The House of Mourouzis () or Moruzi (, Muruzi) is the name of an old and distinguished noble family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond, whose members later occupied many important positions within

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

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 ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

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

(the Danubian Principalities) in the 17th century, became Dragomans of the Porte and

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russian nobility, Russia), Boyars of Moldavia and Wallach ...

, and gave

and

two '' hospodars'' – Princes Constantine and

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. Constantine's great grandson Demetrius fled to

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 ...

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. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, 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 () 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 Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

until the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupation post-World War II.

Notable members

* Constantine Mourouzis (1730 – 1 May 1787), Dragoman of the Fleet, Grand Dragoman and Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia * Alexander Mourouzis (1750/1760 – 1816), Grand Dragoman of the

and Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia *Panagiotis Mourouzis, Dragoman of the Fleet and

Dragoman of the Porte The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte (Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: ; ), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (), or simply Grand Dragoman (, ) or Chief Dragoman (), was the senior interpreter of the Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire), Ottom ...

*Michael Mourouzis, (d. 1821) Dragoman of the Fleet * Alexandru Constantin Moruzi (1815–1878), Romanian economist and politician * Dumitru C. Moruzi (1850–1914), Moldavian-born Imperial Russian and Romanian civil servant, folklorist and writer * Maria Moruzi-Cuza (d. 1921), wife of Ion I. C. Brătianu, and mother of Gheorghe I. Brătianu * Yves Mourousi (1942–1998), French television and radio presenter and journalist

Former properties of the Princes Muruzi

File:Muruzi.jpg, Muruzi palace in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

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