Anna Anderson is the most famous person to ever claim that they were Anastasia.  She was found in February of 1920 after trying to commit suicide by jumping off of a bridge.  When taken to a nearby hospital, she refused to give her name.  The people who worked there figured something was wrong with her and sent her to a mental institution.  She was very sick, had a disfigured jaw, and weighed less than 100 pounds.  Her roommate claimed that Anna was Tatiana Romanov.  Later, Anna confessed that she was not Tatiana, but Anastasia instead.

        Anna, who was missing most of her front teeth due to a smashed jaw, was only 5'2'' tall.  She had a bad memory and couldn't remember the past, how to tell time, and when holiday's occurred.  Her physician, Dr. Sergeii Rudnev, knew the real Anastasia before the Revolution.  He noticed that she had "Hallux vulgus" which is the same foot deformity that Anastasia had.  Her caretaker, who had also known Anastasia, began to compile a list of birthmarks that Anna Anderson and the Grand Duchess had.  She noticed many similarities between the two.  For example, they had identical moles, finger problems, and a scar on the forehead.  One of the most noticeable characteristics was Anna's deep blue eyes which great resembled the Romanovs.  Anastasia's aunt heard of Anna and sent Monsieur Pierre Gillard and his wife, who had been Anastasia's nursemaid, to go visit Anna.
        When they came Anna was barely conscious, hardly able to speak.  With this, they left knowing that it would be almost impossible to talk to her under these conditions.  Then, a few weeks later, Anastasia's aunt visited Anna.  They all agreed that she looked like Tatiana.  When Anna saw "her" aunt, Olga, she called her Shura and put perfume in her hands.  As it turns out, Shura was a nickname that Anastasia had given to her nurse and she would go through the same ritual with her.  Shura announced that it was indeed Anastasia's body and her aunt commented that Anna had hair very much like Anastasia's hair.  Soon, they began to question Anna's memory of the past.  Anna said that she remembered a spiral staircase, having two parrots, and a room in the winter palace.  Olga was impressed by her memory.  They continued to visit her in the following weeks and months.
        However, Olga announced publicly that Anna Anderson was not the real Anastasia.  Gillard wrote a book called "LaFausse Amastasie" in which he pointed out flaws in Anna's memory.  Many other people including Gleb Botkin, the son of the doctor who was killed with the Romanovs, Princess Xenia Leeds, and Duke Andreii Romanov.  Anna eventually went to court to try and prove her relation to the Romanov family.  The trial was one of the longest in Russian history and ended with a verdict that didn't favor either side.  Anna died in 1984 at the age of 82.  She put the name Anastasia on her tombstone.
 
 

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