Wilno Voivodship
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The Wilno Voivodship (Polish: , Lithuanian: ) (or Vilnius Voivodship) was the capital Voivodship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the capital Voidvodship of Lithuania’s part in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Polish occupation of eastern territories of Lithuania Wilno Voivodship continued to exist as a part of Poland. It existed at various times between 15th century and the Partitions of Poland (1795) and then between the restoration of Poland's rule over the area in 1922 and the annexation of the area by the Soviet Union in the effect of the World War II.
Geography and administrative division
Geographically the area was centered around the city of Vilna (Wilno, modern Vilnius), which has always been the capital of the entity and the seat of a voivode. However, the actual shape of the voivodship varied in time. The early voivodship that existed until the partitions, was composed of five smaller units of administrative division named powiat (in Lithuanian: plural - pavietai, singular - pavietas), roughly correspondent to British Counties:- Powiat of Wilno-Troki (Vilnius powiat)
- Powiat of Oszmiana (Ašmena powiat)
- Powiat of Lida (Lyda powiat)
- Powiat of Wiłkomierz (Ukmergė powiat)
- Powiat of Brasław (Breslauja powiat)
- Powiat of Wilno
- Powiat of Brasław
- Powiat of Głębokie
- Powiat of Mołodeczno
- Powiat of Oszmiana
- Powiat of Postawy
- Powiat of Święciany
- Powiat of Wilejka
History
Initially the area was centred around two most important and most ancient cities of Lithuania, Troki (modern Trakai) and Vilna (modern Vilnius).
The Wilno Voivodship that was formed as the last of the Polish voivodships in the interbellum, was created in 1923 as a combination of the lands of the former Central Lithuania and the Department of Wilno created in 1920. Populated mostly by Poles and Belarusians, with notable minorities of Jews, Russians and Lithuanians. The biggest voivodship in terms of area and fifth most populous. In 1939 annexed by the Soviet Union and then divided between the Soviet Union and Lithuania.
Notable Voivodes
- Jan Hlebowicz (since 1542)
- Krzysztof Mikołaj "Piorun" Radziwiłł (since 1584)
- Mikołaj Krzysztof "Sierotka" Radziwiłł (since 1604)
- Lew Sapieha (since 1621 or 1623)
- Krzysztof Radziwiłł (since 1633)
- Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz (1640-1642)
- Krzysztof Chodkiewicz (since 1642)
- Janusz Radziwiłł (since 1653)
- Jan Paweł Sapieha (since 1656)
- Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (since 1667)
- Michał Kazimierz Pac (since 1669)
- Kazimierz Jan Sapieha (since 1705)
- Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł (since 1744)
- Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł (since 1755)
- Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł (1762-1764 and 1768-1790)
- Władysław Raczkiewicz (1926-1930)
Reference
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See also
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