The Alopaeus family (sometimes

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as Alopeus) is the name of Baltic-German noble family of Eastern Finnish descent, originating from

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

History

Members of the family played an important political and ecclesiastical role in the history of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Some of them have fennicized the name to Kettunen or Tuomas-Kettunen. They were ennobled in 1772 with the name Nordensvan, as part of the

Swedish nobility The Swedish nobility (, or , ) has historically been a legally or socially privileged Social class, class in Sweden, and part of the so-called ''frälse'' (a derivation from Old Swedish meaning ''free neck''). The archaic term for nobility, ''fr ...

and in 1782 as part of the nobility of the

Duchy of Courland The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominal vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingd ...

. Later, the family was awarded with the title of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

and

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. Most notable members of the family served the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

as diplomats, which enabled them to get incorporated into the

Russian nobility The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

Notable members

Johan Alopaeus Johan may refer to: * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (1921 film), a Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (2005 film), a Dutch romantic comedy film * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Joh ...

(1731–1811),

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

in 1772 with the name Nordensvan * Baron Maximilian von Alopeus (1748–1822), Russian diplomat * Count Frans David Alopaeus (1769–1831), his brother, also a diplomat * Count Fredrik Alopaeus (1810–1862), Finnish general in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, younger son of David * Maunu Jaakko Alopaeus,

Bishop of Porvoo The Diocese of Tampere (, ) is the second-oldest and largest diocese in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It was originally founded in 1554 as the Diocese of Viipuri (Viborg), but moved to Porvoo in 1723, becoming the Diocese of Porvoo ...

1809–1818{{Cite web , url=http://matrikkeli.helsinki.fi/ylioppilasmatrikkeli/henkilo.php?id=8287 , title=Magnus Jakob Alopaeus , access-date=2007-06-05 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609190710/http://matrikkeli.helsinki.fi/ylioppilasmatrikkeli/henkilo.php?id=8287 , archive-date=2007-06-09 , url-status=dead *

Carl Henrik Alopaeus Carl Henrik Alopaeus (5 April 1825 – 10 March 1892) was a Finnish Lutheran bishop and educator, known as the "apostle to the Deaf" due to his work in deaf education. Upbringing and religious work Alopaeus was born in Juva, Finland, in 1825 ...

, Bishop of Porvoo 1885–1892 * Erik Alopaeus, first Finnish

Parliamentary Ombudsman Parliamentary Ombudsman (, , , , ) is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (where the term ''justice ombudsman'' – or JO – is also used). In each case, the terms refer both to the of ...

in 1920 * Marianne Alopaeus (born 1918), Finnish author

References

Finnish noble families Finnish families Families of Finnish ancestry Swedish noble families Latin-language surnames

History

Notable members

See also

References