Gruzinsky

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The coat of arms of the Gruzinsky family ("the Younger House")
The coat of arms of the Gruzinsky family ("the Younger House")

Gruzinsky (Russian: Грузи́нский; Georgian: გრუზინსკი) was a title and later the surname of two different princely[1] lines of the Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia, both of which received it as the subjects of the Russian Empire. The name "Gruzinsky" (also spelled Gruzinski, or Gruzinskii) derives from Russian, originally and literally meaning "of Georgia". These families are:

  • Princes Gruzinsky (Bagration-Gruzinsky; "the Younger House"), an offshoot of the House of Kakheti (after 1462) and (after 1744) of Kartli. The title of Prince(ss) Gruzinsky (Serene Prince[ss] after 1865) were conferred upon the grandchildren of the penultimate Georgian king Erekle II (1720/1-1798) after the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801.[2][3] Descendants of Prince Bagrat (1776-1841), grandson of Erekle II and son of the last king of Georgia George XII (1746-1800), still survive in Georgia. The current head of this family, Nugzar Bagration-Gruzinsky (born 1950), claims the legitimate headship of the Royal House of Georgia (also claimed by the line of Bagrations of Mukhrani) based on male primogeniture descent from the last king of Georgia. As he has no male issue, Peter Gruzinsky (born 1916), the great grandson of Bagrat's younger brother Ilia (1791-1854) who lives in the Russian Federation, is considered to be a heir presumptive within the same primogeniture principle.[4]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Tsarevich, later knyaz; Georgian equivalents are batonishvili and tavadi respectively.
  2. ^ a b Toumanoff, Cyril (1967). Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p. 269. Georgetown University Press.
  3. ^ (Russian) Грузинские, Russian Biographic Lexicon. Retrieved on January 10, 2008.
  4. ^ Guy Stair Sainty (ed.). Bagration (Georgia). Almanach de la Cour. Retrieved on January 10, 2008.