Age: 35
Birthday: 8th March (O.S. 24th February) 1899, Moscow area, eldest of four siblings.
Family: Married since 7th June 1920 to Anna Nikolaevna,
Children: Nicholas, 15; Alexandra, 13; Maria 12; Alex, 9; Olga and Tatiana, 6.
Other relatives known to live near Moscow.
Occupation: Farmer and Forester;
Previous Occupations:
Imperial Russian Army Soldier: 1916/17; Highest rank, sergeant
Red Army soldier 1917/18; Highest rank, Platoon leader
Russian Siberian Army Soldier 1918-1921; Highest Rank, captain
Decorations: Order of St. George 4th Class, Cross of St. George 4th - 1st Classes, Ykaterinburg Medal, Moscow Liberation Medal, Siberian Front Medal, Civil War Medal, Great War Medal.
Title(s): Full Cavalier of St. George.
Biography:
Born to a poor family neat Moscow. What's known of Paul's early life is limited. He appears to have spent most of his time outside of school working a farm alongside a rather unimaginative father, who's name was also Paul. He nonetheless learned to read and write with some degree of skill and showed himself to be a brave, intelligent but hot headed character; who proved popular with his peers and gained a reputation of being fiercely protective of his siblings. He managed to mostly avoid trouble in his youth, but became disillusioned with his limited opportunities in life, possibly he was radicalised against the Tsar by his village school teacher. This seems unlikely though as he joined the Imperial Russian Army before he was conscripted; though his motivations for doing so are unclear.
During the war he gained a reputation for being a brave soldier, but also a smart one. Thus he found himself receiving both promotion and decoration, however his career was cut short by the revolutions of 1917 where, through circumstances unclear, he sided with the Bolsheviks and joined the Red Army. He lasted less than a year however before he defected to the Siberian Army led by Admiral Kolchak. He emerged from a forest near the city of Yekaterinburg driving a truck with a young woman and carrying the bodies of two red army soldiers. He claimed that he had been given orders to kill the woman and bury her in the forest, however refused and shot the two soldiers with him before driving for the nearby front line, slipping through a gap in the lines during the night. He also provided the first evidence to the Whites that the Tsar and his family had been murdered. He claimed to be a witness to the murders and to have handled the bodies, but claimed to be ignorant of their burial place and further interrogation elicited no information. He also failed to identify the woman he had rescued, only identifying her as "Anna Nikolayevna" who had been sentenced to death by the reds. She also has provided few details of her previous life save that she grew up near St. Petersburg and her family was recently murdered by the Bolsheviks.
He joined the White Siberian Army under Kolchak and quickly proved himself useful providing information on the state of the Red Army in the city that proved crucial in quickly defeating the Bolshevik garrison. Though he spent a great deal of time under suspicion his efforts eventually gained him the trust of most around him. Certainly his qualities as a soldier could not be denied and by the summer of 1920 he had risen though the ranks to become an officer, eventually reaching the rank of captain, and after receiving the final class of the Cross of St. George earned himself the title of Full Cavalier of St. George in recognition of his bravery.
At the end of the war he returned to Yekaterinburg and married Anna who had served as a nurse for the Siberian Army after her rescue. It appears they grew close to one another during the war despite what must have been a less than friendly introduction to one another. It would seem Paul's actions on the front lane gave him cause to visit her, frequently, for business as much as pleasure, though one likely did not exclude the other. They settled near the city they had once escaped and established a farming and forestry estate near the village of Koptyaki some nine miles from the city. They purchased their lands legally, though where the means to do so came from is unclear. At the time few were in a mood to ask questions given the questionable nature of their own finances.
In the years since Romanov has established himself as a successful and respectable member of his community. Making the most of the chaos and opportunity of Russia in the years after the civil war he and his family live well in a house built on their farm. They are well liked by their neighbours, however they often ask questions of Paul's murky doings with the Bolsheviks. Though rarely to his face. Partly because he has well repudiated any loyalty he may have had to the reds. Although the fact he employs many of said neighbours (who also happen to be former comrades/subordinates) may also have something to do with it.
Physical Description
Paul will normaly stand with his hands behind his back, or at least by his sides, and will lounge whenever he sits, except in the most serious situations, such as when he has visitors. This display of casualness comes from his experience as an army officer, when putting on a brave face for the men mattered for his own morale as much as it did for theirs.
Wife (Vital)
Towards Pavel Pavlovich Romanov: Paul Paulson Romanov.
Husband (Vital)
Towards Anna Nikolayevna Romanova
History
Formal introductions only after both parties have come very close to killing each other more than once in a night would not seem to be the most promising of starts to a relationship. Yet it seems that this unorthodox beginning worked well for this couple. Exact details are unclear but it seems that on the night her family was murdered Mrs Anna Romanova (nee Romanova) was, by accident, left alive and avoided being discovered until her body had been thrown onto a truck with the rest of her family and driven out to the woods to be cremated and buried. There discovered, instead of killing her, "Comrade Platoon Leader" Pavel Romanov instead killed the one of the two red army soldiers with him, a superior officer, and in turn had his life saved when Anna shot the other. Both then went to the front lines of Kolchak's siberian army to defect. Though they could hardly go back. It seems they formed quite a bond that night as both joined the Siberian Army, he as a soldier and later officer, and she as a nurse. They could often be found in one another's company when time and fortune allowed it. If being repeatedly wounded may be called a fortune, though if it meant spending time with the charming nurse corporal Romanova, neither seemed to mind.
They married shortly after the end of the war in June 1920, and settled down in Kopyatki, a village near Yekaterinburg, to make a living and start a family; though it seems they got to work on the family first, with their eldest child born in April 1921; and have been there ever since.
Nicknames & Petnames
Pavel, sometimes addresses his wife as "princess" or "duchess", while Anna in kind responds with "comrade" or "captain"; or "love"
Relationship Reasoning
Saving someone's life several times in one night can lead to them forming a high opinion of you. When the person in question is a kind, mischievous, beautiful young lady; what young man will not find himself attracted to her.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Both husband and wife dote on their children, that said they do not appear to spoil them, though they are certainly well fed as this officer can attest to.
Anna is also highly religious, a trait she says came from her father and it seems has successful inculcated this in her husband too. Although he remains cynical in many other areas.
Shared Secrets
It's a secret, though I'm sure you can guess it CJMPD 08/05/2022, back to studying now
Shared Acquaintances
Several, they are married afterall, the most prominent though are of course, Paul's employees in his various interests near home, most of whom they met and served with during the civil war. In the city itself Anna's friend (and former comrade in nursing) Ekaterina/Catherine/Cat (somebody pick one please) owns and runs a flowershop that Paul and Anna seem responsible for keeping in business.
Legal Status
Married
Superior (Trivial)
Towards Pavel Pavlovich Romanov: Paul Paulson Romanov.
Subordinate (Vital)
Towards Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky
History
Yakov Yurovsky was an officer and chekist in the red army during the Russian civil war, he lead the execution party that murdered the Tsar, his wife, their children, and servants.
One of the party was another young officer Paul Romanov, who disappeared the night of the killings along with two other men when the were sent out to find a suitable burial site for the bodies and never returned. Needless to say, the whole affair rather soured their relationship somewhat and their unwelcome reunion 18 years later is a somewhat fraught one.
Legal Status
Errm, it's complicated. But also, it's not; not really.
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