Vorontsov

[2][3] 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.

Under Empress Elizabeth (reigned 1741-1762), its fortunes soared once again, when Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov became Vice-Chancellor of the Russian Empire.

The latter's son, Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (1782–1856), became a prominent general who fostered the colonisation of New Russia and led the Russian army in the Caucasus.

Its most notable representative, Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov (1837–1916), served as Minister of Imperial Properties (1881–1897) and as the General Governor of the Caucasus in 1905–1915.

He was officially in charge of the victorious Russian forces in the Battle of Sarikamish (December 1914 to January 1915) during the early months of World War I.