The Czetwertyński family
By royal decree of King Albert II of Belgium (2007),
two members (both sons of Prince Michel Felix
Swiatopelk-Czetwertynski) were recognised in the Belgian nobility
with the rank of Prince, for them and their male-line descendants.
💡 Unlike his sons Prince Michel Felix Swiatopelk-Czetwertynski
was not recognized in the Belgian nobility because he wasn't born
in Belgium.
They are members of one of the 11 Princely Families in Belgium.
With this interesting episode, I was keen to know more about the history
of this rather unknown Princely family.
History
The first documented member of the family is
Oleksander Chetvertynsky, who is mentioned in 1388.
The family was accepted into the princely houses of Poland
and Lithuania in 1569 and their Russian title of prince
was confirmed in 1843.
In 1492, Prince Fedir Mykhailovych Chetvertynsky was the
Lithuanian-Ruthenian ambassador to Wallachia.
Over time, the family were Polonized and Catholicized, but
some members remained adherent to the
Eastern Orthodox religion.
Prince Stepan Sviatopolk-Chetvertynsky (1575–1659) played a key
role in re-establishing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1620.
His son Mykola Sviatopolk-Chetvertynsky (?–1659) was a relative
of the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, Ivan Vyhovsky.
Two of the most notable representatives of the family were
Hedeon Zakharovych Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky, the
Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and all Little Russia in 1685–90,
and Antoni Stanislaw's daughter Marie, who was
Alexander I of Russia's mistress and had children by him.
A nephew of Hedeon, Yurii Sviatopolk-Chetvertynsky (?-c. 1717–22),
was a son-in-law of the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, Ivan Samoylovych.
Antoni Stanislaw
Marie, who became a mistress of
Tsar Alexander I of Russia
After Antoni Stanisław Czetwertyński-Światopełk was lynched in
1794 by Polish nationals in Warsaw during the Kościuszko Uprising,
his family resettled in Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Empire.
It received major land grants from Catherine the Great, such as
the manor of Filimonki near Moscow.
Who was who?
Other notable member of the family was Gedeon Chetvertinsky.
He was appointed by the Patriarch of Moscow to the rank of
"Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia". The appointment
was on the recommendation of the Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host
— Ivan Samoylovych.
Gedeon was born as Hryhoriy to the starosta of Racibórz Zachary
Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky and Regina Chrenicka in Volhynian
Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
From 1660 to 1684 he was a bishop of Lutsk and Ostroh in
Volhynia (today Volyn diocese).
In October 1685 he went to Moscow to be installed formally
in the metropolis by Patriarch Joachim of Moscow. His decision
to accept his installation from the Patriarchate of Moscow
undermined the independence of the Orthodox Church in
those parts of the Ruthenia lands that lay in the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. The decision was schismatic and was not
recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
It was also opposed by many church leaders in Ukraine.
He had two successors who were also styled "Metropolitan of Kiev,
Halych and Little Russia": Varlaam (1690–1707) and Joasaph (1707–1718).
Another notbable member of the family was: Seweryn Franciszek
Światopełk-Czetwertyński.
Prince Seweryn Franciszek Światopełk-Czetwertyński
b. 18 April 1873 in Warsaw died on 19 June 1945 in Edinburgh, Scotland
was a Polish landowner, entrepreneur and politician. He belonged to a
cadet branch of the Czetwertyński family, historically one of the
princely houses of Poland and Lithuania.
He was a pupil at the Realschule in Riga and was a member of the
Polish student fraternity Arkonia. He went on to study at the
University of Bonn.
He became a member of the Russian Duma in 1906 and after Poland
regained her independence, he was elected to the Sejm from 1919 until
1935. During World War II, he was a prisoner of Nazi Germany, and
was imprisoned at both the Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration
camps. He died of exhaustion barely two months after liberation,
having newly arrived in the United Kingdom.
Married to Zofia Przeździecka, their son Włodzimierz (1907-1965)
and elder grandchildren were born in Poland, but during World War II,
they fled to Britain, eventually taking up residence in North America.
Now
which became Belgian Princes by the decree of King Albert II in
2007:
(Ukkel, 27 December 1975), married to Christine Renée Harrington
(Brussels, 20 February 1978), a portrait and fashion photographer
known as "Tinko Czetwertynski", he married to model and product
designer Princess Paola Maria Sapieha-Rozanska (London, 27 April 1983),
daughter of Prince Jan Pavel Sapieha-Rozanski (1950-2021),
former Belgian ambassador to Brazil and Princess Cristina of
Orléans-Braganza (b. 1950)
Conclusion
in modern-day Volhynia within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland,
now Ukraine. Descendants of the family are spread now around the
world.
Source picture: Wikipedia
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