 According to family legend, the Hrekov's family were descendants of a Greek who was part of the delegation accompanying Sophia Paleologue as she moved to Muscovy in 1472 when marrying Ivan III of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow.The Hrekov family attained the status of nobility as a reward for their service to Peter the Great.On the insistence of his father, Hrekov completed the law school of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1897.