author
Eugenia Smith
1899–1997
Best known for claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, she wrote one of the most unusual royal memoirs of the twentieth century. Her life story sits at the crossroads of immigration, identity, and one of history’s most enduring mysteries.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born Eugenia Drabek Smetisko in 1899, Eugenia Smith later became known for her dramatic claim that she was Anastasia Nikolaevna, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. She published Autobiography of HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna of Russia in 1963, presenting it as a firsthand account of imperial Russia and a supposed escape from the Romanov family’s fate.
Her story drew attention because the mystery surrounding Anastasia inspired many impostors and fascinated the public for decades. Smith became one of the better-known claimants, and her book remains a curious example of how royal legend, personal reinvention, and popular publishing could blend into a lasting cultural story.
Today, she is remembered less as a conventional memoirist than as a striking figure in the long afterlife of the Romanov saga. For listeners interested in contested identities and historical mythmaking, her work offers a memorable and unusual perspective.