The abbreviation "OTMA" was used by the four daughters of Czar Nicholas II - Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. If not for their tragically early deaths, they would have been able to show society what talented and wonderful young ladies they were.
Olga and Tatiana were inseparable. They were known as "The Big Pair". Like them, Maria and Anastasia were also inseparable, and known as "The Little Pair."
All five of the Romanov children slept on simple camp beds and took cold baths. It wasn't until they were teenagers that the girls got to take warm baths at night. Nicholas brought them up close to the way that his father, Czar Alexander III, brought Nicholas and his siblings up.
The girls even worked along with the maids, making up their own beds and cleaning their own rooms. They sometimes went to the servants' quarters and played with the maids' children.
Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna Romanov was the oldest daughter of the Czar. She was most like her father. She was very shy and quiet, and impressed people with her kindness.
Olga liked to read fiction and poetry, and would sometimes borrow books from her mother's tables before the Czarina had read them. When Alexandra found her reading a book that was missing from the table, Olga would say, "You must wait, Mama, until I find out whether this book is a proper one for you to read."
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nicolaievna Romanov was eighteen months younger than Olga. Tatiana was closest to her mother. She gave her mother much attention in public and in private.
Tatiana was the tallest, slenderest, and most elegant of all four of the Romanov girls. She was very energetic and organized. An officer of the Imperial Guard said, "You felt that she was the daughter of an Emperor." Tatiana also usually outdid Olga. She was much more outgoing, and she was even better at piano, although she didn't practice as much as Olga did.
Tatiana made most of the decisions among the children. They called her "the Governess". If something was needed, all five of the children would agree that "Tatiana must ask Papa to grant it."
Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaievna Romanov was the prettiest of the four girls, a Russian beauty. She had big, blue eyes which were known in the family as "Maria's saucers".
Maria was very happy and flirtatious. She liked to paint, but didn't apply herself. She loved to talk about marriage and children. Someone once said that if she hadn't been the daugter of the Czar, she would've made a wonderful wife.
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaevna Romanov was the youngest daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra. She was very tomboyish, mischevious, and loved to play jokes on people.
At sunset, when the saluting cannon on the Imperial yacht fired, she liked to run to a corner, widen her eyes, and stick her fingers in her ears, acting as if she were scared. She had a hilarious talent for mimicking peoples' voices and mannerisms.
Anastasia had a stubborn streak, also. She would climb trees and refuse to come down unless Nicholas directly told her to do so. She hardly ever cried. Once, she rolled a rock into a snowball and threw it at Tatiana, hitting her in the face. She fell on the ground, startled. Anastasia, scared, broke down and cried.
