Mstsislaw

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

In 1377, it was joined to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by own free will. The first Lithuanian duke of Mstislavl was Karigaila, brother of Jogaila. The town remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the Mścisław Voivodship until the Partitions of Poland in 1772.

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).

Jews had a historic presence in the town. 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, and expressionist artist Abraham A. Manievich, among others.

• 
  Jesuit Collegium building, from the 17th century
• 
  Mstislaw Male Gimnasium, from the beginning of the 19th century
• 
  Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral, built in the 19th century on the foundation of an earlier Catholic Cathedral

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mscislaŭ.

Look up Мсціслаў in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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