igor de rachewiltz was born in rome, the son of bruno guido and antonina perosio. the de rachewiltz family was of noble roots. his grandmother was a tatar from kazan in central russia who claimed lineage from the golden horde. in 1947, he read michael prawdin's book "tschingis-chan und seine erben" (genghis khan and his heritage) and became interested in learning the mongolian language. he graduated with a law degree from a university in rome and pursued oriental studies in naples. in the early 1950s, de rachewiltz went to australia on scholarship. he earned his phd in chinese history from australian national university, canberra in 1961. his dissertation was on genghis khan's secretary, 13th-century chinese scholar yelü chucai. he married ines adelaide brasch in 1956; they have one daughter.