In the Russian -speaking segment of the Internet, the belief is widespread that the first black president of the United States leads his family tree from the Russian monarchical dynasty. We checked the reliability of such publications.

In different years, the agency wrote about the kinship between Obama and Rurikovichs TASS, newspaper "Tomorrow"And the portal"Culturology.rf", And in 2013 the plot on this topic released TV channel "Russia 24". This statement is also popular among users of the blog platforms-the corresponding publications can be found on Pikabu and in "Zen". Thematic videos on YouTube and in Tiktok Hundreds of thousands and even millions of views are gaining.

Although the 44th US President is known as the first African American in this post, he has quite various ethnic roots. His father, Barack Obama - the eldest, in 1959 Arrived From Kenya to study at the University of Hawaii, where he met the mother of the future politician Stanley Ann Dunham, who later became famous Anthropologist scientist. It comes from an old American family, whose first representatives moved from Europe behind the ocean in the 17th century.

The most complete for today The genealogy Barack Obama-the youngest was made up of amateur genealoger William Addams Retetvzer, who for a long time studied the family ties of American politicians and celebrities. The data collected by him unequivocally indicate that the 44th President of the United States is a descendant in the 12th generation of the English gentleman from the county of Nottingmshire Edward Fitz Randolph (1607-c. 1684), who emigrated among Massachusetts in 1630.

The origin of this person was studied at once by several genealogues from the USA and Great Britain. According to research American Gary Boyda Roberts, Edward Fitz Randolf, a descendant of the Scottish king Wilhelm I Lev (rules in 1165–1214) in the 17th generation. According to Roberts, the illegitimate daughter of the king Isabel She married the Scottish baron Robert de Ros, and their great-granddaughter Alice de Ros (died in 1314) was the wife of the English knight Sir Jeffrey Saint-Wintin. From the reconstruction compiled by the genealogy, it follows that Edward Fitz Randolph was a descendant of Jeffrey and Alice in the 12th generation. However, in the book of Roberts there are no detailed links to sources for all related relationships described by him.

Wilhelm I Leo. Engraving of the middle of the XVIII century. Source: Wikimedia Commons

In more detail, the genealogy of Edward Fitz Randolph examined in the book dedicated to him by the researcher Oris Hugh Fitz Randolph. It was not possible to get acquainted with the full text of this work, but the main argument is set out in notes on the portal Wikitree. It follows that according to the documents, the genealogy of Edward Fitz Randolph, who had left for America, is unequivocally traced to Christopher Fitz Randolph, who died in 1475 in the county of Nottinghamshire. There are no sources in which the origin of this person is described, but, according to the assumption of the English genealogy, Sir Anthony Wagner (his notes were registered in the General Chamber of Great Britain on May 19, 1972 and September 3, 1975), he was the son of John Fitz Randolph, the grandson of John Fitzrandal from the county of Yorkshire and Joan (in the devices Skate). Some arguments in support of the kinship of the Nottingmshire and Yorkshire families of Fitz Randolph not so long ago discovered Participants in the Internet group "Society of Medieval Genealogy."

According to painting The Konyers clan compiled by an expert on English genealogy John Clea, Joan (John Fitzrandal's wife) was Sir John Horseshoe and Margaret (in the girlishness of de Saint-Wintin). There are no direct evidence that Margaret came from the Scottish royal family in the sources, and the option presented in the book of Roberts, as the author himself recognized, contains certain stretches. The issue of the origin of this woman considered in detail in her blog British amateur genealoger John Watson. He came to the conclusion that Margaret was the daughter of Thomas de Saint-Klintin, the son of Jeffrey de Saint-Klintin and his first wife Alice de Ros, that is, in comparison with the book of Roberts, the genealogy was reduced by two generations. The fact that Alice was the daughter of Sir William de Ros from Igmatorp is directly said in 1300 will Her Svekra William de Saint-Cvintin. In turn, according to the (backed links to sources) authoritative portal Theperage.com, William de Ros From Ingmantorp (d. 1310) was the son of another William de Rosa (d. approx. 1264) and grandson Isabella, illegitimate daughter of Wilhelm I Leo.

Thus, it is likely that Obama is really a descendant of the Scottish King Wilhelm I Leo in the 26th (or in the 28th, if you adhere to the reconstruction of Roberts) of the generation. Moreover, part of this genealogy is based on two documented, but plausible assumptions.

As for the family ties of Wilhelm I Lev with Rurikovich, they are not in doubt. The mother of the Scottish king was Ada de Varenne - daughter Elizabeth Vermandua and granddaughter Hugo, Count Vermandua, on the maternal line. In turn, Hugo is the youngest son of the French king Henry I (rules in 1031–1060) and Anna Yaroslavna, the daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Accordingly, Obama (adjusted for the above reservations) may well be a descendant of Anna Yaroslavna in the 30th (or 32nd) generation and the Kyiv prince Igor, the first unconditionally historically reliable representative of the Rurikovich clan, in the 34th (or 36th) generation. Igor's family ties with Rurik and the very existence of the alleged founder of the dynasty, as already It wrote “Checked”, remain in historical science the subject of discussion.

Anna Yaroslavna. Engraving of the middle of the XVII century. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Such aristocratic roots (or, in any case, claims against them) are difficult to call something unique in the American establishment, given the origin of many of its representatives from the relatively narrow circle of European immigrants, among which there were many nobles. Those, in turn, had related ties with European royal houses (often through illegitimate children), which, thanks to a series of dynastic marriages, were alienated with Rurikovich and Romanovs. So, the already mentioned book of Roberts shows the origin of the same Wilhelm I Leo (and, consequently, from the Rurikovich) of the first president of the United States George Washington, 19th- Rutherford Haisas well as the 41st and 43rd: George Bush - the eldest and George Bush - the younger. We make a reservation that this information was “verified”, it may contain errors or assumptions.

In 2015, on the eve of the presidential election appeared study Myheritage project about the genealogy of future candidates from the main American parties - Republican Donald Trump and democrats Hillary Clinton. It was claimed that they are distant related to each other, since both come from living at the end of the 14th century John Gont, Duke Lancaster. He is also in his father's (through grandmother Isabella, the daughter of the French king Philip IV beautiful), and by mother (through grandmother Jeanne Valois, the daughter of Karl Valois, the younger brother of the same Philip IV) the line came from the French Capetian dynasty, that is, he was a descendant of the same Anna Yaroslavna in the 12th generation.

On the other hand, to believe that all American presidents or prominent politicians can boast of royal roots without exception, erroneously. For example, in the most detailed Genealogy painting The current head of state, a descendant of Irish immigrants Joe Biden, no aristocratic ancestors were revealed.

Photo on the cover: The White House Via Wikimedia Commons