Jan Abramowicz ( lt, Jonas Abramavičius; died June 19, 1602) was a nobleman in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

and one of the leaders of

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

in the country. He also propelled the creation of the '' Radivilias'' epic by encouraging Jonas Radvanas to work on it.

Biography

Early life

Little is known about his early life, besides that he was brought up to the court of Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, then the

Grand Hetman of Lithuania Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

. His ancestry is unknown, but he is associated with nobility and the influential

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

family of the Radziwiłłs, which could have helped him gain higher positions.

Ascension to leadership

Mikołaj Radziwiłł was his patron. He participated with him alongside king Stephen Báthory in expeditions in Muscovite lands, and from 1579 he became the

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...

. In 1581, Abramowicz had a dispute over episcopal jurisdiction with a representative bishop of the Radziwiłł family. In 1585, he supported the Livonian lands joining the Grand Duchy of Lithuania instead of them being a dominion of the Polish crown. In 1590, he became the

starost The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

of Wenden. At this point, he was the starost of two different places in Livonia. In 1593, he became a senator of the Commonwealth. Around this time Abramowicz was involved in various religious dealings like disputes between the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and the Calvinists in Lithuania, becoming the leader of the latter. In the same year, he became the voivode of Minsk.

Later career and voivode

In 1596, he became the

voivode of Smolensk Smolensk Voivodeship ( la, Palatinatus smolencensis, be, Смале́нскае ваяво́дзтва, pl, Województwo smoleńskie, lt, Smolensko vaivadija) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Li ...

through the intercession of Krzysztof Radziwiłł, whom he thanked in a letter. In 1599 he was chosen as a commissioner by the Protestant-Orthodox Vilnius Confederation. On his estate, Abramowicz built a Calvinist church, hospital, and school. Abramvičius wrote several essays, with one of them concerning the Lithuanian economy: "''The Lithuanian opinion about buying grain cheaply and selling grain expensively''."

Family

He was at first married to Jadwiga Żyromska, with whom did not have any children. In 1588, he married an Orthodox woman Anna Wołłowicz, and had three children: *

Mikołaj Abramowicz Mikołaj Abramowicz or Abrahamowicz ( lt, Mikalojus Abrahamovičius; 1590s – 1651) was a Polish–Lithuanian soldier who was one of the leading military and diplomatic figures of his period. Life A szlachcic of Jastrzębiec coat of arms, M ...

Voivode of Trakai lt, Trakų vaivadija pl, Województwo trockie , conventional_long_name = Trakai Voivodeship , common_name = Trakai , subdivision = Voivodeship , nation = Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1413–1569) Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) , year_ ...

* Catherine, wife of

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

of Mstsislaw Konstanty Hołowczyński * Maryna, wife of

of Smolensk Piotr Rudomina-Dusiacki

References

{{Reflist 1602 deaths 16th-century Lithuanian nobility 17th-century Lithuanian nobility Voivodes of Minsk Voivodes of Smolensk