Czarevitch Alexei

Russian royalty, the son of Czar Nicholas, Czarina Alexandra and heir to the Russian throne. A hemophiliac, at six weeks after his birth, he began to bleed from his naval. The hemorrhage lasted for three days and further episodes of severe internal bleeding followed. The illness flared up periodically and took him close to death on more than one occasion. Though carefully watched by nurses, he was a exuberant boy and often bruised himself. Internal bleeding caused pressure on joints and nerves, resulting in excruciating, unceasing pain. His condition was alleviated by the monk Rasputin, who was first called upon in 1906. He entered the sickroom with an air of confidence and with great gentleness, gazed at Alexis and touched him on the forehead. The pain stopped. From then on, Rasputin's influence extended to the family and to the Russian empire. Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin had been sent by God. National tensions built further in 1916 and on 15 March 1917, the Czar abdicated. He and his family were put under house arrest by the provisional government, and the young Czaravitch and his entire family were brutally assassinated in the early hours of 17 July 1918 by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatyev House in Yekaterinburg. Alexei, aged 13 years and 11 months was shot at repeatedly by the assassins. The boy remained alive and the killers tried to stab him multiple times with bayonets. Unbeknownst to the killing squad, the Tsarevich's torso was protected by a shirt wrapped in precious gems that he wore beneath his tunic. Finally he was killed by two shots fired into his head. Link to Wikipedia biography