Lew Sapieha

Lew Sapieha
Great Hetman Grand Chancellor
Coat of arms	Lis
Spouse(s)	Dorota Firlej Halaszka Radziwiłł
Issue with Dorota Firlej Katarzyna Sapieha Krzysztof Sapieha Jan Stanisław Sapieha Andrzej Sapieha with Halaszka Radziwiłł Anna Sapieha Krzysztof Michał Sapieha Kazimierz Leon Sapieha
Noble family	Sapieha
Father	Iwan Sapieha
Mother	Bohdana Drucka Konopka
Born	(1557-04-04)April 4, 1557 near Vitebsk, Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Died	July 7, 1633(1633-07-07) (aged 76) Vilnius, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Lew Sapieha (Belarusian: Леў Сапега or Leŭ Sapieha; Lithuanian: Leonas Sapiega; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Great Clerk of the Grand Duchy in 1581, Court Chancellor in 1585, Grand Chancellor from 1589 until 1623, Voivode of Vilnius in 1621, Great Lithuanian Hetman in 1623 and governor of Słonim, Brest and Mogilev. He was of Ruthenian ethnicity, however, modern Belarusian sources interpret his Ruthenian heritage as Belarusian

Lew is considered as a great political figure of the Commonwealth. A rich and powerful magnate, he was known for his wisdom as a statesman, lawyer and military commander, he was one of the greatest leaders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the times of the Duchy's highest cultural flourishing.

He was born in Astrouna (Belarusian: Астроўна), near Vitebsk. He was educated in Leipzig and worked in the royal chancellery of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stefan Báthory under direction of Jan Zamoyski. Raised Eastern Orthodox, in his youth he converted to Calvinism and founded a number of Calvinist churches in his former estates. In the 1570s he turned to Unitarianism. Disillusioned by the squabbles within the Protestant camp, in 1586 he converted with his first wife to Roman Catholicism of which he became a zealous defender. After the Union of Brest he enforced conformity on the unwilling Eastern Orthodox.