The Romanovs & Mr Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar [Paperback]

Frances Welch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2003

In 1908, Englishman Sydney Gibbes was appointed tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II, and over the next 10 years, he became deeply attached to the Imperial family—and they to him. Here, Frances Welch draws on a wealth of unpublished material to cast new light on the fabled Romanov story, telling it from the tutor’s unique point of view. Ultimately, the tragic events of the Russian Revolution devastated Gibbes, turning him into an obsessive Russophile, who was to go to extraordinary lengths to remain faithful to the old order.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frances Welch has written about the Romanovs for the Sunday Telegraph and Granta. She is co-author of Memories of Revolution: Russian Women Remember (Routledge, 1993). She lives in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Short Books (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904095488
• ISBN-13: 978-1904095484
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,414,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Little Biography, January 22, 2006

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Romanovs & Mr Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar (Paperback)

Sydney Gibbes would have been unknown to all except his own family had he not taken the momentous step of going to Russia in the early 1900s. There he sought out work as tutor to the children of various noble families, with indifferent results and gaining a reputation for behavior, which while not all that unusual for the times, definitely raised a few eyebrows (especially his insistence on whipping his students). He strode into history in 1908 when Empress Alexandra Fedorovna needed a tutor to correct her daughters' accents and hired him sight unseen. Gibbes remained with the family for the next ten years through war and revolution, teaching the four Grand Duchesses and then the hemophiliac Tsarevich.

Gibbes doesn't strike the reader as particularly admirable at first. He was definitely a social-climber and not particularly talented as a teacher. His private life was mysterious, involving some mild flirtations with an Englishwoman and some dreams (carefully recorded for posterity by Gibbes himself) which seem classically Freudian.

Gibbes came into his own, and we find reason to respect and like him, with the Russian Revolution of March 1917. As an Englishman he could have easily left Russia and gone home to safety. Instead he chose to remain with the Imperial Family, sharing their captivity in their palace outside Petrograd and then in Tobolsk. He underwent considerable hardship and personal danger, but he was selflessly devoted to the family. Even after he was told to leave by the Bolsheviks who were holding the family in their final prison in Ekaterinburg he remained in the city, walking past the House of Special Purpose and trying to get in for visits. After the family's murder, he assisted the investigators trying to determine what had happened.

After leaving Russia Gibbes lived in China before returning to England. He became an Orthodox priest, adopted a Russian orphan boy, and spent most of the rest of his life in Oxford, maintaining a museum of keepsakes of the family he had served for so long. He was not particularly effective as a priest, but he was sadly missed and fondly remembered after his death, which is a pretty good epitaph for anyone.

This biography makes use primarily of Gibbes'own notes and diary, so that the reader must look elsewhere for historical insight into his life, but nevertheless it does a nice job telling the story of a quiet, somewhat limited man who was a good servant and friend.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars historical and fascinating!, September 7, 2004

By 

Giselle F. Navarrete "ginava" (mia. fl. usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Romanovs and Mr. Gibbes (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book tremendously! It is a real page turner! It follows the incredible life and circumstances of M r. Gibbes, tutor to the last Russian imperial family until his death. Very precise,well researched,with many new facts and information. It is also beautifully written. Will please all the devotees of the Romanov family,as well as all those who enjoy a great story!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book about an unusual man., July 26, 2006

By 

Maria - See all my reviews

This review is from: Romanovs and Mr. Gibbes (Hardcover)

This book doesn't shed any new light on the Romanovs, but it does give new insight into a man who knew them very well. It is a short book, but very informative.