Los Romanov: El ADN al servicio de la historia

Conferencia de la Dra. Ana Gremo Roselló (Bióloga Forense)

Presentan Isabel Izquierdo (Directora del Museo Arqueológico Nacional) y D. José María Fernández Sousa-Faro ( Presidente Fundación PharmaMar)

Organiza: Museo Arqueológico Nacional y Fundación PharmaMar

The Romanovs: DNA at the Service of History

During the Russian Revolution in 1918, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and their children were killed, and although it was speculated that one of their daughters, Anastasia, may have survived, their bodies were never found. In 1992, skeletal remains were exhumed near the Ural Mountains that could belong to the imperial family. Anthropological, morphological, odontological, and archaeological tests were conducted, as well as DNA tests to compare with living relatives of the Romanov family. Although the DNA tests seemed to confirm that the skeletons belonged to the Romanov family, two bodies were missing from the mass grave, which generated controversy and doubts about the authenticity of the remains and the reliability of the tests.

In 2007, new skeletal remains were found and analyzed in three independent laboratories, which led to the confirmation that they belonged to the missing two bodies. Since then, further analyses, legal-historical and archival investigations have been carried out, and in 2020, the Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed that the bones belonged to the royal family. However, the Russian Orthodox Church has yet to issue a statement on the authenticity of the bones, and a commission and a committee of experts have been created to continue investigating. The controversy continues more than three decades after the first analyses.