Princes Prozorovsky (russian: Прозоровскиe) were a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n noble family of Rurikid stock descending from

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

rulers of

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

and Mologa. Their name is derived from the village of Prozorovo near Mologa, which used to be their only votchina in the 15th century. During the

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage ...

period of Russian history, the most eminent member of the family was Prince Ivan Semyonovich Prozorovsky, a

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were s ...

's son and boyar himself, who happened to govern

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of ...

at the time of

Stenka Razin Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, ; 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1 ...

's uprising. When the rebels took the city, they had him defenestrated from a

kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

tower. His little son was hung upside down on the city wall (1670). Ivan's inglorious death only added to the family standing, and six of his nephews became boyars during the early reign of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

. Prince Ivan Andreyevich Prozorovsky, an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...

general-in-chief, helped launch the military career of his son-in-law,

Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

. The latter's life with Princess Daria Prozorovskaya was never peaceful. They separated early, and the

Generalissimo ''Generalissimo'' ( ) is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used. Usage The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative of ('general') thus m ...

never recognized her son

Arkady Suvorov Arkadi Alexandrovich Suvorov (15 (27) August 1784 - 13 April 1811), Count Rymniksky, was a Russian general. A son of Alexander Suvorov, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general. Life He fought in the Italian and Swiss expedition (1799–1800 ...

as his own. Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Prozorovsky (1732-1809) was the only

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered a ...

from the family. He gained distinction in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...

and the conquest of Crimea. In 1790 he returned to the active service as the Governor General of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. When the Russian army resumed its hostilities against Turkey in 1808, Prozorovsky became its Commander-in-Chief. In 1870, the Prozorovsky family became extinct in a male line. 16 years earlier, Emperor Nicholas I had authorized Prince Alexander Fyodorovich

Galitzine The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the riches ...

(1810–98) to take the name and arms of his maternal grandfather, Field-Marshal Alexander Prozorovsky. Galitzine's line became extinct in 1914, with the death of his only son, Prince Alexander Galitzine-Prozorovsky (1853-1914).

References

External links

Prozorovskys Genealogy
{{authority control Rurikids Russian noble families