The House of Mourouzis ( el, Μουρούζης) or Moruzi (russian: Мурузи, Muruzi) is the name of an old and distinguished noble family which was first mentioned in the

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...

, whose members later occupied many important positions within Ottoman Empire, Wallachia, Moldavia, Russian Empire and Romania.

History

Its origins have been lost, but the two prevalent theories are that they were either a local family originating in a village which has a related name or else one that arrived with the Venetians during the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

(since there are records of a Venetian family with a similar name a generation earlier). They became one of the leading families of Phanariotes. The family moved to present-day Romania (the

Danubian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...

) in the 17th century, became

Dragomans of the Porte The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte ( Ottoman Turkish: ; el, �έγαςδιερμηνέας της Υψηλής Πύλης), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (''tercümân-ı dîvân-ı hümâyûn''), or simply Grand or Chief Dragoman (''tercümân ...

and boyars, and gave Wallachia and Moldavia two ''

hospodars Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master". Etymology and Slavic usage In the Slavonic language, ''hospodar'' is usually applied to the master/owner of a house or other properties and also the head of a family. ...

'' – Princes

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...

and Alexander. Constantine's great grandson Demetrius fled to Russia after the outbreak of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

, where his progeny was permitted to use their Princely title in 1893 and later in 1905. Members of the family remained in Romania and

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

until the Soviet occupation post-World War II.

Notable members

* Constantine Mourouzis (1730 – 1 May 1787), Dragoman of the Fleet,

Grand Dragoman The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte ( Ottoman Turkish: ; el, �έγαςδιερμηνέας της Υψηλής Πύλης), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (''tercümân-ı dîvân-ı hümâyûn''), or simply Grand or Chief Dragoman (''tercümân ...

and Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia * Alexander Mourouzis (1750/1760 – 1816),

of the Ottoman Empire and Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia *Panagiotis Mourouzis, Dragoman of the Fleet and Dragoman of the Porte *Michael Mourouzis, (d. 1821) Dragoman of the Fleet *

Alexandru Constantin Moruzi Alexandru Constantin Moruzi (1805–1873), a Moldavian, later Romanian politician and member of the Mourousis family The House of Mourouzis ( el, Μουρούζης) or Moruzi (russian: Мурузи, Muruzi) is the name of an old and distin ...

(1815–1878), Romanian economist and politician *

Dumitru C. Moruzi Dumitru Constantin Moruzi (also known as Dimitrie Moruzi or Moruzzi; russian: Дмитрий Константинович Мурузи, ''Dmitry Konstantinovich Muruzi''; July 1 or 2, 1850 – October 9, 1914) was a Moldavian-born Imperial Russian ...

(1850–1914), Moldavian-born Imperial Russian and Romanian civil servant, folklorist and writer *

Maria Moruzi-Cuza Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

(d. 1921), wife of

Ion I. C. Brătianu Ion Ionel Constantin Brătianu (, also known as Ionel Brătianu; 20 August 1864 – 24 November 1927) was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on seve ...

, and mother of

Gheorghe I. Brătianu Gheorghe (George) I. Brătianu (January 28 1898 – April 23–27, 1953) was a Romanian politician and historian. A member of the Brătianu family and initially affiliated with the National Liberal Party, he broke away from the movement to ...

Former properties of the Princes Muruzi

File:Muruzi.jpg, Muruzi palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia

References

Iurie Colesnic, ''Reîntoarcerea pribeagului'' (on Dumitru C. Moruzi and his family)
. *Petre Out, ""Adevărul rămâne oricare ar fi soarta celor care l-au servit". Gh.I.Brătianu – un istoric printre politicieni", in ''Dosarele Istoriei'', 1/VI, 2001.

External links

{{Authority control Mourouzis family Greek noble families Romanian people of Greek descent Phanariotes Romanian boyar families

History

Notable members

Former properties of the Princes Muruzi

See also

References

External links