The House of Meshchersky (Russian: Мещерский) is an old princely family whose

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

was recognized by 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 ...

Origin

The family descends from the medieval independent rulers of the

Meshchera The Meshchera or Meshchyora () were a Finno-Ugric tribe in the Volga region between the Oka River and the Klyazma river, today called the Meshchera Lowlands, who assimilated with the neighbouring tribes around the 16th century. History The f ...

tribe.Ruvigny, Marquis of (1914) ''The Titled Nobility of Europe'', London: Harrison and Sons, pages 1007–8. Their title of prince was confirmed by the Emperor

Paul I of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

on 30 June 1798. According to the

Velvet Book The Velvet Book () was an official register of genealogies of Russia's most noble families (Russian nobility). The book is bound in red velvet, hence the name. It was compiled during the regency of Sophia (1682–1687) after Tsar Fyodor III of Ru ...

of the 17th century, Bakhmet Husein, the Prince of Shirin, after some disagreement in the Great Horde (according to

Dmitry Ilovaysky Dmitry Ivanovich Ilovaysky (; February 11/23, 1832, Ranenburg - February 15, 1920) was an anti-Normanist conservative Russian historian who penned a number of standard history textbooks. Ilovaysky graduated from the Moscow University in 1854 and ...

princes of Shirin had a disagreement with Tsar of the Great Horde), moved to Volga region and later conquered the land of Meschera in 1298.Igor Ermolaev.
Rurikid. The past in persons (9–16th centuries). Biographic dictionary (Рюриковичи. Прошлое в лицах (IX—XVI вв.). Биографический словарь)
'. OLMA Media Group, 2002. pp.96–97. . Dmitriy Ilovayskiy.
History of the Duchy of Ryazan (История Рязанского княжества)
'. Litres, 2019. . He had a son by the name of Beklemish who in (Andrew's City) was baptized as Mikhail. Mikhail later build the temple of Transfiguration and along with oneself baptised a number of people. His descendants until 1398 kept as their own the Meschera domain. A grandson of Beklemish, Yuriy Fedorovich, joined with his regiment the Great Prince of Moscow Dmitriy Donskoy at the Kulikovo Battle. In the 16–17th centuries many princes of Meschera were polk (regiment) or grad (city) voivodes. The family was somewhat arbitrarily grouped in documentation together with Tatar princely families of the Russian Empire. The neighboring Tatar kingdom subjugated lords of the Meshchera tribe under its suzerainty, and some of them converted to Islam and bore

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

-like first names; but soon, under Russian subjugation, subsequent generations converted to the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

faith and used Slavic Christian names. The family was listed in the first part of the Registers of the Nobility of Russia, which became formalized in the 19th century or earlier. The book '' Notice sur les principales familles de la Russie'' does not mention the Meshchersky family at all, which may be attributable to the well-established animosity towards the Meshcherskys of its author, Prince

Pyotr Vladimirovich Dolgorukov Prince Pyotr Vladimirovich Dolgorukov () (1816–1868) was a Russian historian and journalist known for his genealogical research and as a critic of the Russian Empire, Imperial Russian government. His father was the general Vladimir Petrovich Dol ...

Estates

The Meshcherskys had estates particularly in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, examples of their lands being at: Pokrovskoe, Petrovskoe,

Lotoshino Lotoshino () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Lotoshinsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is the least populous administrative center of a district in Moscow Oblast. Population: Lotoshin ...

, and the Vesholi-Podol Palace in

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

. The estate of

Petrovskoye-Alabino Petrovskoye-Alabino (Петровское-Алабино) is a ruined country house near the village of Alabino, in the Naro-Fominsky District of the Moscow Oblast. It is sited near the Desna River, about southwest of Moscow, beside the route t ...

, near Moscow, is currently claimed by

Yevgeniy Meshchersky Yevgeni (), also transliterated as Yevgeny, Yevgenii, Yevgeniy, Evgeni, Evgeny, Evgenii, Evgeniy, Evgenyi or Evgenij, is the Russian form of the masculine given name Eugene. The short form is Zhenya (Женя), also transliterated as Jenya or Sheny ...

Members

Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Meshchersky (b. 11 December 1775 – d. 17 March 1851) m. to Sophia Sergeyevna Vsevolojskaya (b. 19 January 1775 – d. 4 October 1848) *Prince Vassili Ivanovich Meshchersky (b. 1791 – d. 14 February 1871) ** Prince Boris Vassilovich (b. 1818, d. 1884) *** Prince Boris *** Prince Alexis *** Prince Serge **Prince Alexandre Vassilovich **Prince Ivan Vassilovich ** Prince Serge Vassilovich ** Prince Vassili Vassilovich **Princess Elena Vassilievna Meshcherskaya (b. St.Petersburg 14 January 1820 – d. Wartenberg 7 October 1905) m. Prince Calixt Gustav Hermann Biron von Curland (b. Schleise 3 January 1817 – d. Wartenberg 8 March 1882) ** Prince Nicolas Vassilovich *** Prince Serge Nicolaevich *** Prince Ivan Nicolaevich *** Prince Nicolas Nicolaevich *** Prince Peter Nicolaevich **** Prince Kirill Petrovich **** Princess Tatjana Petrovna *Prince Peter Ivanovich Meshchersky (b. 28 May 1802 – d. 14 April 1876) m. Ekaterina Mikhailovna

