Watching the Formula Renault race in Monaco, I was amused to note the presence of some curiously familiar names, all racing for Fortec Motorsport, which is run by my old mate Richard Dutton. Dutton has four cars in the series this year for Russians Vasily Romanov and Nikita Troitskiy, Brazilian Bruno Baptista and Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg. Those with any interest in history will know that the Habsburgs and the Romanovs were the royal houses of the Austro-Hungarian empire and Imperial Russia.
I did a little googling and discovered that the name on the side of the Habsburg car could actually be Archduke Ferdinand Zvonimir von Habsburg (full name: Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard von Habsburg), as he is the heir apparent to the Habsburg dynasty, although the family’s claims to the Austrian throne were renounced by his grandfather Otto von Habsburg many years ago.
Still, I do like the fact that an Archduke came have Keith as one of his names. I wondered (tangentally)if there were any royals with such names in the world today and discovered, to my amusement, that there have been a Prince Ian, a Princess Shirley, a Prince Leonard and a Prince Wayne in something called the Principality of Hutt River, a self-styled independent sovereign state of 18,500-acres, which seceded from Australia in 1970. Monaco, by the way, is just 500 acres so Hutt River is massive by comparison. It issues its own passports, currency and postage stamps and continues to exist, I guess, because no-one in Canberra can be bothered to send a tank 325 miles to the north of Perth to reclaim sovereignty. I suspect that this is because the quirky invention draws tourists to the region and attracts revenues.
Anyway, back to the racing, Troitskiy has a name that is not dissimilar to that of the celebrated Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who played a major role in overthrowing the Romanovs, but who later fell foul of that nice Joe Stalin and ended up with an icepick in his head. Historically there have always been different ways of rendering Russian names into English and there are today several standards of transliteration of Cyrillic into English. But then I remembered that Trotsky was not actually the real name of said politician, as he was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, much as Lenin and Stalin were also both assumed names.
As to Vasily Romanov, the odd thing is that his name is exactly the same (allowing for transliterations) as the last prince born in Russia before the Bolshevik revolution, who was a nephew of Czar Nicholas II. Prince Vasily was fortunate to have been on holiday in the Crimea when the Russian Revolution took place and thus avoided the fate of most of his relatives, murdered by the Bolsheviks. I could find no link between the two Vasily Romanovs, but to be fair I have not tried very hard as it is a wildly complicated business, given that there are various branches of the Imperial Family, mostly in the United States.
I think I’ll just go and find him at some race meeting and ask him…
joeblogsf1 
Is it just me that thinks Princess Charlene of Monaco sounds a bit Ramsay Street?
i always keep an eye on fortec. they used to be based near my home in grantham
any famous ancestry going on with the brazilian baptista then?
I think it’s safe to assume they all come from families with vast, immense, and near limitless wealth, aside from any political past.
Cool and funny article….nice one!
Well…with my on-site title, I have to agree, don’t I ?
Ioseb Vissarionovich Jughashvili doesn’t have quite
the ring of steel…STALIN !
Neither does Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov…LENIN !
And then there’s Bronstein…..who sounds like
a character in a TV series about Brooklyn…TROTSKY.
What a fine, fine world they created between them, eh ?
Reckon he’s just Keef when he’s down the dogs?
Romanov is very common last name in Russia.
It is in top 50 of last names.
Basically long time ago such last name was given to the son of Roman.
Top 3 last names
Ivanov, son of Ivan
Petrov son of Peter
Vasiliev son of Vassily
There are last names bind to work
like
Popov is son of preacher man
Kuznetsov is son of blacksmith
The only heritage-related last name in Top 100 is Shultz,
So WEC racer Mark Shulzhitskiy probably has german heritage, and since all Russian queens came from Germany since late 17th century he had much more chances to be related to Russian monarchs.
I’m sure Dusty Springfield will approve of Popov…
Dear Joe, all
A bit hard for Dusty to approve when she’s been dead for 17 years!
