Pierre Gilliard

author

Pierre Gilliard

1879–1962

Best known for his years inside the Romanov household, he left a rare firsthand record of the last Russian imperial family’s private life and final captivity. His writing brings history close through the eyes of a teacher who witnessed extraordinary events at close range.

1 Audiobook

Thirteen years at the Russian court (a personal record of the last years and death of the Czar Nicholas II. and his family)

Thirteen years at the Russian court (a personal record of the last years and death of the Czar Nicholas II. and his family)

by Pierre Gilliard

About the author

Born in Switzerland in 1879, Pierre Gilliard was a teacher and writer who became the French-language tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II. He joined the imperial household in the early 1900s and remained with the family through years of upheaval, making him one of the most closely placed civilian witnesses to their daily life.

After the Russian Revolution, Gilliard published memoirs about his time with the Romanovs, including Thirteen Years at the Russian Court. His account is valued for its calm, observant tone and for the personal picture it gives of the emperor, empress, and their children during a period often told only in political terms.

He died in 1962. Today, he is remembered less as a public figure than as a careful observer whose books preserve an intimate view of one of the most tragic episodes in modern royal history.