Klementy Nagorny

Klementy Nagorny (Klementy Grigorievich Nagorny) was a sailor and then an attendant of Tsarevich Alexei; he followed the dethroned tsar into exile of his own will and was shot at Yekaterinburg in 1918, at the age of 31. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia counted him in 1981 among the servants of the imperial family killed by the Soviet regime.

He was born on 25 January (6 February) 1887 in the village of Pustovarovka, in the Kiev province, into a Ukrainian peasant family. He was not married. He was drafted into the Baltic fleet in 1908, entered the Guards Crew and sailed on the imperial yachts Polar Star and Standart. He was tall, strong and cheerful. On board the yacht he looked after Tsarevich Alexei, who became deeply attached to him. From 1913 he entered the service of the court as assistant to the tsarevich's attendant, and when the boy was ill he carried him in his arms.

In August 1917 he chose to stay with the tsar's family and go with it into exile. He reached Yekaterinburg in May 1918, and on 24 May he signed, like all servants admitted to the Ipatiev House, a statement that he would obey the commandant. Together with Ivan Sednev he spoke out against the guards who pressed the prisoners and stole the family's belongings, and on 15 (28) May 1918 both were taken out of the Ipatiev House and led to prison.

According to some sources at the beginning of June, according to others at the beginning of July 1918, they were taken outside the city to a deserted place and shot in the back "for betraying the cause of the revolution". It is said that on the way to the place of execution Nagorny stayed brave and encouraged the others. The bodies, found by the Whites, were buried with honour at the church of All Sorrows on 10 August 1918; the graves were destroyed in Soviet times. In October 2009 the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia rehabilitated him.