Passek

Passek [Пассек]. A Belarusian noble family of Czech origin. The Passeks were related to Cossack starshyna families of the Hetman state. Bogdan Passek (d ca 1758) was a Russian member of the Hetmanate’s General Military Court until 1734 and served as adviser to the governor of Belgorod gubernia (1739–42) and as its vice-governor (1742). His son, Vasyl (d 1778), served as a lieutenant colonel in Slobidska Ukraine, and his descendants lived there. One of them was Vadim Passek. Vadim’s brother Vasilii (b 26 July 1816, d May 1864) lived on his estate in Izium county and in Kharkiv; he is the author of a posthumously published collection of studies on Kyivan Rus’ history (1870). Another brother, Diomid (b 1808, d 23 July 1845), died fighting the forces of Shamil in Dagestan with the rank of major general. The first part of his study comparing Charles XII and Peter I as military leaders was published by Vadim in his Ocherki Rossii (Studies of Russia, vol 4 [1840]). The archeologist Tatiana Passek was descended from the same branch of the family.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]