[Jevgenij Botkin--personal physician of the tzar--an obituary 80 years after his death].

On 17 July 1998 the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family were buried, a historic event extensively covered by the media. The remains of four servants liquidated with the royal family were buried with them. Among the servants was the Tsar's personal physician, Jevgenij Botkin. Not often does a doctor follow his patients not only onto death, but into death--the Hippocratic oath leading to liquidation, so to speak. Who was Dr. Botkin? Did he know what to expect, or was he just a chance victim?