Concerning biography of
Vasil Ciapinski,
the translator and
publisher of Gospel
Ihar Klimau
Knowledge about Vasil Ciapinski, a
Belarusian Protestant of the second half of the 16th century, is very scarce and uncertain.
All evidences about his life and activity come from two unequal sources. The
former is several mentions of Symon Budny, the famous Protestant translator of
Bible, and one Protestant report. The latter is a large quantity of records
about the Ciapinski family which were found in acts of the Lithuanian Metrica.
Majority of these records has been found by the famous historian M. Dounar–Zapolski
in the late 19th century. But in the early 20th century his results were criticized by
the Ukrainian historian O. Levic’ky who pointed out that not all from
these records relate to the Belarusian Protestant who translated and published
Gospel. In Levic’ky’s opinion at that time there were several
persons who could have the name Vasil Ciapinski. At the present time this idea
has been supported by the Belarusian archivist U. Viaroukin-Saluta. The new
documentary evidences about Ciapinski found in the 1980th let precise some facts from the life of
the Ciapinski family as well reconstruct their lineage.
All known evidences about the Ciapinski
family in the 16th century (most early records come from
1520th) resided largely in
Northern Belarus as well as about their possessions (most known is manor
Ciapina near Casniki) are considered in the paper. On the basis of these data a
reconstruction of Ciapinskis’ lineage in the 16th century is undertaken and a well-founded
conclusion is made: the Belarusian translator and publisher of Gospel Vasil
Ciapinski is rather a son of Matej who had an estate Latyhola / Latyholicy near
Maladzecna, but is not his cousin Vasil Ciapinski a son of Mikalaj who had
manor Ciapina, as it was supposed before. Moreover publishing Gospel could not
take place in Ciapina at all. Vasil Ciapinski was close to the powerful
protectors of Protestantism in Belarus (among which Astafej Valovic) and had
possibly a support of a Protestant community where he could be a minister.