Gheorghe Ștefan

Gheorghe Ștefan (István Görgicze, seldom referred to as Burduja; died 1668 in Szczecin) was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between April 13 and May 8, 1653, and again from July 16, 1653 to March 13, 1658; he was the son of boyar Dumitrașcu Ceaur; Gheorghe Ștefan was Chancellor(logofăt) during the reign of Vasile Lupu. His original name was István Görgicze and is mentioned by this name in many sources. However, due to the difficulty of pronouncing his surname and for certain sources to simplify it, they renamed him Georghe Stephan, referring to the origin of his ancestors from medieval Georgia (Imereti area) or Colchis (Kolkhis, land of the legendary Golden Fleece). Nevertheless, all name variations he is mentioned by (Gorgidze, Georgidze, Gergidze, Gergicze, Girgice, Georgicze) mean son of George, representing a historical connection to old Caucasian roots.