Welcome to the family site!

Dear friends,

      In December 2003, when we opened this website, we said:

            "Our goal is to provide the descendants as well as the friends of the GHIKA family of Romania with all the data that, in all modesty, we have gathered regarding our ancestors, those people who, for centuries, have forged this great family and are part of our Country's History ..."  (dec. 2003)

     And after 4 years, with your help, we (nearly) reached our objective: create and make available for all, a full and up-to-date genealogical family Tree - to our knowledge, the only complete and printable Ghika's Tree existing nowadays.
   We are aware that, due to the quantity of data it contains, improvements are always possible and that ongoing maintenance is needed (corrections, complements, etc.). We of course commit to do so with all our possible means.

       We also commit to enrich our website with pages introducing to the Family's history and to its most renowned members and their main achievements. That's the reason why, and you may have noticed it, the header website has been changed.

     At the same time, the website is at disposal to all of those - amateur or professional - who want, with their contributions, help us in our new ambition, as well as to the descendants of the other Families who want to present, amend or update their own family tree.

     All contributions will only be accepted through the Inscription page, which will enable us to both identify the contributor and check the reliability of the sources.

      As stated in the website's Regulation, this site is a family affair, it is not for profit, and we cannot and do not wish to stand in for the historians, writers or researchers who have worked at it (and who, moreover, are not always in agreement over their findings and conclusions).

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NOTA concerning spelling: Ghika, Ghyka or Ghica?

   During 17th and 18th centuries the name is spelled in Cyrillic or Greek alphabet.
   In the 19th century, after the Latin alphabet has been introduced in the Principalities, it has been agreed by the members of the Family that the Moldavian branch would sign Ghyka, while the Wallachian branch would sign Ghika. In addition, into the Wallachian branch, Ion D. Ghica (1816-1897) and his descendants sign Ghica, as Ion Ghica didn’t accept the “k” which he considered as “not Romanian”

Later years and today
   In Romania and into Romanian historical records, the name is usually spelled Ghica (and less often Ghika)
   Expatriates and those living abroad adopted the spelling Ghika, also including the descendants of Ion D. Ghica
   Into the Moldavian branch of Grigore V Ghyka X, considering that the Reigning Prince signed Ghyka, his descendants, leaving in Romania or abroad, kept the spelling Ghyka
On our website (www.ghika.net) we generally use Ghika, but we respect the Ghyka spelling of Grigore V Ghyka X Moldavian branch, as well as the Ghica spelling of Ion D. Ghica and his decents who have requested us to do so.

   Ghica / Ghika / Ghyka surname exists in Romania and worldwide, without being part of the Romanian Principalities’ Reigning Family. Among them are also impostors (even on the web), but they are usually only namesakes. In Greece (where the Ghika surname is very frequent), in Romania (Ghica), etc…

Comment on two specific spellings :
   Gyika (Ghika de Deszanfàlva): this Hungaryan family claims lineage from a certain Constantin-Emmanuel Ghika (18th century), himself being descendant from the son of Scarlat Ghika V; this descent has been accepted in 19th century, even by some Ghyka of the princely family. Today’s Romanian historians however tend to agree that this Constantin-Emmanuel Ghika never existed, and that the Ghikas at that time validated the descent in order to justify a link with the family of Baron Sina.
You will find on the family tree the descent link between Constantin-Emanuel and Iphigénie Sina, but with a question mark; there is also a comment on the page “Questions about the family tree”
   Gjika: this is a surname used by Albanians impostors to appropriate the writer Elena Ghika (Dora d’Istria), by claiming she was Albanian

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 Calendar reform

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