The House of Gorchakov

### Coat of Arms descripton

The shield, which has a golden field, depicts a black single-headed eagle in gold, headed by a crown with outstretched wings, holding a long golden cross in its paw. The shield is covered with a mantle and a cap belonging to princely dignity.

### Estates:

The Dvina Palace (St.Romovna)
The Angelsky Palace (Angelsky)

Gorchakov Mansion (Belinsky)

### Current Head:

Prince Alexei Gorchakov

**Gorchakov** or **Gortchakoff** (Karolevian: Горчаков), is a Karolevian princely family descendant from the former Karolevian royal dynasty. Descendant from the Olgovich family, who ruled over the principality of Chernigov.

## Origin

Descendant from the Princes of Kozelsky and Chernigov. The first branch of the Gorchakovs (and the only one still existing) are the descendants of Prince Ivan "Gorchak" Kozelsky, governor of Karakev, who was a descendant of the former rulers of Karoleva.

The Gorchakovs were said to have an income of 15 million Krohna a year and have land over 100,000 acres. It was said that the Gorchakov's did not know how much property they had and would take two months to makes rounds between properties that they did know about.

### Etymology

Originates from the term gorchak, meaning "bitter"

## The Gorchakov Curse

The Gorchakov family was plagued by a belief in an old curse that stated only one male heir of a Gorchakov Prince would live for more than 26 years. The most famous example was in the early 16th century, when Prince Boris Gorchakov had 5 sons. Three of them died in infancy or in early childhood due to health problems, another died from a horseback riding accident at 23, and only one heir was able to live a long life with long children. The surviving son of Boris, Pavel, had three sons. Two of them died in battle before the age of 26.

Though this curse was broken many times, it was still a superstition in the family. Sometimes the 26 rule is forgotten and the curse is said to be that only one male heir will keep on the Gorchakov line, any other male heirs and their descendants will quickly die off.

Another victim of the curse is said to be the family of Prince Ivan Gorchakov (1694-1750). He three sons, Nikolai, Peter, and Alexei. His second son Peter died when he was 22, but had a son Dmitri who died with no heirs. His first son Nikolai became Prince after Ivan's death and only had one son, who died in battle at 26 with no heirs but Nikolai himself lived a long life. His third son, Alexei, lived a long life but only had one son, Mikhail.

Prince Mikhail himself had only one son, Alexander. Alexander had two, his eldest Prince Mikhail lived past 26 but had no children. The title went to his second son, Dmitri, and he was able to have a son, Alexander. Alexander had three sons, Alexander, Alexei, and Dmitri. The wife of Prince Alexander, Natayla Yusupov believed that the curse was real.

More recently the curse has seemed to strike again. Alexander Gorchakov was killed in 1907, though at 28, while Dmitri was killed in battle in the 1905 Revolt, both had no heirs. This left only Prince Alexei.

In the modern Gorchakov family, the curse was noticeably broken by Prince Nikolai and Alexei, both of who lived long lives, but only one of them had sons who in turn had heirs of their own. The curse was also broken with Prince Mikhail as he lived into his 40's, but had no heirs.

Due to the Gorchakov family being constantly on the verge of extinction, unlike many other ancient Karolevian noble families, the Gorchakovs have kept themselves from falling into poverty. Due to having little branches of the family, and thus less people to spend the family fortune.

## Modern Gorchakov Family

All the Grochakovs of modern times come from Prince Fedor Gorchakov, son of Prince Alexei Gorchakov and Nastasta Baskakov.

1. Prince Ivan Gorchakov (1694-1750), lieutenant colonel. Married to Princess Tatiana Matkin
	1. Prince Nikolai Gorchakov (1725-1796), second major; married to Katherina Ludkin.
		1. Tatiana Gorchakov Rtischev (1762-1792)
		2. Natalya Gorchakov (1764-1772)
		3. Vasily Gorchakov, major general, died in battle. (1768-1793)
	2. Peter Gorchakov (1732-1757), regiment lieutenant
		1. Dmitri Gorchakov, writer (1756-1780)
	3. Prince Alexei Gorchakov (1737-1813), major general; married to Anna Orlov
		1. Prince Mikhail Gorchakov, Major General; (1768-1831) married Irina Donarov
			1. Prince Alexander Gorchakov (1798-1883), Minister of Foreign Affairs
				1. Prince Mikhail Gorchakov (1833-1876), Privy Councilor, Ambassador to Espana
				2. Prince Dmitri Gorchakov (1837-1880), courtier, married Princess Sururov
					1. Prince Alexander Gorchakov (1857-1907), General, married Natalya
						1. Alexander Gorchakov (1879-1907), Major in the Royal Guard.
						2. Prince Alexei Gorchakov (1882-), Head General of the Karolevian Royal Army
						3. Dmitri Gorchakov (1883-1905), Second Lieutenant
					2. Princess Elena Gorchakov Rostova (1859-), married Prince Rostova (1856-1902)
						1. Olga Rostova (1883-)
						2. Prince Mikhail Rostova (1884-), Captain, married to Tatiana Sumarokov
						3. Charlotte Rostova (1886-)
			2. Anya Gorchakov Kavina (1792-1850), married Konstanin Kavina

## Alexei Gorchakov

Prince **Alexei Gorchakov** (1882-) was the son of Prince Alexander Gorchakov and Princess Natalya Gorchakov, served a Head General of the Karolevian Royal Army (in office from 1907) during the reigns of Charlotte, Nikolai II, and during the Regency of Grand Duchess Ilsa Alexandrovna Petrovna. He was educated at the Alexander Lyceum and the Page Corps. He fought in the Christmas Revolt of 1905 and in the Seige of Belinsky in 1907, after which he was appointed Head General of the Karolevain Royal Army during the short reign of Charlotte to replace General Mendoza. In the aftermath of Petrovna's Flight to St.Romovna, Alexei Gorchakov was the disputed Head of the Provisional Government of Karoleva until Grand Duchess Ilsa was able to take over as Regent.