Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz

Jan Chodkiewicz
Coat of arms	Kościesza odm. Chodkiewicz
Consort	Krystyna Zborowska h. Jastrzębiec
Issue Aleksander Chodkiewicz Jan Karol Chodkiewicz Hieronim Chodkiewicz Zofia Drohostajska Anna, Princess Joachim Korecki Aleksandara, Princess Adam Wiśniowiecki Elżbieta, Princess Jan Żyliński
Family	Chodkiewicz
Father	Hieronim Chodkiewicz h. Kościesza
Mother	Anna Szemetówna h. Łabędź
Born	1537
Died	4 August 1579 (aged 41–42) Vilnius
Buried	Vilnius Cathedral
Religion	Roman Catholicism, formerly Calvinist

Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz (1537 – 4 August 1579) was a 16th-century Lithuanian noble. He was Grand Pantler of Lithuania 1559, general starost of Samogitia 1563, Elder of Samogitia 1564, starost of Telšiai and Plateliai 1566, Livonia Hetman and governor, Grand Marshal of Lithuania 1566, Kaunas starost 1569, Count on Szkłów 1568, Vilnius castellan 1574.

He was one of the most famous Lithuanian magnates of the 16th century. Raised a Calvinist he studied at the Universities of Königsberg, Leipzig, and Wittenberg, and entered in the service of Emperor Charles V from 1552 to 1555. After that he entered the service of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In 1558 Jan Chodkiewicz was made Livonia Hetman and sent to defend Livonia against Tsar Ivan IV 'the Terrible' who was trying to enforce a passage to the Baltic Sea. With the help of Michael Radziwiłł, Great Chancellor of Lithuania, he succeeded in attaching Livonia to Lithuania. But this territory remained for long the main target of Russian attacks. In 1564 he became Elder of Samogitia, in 1566 Grand Marshal of Lithuania and governor of Livonia (1566–78, with headquarter at Sigulda near Riga), and in 1574 Castellan of Vilnius.