Olga of Kiev
princess of Kiev, Orthodox saint (c. 890–925)
Olga (Church Slavonic: Ольга; Old Norse: Helga; c. 890–925 – 11 July 969) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav from 945 until 957. Following her baptism, Olga took the name Elenа. She is known for her subjugation of the Drevlians, a tribe that had killed her husband Igor. Even though it was her grandson Vladimir who adopted Christianity and made it the state religion, she was the first Rurikid ruler to be baptized.
Olga is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church with the epithet "Equal to the Apostles". Her feast day is 11 July.
Early life
While Olga's birthdate is unknown, it could be as early as 890 AD and as late as 925 AD. According to the Primary Chronicle, Olga was of Varangian (Viking) origin and was born in Pleskov. Little is known about her life before her marriage to Prince Igor I of Kiev and the birth of their son, Sviatoslav. According to historian Alexey Karpov, Olga was no more than 15 years old at the time of her marriage. Igor was the son and heir of Rurik, founder of the Rurik dynasty.
“Olga of Kiev” enters the record as princess of Kiev, Orthodox saint (c. 890–925). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Olga, Kiev and princess can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q193198. VIAF identifies the subject as 264781507. The Library of Congress control number is n88018908. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 4 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Olga of Kiev” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.