Anna Anderson

Anna Anderson was born Franziska Schanzkowska in 1899 in Poland. When she was young she became a munitions worker until an explosion in the factory that she worked in.

In 1920, shortly after the explosion, she tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge in Berlin. She was institutionalized, but because she would not tell them her name they called her Miss Unknown. After two years at the institution she finally told people that she was Grand Duchess Anastasia, the last daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Many people who knew the real Anastasia came to see her, some calling her a fake, others saying that she had to be the real thing. After several years of this she left the institution and stayed with friends who supported her claim that she was Anastasia. For years she went from friends house to institution all the while claiming that she was Anastasia. During this time there was a trial going on to determine wither or not she was the real Anastasia. During the 30 year trial the brother and sisters of Tsarina Alexandra tried to get the judge to say that this woman could not be Anastasia because she died with the rest of her family. Anastasia's uncle even hired a detective and came up with information about Anna. He strongly believed that she was Franziska Schanzkowska and not his niece Anastasia.

A nurse at Dalldorf, Thea Malinovsky, claimed years after the patient's release from the asylum that the woman had told her she was another daughter of the Tsar, Anastasia, in the autumn of 1921. However, the patient herself could not recall the incident. Her biographers either ignore Malinovsky's claim, or weave it into their narrative.

In the 1960s Anna moved to the United States and continued to stay with friends. One time though when she could not take it anymore she checked into a hotel under the assumed name of Anna Anderson and the moniker stuck. Right before Anna's visa was to expire she married John "Jack" Manahan.

They lived together in Charlottesville Virginia until her death in 1983. Several years after her death a body part of hers turned up in the hospital in Charlottesville and scientist decided that it was time to find out wither or not Anna Andersonn was indeed Anastasia. They tested her DNA against the DNA of an Uncle of Anastasias as well as the DNA of Carl Moucher a grand nephew of Franziska Schanzkowska. The DNA test concluded that Anna Andersonn was indeed Franziska Schanzkowska and not Anastasia.