The Alopaeus family (sometimes transliterated as Alopeus) is the name of Baltic-German noble family of Eastern Finnish descent, originating from Vyborg.

Coat of arms of the Alopaeus family

History

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Members of the family played an important political and ecclesiastical role in the history of Russia, Finland and Sweden. Some of them have fennicized the name to Kettunen[1] or Tuomas-Kettunen. They were ennobled in 1772 with the name Nordensvan, as part of the Swedish nobility and in 1782 as part of the nobility of the Duchy of Courland. Later, the family was awarded with the title of Baron in the Grand Duchy of Finland and Count in the Kingdom of Poland. Most notable members of the family served the Russian Empire as diplomats, which enabled them to get incorporated into the Russian nobility.

Notable members

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See also

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Swedish-speaking Finns

References

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  1. ^ Sukunimien muutokset Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (List of fennicized names)
  2. ^ Nordisk familjebok - Nordensvan
  3. ^ Frans David Alopaeus Archived 2007-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Suomalaiset kenraalit ja amiraalit Venäjän sotavoimissa 1809–1917 - Alopaeus, Fredrik". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  5. ^ "Magnus Jakob Alopaeus". Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-05.