic adventures of the Dowager Empress since March 1917 and the "subsequent democratic and anarchistic regimes," but no one has had truly credible information about her,

She was born Princess Dagmar of Denmark a daughter of the late King Christian IX.  It has been believed that she and other members of the Romanov family, including Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaeivitch are "isolated in a villa near Odessa."

The real persecution began after the Bolsheviks took control in November 1917, with frequent visits and searches by the police, who "hoped to uncover evidence of a reactionary plot."

The Danish Government asked the American ambassador to "endeavor to get relief to her," as they had been unsuccessful.  Germany offered to help her get to Denmark, but the Dowager Empress is said to have "spurned" their offer.

The Dowager Empress is the younger sister of Queen Alexandra, the widow of King Edward VII.