Notes on the “Ancestors of
Leon Sayn-Wittgenstein”
First, I wouls like to mention that I am far from being an expert in
genealogy. I have a few comments which are mostly suggestions, not
corrections.
I am also attaching the following, which may be useful:
§ A few relevant pages from the 1997 Gotha (the Starke Verlag
Gotha)
§ A “family tree” consisting of twe overlapping sheets. The source
(“Europäische Stammtafeln”) is written on the left sheet. It was given
to me in the present typed form during a visit to the Main Library in St.
Petersburg. It’s a bit messy due to marginal comments, but it can be read
when enlarged. The ancestors up to the Fieldmarshal’s father are shown.
My comments are:
1. My own name is really Leo Sayn-Wittgenstein. “Lev Lvovich” is not
wrong, but nobody ever uses it, except when addressing someone in Russia,
(and then almost invariably without the surname). I would be inclined to
drop this Russian formulation Another argument would be consistency: we
are not using this Russian forrmulation for my father, grandfather, etc
2. My father is called Leon or Leo on many documents, and
on practically all documents from the last two or three decades of his
life. “Ludwig (Leon)”, as in the Gotha is probably best. The Ludwig/Leo
confusion arose, because he was supposed to be Ludwig, but was baptized
in the Russian Orthodox church, which has no saints called “Ludwig” and
therefore would not baptize a “Ludwig”.
3. My mother was born in Olmütz, which was then part of Austria.
Today it is in the Czech Republic. I would suggest substituting “Austria”,
or “then Austria”, or simply leaving it as “Olmütz” as the Gotha does.
It would be an almost impossible job to make all the corrections that would
have to be made if we want to keep up with current changes in the names
of countries.
4. My grandmother. I would personally write Elisabeth Nabokov
or Elisaveta Dimitrievna Nabokov. The latter is used by Jaques Ferrand
in “Les Nabokov”, probably the best genealogic work on the family.
I always find it confusing to write “Nabokova” when writing in a language
other than Russian. The family name is Nabokov. I would spell it with a
“v” and not a “w”, because this is the widely accepted spelling of the
name. Vladimir Nabokov of “Lolita” fame was her nephew and there are now
many books about the Nabokovs.
5. For the same reasons as above I would use Leonilla Bariatinsky
and not “Bariatinskaia” for the lady in the Winterhalter portrait. This
I believe would also be more consistent with other references.
6. Concerning “Leonille” or “Leonilla” Bariatinsky: In her memoirs
she decribes a visit by the Tsar when she was still a child. The Tsar came
accompanied by Count Wittgenstein (the Fieldmarshal, and her future father
in law). She refers to him as “the uncle of my mother” (in French). I see
from my second reference that the Fieldmarshal had a sister who married
a Count Keller. Leonille’s mother was a Countess Keller, so he probably
was her mother’s uncle.
7. As shown in “Europäische Stammtafeln” Ludwig Adolf Friedrich
(Leonille’s husband) was married twice. His first wife was Princess Stephanie
Radziwill, who died and left him all of her enormous fortune.
Leo Sayn-Wittgenstein
Ottawa, April 2, 2002
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