The House of Sidamoni ( ka, სიდამონი) was a noble family (
tavadi
''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia (country), Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually trans ...
) in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
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, their principal line known as Aragvis Eristavi (არაგვის ერისთავი) by virtue of being
eristavi
''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine ''strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, i ...
(“
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
s”) of
Aragvi
The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinval ...
from 1578 to 1743. They were also known as Sidamonidze (სიდამონიძე), Sidamonishvili (სიდამონიშვილი), and Sidamon-Eristavi (სიდამონ-ერისთავი). The family produced several important figures in Georgian politics, culture, and science.
The family claimed descent from the medieval kings of
Alania
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Iranian Alans (proto-Ossetians) that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and modern North Ossetia–Alania, from its independence from th ...
. They originally lived in the village of Vanati on the
Little Liakhvi River
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
and, through the loyal service rendered to the Georgian kings of
Kartli
Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...
, rose in the ranks of nobility (
aznauri ''Aznauri'' ( ka, აზნაური, ; pl. ''aznaurni'', აზნაურნი, or ''aznaurebi'', აზნაურები) was a class of Georgian nobility.
The word derives from Middle Persian ''āznāvar'', which, in turn, corresponds ...
) in the mid-16th century. In the 1578s, they secured the help of the Dukes of
Ksani
The Ksani (, , ''Ĉysandon'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (''Mtkvari''). It is long, and has a drainage basin of . and took control of the
Aragvi
The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinval ...
valley, being recognized as the eristavi (“duke”) of Aragvi by the crown in 1578.
The Eristavi of Aragvi pursued an aggressive, expansionist policy which resulted in important territorial acquisitions at the expense of other noble houses of Georgia. They were considered among the six "undivided" houses of the Kingdom of Kartli, which outranked those that had succumbed to the weakening division of their dynastic
allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod (Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodium ...
s. Their loyalty to the crown was not permanent. In 1743, King
Teimuraz II dispossessed the Sidamoni family of their duchy and his successor
Erekle II
Heraclius II ( ka, ერეკლე II), also known as Erekle II and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი ) (7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 C. ToumanoffHitchins, KeithHeraclius II. ''Encyclopædia Iranica Online edit ...
forced them into retirement to
Kakheti
Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...
where they were granted a smaller estate and confirmed as Princes Sidamonishvili.
After the
Russian annexation of Georgia
The country of Georgia became part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Throughout the early modern period, the Muslim Ottoman and Persian empires had fought over various fragmented Georgian kingdoms and principalities; by the 18th centu ...
in 1801, the Sidamonishvili attempted to restore their erstwhile titles and patrimonial estates in the Aragvi valley, but to no avail. Under the Russian rule, the three Sidamoni lines were received among
princely nobility of the empire: two as Princes Eristov-Aragvsky (; 1828) and one as Princes Sidamon-Eristov (Сидамон-Эристов; 1826).
Toumanoff, Cyril
Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...
(1967). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 271. Georgetown University Press
Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political sc ...
.
After the Soviet invasion the family was forced to leave
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, as they were likely to be placed in Siberian
Gulags
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
had they stayed.
See also
*
Andrew Eristoff
Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff (born February 20, 1963) is an American Republican Party lawyer, politician and government official from New York City who served as New Jersey State Treasurer under Governor Chris Christie from January 2010 until his ...
*
Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff (June 28, 1930 – December 26, 2011) was an American born Georgian aristocrat and the New York City highway commissioner during the administrations of John V. Lindsay.
Early life
Constantine was born in New York City ...
*
Simon Sidamon-Eristoff Prince Simon Sidamon-Eristavi ( ka, სიმონ სიდამონ-ერისთავი) (February 6, 1891 – September 14, 1964) was a Georgian aristocrat and soldier, who began his career in the Imperial Russian army and became one of ...
*
Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi
Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi ( ka, ვალერიან სიდამონ-ერისთავი; 2 July 1889 – 9 June 1943) was a Georgian Modernist artist and set designer.
Born in the town of Kvareli into a noble family, Valerian Sidam ...
*
Victor Eristavi
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
*
Ephraim II of Georgia
Ephraim II ( ka, ეფრემ II, ''Eprem'') (October 19, 1896 – April 7, 1972) was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1960 until his death. His full title was ''His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholic ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidamoni, House Of
Sidamoni
Georgian-language surnames