His elderly father was from a noble family of Crimean Tatar extraction, which came to Moldavia in the mid-17th century. One of the explanations for the name ``Cantemir'' is that it's derived from ``Can Temur'', meaning ``the blood of Timur'', marking a direct descent from the conqueror Tamerlane. _His_ mother was a learned daughter of a local noble family. <sep>, Pronoun: His <sep>, A: Can Temur <sep>, B: Timur