Mieračoŭščyna

Coordinates: 52°45′N 25°07′E / 52.750°N 25.117°E / 52.750; 25.117

Kościuszko's House

Mieračoŭščyna (Belarusian: Мерачоўшчына, Polish: Mereczowszczyzna) is a former manor near Kosava in Ivatsevichy Raion, Brest Region, Belarus, Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time. It is best known as a birthplace of Belarusian, American, Polish, and Lithuanian hero Tadeusz Kościuszko. There is a Kościuszko museum in the reconstructed manor house of his birth.

History

In the first half of the 18th century, the folwark of Mereczowszczyzna belonged to the Sapieha family, and until the Partitions of Poland, was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s Brzesc Voivodeship. In 1733, the village became property of Ludwik Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who lived here until 1764. On February 4, 1746, Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born here, in a manor house. After the third partition of Poland (1795), the village came under control of the Russian Empire, where it remained until 1916. In 1918 - 1939, it belonged to the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939 it was occupied by the Soviet Union during the World War II Soviet invasion of Poland. In 1941 it was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1942, the house in which Kosciuszko was born and spent first 12 years of his life, was burned down by Soviet partisans. After the war, the village remained in the Soviet Union.

Kościuszko museum

In 2003, with financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, reconstruction of the house was started. Since several photos and drawings of the complex were preserved, the work was completed in a year. The house, based on the 18th century foundations, was opened for public in 2004. Next to Kosciuszko’s house a large rock was placed with a plaque that reads in Belarusian: “Here, in Merechevschina, Andrej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kasciuszka was born. He was the great son of the Belarusian land, who became a hero of Poland and USA, as well as Honorary Citizen of France”.^[1]

References

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