Cheers
MarkR
Heh. I’m a Popov – but had not know until now! Joe’s blog just keeps on giving!
I saw the Habsburg name when FR raced at Spa a couple of weeks ago. Did exactly the same checks! It’s a funny old world, indeed.
Joe, I look at a lot of Formula 1 stuff on the Interweb every day, but I always come here first, and this article is a good example of why…. History is fascinating study and adds so many layers to understanding ‘now’ – or ‘then’, as it will be by the time you read this. Great stuff, top man etc… Thank you sir.
Troitskiy (Troitsky, Троицкий) originates from word Troitsa (Троица), meaning Trinity.
Trotsky (Троцкий) along with some other last names originate (through some etymological acrobatics) from the fist name Trofim.
So no, there is no relation between two.
I think I said that in the article
A slight but almost relevant aside, but there is a fascinating book out called ‘An Atlas of Countries that don’t exist’ out. Some quite obscure countries and Royal families out there!
I recall Trotsky being done in with an ice AXE, not an icepick. So agreeeth the Web. I saw a one-act, six-scene play called The Death Of Trotsky in which he was walking around with one stuck in (strapped to, actually) his head until his wife notices and tells him about it.
I’m not sure I know the difference, nor indeed do I need to…
Pick = ice tray in fridge.
Axe = Glacier.
“the ice-pick that killed Leon Trotsky, appears to have been found, 65 years after it was apparently stolen from the Mexican police.”
Many years ago there was an article in something like “Time” that showed Trotsky with the item buried in his bonse in Mexico if I remember correctly. Not pretty but it certainly looked like an implement intended for ice.
Not according to The Stranglers. The lyrics to No More Heroes says “he got an ice pick that made his ears burn.”
You are a historian, Joe. So may I pursue this argument further.
Ice axe: something that climbers use. T-shaped, smallest dimension approx 12″ or 300 mm.
Ice pick: something used by servants to break up frozen water for cocktail drinks in the 1900s and earlier. T-shaped, about 4″ or 100 mm with a very sharp point. Commonly reported in lurid gangster stories as an assassination weapon.
So if you intended to kill somebody who may not have trusted you, which ice weapon would you choose (or pick)? The big axe, transported to Mexico where alpine climbs are bizarre, not easily hidden in Mercader’s coat? Or the small pick?
I believe there was a variety of ice pick which was just a straight spike; IIRC one of Raymond Chandler’s novels has a murderer concealing said weapon up his trouser leg.
There’s a Stalin museum in Tblisi, which seems a little odd to my capitalist running-dog mind.
all three there on merit no doubt.
Have recently been reading historical books involving the Habsburgs and their Empire and am about to start reading one on the Romanovs. If the Habsurgs are anything to go by, it’s going to be a right old yarn of births, deaths, marriages, plots, intrigue, murder and assassinations.
The murder of Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Habsburg throne) was catalyst to WWI (one).
One of the chauffeurs in the Sarajevo motorcade was Otto Merz, who later won the 1927 German GP in a Merecedes. He is said to have been the person who carried the stricken Archduke out of his car and into a nearby house to render sadly fruitless first aid.
Hi Davey.
For a later read may I recommend “Iron Kingdom – The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947” by Christopher Clark. Would make a good companion perspective to the Habsburg book.
Would you mind sharing the title of the Austro book you refer to? I would like to find a copy myself.
Joe, My friend Jamie Campbell Walker is looking after the up and fast charging Habsburg. A quick driver, very skinny but is busy learning his trade. Jamie is doing a cracking job too.
No more Russian History. This reminds me of my Removes year at Haileybury in 1982….Russian and Chinese History. Hell on Earth with the late Rev Steward.
The Archduke came to my attention when he was competing at the beginning of the year in the (New Zealand) Toyota Racing Series, which was broadcast on an obscure TV channel.
Memories of school history lessons suggested that someone had got the spelling of the family name wrong in the captions, but it turns out that it’s Habsburg (and NOT Hapsburg).
