Vitebsk Voivodeship ( Belarusian : Віцебскае ваяводзтва ; Polish : Województwo witebskie ; Latin : Palatinatus Vitebsciensis ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1569 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ) from the 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1795.
6-710: Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Witebsk Voivodeship: “Witebsk (in Latin Vitebscum), located on the Dvina river, was one of main gord of the Principality of Polotsk . In the second half of the 12th century, it emerged as a local center of government. Conquered by one of the sons of Mindaugas in ca. 1239, it became
12-494: A permanent part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the times of Gediminas . In ca. 1342 Witebsk was already the seat of a starosta , who in the early 16th century were named voivodes . First voivode of Witebsk was Jerzy Chlebowicz (...) The Dvina river divided the voivodeship into two parts, of which northern one was smaller. Since the town of Witebsk was located in the middle of a sparsely populated province, at first
18-643: The Sejm - two from each county. After the first partition, the sejmiks were moved to the town of Cholopienicze, located in Minsk Voivodeship ”. Voivodeship Governor ( Wojewoda ) seat: Voivodes: Samuel Sanguszko (1629- XI 1638), Paweł Jan Sapieha (15 VIII 1646-) Administrative division: 55°11′53″N 30°10′39″E / 55.197983°N 30.177482°E / 55.197983; 30.177482 Zygmunt Gloger Zygmunt Gloger (3 November 1845 – 16 August 1910)
24-669: The foreign Partitions , and corresponded with many European scholars. Founder of Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze (the Sightseeing Society, precursor of modern PTTK ), in his will Gloger gave his impressive collection to that organization as well as to the Towarzystwo Ethnograficzne (the Ethnographic Society), Towarzystwo Bibliotek Publicznych w Warszawie (Public Libraries Society) and Museum of Industry and Agriculture. His life's work
30-857: The voivodeship was not divided into counties. Later on, however, the County of Orsza , which had been part of Smolensk Voivodeship , was attached to Witebsk Voivodeship (...) Witebsk Voivodeship remained in the Commonwealth until September 1772, when most of it was annexed by the Russian Empire . What remained was southern part of the Land of Orsza, which belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1793 (...) Starostas resided at Witebsk and Orsza, while local sejmiks took place in both towns. Altogether, Witebsk Voivodeship elected four deputies to
36-579: Was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms . Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popular Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society ( PTTK ). He was a son of engineer Jan Gloger [ pl ] and Michalina née Wojno. Under the professional influence of historians and geographers Julian Bartoszewicz as well as Józef Ignacy Krasicki , and later Wincenty Pol and Oskar Kolberg , Gloger voyaged through Poland and Lithuania under
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