Memorial service for Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna held in Toronto

Photo © Embassy of the Russian Federation, Ottawa, Canada

On 24th July 2025, a pannikhida was conducted at York Cemetery in Toronto for Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, with the participation of Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov. The pannikhida took place on on the feast day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga.

The liturgical solemn service for the repose of the departed was performed by the rector of the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, Father Maxim (Abroskin). The church is located in Jackson Point, Ontario, which is 86 km north of Toronto.

The memorial service was also attended by the Consul General of Russia in Toronto, Vladlen Epifanov, and other employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in Canada. Flowers were laid at the grave of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960), the younger sister of Emperor Nicholas II, who is buried in York Cemetery.

Photo © Embassy of the Russian Federation, Ottawa, Canada

Photo © Embassy of the Russian Federation, Ottawa, Canada

“On the name day of Olga Alexandrovna, we pay tribute to the memory and respect of the daughter of Emperor Alexander III, who is very much revered in our country,” Stepanov said during an interview. “Despite her forced emigration and life in a foreign land, Olga Alexandrovna loved her homeland, and she remained Russian until her last day. Today and always, our common duty is to preserve the connection of times, to maintain the unity of the Russian world and Orthodoxy,” the ambassador stressed.

The younger sister of Nicholas II was one of the last members of the Imperial Family to leave Russia. In 1920, she and her family fled from Crimea first to Yugoslavia, and then moved to Denmark to live with her mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1948, Olga and her family emigrated to Canada, where she lived out the last 12 years of her life. She died in Toronto on 24th November 1960.

Memory Eternal! Вечная Память!

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