Derzhavets

Derzhavets (governor) (also namisnyk-derzhavets [vicegerent]; later starosta-derzhavets [county head]). Local administrative official in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The derzhavets fulfilled public administrative and judicial functions as well as private ones (administration of princes' estates). His jurisdiction extended to an area the size of the later starostvo, also known as derzhava (state). The derzhavets was subordinate to the voivode. The term derzhavets was also applied to members of the Cossack General Officer Staff and regimental staffs who held landed property because of their rank; it was later extended to all large landowners.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]