The Petrova Family is one of the main families in The Vampire Diaries. The main significance of the family in the series is that the bloodline that descends from Tatia has the potential for a doppelgänger to appear approximately every 500 years. The blood of a doppelgänger is coveted for its magical properties, namely for its use as a binding agent in spells performed by witches. The blood of a Petrova doppelgänger, in particular, was one of the elements used to cast a curse on the vampire Klaus, and thus was required to break it.
Tatia's Child (name unknown) was born around the turn of the 11th century. According to Elijah, Tatia had the child out of wedlock. Eventually, either it or its descendants migrated to Europe.
Katerina's Father (given name unknown) was a Bulgarian man who lived during the 15th century. He watched his daughter, Katerina, give birth to a daughter in the year 1490. He took the baby away from Katerina moments after she was born, ashamed of his daughter for bearing a child out of wedlock. He and his wife disowned Katerina and banished her to England. He was murdered by Klaus.
Katerina's Mother (given name unknown) was a Bulgarian woman who lived during the 15th century. She helped her daughter, Katerina, give birth to a daughter in the year 1490. Although Katerina's mother seemed more sympathetic towards her daughter, Katerina's father immediately took the child away, ashamed of his daughter for having a child out of wedlock. They disowned Katerina and banished her to England. When Katerina returned to Bulgaria in the year 1492, she discovered that her mother, along with the rest of her family, had been murdered by Klaus.
Katerina Petrova (a.k.a. Katherine Pierce) was born June 5th, 1473, in Bulgaria. In 1490, Katerina gave birth to a daughter, continuing the Petrova bloodline, but she was disowned for having a baby out of wedlock and the child was given away. She was then banished to England, where in 1492 she met the Lord Niklaus and his elder brother, the Lord Elijah. She made their acquaintance and was friendly toward them, unaware that the brothers were vampires and Klaus intended to use her in a sacrifice. Eventually Katerina discovered the truth about Klaus and his plan and fled. In order thwart the plan to murder her, Katerina orchestrated her own death and transformation into a vampire. Having escaped England, she returned to Bulgaria later that year, only to discover that Klaus had murdered her entire family as revenge for her escape and suicide. Many centuries later, near the end of the American Civil War in the year 1864, Katerina had assumed the name Katherine Pierce and moved to Mystic Falls, where she lived with the Salvatore Family. The brothers Damon and Stefan competed for her affections, sparking a lifelong rivalry between them. Katherine eventually faked her own death in the interest of her lifelong career of evading Klaus, and managed to lay low for 145 years before returning to Mystic Falls. Her return to the town was motivated by the desire to secure the moonstone and the doppelgänger, both of which she intended to hand over to Klaus in exchange for her freedom.
Katerina's Daughter (given name unknown) was born in the year 1490 in Bulgaria. Katerina gave birth to her when she was a young teenager, between the age of fourteen and fifteen. The daughter was born out of wedlock, much to her parents' disapproval, and she was given away to an unknown family. Her existence remained unknown throughout the supernatural world for many centuries; those concerned with the Petrova doppelgänger bloodline (namely Klaus) believed the line had ended when Katerina died and became a vampire. The truth did not emerge until the existence of a second Petrova doppelgänger was discovered.
Isobel Saltzman(née Flemming) was a distant descendant of Katerina Petrova, and thus Tatia. Born in 1978, she grew up in Mystic Falls and as a teenager had a child by John Gilbert. She gave her daughter up for adoption to John's brother Grayson and his wife Miranda, who named the girl Elena. Years later, Isobel was married to Alaric Saltzman when she asked Damon Salvatore to turn her into a vampire. After she became a vampire, Isobel went looking for Katherine, who helped her get a Lapis Lazuli necklace so she could walk in the daylight unharmed. Isobel helped Katherine research about the tomb vampires and got the Gilbert Device for John Gilbert to destroy the tomb vampires so that Katherine could return to Mystic Falls. Isobel was later compelled by Klaus to betray Katherine and then kill herself. She removed her daylight necklace in front of Elena and burned to death in the sun, ironically in front of her own tombstone.
