House of Yusupov

The Yusupovs (Russian: Юсуповы, tr. Yusupov'i) were a Russian noble family descended from the monarchs of the Nogai Horde, renowned for their immense wealth, philanthropy and art collections in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most notably, Prince Felix Yusupov II was famous for his involvement in the murder of Grigori Rasputin.

In the 14th century, Edigu, a Tatar from the Manghit tribe and one of Tamerlane's greatest strategists, settled on the north shores of the Black Sea, establishing the Nogai Horde and laying the foundations for the Crimean Khanate. Edigu's death was followed by infighting between his descendants, until, in the 15th century, Khan Yusuf became the head of the Nogai Horde.

Khan Yusuf allied himself with Tsar Ivan the Terrible, but the former allies eventually became enemies. Khan Yusuf's daughter Sumbecca was Queen of Kazan, and when Kazan was razed by Ivan, Khan Yusuf's daughter was taken as prisoner to Moscow. After Khan Yusuf died, another period of fighting between his descendants followed until the 17th century, when Abdul Mirza, another descendant, converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity under the name of Dmitry. After the conversion, Tsar Feodor I bestowed upon him the title of Prince Yusupov. The second son of the Steward Prince Dmitri Seyushevich Yusupov-Knyazhevo (died 1694) (twice married to Ekaterina Yakovlevna Sumarokova and to Princess Tatiana Fyodorovna Korkodinova (died 1719) (the first one, Prince Matvei Dmitrievich Yusupov, Steward, died young), Prince Grigori Dmitrievich Yusupov (November 17, 1676, Moscow - September 2, 1730, Moscow), General in Chief and Minister of Defense, was a friend of Peter the Great and helped him with the construction of the Russian Navy. In 1720 he was given a fief, the country estate and manor house in Rakityansky District, formerly owned by Ivan Mazepa. He married to Anna Nikitichna Akinfova (died 1735), daughter of Okolnichi Nikita Ivanovich Akinfov, the couple had, besides Prince Boris, three more children:

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