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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2025. № 6 (186), 1408—1418

UDK 929.522:94](477+474.5)(092)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

ARE THE OLIZARY-VOLCHKOVICHES REALLY DESCENDANTS OF GEDIMINAS?

MOZGHOVENKO Olena

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2403-4512
  • PhD student at Ivan Franko Zhytomyr State University,
  • 40 Velyka Berdychivska Street, 10008, Zhytomyr, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: tunik.mozghovenko.kraj@gmail.com

OLIJNYK-POLISHCHUK Olexandra

  • Local History Scholar

Abstract. The Olizars-Volchkovychi are an ancient Ruthenian noble family. Despite their influence in the Kyiv and Volhynia regions, their extensive land holdings, and their famous representatives, the origins of the family are unknown. Heraldist K. Netsetsky claimed that they owe their surname to Yelezar, nicknamed Olizar in the Ruthenian manner. And because one of their ancestors was blinded in one eye in battle, he was nicknamed Volchok, and his descendants became the Volchkovychi. Olizar-Yelezar was one of the seven sons of Alexander Voronovich, brother of Matviy Kmit. But these are figures from the 15th century. What happened before that? K. Netsetsky claimed that the Olizars descended from the princes of Servia, namely from Olizar Bulka, and selectively retold the family legend.

To explain the versions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth heraldist, it is logical to refer to the genealogical records of the Olizars, which are kept in the State Archives of the Kyiv Region. However, among the numerous wills, copies of records from metric books, and statements, there are no documents confirming the version of their descent from the princes of Servia, and the genealogical charts indicate roots only in the middle of the 15th century. The key to the mystery was found in the Polish archives — it is a family legend, the very one that K. Niesiecki selectively rewrote. But after reading it, I had to wander through the labyrinth of historical events and put forward hypotheses in order to find the truth about the origin of the princely family. The purpose of this article is to analyze the family legend, compare it with historical events and personalities, and confirm the version of the Olizar-Volchkovich family’s descent from Gediminas. This study uses interdisciplinary and historical methods, and to confirm hypotheses about the etymology of names and surnames, we turned to the comparative-historical method. Research area: Polissya, Volyn, Podillia, Transcarpathia, Poland, Hungary, Belarus, Balkans.

Keywords: Liubart, Olizar, Volk, Lazar, Olizar-Volchkevych, Gustav Olizar, Philip Olizar, Djuradj Brankovic, Vuk Brankovic, Voronovych, Rus’, Masovia, Kingdom of Hungary, Lithuanian State, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Palanok, prince, sebastokrator.

Received 18.11.2025

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Ulana Movna. Senior Research Fellow, Ph.D. in History. read »
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