Belosselsky-Belozersky family
The 'Belosselsky-Belozersky family is an aristocratic Russian family.
Origins
On Krestovsky Island
Two of the last Belosselsky-Belozersky Princes to reside on Krestovsky Island (the sons of Konstantin), Sergei Konstantinovich, and Esper Konstantinovich Belosselsky-Belozersky were successful sportsmen and promoters of equestrian and sailing sports. Sergei Konstantinovich was the second representative from Russia on the International Olympic Committee and worked closely with de Coubertin (who launched the modern Olympic movement). Sergei was part of the Organizing committee of the Paris Olympics of 1900 and took part in the equestrian competitions. The younger brother of Sergei Konstantinovich, Esper Konstantinovich was an avid sailor who won a Bronze medal for Russia in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics (in the 10 meter class).
After the Russian Revolution (1917)
The Belosselsky-Belozersky family was forced to flee St. Petersburg/Petrograd and their Krestovsky Island estate during the 1917 revolution, leaving to the West and leaving no one in Russia. Prince Konstantin (+1920) and his wife Nadezhda Dimitrievna, nee Skobeleva(+1919) had three daughters and two sons. The Revolution split the family and their lives apart. Konstantin Esperovich and Nadezhda Dimitrievna fled to Vyborg/Viipuri in Finland during the late summer of 1917 (they had acquired a stone house by the Vyborg railway station). Eventually, as it became obvious that the events in Petrograd were not "temporary" and as Finland was absorbed in a civil war between the Reds and the Whites, they moved to London and then to Paris. They never returned to Russia.
Their daughter Olga Konstantinovna and her son Nicholas Vladimirovich fled via Crimea to France in the company of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on the British ship HMS. Marlborough (She had married Prince, Lieutenant General, General Adjutant of His Majesty and Chief of Chancellery, Vladimir N. Orlov; Serov painted her, main pieces currently in the Russian Museum - St. Petersburg -Benoit wing). Her sister Elena Konstantinovna left with her husband Prince Victor Sergeievich Kotchubey, their estate "Dikanka" in Ukraine for France and Paris(famous Kotchubey estate, steeped in the Ukrainian/Russian history, near Poltava; eulogized by Pushkin and Gogol in poems). The youngest daughter Maria Konstantinovna ended up in London (married to Major General Boris E.Hartman, commander of the Chevalier/Horse Guards Regiment).
Of the two sons of Konstantin Esperovich and Nadezhda Dimitrievna, the older son Sergei Konstaninovich (+1954) moved to London and to Tonbridge in Sussex. His son Sergei Sergeievich (1898-1978) lived in London and Paris before moving to the USA prior to WW II. A second son Andrew moved also with Sergei Konstantinovich to London and Tonbridge. He died childless (+1961). Surviving family of this Sergei Konstantinovich branch are daughters of Sergei Sergeievich and their families; Princess Marina Sergeyevna Kazarda, (1945-) and Princess Tatiana Sergeyevna Besamat (1947-). No direct male Belosselsky-Belozersky descendants remain in this "Sergeyevich" branch of the family.
The Rurikid princely family
Of this Rurikid princely family (meaning that the family has existing direct line of male, father to son, descendants from the Viking/Varangian Prince Rurik, who started Russia during the Kievan Rus period in 870-890s) there are still today direct male descendants living in the USA, France and Finland. Esper Konstantinovich Belosselsky (1870-1921) moved to France, Paris, via Finland and is buried in the Batignolles cemetery in the Paris' 17th arrondissement. He had three sons, of which two had male descendants. His son Georges Esperovich, who remained in France (1913-2005) had three sons, who have had two sons to date. All live in France today. Esper Konstantinovich' son Paul Esperovich (1917-2005) returned to Finland in 1922 with his step-father, Her Majestys Life Cuirassiers Colonel, Vitaly Vitalievich Tselebrovsky and remained in Finland. Paul Esperovich had a son, Paul Pavlovich born in Finland (1948-). He moved to the USA in the early 1970s. He in turn has a son Christian Pavlovich (1977-) and a daughter Alison Pavlovna. Both live in the USA.
There remain seven direct male descendants of the Rurikid Belosselsky-Belozerskys as of 2009 now in the 32nd generation from Rurik. These "Esperoviches" are the only surviving male branch of the Belosselsky-Belozerskys today and all hail their roots from St. Petersburg and this beautiful and sporty Krestovsky "Ostrov" (Island).