The Essen family or von Essen is the name of a Baltic German noble family which later became part of the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

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 ...

History

The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who was from Lääne län in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. His son Alexander von Essen received

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 ...

, but was not introduced in the

Swedish House of Nobility The House of Nobility () in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility. Name The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights'', as the knigh ...

. His descendants, Reinhold Wilhelm von Essen (1669–1732) and Hans Henrik von Essen (1674–1729), were elevated to Baron in 1717 and 1719. Hans Henrik von Essen was later elevated to

comital 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: ...

rank. Another was

Magnus Gustav von Essen Magnus Gustav von Essen or Ivan Nikolayevich Essen (; ) was a Russian lieutenant general of Baltic German origin and the military governor of Riga at the start of the Patriotic War of 1812. Life Pre-1812 From the Essen family in Estonia, from ...

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

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. Nikolai von Essen (1860-1915), Admiral of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

, hailed from the

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

n branch of the family, but not Count

Peter Essen Count Peter Essen (, tr. 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 Essen family from Pärnu (not to be confused with ...

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

(1775–1824), Swedish statesman *

Carl Gustaf von Essen Carl Gustaf von Essen (20 March 1815 – 22 July 1895) was a Finnish Pietistic priest. Essen got into influence of Pietism at an early age. He studied theology but his views which differed from the official line of the church delayed his ordinat ...

(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 A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

''Fredrik von Essen'' (Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon)
/ref> *

Siri von Essen Sigrid "Siri" Sofia Matilda Elisabet von Essen (17 August 1850 – 21 April 1912) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish noblewoman and actress. Her acting career spanned about 15 years, during which time she appeared in a number of plays that her then ...

(1850–1912), Finnish-Swedish actress *

Nikolai Ottovich von Essen Nikolai Ottovich von Essen (, tr. ; – ) was a Russian naval commander and admiral descended from the Baltic German noble Essen family. For more than two centuries, his ancestors had served in the Imperial Russian Navy, and seven had been a ...

(1860–1915), Russian admiral * Thomas Von Essen (b. 1945), American civilian administrator,

New York City Fire Commissioner The New York City fire commissioner is the civilian administrator of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), and is appointed by the mayor of the City of New York. Prior to 1865, the New York City Fire Department was staffed by volunteers. On ...

Max von Essen Max von Essen (born January 11, 1974) is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist. Life and career Raised on Long Island, von Essen is a graduate of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of N ...

(b. 1974), American actor and singer *

Jonas von Essen Baron Sven Christer Jonas von Essen (born 24 April 1991) is a Swedish two-time world memory champion. He was a memory sports player from 2012 to 2015. In April 2019 he co-founded memoryOS, an ed-tech startup developing memory improvement soft ...

(b. 1991), Swedish baron and two-time

world memory champion The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of ...

* Charlotte von Essen (b. 1963), Director-General of the

Swedish Security Service The Swedish Security Service ( , SÄPO , , formerly , RPS/Säk, until 1989) is a Sweden, Swedish Government agencies in Sweden, government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice (Sweden), Ministry of Justice. It operates as a security ...

since 2021 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 (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, 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. The public domain edit ...

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