Ghica family

The Ghica family (Romanian: Ghica, Greek: Gikas, Γκίκαs) was a noble family active in Wallachia, Moldavia and in the Kingdom of Romania, between the 17th and 19th centuries. In the 18th century, several branches of the family went through a process of Hellenization (into the Phanariote social network). The Ghicas also held the (agnatic) rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire (fürst), a title first bestowed upon Grigore II Ghica in 1673 by Leopold I.

The family's origins are not clear and there isn't yet a consensus among scholars. The writer Dora d'Istria (1828–1888), a descendant, claimed that the family hailed from southern Albania. Albanologist Robert Elsie views the family as being of Albanian origin. It has also been suggested that the family was of Aromanian origin. A legend — full of Oriental charm, historical inaccuracies and anachronisms — transmitted by the Moldavian chronicler Ion Neculce speaks about two poor boys destined to greatness, meeting on the road to Constantinople, and who promise mutual support in the future to come: one is an "Arbëreshë" ("an Albanian" or "a speaker of Albanian", merchant multilingualism notwithstanding) standing in for Gheorghe Ghica, the founder of the Ghica family, while on the other is a "Turk from Cyprus" — the founder of the Köprülü family. On the other hand, later members of the Ghica family displayed an Aromanian national consciousness (the Austrian branches being heteroidentified as of Aromanian origin) or promoted Aromanian culture — e.g., Grigore III Ghica's plans for an Aromanian school network in the Ottoman ruled areas of the Balkans. Each of the two theories strongly influenced the Albanian and, respectively, the Aromanian communities in Romania and elsewhere, with each claiming the Ghica's as their own. In any case, until 1777 — the year Grigore III Ghica was assassinated for opposing the annexation of Bukovina by the Habsburgs, the Ghicas' identity oscillated only between a Romanian and a Hellenic (Greek-Phanariote) one; subsequently, a firm Romanian self-identity can be ascribed to the family.

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