Lieven
Encyclopedia
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
s. They claim descent from Caupo of Turaida
Caupo of Turaida
Caupo of Turaida, or Kaupo was a leader of the Finnic-speaking Livonian people in the beginning of the 13th century, in what is now Latvia. He is sometimes called 'King of Livonia', Chronicle of Henry of Livonia calls him quasi rex, 'like a king'.He was the first prominent Livonian to be christened...
(Latvian, Kaupo), the Livonian quasi rex who converted to Christianity in 1186, when Bishop Meinhard attempted to Christianize the region. Henrici Chronicon Lyvoniae tells that Caupo in winter 1203-1204 went to Rome with Theodoric, a Cistercian Monk (who was to become the founder of the Swordbrothers , then the first bishop of Estonia). They were received by the Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
who backed up their plans to Christianize Livonia. According to feudal records, the Lieven ancestor Gerardus Līvo (1269) and his son Johannes (1296) entered service as vassals to the archbishop of Rīga. One of Caupo's daughters married an ancestor of the barons, then earls Ungern-Sternberg.
Caupo's grandson, Nicholas, was the first to spell his name Lieven.
Reinhold Liewen, the Swedish governor of Oesel (Saaremaa
Saaremaa
Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago...
), in 1653 was made a baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
together with his brother, whose son - Baron Hans-Heinrich von Liewen - accompanied Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
in all his campaigns and expeditions. Among Reinhold's descendants, one branch settled in Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
and was recognized in 1801 as in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. Johann-Christoph von Lieven was the first member of the family to gain distinction in the Russian service: he served as Governor of Arkhangelsk under Catherine the Great
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
and as General of Infantry under Emperor Paul
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
.
Baron Otto Heinrich von Lieven (1726–1781) married in 1766 Baroness Charlotte von Gaugreben (1742–1828), who was entrusted by Emperor Paul with the task of educating his daughters and younger sons - Nicholas
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
and Mikhail Pavlovich. In recognition of her services Paul made her a countess in 1799. When her pupil Nicholas became the Emperor of Russia in 1826, the 84-year-old governess was made a Princess with the title of Her Serene Highness. The title was hereditary and passed to her descendants, of which the following were notable.
- Her son, Prince Christoph Heinrich von LievenKhristofor Andreyevich LievenHSH Prince Christopher von Lieven, Lord of Mesothen was a Livonian nobleman, Russian general, ambassador to London in 1812-1834, and educator of tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaievitch.-Family:...
(1774–1838), accompanied Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
during the Battle of AusterlitzBattle of AusterlitzThe Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
and at the signing of the Peace of Tilsit. In 1809 he was sent to represent Russia at the PrussiaKingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
n court and, at the crisis of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1812, was transferred as the Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of St. James'sSt. James's PalaceSt. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK...
, a post which he kept for 22 years. Somewhat overshadowed by his more illustrious wife, Dorothea von Lieven, Prince Lieven took part in the Congress of ViennaCongress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
and died in Rome when he accompanied the future Alexander II of RussiaAlexander II of RussiaAlexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
on his Grand TourGrand TourThe Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
. - His elder brother, Prince Carl Christoph von Lieven (1767–1844), started his career as an aide-de-campAide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Prince Potemkin, administered the garrison of Arkhangelsk under Paul and ended his career as Imperial Minister of Education (1828–33). - Prince Alexander Karlovich LievenAlexander LievenHis Serene Highness, Alexander Karlovich Lieven was an imperial Russian infantry-general and senator.Alexander Lieven was born on January 14, 1801 into an ancient noble family of Lieven. He received a good education at home and in 1818 enrolled into the Life Guards Grenadeer regiment and in 1820...
(1801–1880), son of the preceding, Mayor-General, served as Governor of TaganrogTaganrogTaganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
in 1844-1853, and senator 1853-1880. - Prince Andrey Alexandrovich Lieven (1839–1913), his son, was the Senator and Minister of State Properties in 1877-81.
- Prince Alexandr Alexandrovich Lieven (1860-...), was an admiral of the Imperial Russian NavyImperial Russian NavyThe Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
: in 1878 entered in service; in 1911 was appointed chief of the naval general staff. - Prince Anatoly Pavlovich LievenAnatoly LievenPrince Anatoly Pavlovich Lieven, , was a Baltic German prince of the Lieven family who commanded a counter-revolutionary White movement during the Russian Civil War in Latvia known after him as the Liventsy ....
(1872–1937) commanded a Russo-German battle group in LatviaLatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
; Lieven forbade his men to fight the Estonian Army in VidzemeVidzemeVidzeme is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. Literally meaning "the Middle Land" it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River...
, unlike the rest of the Baltische LandeswehrBaltische LandeswehrBaltische Landeswehr was the name of the unified armed forces of the Couronian and Livonian nobility from 7 December 1918 to 3 July 1919.- Command structure :...
. His Liventsy performed only rear security services for the Landeswehr during the campaign. After the Latvian War of Independence he became a Latvian citizen and a manufacturer of bricks. - Dominic LievenDominic LievenDominic Lieven is Professor of Russian Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Fellow of the British Academyand of Trinity College, Cambridge...
, Professor of Russian Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Fellow of the British Academy. - Anatol LievenAnatol LievenPeter Paul Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. He is presently a Senior Researcher at the New America Foundation, where he focuses on US global strategy and the War on Terrorism, Associated Scholar of the Transnational Crisis Project, Chair of International...
, a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. - Elena LievenElena LievenElena Lieven is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig...
, a developmental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyThe Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Planck Society network....
in Leipzig and the University of ManchesterUniversity of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
External links
- Lieven Family in Online Gotha Lieven family, Latvian Encyclopedia (Latvian) Genealogisches Handbuch der Oeselschen Ritterschaft 1935 - Genealogy handbook of Baltic nobilityBaltic nobilityThe Baltic nobility was the privileged social class in the territories of today's Estonia and Latvia. It existed continuously since the medieval foundation of Terra Mariana...
von Lieven in Svenskt biografiskt handlexikonSvenskt biografiskt handlexikonSvenskt biografiskt handlexikon is a compact Swedish dictionary of biography first published in 1873-1876 by the physician and antiquarian Herman Hofberg . The second, updated edition was published in 1906, under the editorship of Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, and Olof Rubenson...
von Lieven in Nordisk familjebokNordisk familjebokNordisk familjebok is a Swedish encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.- History :The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899. The first edition is known as the "Iðunn edition" because of the picture of Iðunn on the cover... - Lievens