Although His Grace (or should that be ‘His Majesty’?) has a distinctly aristocratic appearance, he speaks fluent English … with a slightly estuarian accent. Good in yer, Ferdy.
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. I bet a lot people do not know that the Bolshevik Revolution was actually a Jewish led massacre of Christian Russians, of which we still feel the repercussions to this very day. This is real history not taught in grade school. In fact, Bronstein and his boys…were funded by Wall St. financiers of the same ilk. So much hidden from us “regular” folk. God bless you Joe for even calling Trotsky out by his real name. That takes real attachments in this day and age.
This is a motorsport blog. Do we need the anti-semitic conspiracy theories?
Resounding no
Why resort to name calling ‘Sam’. How is pointing out that Trovsky was Jewish anti-semitic? And if you knew what anti-semitic really means, you wouldn’t be using that word. Go learn some his-story.
I feel so embarrassed in 2016 to explain that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a bunch of lies.
I’m not embarrassed for myself; I’m embarrassed that internet connected people haven’t worked out that they’ve been sold a lot of nonsense.
Back to the racing please!
I was just about to post the same thing ‘Mike in NY’. It’s reassuring to see that there still are informed people about.
Funny!
As an aside, Interesting how little royalty you see in serious motor racing these days …
As an English Republican, I’ve noticed that too. The Royals who have turned up to present prizes have done it with dignity and respect to the drivers and marshals who put their necks on the line. And the drivers received their prizes with good grace. If you have manners, how else do you behave?
How do you smile if Putin gives you a cup?
That’s easy. You smile if you are Russian because they all think he’s wonderful.
I don’t think we can continue this discussion further, “for the benefit of others”, a euphemism which I would rather forget.
Dear Jo,
I promise just to enjoy your brilliant outside the box articles and take them for what they are…. just plain fun facts.
Thanks
PS, drop in the missing e… was bad typing only… respect
Actually… I’d like to know too. We’re coming back full circle: Gentleman Drivers !
Sadly you didn’t dig into the brazilian ancestors, you very well find a guy named John that used to pour water on people heads in the Jordan river. 🙂 Funny post nevertheless.
That would be the same John who became the dictator in Cuba
🙂
There is a lovely snap shot of the Principality of Hut in this superb film clip from the 1970 London to Sydney marathon rally ( a true endurance event).
When the rally cars were shipped over from India (?) they landed at Perth WA for the final leg to Sydney.
The eccentric farmer who decided to claim his land as a nation state within Auz (to get round the farming quotas being imposed by the Aussie government) is shown in this rally film giving the drivers a passport stamp .
A passport stamp From the principality of hut!
Thanks for mentioning this in your GP blog!
locally, (here in WA) the Hutt River Province has almost been forgotten; it was seen for what it was (as Tin Top Racer mentioned) & other anti-government angst. Self promotion was seen for what it was.
Back to racing, thanks Joe for the reports; always a good read.
I visited there on a trip to Perth (we went on a tour up to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins), unfortunately I didn’t have my passport with me on the trip, otherwise I would have gotten it stamped.
Many years ago when my old man had had a few too many, he rang Prince Leonard of Hutt River up to see if he was interested in letting my old man enter the Olympics under a Hutt River banner. Unsurpisingly the Prince declined the old boy’s offer….
Ben – shame the Prince said no. Was your dad looking at entering a particular event? I guess he would have been Captain and flag bearer as well. 😉
I think the old boy was probably planning on representing Hutt River in the Drinkathlon…
Apologies if this counts as off topic.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (bear with me) spin-off, Angel – very pretty and regal actress in that, Stephanie Romanov (played Wolfram and Hart lawyer, Lilah Morgan), is a direct descendent.
Not seen much of her since, though she played a Kennedy at some point?
Late to the party, but having just read the article, I assumed that Baptista would be linked with Fulgencio Batista, the Cuban dictator deposed by Fidel Castro.
Seems to belong to that crowd.