What was Tatiana’s relationship with N Rodianov?
Hello there! Thank you for your question and I am sorry for the late reply!
Nikolai Nikolaevich Rodionov was Tatiana’s favourite officer on the Standart. The girls naturally had their favourite officers: Olga’s was Pavel Voronov, Maria's was Nikolai Demenkov, Anastasia’s was Georgii Taube. Some of these were obviously crushes, whereas some were just close friendships.
When Tatiana was suffering from typhoid, Alix sent notes to her to comfort her and give advice. In one of these notes she specificallly mentions she saw Rodionov. So judging by this he was definitely a family favourite and/or Alix knew that would cheer up dear Tatiana.
Here are some photos of them together:
And this super cute one of them sharing a coat to keep cosy!
From Tatiana’s diary and letters - Rodionov is almost always referred to as 'N.N.' (Nikolai Nikolaevich):
'29 May [Old Style, her birthday] Thursday [1914]. ...I played 2 singles sets [of Tennis] with N.N., both of which he won... I played 3 sets with N.N. against Papa and Olga, won two lost one. N.P. arrived. We had tea there. After that I had a rest and wrote telegrams... I sat between N.N. and N.P. It was very good. After that, there was a cinematograph in the dining room. I sat with N.N. on the divan. We went back home at 12. It was so awfully good. They drank my health three times at the table. So sweet and cosy. To be with such dear friends.' - Full diary entry here, translated by the wonderful Helen Azar
'10 January. [1916]. ...One of these days N.N. Rodionov is supposed to arrive, and I am very happy. We have not seen him for almost a year...'
Letter from Tatiana to Countess Zinaïda Tolstaya:
'1 March, 1918 Tobolsk. ...Write to me again. I love receiving your letters. Do you know where N.N. is at the moment? I know that his friend was killed in Simferopol and he was there too...'
She also wrote occasionally in her diary about speaking with him on the telephone, something that OTMA did with their favourite officers, mostly in the evening.
She didn’t write about him quite as passionately or often as Olga did about Pavel Voronov or AKSHV, so I don’t know whether you would consider it to be a ‘crush’, or just a particular favourite :) She sometimes called him 'dear N.N.', which could just be Russian endearment expressed in many of their letters and diaries, or something more romantic.
From the photos that exist of him, he seems to have been close to all the girls, posing with them affectionately, holding their hands, etc. They all write about him in their diaries fondly. Judging purely off photos, he seems to have been extra close with Tatiana and Anastasia. There are some super cute photos of him and Anastasia, I’ll attach them below! You’re pretty much guaranteed to find him in all their albums!
Rodionov survived the Revolution, despite staying loyal to the Imperial Family, which would have placed him in considerable danger. At some point he emigrated, and he passed away in 1962 in France, aged 76. He would have been 24 in 1910, and therefore his mid 20s during his time with the Romanovs.
Also, random fun fact, his hand writing was strikingly similar to Tatiana’s! The same very sloped, pointy text.
Hope this was helpful! To conclude, I don't know exactly whether Tatiana saw Rodionov as a favourite officer or more of a crush. She was more reserved than Olga, so her not writing about him like Olga did with her crushes is understandable when you consider her personality. But she clearly was very fond about him, and didn't forget him even in the last year of her life.
