Mstsislaw

Mstsislaw Мсці́слаў Мстиславль
The trading arcade, 19th century
Coat of arms
Mstsislaw Location of Mstsislaw, shown within the Mahilyow Voblast
Coordinates: 54°1′N 31°43′E / 54.017°N 31.717°E
Country Subdivision	Belarus Mogilev Region
First mention	1156
Population (2009)
• Total	10,804
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
License plate	6

Mstislaw or Mstislavl (Belarusian: Мсці́слаў Mscisłaŭ [pronounced [msʲt͡sʲiˈsɫau̯]], Russian: Мстиславль [|msʲtʲɪˈslavlʲ],^[1][2] Polish: Mścisław, Lithuanian: Mstislavlis) is a town in Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw Raion. As of 2009, its population was 10,804.^[3]

History

Mstislavl was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1156. It was initially included within the Principality of Smolensk, but had become the capital of the Principality of Mstislavl by 1180. In the Middle Ages, it was the family seat of Princes Mstislavsky. Pyotr Mstislavets is believed to have been born in Mstislavl.

In 1377 it was taken by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first Lithuanian duke of Mstislavl was Karigaila, brother of Jogaila. The town remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Mścisław Voivodship until the Partitions of Poland in 1772. Now it is a center of the district.

The buildings of historic interest include the Carmelite church (1637, renovated 1746–50) and the Jesuit cathedral (1640, renovated 1730–38, turned into an Orthodox cathedral in 1842).

In 1939, there were 2,067 Jews living in Mstislavl which represented almost 20% of the local population. The German army occupied the town in July 1941. In early October, they killed 30 elderly Jews. On October 15, 1941, together with the local police, they murdered from 850 to 1.300 Jews.^[4]

It is the birthplace of Jewish historian and writer Simon Dubnow, Jewish statesman and Communist politician Yakov Chubin.

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  Jesuit Collegium building, the 17th century

• 

  Mstislaw Male Gimnasium, beginning of the 19th century

• 

  Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral was built in the 19th century on the foundation of an earlier Catholic Cathedral

References

1. "Official website of the district" (in Russian). Mstsislaw District. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
2. "Website of Mogilyov Region administration" (in Russian). Mogilyov Obl;ast Administration. 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
3. Численность населения областей и районов: Могилевская (PDF) (in Russian). Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
4. http://www.yahadmap.org/#village/mstislavl-mogilev-belarus.429

External links

• Photos on Radzima.org
• The murder of the Jews of Mstsislaw during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.