Descendant of the ‘God of War' is a TikTok-loving MBA student: ‘People say I should reclaim throne to Mongolia'
Leonie is a descendant of Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, a Russian military leader who rose to infamy during the Russian Civil War. In a conversation with the New York Post, the 29-year-old MBA student spoke about her viral TikTok that brought her viral internet fame and a barrage of hate over her ties to one of history's most brutal warlords.
Who was Roman von Ungern-Sternberg?
Born in 1886, Roman led one of the 20th century's bloodiest conquests when he intervened in Mongolia against China, restoring the Bogd Khan as head of state and acting as the de facto ruler and protector of the new Mongolian state.
Ungern-Sternberg's brief reign was marked by extreme brutality, both toward his enemies and civilians. His savagery earned him sobriquets like 'The Bloody Baron' and 'The Mad Baron'.
He was viewed by his Mongolian subjects during his rule as the "God of War" – a title reflecting the terror he inspired.
Leonie von Ungern-Sternberg: His descendant
Leonie von Ungern-Sternberg, one of his descendants, is currently an MBA student in Spain and shares snippets of her life on TikTok.
'All these people telling me I should reclaim the throne to Mongolia but I'm literally just a girl who drinks matcha,' Leonie quipped in one TikTok video shared on June 30. The video blew up online and has received 2 million views till date.
Screengrabs from the video posted on X have clocked in over 22 million views.
'I posted that video and I went to sleep,' Leonie told The New York Post. 'And the next day I woke up and I had a million views, which for me was surreal.'
Many of the comments were amused, but she did get hate from a section of the internet. Another section of comments came from fanatics aligned with the ultra-nationalist ideology that Roman believed in.
'I feel like I'm a case study on how a viral video can bring unwanted attention from ideologies that I personally don't align with,' she said. 'I've gotten a lot of comments … a lot of sexism … racism,' she added.
The burden of an infamous surname
The von Ungern-Sternberg family is an old and influential Baltic-German noble house with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. Leonie acknowledges the 'burden' that comes with her 'unusual surname, but says that Roman is hardly her only prominent relative.
'If a family is almost 1,000 years old, there is a chance that one or the other is going to … have done negative things throughout history,' she said.
But despite her roots to ancient nobility, this 29-year-old says she did not grow up in luxury.
'We were always raised in a very humble way … I've been working since I was 18,' she said. 'It's not like I have this super-glamorous life and I'm a baroness … No, it's just a name that in that context doesn't mean anything.'
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