The House of Biron was a

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

family in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

, a German noble family in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and was the ruling family of the

Duchy of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

History

Initially von Bühren, the family came from

Büren, Westphalia Büren is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Büren is situated at the confluence of the rivers Alme and Afte, approx. 20 km south-west of Paderborn and approx. 30 km south-east ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

and were part of the retinue of Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland. The family rose to prominence when the last member of the

House of Kettler Ketteler (also Kettler) is the name of a Baltic German noble family that originated in Westphalia. Origin Goswin Ketteler zu Assen (c. 1400 – c. 1471) divided the property with his younger brother Röttger around 1440. He built a new house on ...

was left without any male heirs. As a result,

Ernst Johann von Biron Ernst Johann von Biron (german: Ernst Johann von Biron; russian: link=no, Эрнст Иоганн Бирон; (german: link=no, Bühren); ) was a Duke of Courland and Semigallia (1737–1740 and 1763–1769) and briefly regent of the Russian E ...

, a lover of Empress

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

, succeeded

Ferdinand Kettler Ferdinand Kettler (November 1, 1655 - May 4, 1737) was the Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1730 to 1737. He was married to Johanna Magdalene of Saxe-Weissenfels in 1730. Early life Ferdinand Kettler was the son of Jacob Kettler and Louise ...

Duke of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

. After that, the family ruled the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for periods of time between 1737 and 1795. However, the dynasty was short lived and ended with

Peter von Biron Peter von Biron (15 February 1724 – 13 January 1800) was the last Duke of Courland and Semigallia, from 1769 to 1795. Life and reign Peter was born in Jelgava (german: Mitau) as the oldest son of Ernst Johann von Biron, future Duke of Courl ...

, who died in 1800 with no male heirs. Today, existing line of the family are descendants of Prince Karl Ernst, Duke Peter's younger brother.

Family tree

*''Karl von Bühren '' ∞ Catharina Hedwig von Raab genannt Thülen (1660-1740) ** ''

(1690–1772)'', duke of Courland and Semigallia, lord of Sycow ∞ Benigna Gottliebe von Trotta genannt Treyden (1703-1782) *** ''

(1724–1800)'', duke of Courland and Semigallia, duke of Sagan, lord of Sycow ∞

Princess Caroline of Waldeck and Pyrmont Caroline Louise of Waldeck and Pyrmont (14 August 1748 – 18 August 1782), was a Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont by birth and Duchess of Courland by marriage. Early life Karoline Luise was born as the eldest daughter of Karl August, Prince of W ...

(1748-1782) ∞ Princess Eudoxia Yusupova (1743-1780) ∞ Countess Dorothea Anna Charlotte von Medem (1761-1821) **** '' Wilhelmine von Biron (1781–1839)'', princess of Courland, duchess of Sagan ∞ Prince Louis de Rohan-Guémenée (1768-1836) ∞ Prince Vasily Troubetskoy (1776-1841) ∞ Count Karl Rudolf von der Schulenburg (1788-1856) **** '' Marie Luisa Paulina von Biron'' (1782–1845), princess of Courland, duchess of Sagan ∞

Friedrich Hermann Otto, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen ''Friedrich'' Hermann Otto of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (born 22 July 1776 in Namur; died 13 September 1838 at Schloss Lindich in Hechingen) was the penultimate Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. Friedrich was the only child of Hermann, Prince of Ho ...

(1776-1838) **** ''Johanna Katharina von Biron'' (1783–1876), princess of Courland ∞ Prince Francesco Pignatelli,

Duke of Acerenza Prince of Belmonte ( it, Principe di Belmonte; es, Príncipe de Belmonte) is a noble title created in 1619 by the Spanish crown for the Barons of Badolato and Belmonte. The name of the title is taken from the fortress town of Belmonte in Calabria ...

(1766-1840) ***'' Karl Ernst von Biron (1728–1801)'', prince of Courland ∞ Apollonia Lodzia-Poninska (1760-1800) ****''Gustav Kalixt von Biron (1780–1821)'' ∞ Countess Franziska von

Maltzahn The House of Maltzahn or Maltzan is the name of an ancient German noble family of the counts and barons von Maltza(h)n which originated from Mecklenburg, Germany, whose members occupied many important positions in the Duchy of Mecklenburg and in ...

(1790-1849) *****''Karl Prinz Biron von Curland (1811–1848)'' ∞ Countess Agnes zur

Lippe-Biesterfeld The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank). The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended the throne of the Princ ...

(1810-1884) *****''Kalixt von Biron (1817–1882)'' ∞ Princess Elena

Meshchersky Meshchersky (Russian: Мещерский) is a princely family whose title was recognized by the Russian Empire. Origin The family descends from the medieval independent rulers of the Meshchera tribe.Ruvigny, Marquis of (1914) ''The Titled Nobi ...

(1820-1905) ******''Gustav von Biron (1859–1941)'' ∞ Princess Adele zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (1866-1890) ∞ Francoise Levisse de Montigny de Jaucourt (1874-1957) *******''Karl von Biron (1907–1982)'' ∞ '' Princess Herzeleide of Prussia (1918–1989)'' ******** Victoria Benigna von Biron (*1939) ∞ Baron Johann von Twickel (b. 1940) ********Ernst-Johann Biron, Prince of Courland (*1940), current head ∞ Countess Elisabeth of

Isenburg-Philippseich Isenburg-Philippseich was a County of southern Hesse, Germany. It was created in 1711 as a partition of Isenburg-Offenbach Isenburg-Offenbach was the name of a state of the Holy Roman Empire, based around Offenbach and Neu Isenburg (built by th ...

(b. 1941) ********Michael von Biron (*1944) ∞ Kristin von Oertzen (b. 1944) *********Veronika von Biron (*1970) ∞ Christoph Carl *********Alexander von Biron (*1972) ∞ Countess Michaela Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (b. 1979) **********Cosima von Biron (*2010) **********Emma von Biron (*2012) **********Louisa von Biron (*2015) *********Stefanie von Biron (*1975) ∞ Georg Güber *******''Friedrich Franz von Biron (1910–1997)'' ∞ Countess Maria-Irmgard von Ballestrem (1908-1993) ********Franz Kalixt von Biron (*1934) ∞ Baroness Gustava von

Brockdorff Brockdorff is a name of a Schleswig-Holsteiner ancient noble house that belonged to German and Danish nobility. History It first appeared in a document from 1167 where Eilwardus de Bruchthorp was mentioned by Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony. Mem ...

(b. 1939) *********Marcus von Biron (*1967) *********Kalixta (*1975) ∞ Christian Georg Fuchs ********Gustav von Biron (*1941) ∞ Adelheid Greite (b. 1943) *********Alexandra (*1970) *********Franziska (*1975)

References

External links

House of Biron Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish noble families Lithuanian nobility Finnish noble families {{Russia-stub