Eugenio Lascorz
Encyclopedia
Eugenio Lascorz y Labastida (March 26, 1886 -June 1, 1952) was a pretender
who claimed connection to the royal house of the Byzantine Empire
. Eugenio Lascorz was born in Zaragoza
. His father was a laborer.
The Aragonese
family name Lascorz may be connected to counts of Ribargorza who were Lords of Lascorz in the 12th century. However, Eugenio Lascorz decided that Lascorz was a bastardized form of Lascaris and begun to claim that he is descended from the imperial house of the Byzantine Empire. There is no evidence of that kind of connection.
On March 16, 1917 Lascorz substituted the name Lascaris on his father's birth records. He began to call himself Eugenio Lascaris and in 1923 issued a manifesto to the Greeks
, calling himself Eugenio Lascaris Comneno. The name Comneno comes from a ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire
.
During the Spanish Republic
, Lascorz became a prosecutor
and in August 1935 used his influence to modify the birth records of his sister and grandparents to show the name Lascaris. He also published a genealogy
in which he claimed that his grandfather immigrated from Greece. He also changed the names of his father and grandfather.
In 1943 Lascorz called himself Prince Eugene Lascaris Comnenus Paleologus, Duke of Athens. In 1947 he published the new genealogy that contradicted the previous one. In 1953 he published yet another one. The latest incarnation claims that his father was not a laborer Manuel Lascorz y Serveto but a nobleman Alexios VI Emmanouil.
Eugenio Lascorz's descendants still maintain his claim.
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
who claimed connection to the royal house of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Eugenio Lascorz was born in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. His father was a laborer.
The Aragonese
Aragonese people
The Aragonese are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of Aragon, between the centre and the north-east of Spain. Their native Aragonese language, which might have been spoken in the whole of the Kingdom of Aragon in the Middle Ages, is nowadays a seriously endangered language,...
family name Lascorz may be connected to counts of Ribargorza who were Lords of Lascorz in the 12th century. However, Eugenio Lascorz decided that Lascorz was a bastardized form of Lascaris and begun to claim that he is descended from the imperial house of the Byzantine Empire. There is no evidence of that kind of connection.
On March 16, 1917 Lascorz substituted the name Lascaris on his father's birth records. He began to call himself Eugenio Lascaris and in 1923 issued a manifesto to the Greeks
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, calling himself Eugenio Lascaris Comneno. The name Comneno comes from a ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantium under the Komnenoi
The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used by historians to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople...
.
During the Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, Lascorz became a prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
and in August 1935 used his influence to modify the birth records of his sister and grandparents to show the name Lascaris. He also published a genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
in which he claimed that his grandfather immigrated from Greece. He also changed the names of his father and grandfather.
In 1943 Lascorz called himself Prince Eugene Lascaris Comnenus Paleologus, Duke of Athens. In 1947 he published the new genealogy that contradicted the previous one. In 1953 he published yet another one. The latest incarnation claims that his father was not a laborer Manuel Lascorz y Serveto but a nobleman Alexios VI Emmanouil.
Eugenio Lascorz's descendants still maintain his claim.