St. Olga of Kiev

Abt 890 - 969  (~ 79 years)

• Name	Olga of Kiev
  Prefix	St.
  Birth	Abt 890	Pskov, Russia   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	11 Jul 969	Kiev, Ukraine   [1]
  Person ID	I1598	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	22 Nov 2020

  
  

  Family	Igor of Kiev, Ruler of the Kievan Rus   d. 945
  Children	+ 1. Sviatoslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev   d. 972
  Family ID	F570	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 May 2025

  
  

• Notes

  "Her name Ol'ga derives from Old Scandinavian Helga, and she is called Helga in Byzantine sources. Her christening name was Helen. She was the first of the princely family to accept Christianity and much later she was made a saint as 'precursor' of the faith in Rus. As the widow of Igor, she served as regent during the minority of her son Svyatoslav. Her official visit to Constantinople circa 955 is related in the Primary Chronicle and also by the Emperor Constantine, the differences between the two sources illustrating nicely the folk character of the early Rus annals. In her, the chronicle dramatizes the change from paganism to Christianity: a treacherous and vengeful Olga becomes Olga the saint, through still a trickster." ["Ryurik and the First Ryurikids", citation details below.]

  
  

• Sources

  [S160] Wikipedia.