Somov Explained

The House of Somov (Russian: Сомовы, also Somoff or Somow) is a Russian noble family descended from the Khans of the 14th century.

Ancestry

This family descended from Prince (Murza; Mirza) Oslan - Chelebey, who left the Golden Horde leading an army to support Dmitry Donskoy, Prince of Moscow, during the wars with other principalities and Tartar domination. Oslan was baptized in 1389 with the name Prokofiev and married Maria Zotikova Zhitova, the daughter of Prince Dimitri's Stolnik, Zotik Zhitov. They had five sons:

1. Lev, nicknamed Wide Mouth
2. Fiodr
3. Arseny - founder of Arseniev (Арсеньевы)
4. Jacob Kremenetsky - founder of Kremenetsky and Yanovtsevyh
5. Paul - founder of Pavlovs

Lev Prokofievich had two sons:

1. Zechariah, founder of Rtishev and Zhdanovs (Ртищевы) Ртищевы - сайт однофамильцев (Rtischev Family)
2. Andrey, nicknamed "Som" (Catfish), founder of Somov

Notable members

• Fyodor Ivanovich Somov was Voevoda in Verhoturie (1619). His brother Ivan - Voevoda in Kozelsk and Lihvina (1616-1619), son of the last Fyodor, was a Voevoda in Yelets Sviyazhsk and Ufa (1650-1664). Parfeny Pavlovich Somov was a Voevoda in Vahe (1666) and Lomov (1676), and then clerk of the Russian Council (Думный дворянин). Matvei Petrovich Somov, steward, was a Voevoda in Viazma (1679).
• Feodosia Pavlovna Somova (1650?), daughter of Pavel Stepanovich and Maria Verigin (Princess Volkonsky´s daughter) was the mother of Eudoxia Alexeievna Chirikova (¿-1703), wife of the first Count of the Russian Empire, Boris Sheremetev. Feodosia is the ancestor of different nobles and princely Russian families, including: Count Mikhail Borisovich Sheremetev, Princess Sofía Borisovna Urusov (Khanate of Nogai), and Countess Ana Borisovna Golovin. Her descendants include members of the House of Dolgorukov family, Apraxine family (Famille Apraxine), Naryshkin family and others.
• Evsievy Leontievich Somov (1692) was the Stolnik of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the second spouse of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
• Nadiezhda Petrovna Somova (1730-?), Princess Dolgorukova, married Prince Ivan Aleksievich Dolgorukov (?-1783) (Долгоруковы) (House of Dolgorukov)
• Andrey Andreievich Somov (?-1815), Major General, hero of the Battle of Eylau. He served in the infantry during his military service in 1775. In 1790, he received the rank of second major. In 1794, he was promoted to prime the Majors; and in 1797, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On 3 October 1798, Colonel Somov was the chief of the Kamchatka Garrison Battalion, 8 June 1799 received the rank of Major General. On 21 January 1803, Somov was appointed chief of the Tula Musketeer Regiment (1806-1807), which fought against the French Army in Eastern Prussia. At the Battle of Eylau, he commanded a brigade of Polotsk, Tobolsk and Tula musketeer regiments and knocked the French out of the city. On 8 April 1807, he was awarded the Order of St. George the third degree (No. 149 by Chevalier list), "In the great reward of bravery and courage, rendered in the battle against the French troops of the 26th and 27th of January at Eylau." For other differences in this war Somov (December 1, 1807), he was awarded a gold sword with the inscription "For Bravery". Somov retired in 1809 and later died in 1815.
• Juliana Fedorovna Somova (1815-1856), Princess Galitzina, married Prince Nikolai Borisovich Galitzine (1802-1876).^[1]
• Afanasy Nikoaievich Somov (1823-1899) was a Senator and Governor of Tver.
• Andrey Ivanovich Somov (1830, St. Petersburg - 1909, ibid.), art historian, museum worker, and collector. He graduated from Larin's gymnasium in St. Petersburg and the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University (1854). He also attended classes at the Drawing School. He taught physics and mathematics until 1859. That year, he published the first accessible description of the art galleries of the Hermitage. In 1872–86, he issued a catalog of the art gallery of the Academy of Arts. From 1863 to 1886, he managed the office of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1883–89, he taught art history at the Higher Women's Courses (Bestuzhev Courses). From 1883 to 1890, Somov edited the Vestnik Izyaschnykh Iskusstv (Fine Arts Herald) journal. In 1878, he was elected a Fellow of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. In 1886, he assumed the post of a chief custodian of the art gallery of the Hermitage; during his tenure, he compiled a scientific catalog of the gallery (Vol. 1–3, 1889–95) and made a considerable contribution to the evolution of domestic museology and art history. He gathered a notable collection of drawings and china. Somov lived in his own house at 97 Ekaterininsky Canal Embankment (present-day Griboedova Canal Embankment) and was buried at Novodevichye cemetery. His son was an artist, K.A. Somov.
• Sergey Mikhailovich Somov (1854-1917?), Chamberlain of the Imperial Court, was the last Marshal of Nobility of Saint Petersburg. He was Afanasy's Nikolaievich nephew. His son, Sergey Sergeievich Somov, and his wife Natalia Vasilievna Naryshkin, hid a valuable treasure in Naryshkin-Trubetskoy Palace before emigrating to France. In April 2012, the treasure was found by workers who were restoring the palace. Members of the Naryshkin and Somov family claim it.^[2]
• Eudoxia Mihailovna Somova (Alexandrovsk-Lugansk 1850 - Nice, France 1924) 1st. Princess Orbeliani (widow of Alexander Orbeliani) 2nd. Princess Murat, married Prince Louis Napoléon Murat, Joachim Murat´s grandson. Eudoxia was the daughter of Cap. Mihail Alexandrovich Somov (Marshal of Nobility) and Princess Maria Pavlovna Chirinsky-Chikhmatov (Crimean Khanate).

Others

• Konstantin Somov (1869–1939), Russian painter
• Mikhail Mikhailovich Somov (1908–1973), Soviet oceanographer
• Orest Somov (1793–1833), Russian writer
• Osip Ivanovich Somov (1815–1876), Russian mathematician
• Iwaniec Ivanovic Somov is written in the book of the best-thousandth of the nobles and knights (1550). Three Somovs were killed by the Polish in the Time of Troubles.

Princes Shekhonskie-Somov

Extinct princely family, originated from Yaroslavl Princes (Principality of Yaroslavl) branch. According to P.N. Petrov's research, the Somov family descends from Shekhonskie princes, refuting the origins theory related to Prince Oslan - Chelebey.^{[3] [4]}

The Somov family is divided into several branches and is listed in the genealogical records of Voronezh, Ekaterinoslav, Kazan, Kaluga, Kursk, Moscow, Novgorod, Orel, Saratov, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Kharkov provinces. The Somov heraldry was included in the Armorial General of the Nobility of the Russian Empire (chapter IV, 110).

External links

• Armorial General of the Nobility of the Russian Empire
• Heraldry Materials and Research (Russian)
• Сергей Михайлович Сомов
• Princes Shehonskie-Somov
• Princes Shekhonskie

Notes and References

1. Book: The Almanach de Gotha, Voluma III. The Official Almanach De Saxe Gotha 2008. 8.
2. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/16089 St. Petersburg restorers find pre-Revolution treasure
3. Web site: Princes Shekhonskie. ru.
4. http://www.russianfamily.ru/sh/shekhonskii.html Шехонские князья (Shekhonskie Princes)