A whole era of the formation of the Belarusian statehood is connected with the name of Ostafi Wołłowicz (about 1520 - 1587 or 1588).
He was born in Grodno region, came from a well-known noble family. He graduated from the University of Padua. During the 1550-1580s he held the positions of a Berestye Deputy State Officer, Clerk of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Court Minister, Head of Mogilev, Ozerishchу, Berestye, Kobrin, Rechitsa, District Treasurer, the Chancellor of Lithuania, the Castellans of Trakai and Vilnya.
Ostafi Wołłowicz was a brilliant diplomat, he repeatedly participated in embassy missions. He consistently defended the independence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, opposed the Union of Lublin in 1569, aimed at uniting the principality and the Kingdom of Poland into the Commonwealth of Poland. He took an active part in political, agricultural, judicial administrative and other reforms. Together with Lew Sapieha he created a tribunal, the Supreme Court of Appeal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1581. He was a member of the commission that prepared the Statute of 1566. He took an active part in the creation of the Statute of the Grand Duchy of 1588. The preliminary studies of O. Wołłowicz largely formed the basis for this masterpiece of the old Belarusian legal thought.
Ostafi Wołłowicz did a lot for the development of education and printing in Belarus. He funded the first Cyrillic printing house in Nesvizh and books in the Belarusian language were published thanks to him. O. Wołłowicz helped schools and hospitals, supported the idea of creating a higher educational institution in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, promoted the principles of tolerance between people of different faiths and classes.
The activities of Ostafi Wołłowicz are covered in historical studies, journal and encyclopedic reference books articles, as well as in other documents stored in the collections of the National Library of Belarus. You can find out about these publications through our e-catalogue. Biographical data are presented in the factual database “Belarus in Persons and Events” and the National Database of Authority and Standard Records.
The illustration was taken from "A hundred Persons in Belarusian History: Historical Portraits / Anatol Myasnіkou". - 2nd ed. - Minsk, 2009. pp. 47-49.
Bibliology Research Department
Read also: More than 2,500 Rare and Old-Print Documents of the National Library of Belarus are Available Online
