kajanus was born in trondheim, norway, to prince pavel [also paulo] tjegodiev of russia and johanna kajanus, a french-finnish sculptress, bronze medal winner for sculpture at the exposition internationale des arts et techniques dans la vie moderne (1937), and granddaughter of robert kajanus, the finnish composer, conductor, champion of sibelius and founder of the helsinki philharmonic orchestra. he is the brother of the late actress and film-maker eva norvind and the uncle to mexican theater and television actress nailea norvind.