The Fabergé family can be traced back to 17th-century Huguenots from Picardy by the name of Favri. The family fled persecution in France to, eventually, forge a successful émigré life in Russia in the 19th century. Over many generations the surname morphed into Fabergé, with the acute accent on the final “e” possibly added to appeal to a Russian nobility that paid a premium for French works of art.