Pierre Gilliard

Born in Fiez, Switzerland, in 1879, Pierre Gilliard became a language tutor at the Russian imperial court and eventually taught the children of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. He is especially remembered for his close relationship with Tsarevich Alexei and for the years he spent alongside the Romanov family during one of the most dramatic periods in Russian history.

Gilliard remained with the family deep into the revolutionary period, an experience that later gave his writing unusual emotional weight and historical value. His memoir Thirteen Years at the Russian Court is still widely read for its intimate picture of the Romanovs as a family rather than simply as historical figures.

After leaving Russia, he lived in Switzerland and continued to be associated with the history of the imperial family he had served so closely. He died in 1962, leaving behind a record that helps readers see the human side of a world that was about to disappear.