Elena Gilbertwas born on June 22, 1992, in Mystic Falls, Virginia.She is the biological daughter of John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming, and is therefore a descendant of Katherine Pierce, to whom she bears a striking physical resemblance. Elena is also the final descendant of Tatia, the assumed originator of the Petrova doppelgänger bloodline. Elena's death and transition into a vampire ended the Petrova doppelgänger bloodline, as she has no descendants. It is believed, however, that if Elena took the cure and became human again, she would be able to have children and thus could continue the bloodline.
John Gilbert: John met and fell in love with Isobel Flemming during their teenage years and they dated each other for a while. When Isobel was just 16 in the year 1992, Isobel told John that she was pregnant and John brought her to his older brother, Grayson Gilbert, who was the local pediatrician or OB/GYN, so that she could give birth to a daughter named Elena. Isobel left Elena in the good hands of Grayson and his wife Miranda, who didn't know that John was actually the biological father of Isobel's baby. John later sacrificed himself to resurrect Elena after Klaus had killed her for his ritual to trigger is werewolf gene, having Bonnie Bennett channel his life force into Elena's body once she died. Though John and Isobel never married, he is considered a relative of the family.
Alaric was the history teacher and a vampire hunter is the fomer husband of Isobel Flemming and the stepfather of Elena Gilbert . It was later revealed that he thinks his wife, Isobel, was killed by a vampire, who he suspects to be Damon. Later he find out that Isobel wanted to become a vampire, and begged Damon to turn her, thus making Isobel a vampire. Isobel later came back and compelled Alaric to move on from her and Alaric begins a new life with Jenna Sommers and takes in Elena and Jeremy as his own by becoming their guardian. Alaric is turned into an Original by Esther. Alaric dies after Elena drowns in season three due to his sired connection to Elena.
The lineage of the Petrova family is anchored by Katerina Petrova and Elena Gilbert, who are doppelgängers of their ancestor Tatia: Tatia lived during the 11th century, Katerina was born in the 15th century, and Elena was born in the 20th century. This bloodline ended with Elena, who died and became a vampire without bearing any children.
Petrov or Petroff (feminine: Petrova) is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bulgaria.
The surname is derived from the given name Pyotr (Пётр, Russian) or Petar (Петър, Bulgarian), both of which are equivalent to the English name Peter. These names derive from the Greek Πετρος (Petros), meaning "stone".
Pierce, the alias that Katerina Petrova adopts, is another form of the name Peter.
In the books, Katherine is a member of the von Swartzschild Family, while in the series, she is a member of the Petrova Family.
In the books, the von Swartzchild family is German, but in the series the Petrovas are Bulgarian. This change was made because Nina Dobrev, who plays both Katherine Pierce and Elena Gilbert, has Bulgarian heritage; she was born there and speaks the language.
The Petrova family is referred to using the feminine form of the surname (masculine: Petrov) because so far only female members of the family are significant to the show's plot. The bloodline from Tatia to Elena Gilbert could be considered a Matriline.
Deleted scenes of the second season show other Petrova family members, but they are not canonical.
The Petrova Family is one of the oldest families in the TV Series.
It is worth noting that three members of the Petrova family have slept with Damon Salvatore: Katherine, Isobel, and Elena. Also, Elijah Mikaelson has kissed three members of the Petrova ladies: Tatia, Katherine and Elena.
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Added by Noctis Lux Kaelum
Added by MaySee
Added by Jenthewarrior
The thing about the petrova doppleganger i do not get is what ppl say about tatia being the original. How can she be, did esther make he...
I will agree that Tatia was a doppelganger and not the true progenitor of the Petrova line. I also agree that Silas' lover may have been the t...
