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Alexei Tammet-Romanov was the name assumed by Ernest Veermann (died June 26, 1977), an Estonian immigrant to Canada, when he claimed to be the last heir to the throne of Russia, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia. For many years prior to this, Veerman had been known as Heino Tammet, a name he first used when in the printing business. A few of his postcards are extant.
Veerman began to claim he was Alexei Nikolaevich when he was 68 years old. Letters to British royalty, claims that he had met Scandinavian royalty and other such incidents led to a visit from the RCMP, a medical examination and a gentle warning to cease and desist. His belief that he was once the young prince persisted more quietly, while his health gradually declined. Veermann died of a form of leukemia in 1977.
His claims are championed at present only by his third wife, Sandra, and by Vancouver journalist John Kendrick.
Unfortunately for the claim, the tsarevitch Alexei was a hemophiliac, and Heino Tammet was not. In an attempt to explain this away, Kendrick has maintained that the Tsarevitch's disease was misdiagnosed, and that Tammet had a disease that might conceivably cause similar symptoms. An article written by Kendrick, and published in the American Journal of Hematology, provided a full exposition of Kendrick's hypothesis, though without any disclosure of its relationship to the Tammet case. Subsequent genetic studies have determined that that the disease prevalent in the family was hemophilia B and that the remains generally believed to be those of Alexei are those of a person who suffered from hemophilia B.[1][2] They do not, however, establish conclusively that Alexei suffered from hemophilia B if it is not assumed that the remains analyzed are his.
Tammet's wife gave a tooth (or teeth) to scientists for DNA testing, but the tests were not done and the specimen has not been returned. No other suitable specimens have been submitted for testing.
Tammet, deaf in one ear, claimed that that was the result of a gunshot at close range fired by Yurovsky near the tsarevitch's ear. Tammet also claimed that he had an undescended testicle corresponding to the tsarevitch's undescended testicle.
In July, 2007, the remains of the Tsarevich Alexei and his missing sister were discovered in the Koptyaki Forest, in just such circumstances as Yakov Yurovsky described. This accounts for all the members of the Russian Imperial Family.
References
edit- ^ Michael Price (8 October 2009). "Case Closed: Famous Royals Suffered From Hemophilia". ScienceNOW Daily News. AAAS. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ Evgeny I. Rogaev; et al. (8 October 2009). "Genotype Analysis Identifies the Cause of the "Royal Disease"". Science. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- Russia's Imperial Blood: Was Rasputin Not the Healer of Legend?, American Journal of Hematology, Vol. 77, No. 1, September 2004. [1]
- Margarita Nelipa & Helen Azar, ““An Inheritance No One Desired”, The European Royal History Journal, Issue XLVII, Vol. 8.5, October 2005, pp. 23–29, continued in Issue XLVIII, Vol 8.6, December 2005, pp. 31–35; an analysis of the historical and scientific distortions perpetrated by those who advance Tammet's claim.
- a recent article on Heino Tammet's claims