Tsarevich Dmitry

Tsarevich Dmitry was the only child and only son of Ivan the Terribleand Maria Nagaya. He was born in Moscow on 19/29 October 1582, shortly after his father murdered his elder half-brother Tsarevich Ivan.

In 1584, after the death of Ivan the Terrible and the accession of his other son as Tsar Feodor I, Dmitry and all his mother’s relatives were exiled to the small town of Uglich, where he died in mysterious circumstances on 15 May 1591.

Dmitry was the next in line to the Russian throne after the sickly Feodor, who did not have any issue. According to the official version, the young prince fell on a knife during an epileptic fit.

The many contradictions in the investigation contributed to the legend that Dmitry was murdered at the command of Boris Godunov, who then ascended the throne himself. He was canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1606.

After his death, several pretenders appeared and claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry. The most successful was False Dmitry I, who married Maryna Mniszech and seized the throne with the help of a Polish army in 1605.