Hlynsky

Hlynsky [Hlyns’kyj]. Name of a Ukrainian noble family, descended from the Tatar noble Leksad (Oleksander), who was granted Poltava in 1430 by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great. He was also granted Hlynsk near Romny (whence the family name). Prince Lev Hlynsky had four sons: Mykhailo Hlynsky; Bohdan, the vicegerent of Cherkasy and Putyvl who in 1493 destroyed the Turkish fortress of Ochakiv; Ivan (Mamai, d 1522), the palatine of Kyiv (1505–8); and Vasyl (d before 1522), the governor of Slonim and Berestia. They attained prominence at the turn of the 16th century through the influence of Mykhailo, who was close to Alexander Jagiellończyk. The brothers led an unsuccessful rebellion (1507–8) of dissatisfied landowners against Alexander's successor, King Sigismund I the Old, and fled to Moscow, where they received the title of boyar and large landholdings. There Vasyl's daughter Elena (Olena) married Grand Prince Vasilii III Ivanovich in 1526 and was a regent (1533–8). Vasyl's sons Yurii and Mikhail played an important role at the court of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Elena's son.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]