Tyutchev was born into a Russian noble family in the Ovstug family estate near Bryansk (modern-day Zhukovsky District, Bryansk Oblast of Russia). His father Ivan Nikolaevich Tyutchev (1768—1846) was a court councillor who served in the Kremlin Expedition that managed all building and restoration works of Moscow palaces. One of Ivan's sister (1774—1837), was a hegumenia famous for founding the Borisoglebsky Anosin Women's Monastery. The Tyutchevs traced their roots to Zakhariy Tutchev mentioned in "The Tale of the Rout of Mamai", a 15th-century epic tale about the Battle of Kulikovo that described him as the most trusted man of Dmitry Donskoy; sent as a messenger to Mamai, he managed to reveal traitors and return alive thanks to his diplomatic skills. Fyodor's mother Ekaterina Lvovna Tolstaya (1776—1866) belonged to the Tolstoy family on her father's side and the Rimsky-Korsakov noble house on her mother's side. Russian war general Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov was her uncle.