What does the expression “orphan of Kazan” mean?
A person who pretends to be unhappy in order to make others pity them is called a “сирота Казанская” (“sirota Kazanskaya”) or “orphan of Kazan”. Where did this expression come from? It's all about… Ivan the Terrible!
According to one version, when Ivan the Terrible's troops conquered Kazan in 1552, many local children were orphaned. They were placed in boyar and peasant families to be raised and sympathetically called “orphans of Kazan”. However, juvenile swindlers immediately took advantage of the situation and began to pass themselves off as orphans.
There is another version also connected with the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. The defeated ‘murzas’ (‘princes’), in the hope of preserving their wealth and getting closer to the royal court, tried to behave as modestly as possible and agreed to accept Orthodoxy. For this, they received the humorous nickname ‘The Orphans of Kazan’.
