Lettow was a

by-name An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

given to a few

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

n nobles from a

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

from Vorbeck who went to assist

Algirdas Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the pre ...

and

Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

, the Great Dukes of Lithuania, in the 14th century. ''Lettow'' meant "

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

" in the Saxon language, and it appears in the

General Prologue The "General Prologue" is the first part of '' The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story, in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling ...

to ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'', wherein it is said of the Knight, a veteran of the Baltic Crusades: "Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne / Aboven alle nacions in Pruce; / In Lettow hadde he reysed, and in Ruce, / No Cristen man so ofte of his degree." With a few variants like Lettau, Lettaw, Litav, Littauer or Littawer, it was also adopted by some other Vorbe(c)ks in Pomerania as a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. In Lithuania, later on, it was spelled Lettowt or Letowt, before the 20th century Lithuanian surname policy changed it to Letautas.

John Lettou John Lettou or John of Lithuania (, fl. 1475–1483) was an English bookbinder and printer, presumably Lithuanian from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.R. Bideleux. ''A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change''. Routledge, 1998 Seventeen books ...

was a 15th century bookbinder and printer in England, presumably a German from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Today, most people with the surname Lettow live in Germany and the United States, some in Holland as ''van Lettow'', and a few in Austria, Latvia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, South America, and even in China (in the 20th century several Letowts lived and worked in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

List of people with the surname Lettow

Chronologically the following people have had the surname Lettow: * Ulryk Vorbek (c. 1215–1301), landowner of

Wittow Wittow is the northernmost peninsula of the island of Rügen. Wittow was a separate island until the High Middle Ages, but since then has been connected to the Jasmund peninsula of Rügen by the Schaabe spit. Wittow is most famous for Cape Ark ...

in the Duchy of Rügen/Rugia;

Lüblow Lüblow is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the ...

, south of

Łebsko Lake Łebsko Lake (; ) is a brackish coastal lake in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland. It is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Łeba River, which causes saltwater intrusion. It is located within Słowiński National Park. The lake formed when s ...

, and Stara Wieś near

Lębork Lębork (; ; ) is a town on the Łeba River, Łeba and Okalica rivers in the Gdańsk Pomerania region in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lębork County in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Its population is 37,000. History Middle Ages The region fo ...

. With his first wife Sabina Segebadin he had 3 sons: Adrian, Reimar and Achacy. From his second wife Adelgunda Warninin was son Eryk, the ancestor of all below mentioned: * Maciej Vorbek-Lettow (1593–1668), born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Lithuania, medical doctor from the University of Padowa, major of Vilnius, for 19 years military medicus in Livonia for hetman (fieldmarshal) of Lithuania, prince Krzysztof Radziwiłł. After that he became the personal physician, secretary and treasury courtier of

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

, king of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ruthenia, Prussia, Sweden, Courland, Semigalia and Livonia. His memoirs were ''Skarbnica pamięci'' (Treasury of Memories). One of his sons: ** Krzysztof-Zbigniew-Wiktoryn Lettow-Vorbek (1621–96), Nobility Marshal of

Starodub Starodub (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets (river), Babinets River in the Dnieper basin, southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

district, Field Guard of Lithuania, king's secretary & treasury courtier for Lithuania, Colonel of Horse Cav.(with own Cossacks and Tatars Regiments), MP from Starodub, land judge, plus other functions and honors. His 2 sons were: *** Henryk Lettow-Vorbeck, general and baron in Berlin. *** Krystyn-Lucjan ''de'' Lettow, commander of Polish Royal Guards Horse Regiment. He had one son, Ludwik-Henryk Lettow-Vorbeck in Berlin, and two daughters, both of whom married Horse Royal Guards generals; one of the daughters, Zofia-Maria Lettow-Vorbeck, was the mother of

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (; also known as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski (Dombrowski) in German and Jean Henri Dombrowski in French; 2 August 1755 – 6 June 1818) was a Polish general and statesman, widely respected after his death for his patri ...

(1755–1818), founder and chief commander of the Polish Legions in Italy under Napoleon, Senator-

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

and Chief of the Army of Polish Kingdom; after him goes the Polish national anthem, " Mazurek Dąbrowskiego". * Oskar von Lettow-Vorbeck (1839–1904), professor, general. He was a distinguished Prussian military scholar/writer on tactics at the Berlin Military Academy. * Paul Karl von Lettow-Vorbeck (1832–1919), Prussian Army general from Węgorzyce. He was the father of: ** Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (1870–1964), Prussian

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

general, called "The Lion of Africa". His grand daughter was Helene Duchess von Oldenburg (daughter of Graff Christian zu Rantzau & Heloise von Lettow-Vorbeck). * Hans Albert von Lettow-Vorbeck (1901–1942), a World War II general, Commander of the 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck, nephew of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. * Witold Letowt (1896–1973), colonel and medical doctor in the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...

. He was a RAF

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He also was a sport pilot and member of the seven-men Polish rowing crew at the

Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

References

#
Website of Lettow-Vorbeck family
(in German), # "Polski Słownik Biograficzny" Vol. XVII (the Polish Biographical Dictionary), # Jan Fenig "Arbor Genealogica - Hypotiposis Vorbekanae" XIII-XVII c. (Lemborg Law Court 1505), # "Skarbnica pamięci" Ossolineum 1968 in Poland, # "The Lettows" publ. in USA 1983, # Polish Armorials: Uruski, Boniecki, Niesiecki, Gajl, Pragert, Ciechanowicz, Dachnowski, Ostrowski, Żernicki-Szeliga, Żychliński and "Polska Encyklopedia Szlachecka" by Starzykoń-Kasprzycki PhD, SJ & rev.Dmowski - Vol.VII, # "General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.." by Jan Pachoński, publ. MON (the Polish Ministry of Defense) 1987, # Siebmacher # Almanachs of Gotha, incl.: "Ur Adel" and "Royal & Princely Houses" (red cover). {{surname Surnames of German origin

List of people with the surname Lettow

See also

References