The President I. N. Smirnov and other leaders of the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic Honor the Memory of the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna

On 28 May 2010, a panikhida was served in the local Office of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, for the most august mother of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Her Imperial Highness Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, who passed away during the night of 23-24 May 2010 in Madrid at the age of 96.

At the panikhida were present the president of the Transdnistria Moldovan Republic, Igor Smirnov, Vice-President Aleksandr Korolev, and members of the Cabinet of Ministers.

A Book of Condolences was set up in the Office of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House. In the course of the day, anyone who wanted could come and write down in it their condolences to the Head of the House of Romanoff, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna. The first entry in the Book was left by President I. N. Smirnov. The Book will be given to Her Imperial Highness at a later date.

President Smirnov wrote: “We citizens of Transdnistria, who understand the significance of the Imperial House in the establishment of the Russian State, have come to express our sorrow and grief on the death of Leonida Georgievna—the mother of Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna. I express my deepest condolences to the entire royal family, to all the Russian people, on this loss. May Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna rest in peace.”

The Office of the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House in Transdnistria was opened during Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna’s visit to the republic in 2009. The president remarked that the opening of this Office was a significant event for the citizens of Transdnistria:

“It is not for nothing that the Chancellery of the Imperial House has opened an Office here. The revolutionary changes in the structure of the world affect the lives of our people, touch the fate of every individual, regardless of their nationality. The Imperial House, by the way, also united people regardless of their nationality. We today attended a panikhida and we ask God to accept the soul of the departed and to reward her for her heroic life. Despite all her own troubles, what was most important to her was her concern for others. And the same is true of her daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, which elicits from all citizens of Transdnistria, and from me personally, sincere respect,” the president remarked.