Zirkoff B. - Genealogical Tables & Notes On The Genealogical Tables: Difference between revisions

The great-great-grandson of St. Mihail, Prince Konstantin Ivanovich (d. 1368), ruled over the town of Obolensk, on the Protva river, and was the originator of the Princes Obolensky, a renowned family in the annals of Russia. His younger son was Prince Andrey Konstantinovich Obolensky (middle of XVth century), and it is the latter’s son, Prince Ivan Andreyevich, who became known by the nickname of “Dolgorukoy” which meant “long-handed,” “far-reaching,” and had to do with his ability to detect his enemies wherever they may have been hiding. This was a purely personal characteristic, and therefore, in accordance with Russian grammatical rules, the term could not be applied to the descendants in any other but the genitive case, i.e., Dolgorukov in singular, and Dolgorukovi in the plural form. However, as time went on, many of the direct descendants of Prince Ivan Andreyevich signed themselves both Dolgorukoy and Dolgorukiy, the latter being a corruption of the original form of that name. A descriptive name closely akin to this is the Latin name of Longimanus.

The von Hahn Family—formerly Hahn von Rottenstern-Hahn— belonged originally to the nobility of Mecklemburg, Germany. When settled in Russia, it dropped its title of Counts, and the name itself, after being spelled for a time as Hahne, finally became Gan. It is not definitely known when this branch of the German Counts von Hahn emigrated to Russia, but the most likely time was during the reign of Empress Anna loanovna (1730-1740). H.P.B. {Letters to Sinnett, p. 12) signs herself almost in jest as “née Hahn von Rottenstern-Hahn,” while her sister Vera referred to the older form of the family name as Hahn-Hahn von der Rohter-Hahn.