Summary of Nicholas II Conference in England – 27 October 2018

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Archpriest Andrew Phillips and Paul Gilbert, St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Church

On Saturday 27th October, more than 100 people from 11 countries attended the 1st International Nicholas II. Emperor. Tsar. Saint. Conference in England.

The venue for the event was St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Church in Colchester, Essex, which is situated about an hour’s train journey from London. It was truly meaningful and appropriate that the conference should take place at the Church of St John of Shanghai, who did so much for the glorification of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.

This historic event brought people from no less than 11 countries: England, Wales, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Vatican City, Russia and from as far away as Canada, America and Australia.

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More than 100 people from 11 countries attended the Nicholas II Conference

Among the guests was Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), who travelled from Washington, DC for the event. His Eminence is a retired American Orthodox bishop who served as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) with the title The Most Blessed Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada from his election on November 12, 2008, until his resignation on July 7, 2012. Metropolitan Jonah was the first convert to the Orthodox faith to have been elected as the primate of the OCA.

On June 15, 2015, Metropolitan Jonah was released from the Orthodox Church in America in order for him to be accepted as a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Greetings for the conference and its attendees were received by letter from Vice-Chairman of the Department for External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Archimandrite Philaret; Head of the Russian Imperial House Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna; and His eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain.

The conference featured 5 speakers, who presented 7 papers, some of which were dedicated to clearing the name of the much slandered tsar.

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‘Romanovs During the First World War: Charity and Heroism’ exhibit

The Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanov Society UK provided 10 exhibit banners from the society’s exhibition Romanovs During the First World War: Charity and Heroism. The exhibit featured photos, post cards and documents from the Russian archives and private collections. The exhibition was produced by GDER society, St Tichon’s Theological University, Moscow, and The Society of Card Collectors. All the information in English.

Holy Trinity Publications set up a table offering copies for sale of ‘The Romanovs’ Under House Arrest‘, co-authored by Marilyn Swezey, and ‘The Romanovs: Family of Faith and Charity‘, a children’s book by Maria Maximova.

Royal Russia Publications also set up a table offering copies of ALL current and back issues of ‘Sovereign: The Life and Reign of Emperor Nicholas II‘.

Special thanks to Father Andrew Phillips rector of St John of Shanghai Orthodox Church, for his enthusiasm and support of this event, and for the opportunity to use St John of Shanghai Church as the venue for this historic conference.

To my dearest friends Mike and Julia Carr, and David Clark for all their dedication and hard work in helping to set up the church and meeting hall, assisting with registration, book sales, lunch, teas and coffee, etc.

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© Paul Gilbert. 1 December 2019

Ekaterinburg Convent Receives Dr. Eugene Botkin’s Pocket Watch

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PHOTO: Sister Eustache holds the pocket watch which was presented to the convent by Igor Svalov (left)

In November 2018, a pocket watch has been presented to the Novo-Tikhvinsky Convent in Ekaterinburg, which, according to its owner at the time, belonged to the physician to the Imperial family Dr. Eugene Botkin (1865-1918). The doctor was shot along with Nicholas II, his family, and three other retainers on the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the Ipatiev House.

According to the press service of the Ekaterinburg Diocese, on Sunday, November 4, the last guardian of the watch, a resident of Revda, Igor Svalov, solemnly handed over the watch to the Alexander Nevsky Novo-Tikhvinsky Convent. Svalov noted, that the pocket watch had been kept in his family for many years. His father told him that the watch belonged to the doctor of the Imperial family, and in 1918, while he was imprisoned in the Ipatiev House, he gave it to one of the guards in exchange for food. Many years later, the former guard handed it over to a distant relative with the words: “Take this watch, it crushes me.” The relative then bequeathed the watch to his son – Igor Svalov.

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PHOTO: Is this the pocket watch of the physician to the Imperial family Dr. Eugene Botkin?

Svalov decided to give the pocket watch to the Novo-Tikhvinsky Convent. It was the local nuns who helped the Imperial family in 1918, by bringing food to the Ipatiev house.

The pocket watch and chain, includes an inscription, “Made by the firm of Georg Favre-Jacot, especially for Russia”. A study will be conducted shortly, to determine who exactly the watch belonged to.

“The watch has a number on the lid,” noted Sister Eustache. – These were produced from the 1870s to the 1910s. It was then, that the Swiss-owned company changed its name. Whether the watch belonged to Dr. Botkin himself, or perhaps a gift from one of his patients, we hope that it will be possible to obtain the name of the owner from the number.

The pocket watch will eventually be exhibited in the convent museum, which is currently in the planning stage.

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PHOTO: Icon of the holy righteous doctor and passion-bearer Eugene Botkin

Eugene Botkin served as the Court physician to Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and sometime treated the hemophiliac Tsesarevich Alexei, while in exile with the family. He remained loyal to the Imperial family to the end and was martyred with the on 17th July 1918.

The righteous doctor was canonized along with the Holy Royal Martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in 1981, and glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate on 7th February 2016.

© Paul Gilbert. 1 December 2019