Ivan Dragushin (Bulgarian: Иван Драгушин) was a Bulgarian nobleman, son of despot

Aldimir Aldimir ( bg, Алдимир) or EltimirWhile Aldimir is mentioned in Medieval Greek sources solely as Ἐλτιμηρῆς, ''Eltimiris'', his original name ''Aldimir'' has been established thanks to the discovery of his son Ivan Dragushin's epi ...

from the

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

Terter dynasty The House of Terter ( bg, Тертер), also Terterids or Terterovtsi (Тертеровци), was a Bulgarian noble and dynasty, royal house of Cumans, Cuman origin,István Vásáry (2005) ''Cumans and Tatars'', Cambridge University Press, p. 2 ...

. Ivanʻs mother was Marina Smilets, the daughter of tsar Smilets of Bulgaria, whilst Ivan's father was

, a younger brother of Tsar George I Terter. Aldimir was an influential local ruler as the despot of Kran. Marinaʻs sister was

Teodora of Bulgaria, Queen of Serbia Theodora of Bulgaria (Bulgarian and sr, Теодора) was a Bulgarian princess and Queen consort of Serbia, the first wife of Stefan Dečanski. Teodora was the second daughter of Tsar Smilets of Bulgaria and Smiltsena Palaiologina. Teodora is be ...

, the first wife of

Stefan Uroš III Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

Dečanski. Aldimir may have been murdered around 1305, as no activity of his is mentioned in later sources. His widow Marina and his son Ivan Dragushin managed to escape to

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

, where Marina's sister, Theodora, was married to the prince Stefan Dečanski. Having become a Serbian subject, Ivan Dragushin was installed by his first cousin King

Stephen Dušan Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

as a local ruler in the region of Macedonia. Donor's portraits of Marina and Ivan Dragushin exist in the Pološko Monastery near

Kavadarci Kavadarci ( mk, Кавадарци ) is a town in the Tikveš region of North Macedonia. In the heart of North Macedonia's wine country, it is home to the largest winery in Southeast Europe, named after the Tikveš plain. The town of Kavadarci i ...

, where Ivan Dragushin was buried before 1340. It is known Ivan and his wife Anna had a son, who is depicted with Marina in the church.

Sources

{{Reflist Medieval Bulgarian nobility Terter dynasty