EDITORIAL
2 Obiter Dicta
Toronto Real Estate, Russian Imperialism,
and Economic Mobility
I
came across a story this weekend that struck
me on a personal level for several unexpected
reasons. The story began with a real estate listing, a semi-attached commercial space at 716
Gerrard Street East, listed for $539,000. I didn’t
know the building, nor was I familiar with the area,
but it was the subject of the story, the late resident of
the space, that drew my attention.
From the early 1920s until her death in 1960, the
upper floor of 716 Gerrard served as the residence
for Russian Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the
last surviving sibling of Tsar Nicholas II. Staring at
the picture of the building, I found it almost hard
to believe. Like something out of a movie, here in
Toronto had lived the member of a royal family, cast
into poverty by national uprising and revolution.
I immediately wondered if my grandmother knew
she was here. My great grandparents had left Russia
for Canada at the turn of the century, while the Tsar
was still in power, and settled in Toronto in the 1920s
as well. Did they know that a member of the family
that inspired their migration was now in the same
city? Did they know she had gone from a $453-million St. Petersburg palace to a dilapidated flat a few
neighbourhoods away? These questions fascinate me,
but I’ll never know the answer.
Olga Alexandrovna was born in 1882, younger
sister to Tsar Nicholas II, who had four children
whom Olga attended to during her teenage years.
Youngest daughter of Alexander III and Empress
Marie, the Grand Duchess lived in Russia until 1920.
After Nicholas II and his family were executed in
1918, Olga went into hiding, moving first to Denmark
until threatened by Stalin and accused of corroborating with Germany. Olga left Europe for the United
States and eventually settled in Cooksville, Ontario,
and then Toronto. In the city, she lived with Russian
friends who ran a beauty salon on the main floor of a
semi-attached apartment, at 716 Gerrard.
The highest ranking member of the Russian imperial family to come to North America, Olga lived out
her days in a small room on the second floor of the
building until she passed away from cancer at age 78.
Having once owned a palace complete with its own
church, greenhouse, and 70-person staff, she lived
modestly after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
During the height of the family’s reign, Nicholas II
had a personal wealth over a trillion dollars. When
Olga came to Canada, according to a family friend,
she gave possessions away with little regard, eventually settling on Gerard with only a couple trinkets and
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“Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in a
holiday humor, and like enough to consent.”
william shakespeare
ê The exterior of 716 Gerrard Street East, where Grand Duchess Olga of Russia lived in Toronto. Photo credit: Matthew
Sherwood for National Post.
a photo of her husband, Colonel Kulikovsky, in hand.
The apartment is now up for sale, likely to be
gutted and refitted for commercial use. I don’t know
if there’s one morale that jumps out of this story, but
it strikes me that Olga’s tale says a little bit about a lot
of things. I can’t imagine that as she strolled through
the hal lways of her palace she ever contemplated
winding up in a room on Gerrard Street, and yet
that’s where she ended up spending most of her life. I
also can’t imagine that my great grandparents would
have ever dreamed their daughter would one day
have more wealth than the Grand Duchess of Russia,
but as it turned out, Olga lived and died with none of
her family’s fortune.
Given the approaching end of 2014, Olga’s story
can lend important perspective to not take anything
for granted when life’s experiences are so often fleeting. Few of us will ever experience the stark contrast
between wealth and poverty that Olga went through,
but it’s still likely that many of our lives will change
significantly from this point. Looking towards the
New Year, I can’t help but wonder if any of our current “empires” are about to fall, and if my neighbourhood will one day house a former tyrant or oligarch.
It’s a strange musing, but one that has new-found
credence given the story of the Grand Duchess. Her
editorial board
editor-in-chief | Karolina Wisniewski
managing editor | Sam Michaels
layout editor | Heather Pringle
editorial staff
business managers | Alvin Qian,
Adam Cepler
communications manager | Angie Sheep
copy editor | Subban Jama
news editor | Mike Capitano
opinions editor | Carla Marti
arts & culture editor | Marie Park
sports editor | Evan Ivkovic
website editor | Asad Akhtar
history is truly as fascinating as the home she left
behind is ordinary. Olga’s story tells us something
about the uncertainty of the economy and the future,
and the vulnerabilities of our families and ourselves.
It speaks to the dangers of power, the risk of wealth,
and the inevitability of change. Lastly, I think this
story tells us something important about the line
between expectation and reality, and the many surprising ways in which it can be redrawn.
With reference to: http://news.nationalpost.
com/201 4/11/21/for-sale-the-final-residence-oftsar-nicholas-iis-last-surviving-sibling-a-dilapidated-semi-in-toronto/ u
staff writers
Kate Henley, Gleb Matushansky, Erin Garbett,
Hannah de Jong, Kenneth Cheak Kwan
Lam, Kendall Grant, Rob Hamilton, Esther
Mendelsohn, Parmbir Singh Gill
contributors
Sabreena Delhon, Nabila Khan, Liane
Langstaff, Ronald Neal, Taras Koulik, Dan
Adler, Michael Silver
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