The House of Romanov (Russian: Рома́нов, IPA: [rɐˈmanəf]) was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917. The later history of the Imperial House is sometimes referred to informally as the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.

The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, who was himself a member of a cadet branch of the Oldenburgs, married into the Romanov family early in the 18th century; all Romanov Tsars from the middle of that century to the revolution of 1917 were descended from that marriage. Though officially known as the House of Romanov, these descendants of the Romanov and Oldenburg Houses are sometimes referred to as Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.^{[citation needed]}

The Romanovs share their origin with two dozen other Russian noble families. Their earliest common ancestor is one Andrei Kobyla, attested as a boyar in the service of Semyon I of Moscow. Later generations assigned to Kobyla the most illustrious pedigrees. An 18th century genealogy book claimed that he was the son of the Prussian prince Glanda Kambila, who came to Russia in the second half of the 13th century, fleeing the invading Germans. Indeed, one of the leaders of the Old Prussian rebellion of 1260-1274 against the Teutonic order was named Glande.

Esfir Ilyichna Shub (Russian: Эсфи́рь Ильи́нична Шуб; 16 March 1894, Surazh, Russian Empire – 21 September 1959, Moscow, Soviet Union), also referred as Esther Shub, was a pioneering Soviet filmmaker.

Born in Surazh, Chernigov Governorate, part of Left-bank Ukraine within the Russian Empire, Shub began her career in film as a re-editor for Goskino; she edited several Western films according to Goskino standards, including Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse.

In the early 1920s, Shub began a study of Russian pre-revolutionary history. Her study resulted in the documentary film considered to be her masterpiece, The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927), the first in a trilogy that continued with The Great Road (1927) and closed with Lev Tolstoy and the Russia of Nicolai II (1928). In 1932, Shub completed the first Soviet documentary film to employ sound. She was a pioneer in the genre of compilation film, in the use of historical footage, and in recreating historical scenes in order to shoot new footage.