 Alexander's mother, knyazna Lubov Petrovna Myshetskaya, belonged to the impoverished Upper Oka Principalities branch of the Rurik dynasty founded by Mikhail Yurievich Tarussky, grandson of Michael of Chernigov.In 1858, Alexander Bakunin married Varvara Alexandrovna Muravyova (1792—1864) who was 24 years younger than him.She came from the ancient noble Muravyov family founded in the 15th century by the Ryazan boyar Ivan Vasilievich Alapovsky nicknamed "Muravey" (meaning "ant") who was granted land in Veliky Novgorod.