Karamzin The Karamzin family is a noted Russian noble family of Tatar origin. It originates from the Tatar name Kara-Murza, meaning ''black lord''. Karamzin () is also a Russian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Karamzina. Notable members ...

a (b. 1809 – d. 1867) **Prince Nicolas Petrovich Meshchersky (b. 1828 – d. Dushno 11 January 1901), m. Countess Maria Alexandrovna

Panin The Panin family was an old and prominent Russian noble family, known since the beginning of the 16th century. Members of the family held the title of Count in the Russian Empire, granted to them on 22 September 1767 by Catherine the Great.https: ...

a (d. Dushno 30 September 1903) ***Princess Ekaterina Nicolaievna (b. 1855) ***Prince Alexander Nicolaevich Meshchersky (b. 9 April 1862) ***Princess Alexandra Nikolaievna Meshcherskaya. B. in Moscow 28 September 1864, d. in Budapest 7 July 1941. M. in Dugino 29 June 1887 to Prince Pavel Pavlovich

Galitzine Galitzine is an alternative romanization of Golitsyn, a surname chiefly associated with members of the House of Golitsyn of Lithuanian-Russian origin. Notable people with the surname include: House of Golitsyn * Alexandra Pavlovna Galitzine ...

(b. 1856 – d. 1916). ***Princess Maria Nicolaievna Meshcherskaya, b. 10 April 1866 at St. Petersburg, m. Count Nicolas Mikhailovitch

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

and died in Asnières, France 30 October 1948. ***Princess Sonja Nicolaievna Meshcherskaya m. Boris Wassiltchilkoff. ***Prince Peter Nicolaevich Meshchersky (b. Moscow 24 May 1869 – d. Paris 17 November 1944), m. Vera von Struve (b. Tokyo 4 February 1876 – d. Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois 17 December 1949), daughter of

Karl von Struve Karl von Struve (26 November 1835 – 26 June 1907) () (Alternate spelling in U.S.: de Struve) was a Baltic German Russian nobleman and politician. He served, in turn, as Russian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan, the Unit ...

****Prince Nicolas Petrovich Meshchersky (b St. Petersburg 21 November 1905 – d. Versailles 18 July 1966), m. Berlin 12 January 1948 to Yvonne Claire Marie Amélie Leroux (b. Les Mureaux 7 June 1911 – d.

Louveciennes Louveciennes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, between Versailles (city), V ...

9 August 2004) *****Prince Piotr Nicolaevich Meshchersky (b. Paris 4 June 1948) m. Saint-Michel-en-Brenne 8 June 1973 to Caroline Marie Paule Sophie Lebaudy (b.

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

9 June 1950) ******Prince Nikolai Alexander Maria Petrovich Meshchersky (b. Neuilly-sur-Seine 8 February 1976) m. to Laurie Callier ******Prince Kirill Petrovich Meshchersky (b. Paris 31 March 1977) ******Princess Sophie Petrovna Meshscherskaya (b. Paris 10 January 1980) ****Prince Kyrill Petrovich Meshchersky (b. St. Petersburg 1907 – d. 1947), m. in Paris 1944 to Maria Januaria Baffa ****Prince Nikita Petrovich Meshchersky (b. St. Petersburg 1909 – d. 1942) m. Antoinette de Guéhéneuc de Boishüe (b. Laval 28 November 1908 – d. Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois 31 December 2008) ****Princess Marina Petrovna Meshcherskaya (b. St. Petersburg 1913) m. (1) Count Michael Vorontsov-Dashkoff (b. 9 July 1904 – d. 14 March 1983) (2) Count Ivan Schuvaloff ***Princess Natasha Nicolaievna Meshcherskaya (b. 1877 – d. 1944) m. in Nice 16 April 1903 to Count Pavel Ignatieff (b. 1870 – d. 1945)Ignatieff, Michael. The Russian album. New York, N.Y.: Viking, 1987 **Prince Vladimir Petrovich (b. 11 January 1839 – d. 23 July 1914) Prince Petr Sergeyevich Meshchersky (b. 1778 – d. 1857) m. to Ekaterina Ivanova Chernysheva *Prince Elim Petrovich Meshchersky (b. 1808 – d. 1844) **Princess Maria Elimovna Meshcherskaya (b. 1844 – d. 1868) m. to

Pavel Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince of San Donato Pavel Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince of Villa San Donato, San Donato (; 9 October 1839 – 26 January 1885) was a Russian industrialist, jurist, Table of Ranks, master of the hunt at Russian imperial court, philanthropist and nobleman of the ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em Russian noble families