In the midst of all this suffering, a report was spread that Dimitri, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, was not dead, and that, therefore, Boris was a usurper. This episode of the false Dimitri is one of the most curious in Russian history.
Although it would seem impossible at first glance for an entire nation to give credence to such a story, yet it must be remembered that other pretensions of a similar nature have been known in the history of the world, and even in modern times the so-called "lost Dauphin" of France has received a great deal of notice from historians.
If Eleazer Williams, a half breed Canadian Indian, could pose through the early part of the nineteenth century as a son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who had escaped the "Reign of Terror" of the French Revolution, how can we wonder that the ignorant masses of Russia at the beginning of the seventeenth century should have given ear to an imposter?
The rise and fall of this false Dimitri hold a large place in Russian history of that time. It seems that his real name was Gregory Otrepief, and that he was a young monk who could read and write. These accomplishments, rare in his day, had given him a place in the service of a Polish prince who passed much time at the court of the czar. It is related that this prince one day gave his secretary a box on the ear, and that the young man burst into tears, exclaiming, "If you knew who I am, you would not strike me." He then told a very plausible story, declaring that his real name was Dimitri, and that he was the true heir to the Russian throne.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
