On 29th May 2025, the premiere of a new Russian-language documentary-film entitled The Tsesarevich’s Mentor. The Story of Sydney Gibbes, will be shown in the Courtyard of the Sovereign Military Chamber, situated near the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

The film tells the story of Englishman Charles Sydney Gibbes (1876-1963), a Cambridge graduate who arrived in Russia in 1901. Gibbes lived and worked in St. Petersburg, and from 1908 he served as an English teacher for the children of Emperor Nicholas II – first for the Grand Duchesses, and later for Tsesarevich Alexei.

In August 1917, Gibbes voluntarily followed the Imperial Family into exile to Tobolsk. And after their tragic death in July 1918, he left Russia and returned to England, where he converted to Orthodoxy several years later. Gibbes was later ordained a priest, becoming Father Nikolai, and founded an Orthodox parish in Oxford, which still exists today.

PHOTO: Charles Sydney Gibbes and Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich (circa 1914-16)

The documentary-film The Tsesarevich’s Mentor. The Story of Charles Sydney Gibbes was filmed by Studio First A with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Director-producer Anna Chernakova, animation director Alexander Brunkovsky, script by Alexander Adabashyan and Yuri Bryers, composer Yuri Bryers.

The film uses documentary materials from Russian and British archival sources, with additional film segments filmed in the UK.

On a personal note, a documentary about Charles Sydney Gibbes is long overdue, and while I commend and support this Russian-language documentary about his life and service to the Imperial Family, it also begs the question . . . WHY has there never been a British-made documentary about Gibbes? – PG

© Paul Gilbert. 23 May 2025