Essen or von Essen is the surname of a Baltic German and Swedish noble family.

History

The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who was from Lääne län in Estonia. His son Alexander von Essen received Swedish nobility, but was not introduced in the Swedish House of Nobility. His descendants,

Reinhold Wilhelm von Essen Reinhold is a German male given name. This German name is originally from "Reinold", composed of two elements. The first is from ''ragin'', meaning "the (Germanic) Gods" and ''wald'' meaning "powerful". This name was popularised by the ancient Ge ...

(1669–1732) and

Hans Henrik von Essen Count Hans Henric von Essen (26 September 1755 – 28 June 1824) was a Swedish officer, courtier and statesman. Biography Hans Henric von Essen was born at Kavlås Castle in Tidaholm Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. He was a ...

(1674–1729), were elevated to Baron in 1717 and 1719. Hans Henrik von Essen was later elevated to comital rank. Another was

Magnus Gustav von Essen Magnus Gustav Essen family, von Essen (russian: Иван Николаевич Эссен; Ivan Nikolaevich Essen; ) was a Baltic German lieutenant general and military governor of Riga at the start of the French invasion of Russia, Patriotic War ...

(1759–1813), a Russian lieutenant general and military governor of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. Nikolai von Essen (1860-1915), Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, hailed from the Livonian branch of the family, but not Count

Peter Essen Count Peter Essen (russian: Пётр Кири́ллович Э́ссен, Pyotr Kirillovich Essen; 11 August 1772 – 23 September 1844) was a Baltic German General of the Infantry in 1819 and a count (1833). He belongs to the bourgeois Es ...

who was born a

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

Notable family members

(1759–1813), Russian general * Hans Henric von Essen (1775–1824), Swedish statesman * Carl Gustaf von Essen (1815—1895), Finnish Pietistic priest *

Fredrik von Essen Baron Fredrik von Essen (30 July 1831 – 3 October 1921) was a Swedish politician, '' friherre'', Marshal of the Realm and lord of Kavlås Castle. Von Essen was member of the House of knights and nobility in the Riksdag of the Estates 1862 ...

(1831–1921), Swedish baron, Marshal of the Realm, and Minister of Finance''Fredrik von Essen'' (Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon)
/ref> * Siri von Essen (1850–1912), Finnish-Swedish actress *

Nikolai Ottovich von Essen Nikolai Ottovich von Essen (russian: Никола́й О́ттович Э́ссен, tr. ; – ) was a Russian naval commander and admiral descended from the Baltic German noble Essen family. For more than two centuries, his ancestors had se ...

(1860–1915), Russian admiral * Thomas Von Essen (b. 1945), American civilian administrator, New York City Fire Commissioner * Max von Essen (b. 1974), American actor and singer File:Essen Ivan N.jpg, Magnus Gustav von Essen File:HansHenrikEssen.jpg, Hans Henric von Essen File:Swedish Reichsmarschall Fredrik von Essen.jpg, Fredrik von Essen File:Siri von Essen 1880.jpg, Siri von Essen

References

Sources

This article is fully or partially based on material from

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...

, 1904–1926. Swedish noble families Finnish noble families Russian noble families Baltic-German people Essen family {{Germany-noble-stub