Wilno Voivodeship
The
Wilno Voivodeship (, ) (or
Vilnius Voivodeship) was the capital Voivodeship of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the capital Voivodeship of Lithuania's part in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Polish occupation of eastern territories of Lithuania Wilno Voivodeship 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.
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 voivodeship varied in time. The early voivodeship 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)
After the territory of the Republic of
Central Lithuania was merged with the so-called
Wilno Area and formed a new Voivodeship with extended borders. It was divided onto the following
powiats:
* Powiat of Wilno
* Powiat of
Brasław* Powiat of
Głębokie* Powiat of
Mołodeczno* Powiat of
Oszmiana* Powiat of
Postawy* Powiat of
Święciany* Powiat of
WilejkaInitially the area was centred around two most important and most ancient cities of Lithuania,
Troki (modern Trakai) and
Vilna (modern Vilnius).
The Wilno Voivodeship that was formed as the last of the
Polish voivodeships 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 voivodeship in terms of area and fifth most populous. In
1939 annexed by the
Soviet Union and then divided between the
Soviet Union and
Lithuania.
*
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)
#
*
Administrative division of Lithuania*
Wilno*
Central Lithuania*
Wilno, Ontario, Canada
