BRAMA, Aug 17, 2004, 9:00 am ET
Column
Kerry de Kiev?
— By Hanya Krill
Family portrait?
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Gazing at the digitally fashioned "portrait" on the left, you might detect a resemblance between the two subjects: Queen Anne of France (née Anne of Kiev) and U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry. Indeed, there is a familial connection according to Burke's Peerage, a British genealogical research firm. Reuters reported yesterday that Burke's has traced U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry's lineage back to Anne de Kiev of the House of Rus', among others.
"Kerry is a descendant of the former Kings of England, Henry III and Henry II and is distantly related to Richard the Lionheart, who led the third Crusade in 1189," Reuters reported. "He is also descended from Henry I, King of France and his wife, Anne of Kiev, giving him kinship with the royal houses of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the House of Rus."
Burke's routinely studies the bloodlines of prominent individuals. Even the family histories of U.S. presidents reveal links with royalty and other eminent ancestral connections. With their research showing that "every presidential candidate with the most royal genes and chromosomes" having always won, Burke's predicts that Kerry will triumph in November because his royal connections exceed those of any U.S. president.
Photo courtesy of Shevchenko Scientific Society, Sarcelles
Statue of Anne de Kiev in Senlis, France.
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The significance of this news to Ukrainians is the rather exciting notion that Kerry's heritage is tied to the House of Rus' and Anne of Kiev, and that a presidential candidate with his roots (albeit deep ones) in Ukraine may be sitting in the White House come January 2005.
Rus', more commonly known as Kyivan-Rus' (also spelled Kievan-Rus'), refers to what is today Ukraine. It should not be confused with Russia, which did not exist at the time. (The name "Russia" (Rossiya) was adopted in early 18th century by Muscovy, a land located to the north of Rus' that began its ascendancy in about the 13th century.)
Anne of Kiev was the daughter of Iaroslav the Wise (Яросляв Мудрий), Grand Prince of Kiev 1019-54. She was married in 1051 to Henry I of France, who desired an alliance for support against the Holy Roman Empire (Encyclopedia of Ukraine, 1984) as well as heirs to the throne of France. Anne reigned as Queen of France until Henry I died in 1060 and then as Regent until her son Philip I came of age (~1066). Besides Philip, Henry and Anne had two more sons and a daughter. Known to her French subjects as the "White Queen", Anne died in either 1078 or 1079.
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