Leonas Sapiega

Place: Ostrovna

Born: 1557

Death: 1633

Biography:

Leonas Sapiega, also known as Lew Sapieha, was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was born in Ostrovna, Belarus in 1557 and died in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1633. Sapiega was of Ruthenian ethnicity and is considered as a great political figure of the Commonwealth. He held various high-ranking positions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including Great Secretary, Grand Clerk, Crown Chancellor, Grand Chancellor, Voivode of Vilnius, Grand Lithuanian Hetman, and governor of Slonim, Brest and Mogilev. He was known for his wisdom as a statesman, lawyer and military commander, and was one of the greatest leaders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the times of the Duchy's highest cultural flourishing. Modern Belarusian sources interpret his Ruthenian heritage as Belarusian.