Is it true that Alexey Kosygin is the son of Nicholas II?

There is a widespread theory on the Internet that the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was in fact the heir to the imperial throne, who was able to avoid death in 1918. We have verified the veracity of this statement.

Authors of numerous blog posts, news notes And videos tell their readers and viewers that the son of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Tsarevich Alexei, was not shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918. He continued to live in Soviet Russia and even made a dizzying career under the name of Alexei Kosygin, heading the Council of Ministers of the USSR from 1964 to 1980.

This theory was first put forward in an article by a certain Sergei Zhelenkov, “The Royal Family: Real Life after an Imaginary Execution,” published in the President newspaper on February 23, 2015. As arguments in favor of the identity of the Soviet Prime Minister and Tsarevich Alexei, the author points out, in particular, the coincidence of first and patronymic (Alexey Nikolaevich), year of birth (1904), and a certain similarity in photographs. Also, supporters of this version mention gaps in Kosygin’s biography regarding his childhood (about him, according to memories the Soviet official did not like to remember his acquaintances), as well as his rapid career rise (became People's Commissar of Light Industry at the age of 34). Also, without citing sources, the article claims that Stalin in private conversations called Kosygin a prince and that the British Queen Elizabeth II allegedly showed great favor to the head of the Council of Ministers of the USSR during a personal meeting.

How verifiable is this version? First of all, contrary to skeptics, there is documentary evidence confirming the official version of Kosygin’s origin. In the metric book of the St. Petersburg church in the name of St. Sampson the Host for 1904, stored in the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (Fund 19. Petrograd Spiritual Consistory. Inventory 127. Case 1556. L. 1, 88 vol. - 89) recording about the birth on February 21 (according to the Julian calendar) and the baptism on March 7 of Alexei, the son of Nikolai Ilyich Kosygin, a peasant of the village of Amerova, Parfentievsky volost, Kolomna district, Moscow province, and his legal wife Matrona Alexandrovna. On the Internet published and some childhood and youth photos of Alexei Kosygin himself and his relatives.

Kosygin’s career was not unique by the standards of the USSR in the 1930s, when, due to mass terror, there was a large turnover of personnel and fairly young people were appointed to leadership positions. Thus, another future member of the Politburo of the Brezhnev era, Dmitry Ustinov, was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments at the age of 33.

It is important that, according to numerous memoirs, Tsarevich Alexei suffered from a rare serious disease - hemophilia, which is congenital and still remains incurable. Regarding Kosygin, there is not a single evidence that he has this illness. On the contrary, it is known that until his old age he led an active lifestyle and went in for sports, which is not compatible with hemophilia. His health is serious worsened only after he almost drowned while kayaking in 1976 (at the age of 72) and suffered clinical death.

On the other hand, the fate of Emperor Nicholas and his relatives, including his son Alexei, today can be considered almost reliably known. A comprehensive study of the remains discovered in 1991 and 2007 near Yekaterinburg, along the road to the village of Koptyaki, confirmed they belong to the royal family. In particular, the fully deciphered DNA of the remains was compared with the genetic material of the living descendants of the Romanovs at that time (in particular, Prince Philip, the husband of Elizabeth II). In addition, when analyzing DNA in the alleged remains of Alexei Romanov, a mutation of the X chromosome was identified, which became the cause of hemophilia type B (the results of the study are presented, in particular, in article in the journal Science). No real arguments have yet been presented against the authenticity of the Yekaterinburg remains, and the lack of their recognition by the Russian Orthodox Church explained primarily for ideological reasons.

The author of the article that formed the basis of the conspiracy theory deserves special attention. “Verified” could not find in open sources information about Sergei Zhelenkov’s history education, publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, work experience in reputable research institutes, or participation in major academic conferences. But on the website of the President newspaper he posted several dozen texts, in which, in particular, called USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev is the nephew of Kosygin (and, accordingly, the great-nephew of Nicholas II), accused in plans for the collapse of Russia the Jews and predictedthat in 2017 the President of Ukraine will be the ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili (with this the Rothschilds will allegedly begin a new world revolution). Zhelenkov does not provide any references to sources or evidence. The publicist also supports the conspiracy theory that the US Federal Reserve was created thanks to the Russian gold reserves (“Verified” has already published parsing about why this is not so).

Cover photo: collage Yoichi Okamoto / Boasson and Eggler via Wikimedia Commons

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. A. Krechetnikov. How Kosygin reformed social economics
2. K. Luchenko. Who ordered the murder of Nicholas II and his family? Is it true that anyone actually survived? Shameful questions about the execution of the Romanovs