Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: November 11, 1974
Ethnicity:
*father – Italian, German
*mother – German, Russian
Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor, producer, and environmentalist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Revenant (2015). He has also starred in the films Critters 3, This Boy’s Life, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries, The Quick and the Dead, Total Eclipse, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Marvin’s Room, Titanic, The Man in the Iron Mask, Celebrity, The Beach, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, Blood Diamond, Body of Lies, Revolutionary Road, Shutter Island, Inception, J. Edgar, Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and Don’t Look Up, and on television’s Growing Pains.
He is the son of Irmelin (Indenbirken), a legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, a comic book writer and distributor. His father is of half Italian and half German ancestry, while his mother, a German immigrant, is of German and Russian descent. A picture of Leonardo with his mother and maternal grandmother can be seen here.
He is said to have been named Leonardo because, he first started kicking inside his mother’s womb when she was viewing a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum.
Leonardo’s paternal grandfather was George Leon DiCaprio (the son of Salvatore D. DiCaprio and Rosina Cassella). George was born in New York, to Italian parents. Salvatore was born in Alife, Province of Caserta, Campania, the son of Biase/Biagio Di Caprio/DiCaprio and Maria Emanuela/Emanuele Incagnoli. Rosina was also born in Alife, the daughter of Cipriano Cassella and Camilla Conzales.
Leonardo’s paternal grandmother was Olga Anne Jacobs (the daughter of Paul Jacobs and Bertha Ludwig). Leonardo’s grandmother Olga was a German emigrant, with her family possibly being from Munich, Bavaria.
Leonardo’s maternal grandfather was Wilhelm Heinrich Indenbirken (the son of Wilhelm Indenbirken and Adelheid Grachowski). Leonardo’s grandfather Wilhelm was born in Herne, Arnsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Leonardo’s great-grandfather Wilhelm was the son of August Indenbirken.
Leonardo’s maternal grandmother was named Yelena/Helene Lisbeth Smirnova/Smirnow (the daughter of Stefan/Stepan Petrovich Smirnov and Irene/Irina). Yelena was of Russian origin, possibly with roots in Mishkinsky District, Bashkortostan. Leonardo’s great-grandfather Stefan was the son of Pyotr/Petr Smirnov.
Sources: Genealogies of Leonardo DiCaprio – http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
Notes on Leonardo’s paternal grandfather, George Leon DiCaprio’s, ancestry – http://blogs.ancestry.com
Birth record of Leonardo’s paternal grandfather, George Leon DiCaprio – https://familysearch.org
Leonardo’s paternal grandfather, George Leon DiCaprio, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
People Magazine mention of Leonardo’s Russian ancestry – http://www.people.com
Interesting update on geni.com about Helene’s family. It’s stated that Stefan was son of Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov, which other son Vladimir was founder of “Smirnoff” vodka brand.
Piotr was born in Myshkinsky district but in Yaroslavl region not in Bashkortostan.
And everything is fine BUT I can’t find son named Stepan/Stefan…there’s information that Pyotr had 13 children (idk if it’s true) and I find 11 of them, but there’s no Stepan…so I’m not sure if it’s correct ancestor of Leo.
Btw Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov was son of Arseniy Alekseyevich Alekseyev and Matryona Grigoryevna. Family’s original name was “Alekseyev”.
Pyotr was born in Kayurovo, Mishkinsky district, Yaroslavl region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Arsenievich_Smirnov
Adelheid Grachowski was Masurian from East Prussia
How do you know?
He looked like a better looking version of his mom during his prime