 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Scottish Russians" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Scottish Russians areRussians with full or partialScottish ancestry.Scottish migration to Russia occurred primarily during the early 17th-centuryPolish–Muscovite War, theIngrian War, and theThirty Years' War. Some estimates of the number of Scottish settlers inRussia during the 17th century are as high as 100,000. This has led some demographers to believe that the current number of Russians of a partial Scottish descent (in a varying degree) could be up to 1 or 2 million. There are believed to be around 400 different Russian surnames that owe their names to Scottish ancestors.[1]
Despite the long history of the Scottish presence in Russia, the 2021 Russian census was not recording individuals who claimed to be ethnic Scottish, it defined them as part of theBritish people instead, whose number was 1,167.[2] According to the same census, nobody in Russia claimed to be a native speaker of Scottish Gaelic or Scots.[3]
In 1507, four Scottish gunners were sent by KingChristian III of Denmark to support Russian-allied forces.[4] During thePolish–Russian War (1605–18), aregiment originally under the command of William Grim[5] and later under Captain (Rittmeister) Jacob Shaw was in the service of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the 1614 siege of the fortress ofBely theregiment switched sides, surrendered the fortress and joined Russia's military forces.[6][7][8][9] It was raised in Scotland, and acompany was raised in Ireland.[10] The regiment participated in severalRusso-Crimean Wars against theCrimean–Nogai raids.[11][12] Beginning in 1626, foreign mercenaries were identified by their Russian names and (after converting toOrthodox Christianity) typically received land, serfs, money and clothing.
A number of families of Scottish origin were part of theRussian Empire'slanded aristocracy. Two noble families were descended fromClan Ramsay:Ramsay andDe Balmen (bothcounts).[citation needed]
TheLeslie family was headed byAlexander Leslie of Auchintoul (died 1663 inSmolensk), a Scottish soldier in the service of thetsar. Leslie commanded Russian forces during theSiege of Smolensk (1654), one of the first major events of theRusso-Polish War (1654–67), and was descended fromClan Leslie of Auchintoul. The owner of Gorchakov Manor, he was thevoivode ofSmolensk.[citation needed]
Tam Dalyell of the Binns (1615–1685), aScottishRoyalistgeneral in theWars of the Three Kingdoms known as "Bluidy Tam" and "The Muscovite De'il", was in Russian service.William Drummond, 1st Viscount Strathallan,Lord Drummond ofCromlix (1617–1688), was alieutenant-general in the tsar's army.[citation needed]
Several families are descendants ofClan Hamilton. TheGamontovs (or Gamoltovs) are descendants of Petr Gomoltov-Hamilton, an officer of CountJacob De la Gardie since 1610 who remained in Russian service after theBattle of Klushino and had several granddaughters. The first (Eudoxia) was an aunt ofNatalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, theTsaritsa of Russia from 1671–1676 and the second wife of TsarAlexei I andregent of Russia as the mother ofPeter the Great in 1682. The second was a wife ofArtamon Matveyev. The best-known wasMary Hamilton (Maria Danilovna Gamil'ton,Гамильтон, died 14 March 1719),lady-in-waiting of EmpressCatherine I and mistress of TsarPeter the Great, who was executed for abortion, infanticide, theft and slander (of Catherine).
TheKhomutov family (Хомутовы) are descendants of Thomas Hamilton, a soldier who began Russian service in 1542 and arrived in the country with his son Petr (David).Michail G. Khomutov (Хомутов) was a cavalrygeneral,adjutant general and an earl (Russian:Hаказной атаман) of theDon Cossacks in from 1848 to 1862.Anna Khomutova (1787–1858) was a Russian writer, sister of Michail Khomutov and cousin ofIvan Kozlov. Thevon Fersen family are descendants of theClan Macpherson, andBaron Vasili Nikolaevich von Fersen (1858–1937) was an admiral in theImperial Russian Navy.
TheBruces are descendants of theClan Bruce.[13] CountRoman Vilimovich Bruce (1668–1720) was the first commander of Saint Petersburg, brother ofJacob Bruce and father ofAlexander Romanovich Bruce.[14] Bruce joined Peter the Great's army in 1683, became captain of thePreobrazhensky Regiment in 1695 and participated in Peter's 1695–6Azov campaigns.
Jacob Bruce (Брюс, 1669–1735) was a statesman, military leader and scientist descended from theClan Bruce. According to Bruce, his ancestors had lived in Russia since 1649. He was the brother ofRobert Bruce, the firstmilitary governor of Saint Petersburg.
CountYakov Alexandrovich Bruce (1732–1791) was a Russian general. Bruce was a grandson of Lieutenant GeneralRobert Bruce and a great-nephew ofJacob Bruce. His father was CountAlexander Bruce, andEkaterina Alekseyevna Dolgorukova was his stepmother. Bruce marriedPraskovia Rumiantseva, sister of General (laterField Marshal)Pyotr Rumyantsev.
PrinceMichael Andreas Barclay de Tolly was a field marshal andminister of war duringNapoleon's 1812 invasion and theWar of the Sixth Coalition. PrinceAlexander Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn (1824–1905) was a Russian regimental, division and corps commander. He was the son of Wilhelm Peter Jost von Weymarn, and the grandson of Kristina Bogdanovna Barclay de Tolly.[citation needed]
TheLermontovs were descendants ofGeorge Learmonth (Лермонт), anensign in Jacob Shaw's regiment during theSmolensk War (1632–1634). ARittmeister ofReiters commanded by SemenProzorovsky, Learmonth died in battle against soldiers commanded byField Hetman of LithuaniaKrzysztof Radziwiłł in August 1633.
