The Princely House of Starodub originates from the founder of Russia, Rurik, 867. The descendant of Saint Prince Vladimir, the Christianizer of Russia, and the son of Grand Duke Vsevolod III Bolchoie Gnesdo of Wladimir, 1175-1212, Ivan Vsevoloditch, Reigning Prince of Starodub (in Russian: Стародубские князья), the author of the Princely House of Gagarin. The great-great-grandson of this Prince Ivan, Prince Ivan Fedorovich, called Lapa-Golibesovskoy, had a son, Prince Mikhail, and Prince Mikhail had three sons: Princes Vasilii, Ivan, and Youri "Gagara" whose descendants, the Gagarin Princes (in Russian: Князья Гагарины), served the Russian Throne in many distinguished positions.


The history of the Russian Empire shows that many of the Gagarin Princes, both in ancient times as well as in more recent times, were granted fiefdoms for their service to the fatherland, and were rewarded with several Orders and other tokens of the Monarch's favor. According to many rulings of the Imperial Senate of Russia, the members of the family were reconfirmed many times as Russian Princes.