National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno

Description of holdings

Amount of holdings: 1 328 fonds, 2 189 inventories, 419 149 items

Chronological scope:  the 16th (separate records)—early 20th centuries

Geographical coverage: 

  • Grand Duchy of Lithuania (separate records)
  • Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) separate records
  • former Grodno gubernia (province) of the Russian Empire
  • former Vileika, Disna, Lida and Oshmiany uezds (districts) of the Vilno (Vilnius) gubernia of the Russian Empire

Of particular interest are the fonds of the Grodno Governor’s Chancellery, the Grodno Gubernia (Province) Administration, the Grodno Gubernia Statistical Committee, collections of the estate inventories, personal collections, and genealogical records. The archives’ records (mainly the fonds of the Grodno Governor’s Chancellery and the Grodno Gubernia Administration) contain comprehensive information on the history of the former Grodno province. These contain data on the population size and composition, administrative-territorial division, industrial enterprises and educational institutions, as well as data on the history of the Patriotic war of 1812 and the national rebellions of 1830, 1831, and 1863.

The economic history of the Grodno province, the Peasant (Emancipation) Reform of 1861, the Stolypin Agrarian Reform, as well as the specifics of land use and landowning are reflected in the records of the Grodno Provincial Office on Peasants’ Affairs, conciliators, the Grodno province and district commissions on land use, and the local self-government (zemstvo) administration among others.

Fonds of economic agencies contain information on construction and repair of buildings, the state of local industry, the lease and sale of state forests and estates, credit operations, and statistical data on the Grodno province.

Records of medical, social and charitable organizations contain information on health care, sanitary inspection, alms-houses, asylums and orphanages.

Information of genealogical and property character is represented by the fonds of estate self-government, finance and taxation agencies, and separate records of the religious institutions.

The family collections of the landowners Slizen and Bykhovets contain estate inventories, personal and business correspondence, as well as data on property sales, pawning, and inheritance. The family collection of the landowners Bulgarin contains personal and business correspondence.

The Inventories of Landowners Estates Fonds comprises a collection of inventories of the estates, granges, villages and districts of the Grodno province–important sources for the history of Belarusian village.

Of peculiar interest are Tadeusz Kosciuszko’s testament of April 4, 1817 on emancipating peasants from the village of Sekhnovichi in the Kobrin district; parish records of the birth of A. Pashkevich (Tetka) and I. Lutsevich (Ia. Kupala), records relating to the life and activity of the well-known political and public figures, men in the realm of science and art (P. Bagrim, E. Ozheshko, I. Domeiko, Iu. Krashevski, M. K. Oginski, A. P. Storozhenko, M. Bogdanovich, L. Zamengof, S. Vrublevski, A. O. Makovelski, etc.); inventories, plans and drawings of churches, monasteries, estates and towns; documents relating to the history of architecture and art; the 1511 Charter from the Polish King and Grand Prince of Lithuania, Sigmund I, confirming the right of the Catholic church in Volkovysk to tithe income (the 1528 copy), and more.