Olelkowicze | |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Lithuanian, Ruthenian |
Current region | Eastern Orthodox |
Etymology | Olelko Volodymyrovych |
Place of origin | Olelko Volodymyrovych |
Members |
Semen Olelkovych Mykhailo Olelkovych Yurii Olelkovych |
Connected families | Radziwill |
Estate(s) | Duchy of Slutsk |
The Olelkovich (Lithuanian: Olelkaičiai, Polish: Olelkowicze) family was a 15th–16th-century noble family from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their main possession was the Duchy of Slutsk–Kapyl; therefore, they are sometimes known as Slutskys. They hailed from the Lithuanian Gediminids (male line) and Russian Rurikids (female line). According to the 1528 military census, the family was the fourth wealthiest magnate family in the Grand Duchy. However, its influence declined after the Union of Lublin (1569). The last member of the family was Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill (1585–1612), wife of Janusz Radziwiłł and saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church. After her death, considerable wealth and the Duchy of Slutsk passed to the Radziwiłł family.
Olelko Volodymyrovych (died in 1455) was the ancestor of the family. He was a son of Vladimir, Duke of Kiev, and grandson of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Alexander inherited his father's domains in the Duchy of Slutsk–Kapyl and in 1440 restored family's dynastic interest in the Principality of Kiev, which was confiscated from Vladimir in 1395 after a power struggle with Grand Duke Vytautas and given to Skirgaila. Alexander married Anastasia, daughter of Sophia of Lithuania and Vasily I of Moscow, and had two sons Semen (died in 1505) and Mikhailo Olelkovich (died in 1481).