Nicholas Galitzine
Galitzine in 2016, photo by Joe Seer/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: (Prince) Nicholas Dimitri K. Galitzine
Place of Birth: Westminster, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 29 September, 1994
Ethnicity: Russian, Greek, possibly other
Nicholas Galitzine is a British actor. He has starred in the films Handsome Devil, High Strung, and The Watcher in the Woods (2017), and, as the Prince, in Cinderella (2021).
His father, (Prince) Geoffrey Leo Alexander Galitzine, is British, with Russian roots. His mother, Lora Maria Konstantina (Papayanni), was raised at least partly in the U.S., and has Greek roots. It appears that Nicholas is a descendant of the House of Golitsyn or Galitzine, one of the largest princely noble houses in the Russian Empire. Many Galitzine family members left Russia during the 1917 Revolution. Nicholas, his father, and grandfather are all listed as titled Princes in notations.
Nicholas’ paternal grandfather was (Prince) Alexander Galitzine.
Nicholas’ maternal grandfather was Nicholas/Nicolas A. Papayanni/Papayannis (the son of Alexander Papayannis and Maria Maganari). Nicholas was born in Brăila, Romania, where there is a Greek community, and later lived in Athens, Greece.
Was his maternal grandfather of Vlach/Aromanian background?
There are many ethnic Greeks in eastern Romania near the Black sea coast, so I’d assume he might actually just be Greek.
Thanks for the feedback
Yes, Nicholas Papayanni was his grandfather. Interestingly, Nicholas Galitzine’s parents’ marriage announcement and later one related to his birth, overall, list him, his father, and his grandfather as “pr” – Prince. So he may be a titled Prince even outside of Cinderella.
However, I can’t find anything on his grandfather Alexander Galitzine, who may have been born around 1913. It doesn’t look like his father was born in England.
His mother may have been born in Greece, or at least raised there, though I don’t know who her mother was or whether she was Greek. Her father died in the U.S. and hung around the U.S. at least in the 1950s.
I think his maternal grandfather might be Nicholas A. Papayannis (1923-2005).
This guy is gorgeous, especially with his bee stung lips. Thought he was ethnically English, but his surname says otherwise. I would’ve guessed Ashkenazi Jewish.
Nicholas is the son of Geoffrey Leo Alexander Galitzine and Lora Maria Konstantina Papayanni.