Drevynsky, Lavrentii

Drevynsky, Lavrentii [Древинський, Лаврентій; Drevyns’kyj, Lavrentij], end of 16th–beginning of 17th century. Volhynian noble, deputy to the Sejm of the Polish Commonwealth, ‘cupbearer from the Volhynian Land,’ civic and church leader, member of the Orthodox brotherhoods of Vilnius, Lutsk (see Lutsk Brotherhood of the Elevation of the Cross), and Kyiv (see Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood). A defender of the Orthodox faith, Drevynsky attended the Brest sobor (see Church Union of Berestia) and was a member of the Orthodox delegation to Sigismund III Vasa in 1596. He composed the ‘Rech’ (speech) given at the Warsaw Sejm in 1620 and the ‘Protestatsiia’ (Protest) of 1630. He participated in the Kyiv sobor of 29 June 1629 and in the work of the Sejm commission for the restoration of the Orthodox church's rights in 1632. With the help of the nobleman Elo-Malynsky, in 1633–7 Drevynsky founded the Epiphany Monastery and its school, hospital, and printing press in the town of Kremenets in Volhynia.

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