The Piłsudski family ( lt, Pilsudskis, ) is a family of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

that originated in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

and whose

notability Notability is the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...

increased under the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

and the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

. The family was

Polonized Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя� ...

Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta (Lithuanian: ''bajorija, šlėkta'') was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (including during period of foreign rule 1795–191 ...

that over time became part of the

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

(''szlachta''); it has been called either a Polish noble family or a Polonized Lithuanian noble family. Its most famous member was

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

, described variously as a Pole

Jerzy Jan Lerski Jerzy Jan Lerski (''nom de guerre'': Jur; also known as George Jan Lerski; 1917-1992); was a Polish lawyer, soldier, historian, political scientist and politician. After World War II he emigrated to the United States, where he became a full profes ...

, ''Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945'', Greenwood Press, 1996,
Google Print, p.439
/ref> or as

Lithuanian noble The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta (Lithuanian: ''bajorija, šlėkta'') was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (including during period of foreign rule 1795–1918) ...

. The Piłsudskis date back to pagan times in Lithuania and are recorded from the 13th century. In 1413, the family's name was polonized as Ginwiłłowicz. The founder of the family is Giniotas Baltramiejus Pilsūdiškis, known from at least 1587. Pilsūdiškis' father was Giniotas Stonys, known from at least 1528, while Pilsūdiškis' grandfather was Rimša Giniotas. In 1539, Baltramiejus Ginvilas ( pl, Bartłomiej Ginwiłł or ), the Elder () of

Upytė Upytė is a small village in Panevėžys district municipality in northern Lithuania. It is situated some 12 km southwest of Panevėžys on the banks of Vešeta Creek. It is now the capital of an elderate. In 1987 it had 580 residents. In ...

, added the name of his estate in

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

to his surname. His Polonized name was . The Polonized surname of Baltramiejus' sons was (), to which was added. was added to distinguish this family from the Giniotai and Giniotaičiai families. A notable member of the family is

Roch Mikołaj Piłsudski Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked ...

(c.1680 – early 18th century),

Pantler A pantry is a room or cupboard where drink, beverages, food, and sometimes dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. ...

of the

Duchy of Samogitia The Duchy of Samogitia ( lt, Žemaičių seniūnija, sgs, Žemaitėjės seniūnėjė, pl, Księstwo żmudzkie)Grzegorz Błaszczyk, ''Żmudź w XVII i XVIII wieku: zaludnienie i struktura społeczna'', Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Pozn ...

. His marriage to Małgorzata Pancerzyńska—whose brother, Karol Pancerzyński, was

Bishop of Vilnius Bishops of Vilnius (Vilna, Wilna, Wilno) diocese from 1388 and archdiocese (archdiocese of Vilnius) from 1925:

—raised the wealth and prestige of the Piłsudski family. The family also became related through several marriages to the , another prominent and wealthy noble family. In 1863, Józef Piłsudski, senior, married Maria Billewicz; one of their children,

the younger, would become the famous Polish hero and dictator, and the most celebrated member of the family.

Wacław Jędrzejewicz General Wacław Jędrzejewicz (; 29 January 1893 – 30 November 1993) was a Polish Army officer, diplomat, politician and historian, and subsequently an American college professor. He was co-founder, president, and long-time executive direct ...

Janusz Cisek Janusz Waldemar Cisek (February 8, 1955 – February 28, 2020) was a Polish historian, academic lecturer, director of the Pilsudski Institute and Polish Army Museum, from 2012 to 2013 Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...

, ''Kalendarium Życia Józefa Piłsudskiego'' (Calendar of the Life of Józef Piłsudski), Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1994, , pp. 11-12. Józef Piłsudski's closest and most prominent relatives included his three brothers—

Adam Piłsudski Adam Piłsudski (Zalavas, 25 September 1869 - 16 December 1935) was a member of the Senate of Poland, vice president of Wilno, brother of the famous Józef Piłsudski. He was honored with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. ...

, a politician;

Bronisław Piłsudski Bronisław Piotr Piłsudski (; ; 2 November 1866 – 17 May 1918) was an ethnologist, who researched the Ainu people after he was exiled by the Tsar Alexander III of Russia to the Far East. Piłsudski pioneered research into Lithuanian cross ...

, a noted ethnographer;

Jan Piłsudski Jan Piłsudski (15 January 1876 – 21 December 1950), was a Polish politician and younger brother of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. Like his famous brother, Piłsudski was born in Zalavas ( pl, Zułów), Lithuania, in what was then the Russian Emp ...

, a lawyer and politician—and his daughters:

Wanda Piłsudska Wanda Piłsudska (7 February 1918 – 16 January 2001) was a daughter of Józef Piłsudski, and a psychiatrist by profession. Life Wanda Piłsudska, of the Piłsudski coat of arms, was the elder daughter of Józef Piłsudski and Aleksandra ...

, who remained in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, practicing psychiatry, then in 1990 returned permanently to Poland, where she died in 2001 and

Jadwiga Piłsudska Jadwiga Piłsudska-Jaraczewska (; 28 February 1920 – 16 November 2014) was a Polish pilot, who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. She was one of two daughters of Józef Piłsudski. Life and career Piłsudska ...

, who was a ferry pilot during

. Today, the remaining male members of

's family are

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. They are in fact the descendants of

, Józef's older brother who married an

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

woman and lived in

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. Inoue Kooiti (井上紘一)
ブロニスワフ・ピウスツキの足跡を尋ねて40 年 ―就中、その極東滞在の究明―
(The footsteps of 40 years Bronislaw Pilsudski), The University of Hokkaido

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilsudski

See also

References