Coronation, or the Last of the Romanovs
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n detective story writer Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili , a Russian writer. He is an essayist, literary translator and writer of detective fiction.-Life and career:...
, published originally in 2000. It is subtitled великосветский детектив ("high-society detective"). This novel was published in English in February 2009.
The scene of this seventh novel in the Erast Fandorin
Erast Fandorin
Erast Petrovich Fandorin is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin. The first novel was published in Russia in 1998, and the latest was published in December 2009...
series is set in 1896 Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, at the time of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
(between 6 May and 20 May O.S.). Akunin prominently features the Khodynka Tragedy
Khodynka Tragedy
The Khodynka Tragedy was a mass panic that occurred on , on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities following the coronation of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, which resulted in the deaths of 1,389 people.- The events :...
of 18 May 1896, when nearly 1400 people were killed when a crowd at the coronation festival stampeded.
The book won the Russian Anti-Booker prize
Anti-Booker prize
Anti-booker Russian literary award that existed between 1995 and 2001. Established by newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta using money of Boris Berezovsky. Its name refers to British-sponsored Russian Booker and differences are:...
in 2000 for prose. Many Akunin fans in Russia state this book is his best, reading about the tragic atmosphere of late 19th century Russia. However, members of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
objected to the negative portrayal of many members of the Romanov family, especially the characterization of the character Grand Duke Simeon Alexandrovich as a homosexual.
Plot
The story is told from the perspective of Afanasi Ziukin, the majordomo of Grand DukeGrand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
George Alexandrovich. Erast Fandorin investigates the abduction of Grand Duke Mikhail, the four-year-old youngest son of George Alexandrovitch, by criminal mastermind "Doctor Lind" whom Fandorin has been pursuing for several years. Their initial confrontation is briefly described in the novella "Dream Valley" from the Jade Rosary Beads collection. This time, Lind demands the Orlov diamond, a prerequisite for the upcoming coronation, as a ransom. Nicholas II is portrayed as dependent on his uncles Cyril and Simeon, the Governor-General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of Moscow.
Akunin distorts the Romanov family relations somewhat. The three uncles of Nicolas II (sons of Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
) are semi-fictitious:
- George Alexandrovich, named after George AlexandrovitchGrand Duke George Alexandrovich of RussiaGrand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, , was the third son of Alexander III and Empress Marie of Russia. He was named George after his mother's younger brother, King George I of Greece...
, Nicholas' younger brother, but probably based on Nicholas' real uncle Grand Duke Alexei AlexandrovichGrand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of RussiaGrand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia was the sixth child and the fourth son of Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna . Destined to a naval career, Alexei Alexandrovich started his military training at the age of 7...
; however, historical Alexei had no issue - Simeon Alexandrovich, the Governor General of Moscow is based on Nicholas' real uncle Sergei AlexandrovichGrand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of RussiaGrand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
. - Cyril Alexandrovich is based on Nicholas' real uncle Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, and named after CyrilGrand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of RussiaGrand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia was a member of the Russian Imperial Family. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the deaths of Tsar Nicholas II and his brother Michael, Cyril assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and later the title Emperor and Autocrat of all the...
, Vladimir's son.
Title
The original Russian title, Коронация, или Последний из романов, could be literally translated as Coronation, or the Last of the novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s (note the lack of capitalization on the last Russian word). The title is however to be understood as The Last of the Romanovs, although the last word should then have been Романовых. The reason for the broken Russian in the title becomes apparent only at the very end of the book, where an Englishman says this phrase using his dictionary, failing to inflect the last word correctly.
Despite its title, this is not the last Fandorin novel. The title of the German translation is : Die Entführung des Großfürsten, subtitled: Fandorin ermittelt.