Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Radziwills’ Archives and
Niasvizh (Nie�wie�) Library
collection
Inscribed 2009
What is it
The collection was assembled from the 15th century to
the 20th century by members of the Radziwill family,
one of the most prominent aristocratic families of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
Why were they inscribed
Members of the family often occupied the highest state
posts and later played an important role in the history of
Prussia, the Russian Empire and the Polish Republic. The
Radziwills’ Archives became the official archives of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and contain both state records
and treaties alongside private family correspondence.
Where are they
National Historical Archives of Belarus, Central Science
Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus,
National Library of Belarus and Presidential Library of
the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus; National Library
of Finland, Helsinki, Finland; State Historical Archives
of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania; Central Archives of
Historical Records in Warsaw, Poland; Library of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg and Science
Library of Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia;
Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
The Radziwills’ Archives and Library Collection was created
by members of the Radziwill family who owned, as their
principal estate, Niasvizh, now in Belarus. The Radziwills
were a dynasty of major landlords and statesmen, whose
members often occupied the highest state posts in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Lithuanian
Commonwealth and later played an important role in
the history of Prussia, the Russian Empire and the Polish
Republic. During all this time the Radziwills continued to
preserve their family identity and realized the importance
of the historical and cultural treasures they amassed
showing much concern about their preservation. The
estate’s land holdings and architectural buildings were
nationalized by the Soviet authorities in 1939 and its
130 Radziwills’ Archives and Niasvizh (Nieśwież) Library collection
collections were dispersed among archives, libraries and
museums in several countries.
The archives in the Radziwills’ collection, originally
established at Niasvizh in the 1570s, include one
of the largest collections of documents on the history
of Central and Eastern Europe and have survived
almost entirely intact. Containing nearly 70,000
documents, it includes, for example, the records
of Polish-Lithuanian unions, and treaties between