Vorontsov

The House of Vorontsov (Russian: Воронцо́в), also Woroncow and de Woroncow-Wojtkowicz, is the name of a Russian noble family whose members attained the dignity of Counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1744 and became Princes of the Russian Empire in 1852, with the style of Serene Highness. Most likely, the Vorontsovs represent a collateral branch of the great Velyaminov family of Muscovite boyars, which claimed male-line descent from a Varangian nobleman named Šimon. The Velyaminovs served as hereditary mayors of Moscow until the office was abolished by Dmitry Donskoy (Prince of Moscow from 1359 to 1389), whose own mother came from this family.