Mikhail Lermontov, of theLearmonth family, can be traced to George Learmonth.[15] According to his family, George Learmonth descended from the 13th-centuryScottish poetThomas the Rhymer (also known as Thomas Learmonth).[16]
Julia Lermontova (1846–1919), the first female Russianchemist,[17] was the first woman in the world to obtain adoctorate inchemistry, graduatingmagna cum laude.[18] Lermontova studied at theUniversities of Heidelberg andBerlin before receiving a doctorate from theUniversity of Göttingen in 1874.[17] She was inducted into the Russian Chemical Society the following year.[17]
Mikhail N. Lermontov (Лермонтов, Михаил Николаевич) (1792–1866) was anadmiral who served with distinction in theFinnish War (1808–1809) and theCrimean War.Alexander Mikhailovich Lermontov (1838–1906) was a division commander who participated in theRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878) and liberatedBurgas,Bulgaria.Mikhail Lermontov, born 27 January 1953 inPyatigorsk, is a doctor ofculturology and was a member of theCivic Chamber of the Russian Federation from 2014 to 2017.
TheFamintsyns are descendants of theClan MacThomas by Kristof Tobias Tomson-Hominsky, a soldier in the Russian service. Egor Famintsyn was an ober-commandant of thePetropavlovkaya Fortress,[19] andAndrei Famintsyn (Андрей Серге́евич Фаминцын) (1835, Moscow – 1918, Saint Petersburg) was abotanist andacademician at thePetersburg Academy of Sciences in 1884.Alexander Famitsin (1841–1896) was a Russian musical writer, critic andmusicologist, a professor atSaint Petersburg Conservatory, a pupil ofIgnaz Moscheles,Moritz HauptmannErnst Richter, and a friend ofAlexander Serov.
TheKravtsovs are descendants of Donoghue Macgermerie-Mangarmov, a mercenary who was recruited for Jacob Shaw's regiment.Alexander J. Kravtsov, was an Imperial Army officer duringWorld War I and a commander of theOrenburg Army's north group in theWhite movement duringAlexander Dutov's revolt against Soviet authorities inOrenburg. He received theGold Sword for Bravery during World War I on theEastern Front for valor in 1915.
TheArtamonovs were descendants of Art MacKeen-Magin, a soldier in thePolish–Lithuanian service who settled in Russia and became apomeschik inVologda. His son Ivan was ancestor of Artamonovs.Nikolay D. Artamonov (1840—1918) was aGeneral of the Infantry, a militarygeodesist and a member of theRussian Astronomical Society.
Charles Cameron (1745–1812) was an architect who had an illustrious career at the court ofCatherine II. Cameron, a devotee of earlyneoclassical architecture, was the chief architect ofTsarskoye Selo, thePavlovsk Palace and the adjacentnew town of Sophia from his 1779 arrival in Russia to Catherine's death in 1796. CountAndrey Matveyev (1666–1728), whose mother was Scottish, was one of the first Russian ambassadors andPeter the Great's agent in London andThe Hague.
TheGreig branch (Грейг) ofClan Gregor changed its name to "Greig" due to persecution of the MacGregors after theJacobite rising of 1745.Samuel Greig (Самуи́л Ка́рлович Грейг), (1735,Inverkeithing,Fife,Scotland – 15 October 1788,Tallinn,Estonia,Russian Empire) was anadmiral who distinguished himself in theBattle of Chesma (1770) and theBattle of Hogland (1788). His son,Alexey Greig, also had a career in theImperial Russian Navy.
Friedrich von Löwis of Menar (Russian:Фёдор Фёдорович Левиз, 6 September 1767,Haapsalu – 16 April 1824) was a lieutenant-general during theNapoleonic Wars. His family (commonly spelled "Lewis" in English) came to Sweden from South Scotland around 1630. By the time of Fedor's birth, his family was established inLivonia.William Fermor was anImperial Russian Army officer best known for leading his country's army at theBattle of Zorndorf during theSeven Years' War.
TheHouse of Gordon includedPatrick Gordon (1635, Auchleuchries, Aberdeenshire, Scotland – 1699, Moscow), ageneral and rear admiral. Gordon, descended from an Aberdeenshire family who owned a small estate in Auchleuchries (nearEllon, was connected to the clan's Haddo branch.Alexander Gordon (1670–1752) was a general who fought underPeter the Great from 1696 to 1711 and for theJacobites in theJacobite rising of 1715. Gordon is mentioned as "Sandy Don" in the song, "Cam Ye O'er Frae France". He wrote a history of Peter the Great (including a brief account of his own life) which was published inAberdeen in 1755 and inLeipzig a decade later and is available online.[20]Thomas Gordon (c. 1658–1741) was acommodore of theRoyal Scots Navy and anImperial Russian Navyadmiral.[citation needed]
Vasily Heste (Гесте) (c. 1753–1832) was an architect,civil engineer andtown planner. Because of his influence at court, Heste's designs for buildings and towns remain throughout Russia. He built theBlue,Green,Red andPotseluev bridges.[citation needed]
Foma Fomich Mekenzi (1740–1786) was a rear admiral who founded the city ofSevastopol in 1783. Of Scottish Catholic origin from theClan Mackenzie, he was born in the spring of 1740 (two years after his parents' marriage).[21] MacKenzie was the son of another Thomas MacKenzie (Foma Kalinovich Mekenzi;Russian:Фома Калинович Мекензи where Kalinovich signifies "son of Colin"), who was also a rear admiral in Russian service.[22] His mother, Ann MacKenzie (née Young), was the granddaughter ofKronstadt governorThomas Gordon.
 Ancestry in Russia | |
|---|---|
| Africa | |
| Asia | |
| Europe | |
| Africa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia |
| ||||||
| Europe | |||||||
| Middle East | |||||||
| North America | |||||||
| Oceania | |||||||
| South America | |||||||
