The House of Gagarin (russian: Гага́рин) is the name of a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

princely family descending from sovereign rulers of

Starodub-on-the-Klyazma Starodub-on-the-Klyazma ( rus, Староду́б-на-Кля́зьме, p=stərɐˈdub nə ˈklʲæzʲmʲɪ) was a prominent urban centre of Russian Opolye from the 12th until the 14th century. Like so many towns in the vicinity, it was named ...

Origins

The descendant of the Great Prince

Vladimir Svyatoslavich Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

, the Christianizer of Russia, Prince Ivan Vsevolodovich, received from his brother, the Great Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the appanage of Starodub, and this originated the Princes of Starodub. The great-great-grandson of this Prince Ivan, Prince Ivan Fedorovich, called Lapa-Golibesovskoy, had a son, Prince Mikhail, and he had three sons: Princes Vasilii, Yuri, and Ivan Gagara, whose descendants, the Princes Gagarin, served the Russian Throne as

Boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were sec ...

and in other distinguished positions. The history of the Russian Empire shows that many of the Princes Gagarin, both in ancient times as well as in more recent times, were granted fiefdoms for their service to the fatherland, and they were rewarded with several Orders and other tokens of the Monarch's favor.

Notable figures

Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Gagarin

Prince (''

Knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

'') Nikolai Sergeevich Gagarin (князь Николай Сергеевич Гагарин) (July 12, 1784 — July 25, 1842) Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Prince Gagarin was appointed to the highest command of the 1st infantry during a drawing-up of the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

military force (July 1812). He took part in the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon ...

, the largest and bloodiest single-day battle of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, involving more than a quarter of a million soldiers. Prince Gagarin also owned several businesses throughout Russia and Europe. In 1819, Prince Gagarin married Maria Alexeeva

Bobrinsky The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian nobility, Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov. Th ...

(Bobrinskaya), daughter of

Count Bobrinsky The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov. The first Count Bob ...

, granddaughter of

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

and Prince Gregory Orlov. On October 16, 1833, Prince Gagarin was appointed to the post of vice-president of the His Majesty's Cabinet under

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Nicholas I and Chairman

Viktor Kochubey Prince Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey (); ( – ) was a Russian statesman and close aide of Alexander I of Russia. Of Ukrainians, Ukrainian origin, he was a great-grandson of Vasily Kochubey. He took part in the Privy Committee that outlined Governmen ...

. In December 1837, he was appointed a member of the commission for the restoration of the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...

after a fire. During service as vice-president, he was the recipient of several distinctions: the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

1st class (1834), the

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

1st class (1835), the

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

2nd class (1839) and the Order of the White Eagle (1841). Prince Gagarin died a violent death by the hand of a forest warden with a fatal shot in the neck. Contrary to what is explained, Prince Gagarin was not his employer; the poor man just chose Prince Gagarin randomly. Prince Gagarin was killed in Saint Petersburg. Despite medical aid, the prince died in minutes. Rejnman explained that he killed Gagarin because he had been exposed to oppression and had lost his rank. However, according to his contemporaries' testimonies, Prince Gagarin had been a humane employer. Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Gagarin's descendants were forced into exile during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

and lived in France until recently. Most descendants now live in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Prince Grigory Grigorevich Gagarin

Prince Grigory Grigorevich Gagarin (Григорий Григорьевич) was born on April 29, 1810. He was the vice-president of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

, a renowned artist, a

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and a diplomat. He was the son of Prince Grigory Ivanovich Gagarin. Grigory Grigorevich spent much of his time traveling and always carried a sketchbook, drawing or

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

ing impressions from most of his stops. A variety of the figures which have remained include studies, sketches, and other types - testifying to the breadth of his artistic talent. Descendants of Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin still live in Russia.

External links

The Princely House of Gagarin
History & Genealogy *

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagarin Family Russian noble families