Cantacuzino family

Short history

The Cantacuzino family is one of the oldest noble families in Romania and in the Balkans, the first mentions of it dating back to the 11th century AD. Over the centuries, the family has given the world great rulers and statesmen, scholars and many other personalities, in various fields of activity.
This is a very brief review of the most important milestones in the existence of the family, its members being directly involved in the reference moments of the history of the country and the region (for a more comprehensive presentation of the family's history, see Ion Mihai Cantacuzino's book "One thousand years in the Balkans", Albatros Publishing House, 1996).

XI - XII centuries

In the year 1094, “[…] a Wallachian chief came to the emperor Alexios (Comnen) to inform him about the Cumans who had crossed the Danube. Then he (the emperor) sent Cantacuzino and still other chiefs with the foreign troops to a place called Thermes." It is the first mention (in the Alexiad, written by Ana Comnena between 1137 and 1148) of the name Cantacuzino (Kantakouzenos, in Greek).

XIII – XIV centuries

In 1262, Mihail Cantacuzino became the governor of the Byzantine possessions in Morea. Half a century later, Ioan Cantacuzino was named chief domestic of Emperor Andronicus III, so that in 1347 he was crowned emperor under the name of John VI. He abdicated (a rare event in the era) in 1354, after which he retired to the monastery, where he "wrote the history of his era".

XV – XVI centuries

In 1519, Theodor Spandunino Cantacuzino published in Paris "Genealogy of the Sultan of the Turks, currently reigning".
Towards the end of the 16th century, Mihai Cantacuzino (nicknamed Seitanoglu by the Turks, meaning "son of the Devil") becomes such an important figure at the sultan's court that he names his brothers-in-law (Alexandru and Petre Șchiopul) sultans of Wallachia and, respectively , Moldova, or deposes and replaces the Patriarch of Constantinople; he was, however, killed by order of the new sultan Murad III, in 1578. In 1593, his son, Andronic, contributed to the appointment as voivode of Wallachia of ban Mihai - better known as Mihai the Brave.

XVI – XVIII centuries

Șerban Cantacuzino, ruler of Wallachia (1679 – 1688), builds the Cotrocen monastery (demolished in the 80s, on the instructions of Elena Ceaușescu), the Șerban-Vodă inn, reopens the Mitropoliia printing house, orders the Greceanu brothers to print the first Bible in Romanian.
Mihai Cantacuzino builds the Sinaia monastery (inaugurated in 1695), and in 1704, he inaugurates the Colțea Hospital next to the monastery of the same name, also erected by him.
Pârvu Cantacuzino finished the Horezu monastery in 1694.
In 1700, Constantin Cantacuzino prints the first map of Wallachia and he also begins a history of Wallachia.
Prince Grigore Cantacuzino fights, in the Russian army, against Napoleon Bonaparte. He is wounded at Austerlitz and will be killed at Borodino. Gheorghe Cantacuzino is also wounded at Friedland.

XIX century

After the revolution of 1848, Constantin Cantacuzino was named, for less than a year, caimacam of the Romanian Land.
During the War of Independence in 1877, the cavalry officer Pavel Cantacuzino stood out in the Russian army, and in the Romanian army the engineer officer Iancu and nurse Maria Cantacuzino.
Starting in 1880, Ioana A. Cantacuzino translates and popularizes Schopenhauer's works into French.
In the new kingdom of Romania, Gheorghe Cantacuzino (Nababul) becomes head of the Conservative Party, President of the Senate, and twice head of the Government.
In 1875, Jean Basile Cantacuzino designs, and Iancu Cantacuzino completes, the Ploiesti-Sinaia-Predeal railway, then the National section in 1882. The first director of the newly established Romanian Railways is Gogu Cantacuzino.
In 1899, George Matei Cantacuzino, who would become a famous architect, painter and writer, was born in Vienna.

XX century

During the First World War, ten members of the Cantacuzino family fight on the side of the Russians and, starting in 1916, another five are enlisted in the Romanian army.
The Treaty of Trianon is signed, on the Romanian side, by Dr. Ion Cantacuzino and Nicolae Titulescu.
During the Second World War, the painter Andronic Cantacuzino is killed in the battle of the Danube Bend, and Raymund Cantacuzino is taken prisoner in Stalingrad and will return to Munich after ten years of captivity. More fortunate, Alexander Cantacuzino, a prisoner of the British, was released in 1946.
In 1948, Captain Constantin (Bâzu) Cantacuzino, the ace of Romanian aviation during the Second World War, fled the country and settled in Spain.
Magistrate Adolf Cantacuzino dies, at the age of 67, in the camp at the Danube-Black Sea Canal. Other family members such as Ion Gheorghe, Constantin, Dan and Marie-Ioana manage to escape alive from the communist camps.
Currently, members of the Cantacuzino family live in France, USA, Switzerland, Great Britain, Sweden and Romania.