The Ochanoff (Ohanov) family traces its ancestors to Isaie Ochanoff, born in Charurnin, Armenia (now part of Azerbaijan), in 1657. He emigrated to Moldavia (then part of the Ottoman Empire) where the family settled.

His descendants did quite well in the Armenian community of what became known as Bessarabia (now split between the Ukraine, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova). They owned large tracts of land (over 20,000 Hectares), mostly in Moldavia and were recognized as Boyars (titled gentry) by the successive regimes until the Russian revolution.

The young Marie Ochanoff and her widowed mother, Countess Eugenie de Ochanoff - Goilov spent most of the year in Switzerland for health reasons, only returning home to Bessarabia for holidays. After Marie married René Fiechter, the family settled in Alexandria (Egypt) in the 1920's, only returning to live in Switzerland in the 1950's. Their last visit to Moldavia took place in 1921. Unfortunately, it does not seem that we have any close relatives left in that part of the world, and the name might have died with Marie Ochanoff.

But her spirit survives in her many descendants, now scattered around the world!